Thursday, December 26, 2019

What to Do if Youve Been Placed on a College Waitlist

Its important to understand what it means when youve been placed on a college waitlist. Like thousands of students across the country