Men Vs. Women in the Workplace

Who’s the Boss?

           In my work experience I have only had one male manager and I have to say he was the best. I find that through each women manager I have found that things aren’t as clear and work doesn’t get done as quickly or as efficiently. There are also downsides to every manager but in my opinion and experience men run a tighter ship.

I do believe it also depends on your own personality and the way you want to be treated and talk to at work. Personally, I like for my manager to be straight up with me and tell me exactly what they need me to get done and how they want me to do it. I don’t like when managers leave a grey area or leave me with needing to ask a lot of questions. But not all people are like that. In retail, which is where most of my work experience comes from, there is a majority of girls working. Most of which are sensitive and take everything to heart. For those kinds of girls they do prefer a women manager so I guess you could say I’m one of the few.

Everyone has a different experience and everyone has their own personality it comes down to the way you want to be treated and the kind of workplace you want to surround yourself in. I don’t believe its really a matter or men vs. women in the workplace but more of what kind of personality do you have.

Influencing People in the Workplace

The Power of Influence

 

 

 

 

                   There could be positive and negative ways in which someone may influence people. Some people are also very easily influenced leading to giving into peer pressure and negative activity but others are inspired by influence and use it to their benefit. Influencing people in the workplace can and should lead to motivation, creating better outcomes for everyone involved.

 

 



                  It all starts with the right leader and the power they contain inside of them. If you do not choose a leader with the power of confidence there is no way they can positively influence others if they do not have the confidence in themselves first. Secondly, your audience has to be open for change and being influenced. You cannot force someone to do something they do not want but you can influence them to change. You must build trust with your co-workers before you try to motivate them to change. Be honest with the task at hand even if it is a difficult one. Be open to help so they know that they can come to you. Another important part to influencing is to be assertive, not aggressive. Your audience has to be able to take you seriously and know that you know exactly what you are talking about.

 

 

               Remember that having the power to influence others must be used in a positive way or it could come back to haunt you. Your goal should be to be more respected in the workplace and to motivate others. 

How can conflict be beneficial?

Conflict Positivity's

 

                  There are different types of conflict that can occur in your everyday life. There may be conflict in personal relationships, in the workplace, or at school. Without conflict some people may think life may be easier but I think it would be dull. Conflict challenges you and others around you to think different ways and to challenge yourself to do something better, different, or to do something you never though you may have tried in the first place.

                  In the workplace conflict can be a very sensitive thing to deal with but I believe in the opposite. When looking for new hires I do believe in promoting from within if that person have expressed wanting to move up in the company and is eligible but I also believe in recruiting from the outside. When employers look elsewhere they bring someone new in with new and fresh ideas. This may not sit well with existing employees and may bring conflict. Although, through conflict new ideas can emerge once the problem is resolved. Employees may open their eyes to different methods they had never thought of before.

                 So when challenging old ways of thinking it can lead to positivechanges in the workplace. We shouldn’t ignore conflict but embrace it and look at the real reason why two people may be conflicting. Discussing conflicting views can lead to better solutions.

Chapter 8 & 9 Teamwork at Ai

 

Group Vs. Team

 



                       Last quarter at Ai I took a Fashion Show Production class. In this class we were split into two groups where in each group we had to produce a fashion show and each member was assigned to their own role, mine being model coordinator. In the begging of the class we were a group, each person with their own thoughts and own ideas about the show and what they thought needed to be done.
                      We quickly began to realize that this wasn't working out. We were working as a group where everyone had their own opinions and ideas of what each person was supposed to be doing. We had a project manager position volunteer at the beginning of the class but unfortunately that person was not stepping up to that position and that is when things started to go wrong. There was no communication with the leader and everyone felt as if this person didn't even want to be involved in our fashion show let alone our group. We knew something had to be done so we all had a meeting together and each person discussed what their issues were and how we were going to fix them. Our teacher was present during this meeting which I believe helped keep the situation professional and by the end we all felt relieved and knew how to move forward.
                     From that meeting on we were no longer a group but a team. Yes we still had an assigned leader but we were all working together giving each other ideas and everyone was helping where help was needed. Our fashion show ended up being a success and went off without a hitch. it definitely helped to transform our group to a team because we weren't working as individuals anymore but as a cohesive unit.

Motivation Chapter 6 & 7

Motivation in the Workplace

                      In this blog post we are looking into motivation in the workplace. We have two different viewpoints from two different jobs. The first person shares  her experiences with motivation while working at Michael Kors. The second talks about working as a waitress. 

                    It is a love hate relationship when it comes to working at Michael Kors. As of lately it has unfortunately been more of a negative experience. I began working for the company in October 2014 and I was included in the store opening of the new UTC location. It was a very exciting time since the entire staff was hired at the same time, we were all trained together, and we all opened the store together. I was brought on as the only stock associate. At other locations there are Stock managers, supervisors, and then the associate. I was brought on as an associate but since I was the only stock person working in our location I was trained by the store manager to o everything a stock manager would do.
                 
                    At first I was very excited because I took this as an opportunity to grow and eventually become stock manager since I was doing that job without the title or the pay. when our annual review came along I was thrilled thinking this was the beginning to me moving forward with my position. I was promised to be promoted within 6 months as long as I kept on doing my job as best as I was. I wish my manager never promised my this... without confronting me about it a stock supervisor from a different location was transferred to our store to be our stock manager. I was so confused and disappointed knowing I was promised this position, trained for it and they brought on someone else without saying anything to me. Luckily for my store manager he left right after this situation happened to a different store so he didn't need to worry about his promise to me at all. I was so upset and confused as to why I was suddenly not recognized for the work I had been doing. I just kept at my job doing my best hoping something would open up and that I wouldn't get some sort of recognition.

                  Today I am still in the same position, no promotion, and no raise. There is absolutely no motivation for me to keep trying and to do better at my job because it is obviously going nowhere... We have our second review coming up and if I still receive no raise and or no promotion I plan on telling my manager then and there that this isn't working for me and I am going to look for another job. I am one of three people that have been at the store since we open and I can see why now. We have such a huge turnover rate but I think my situation has been the worst. I am being taken advantage of an not being motivated whatsoever. Hopefully after my review things may turn around and I will get fulfillment in my job but I'm going to have to say so long to Michael.

                 Why tipping matters:

                  The food service industry is a highly self-motivated line of work. Servers, bartenders, bar backs, and bussers all make tips. The motivation is simple: the better you treat your customers, the better your tiphttp://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/five-reasons-tip-you-server-seriously-pb/ will be, the more money you will make. I’ve learned to be busy, productive, have better memory, and be friendly to coworkers.  It seems like the perfect example of someone who is motivated to be at work.

                 It’s also very hard work. It’s extremely busy. You must be able to handle multiple tasks http://www.buzzfeed.com/sandraeallen/what-its-like-to-be-a-server

 at once. You must always be polite and have a straight face-even when customers are rude and disrespectful. When everyone is going out on Friday and Saturday nights you’re stuck at the restaurant cleaning up tables at 1 am. Those are the busiest days and you will NEVER have them off. You make as much as you can handle. At the end of the day you’re stressed, you count your money, and are ready to leave-fast. Although it’s hard work its self-motivated work that pays off, especially on those busy days. No matter how hard and annoying customers can be on busy days, the extra $300 in your pocket makes it all worth it.

                 This, in turn, creates a lack of motivation to do tasks that help the business as a whole. This includes cleaning up, rolling silverware in napkins, stocking cabinets, cleaning the break room and multiple other housekeeping tasks required to keep a restaurant/bar a clean environment to work. As an owner or manager, you feel your employees work for you, therefore they should keep the place clean and do as they say. Servers feel they go to work to make their tips and get the money they earned. This is a constant battle within the food service industry.

To readers, any comments on how it’s possible to change this self-motivated position?

Chapter 5

Chapter 5 Self-efficacy

              Self-efficacy is a person's belief about his or her chances of successfully accomplishing a specific task. To be someone who is self-efficient I believe you must be proud of the work you do and enjoy your work environment to be successful. Self-efficacy requires constructive action in all managerial areas. When speaking about job design your manager should build a job that is complex, challenging, and autonomous to enhance perceived self-efficacy. This will also help motivate your employees to want to do better and strive to get their job done right. When it comes time to train self-efficacy expectations for key tasks can be improved through guided experiences, mentoring, and role modeling. It all comes back to the way you make your employee feel needed and wanted to make the business what it is and what it should be. This will be achieved through high leadership skills and managers can prove themselves to be capable of this when given a chance to prove themselves under pressure and the way they help get their team through a task. 

Chapter 4

Chapter 4 Understanding Social Perception and Managing Diversity

            Stereotype is an individual’s set of beliefs about the characteristics or attributes of a group. They exist everywhere whether we mean it or not or even if we notice it or not. Our society has become so numb to the fact that everyone stereotypes. Have you ever stopped to think how or why stereotypes even started though? It is sad to think that they truly never had to exist so why do they now? This seems to be a huge issue in the workplace because unfortunately managers will use stereotypes against people before hiring them or instead of hiring them. 

            Stereotyping is a four-step process: 1)    categorizing people into groups according to various criteria, such as gender, age, race, and occupation 2)    all people within a particular category possess the same traits or characteristics 3)    we form expectation of others and interpret their behavior according to our stereotypes 4)    stereotypes are maintained by overestimating the frequency of stereotypic behaviors exhibited by others, incorrectly explaining expected and unexpected behaviors, and differentiating minority individuals from oneself. 

           As time goes on more things seem to be accepted and more people seem to be open to different ideas. Hopefully this will mean that stereotypes could slowly fade away to non-existence but that would take change and change at times never comes to happen. It isn't always meant to be a negative thing but it immediately puts a perception into that persons mind which is why it may become an issue.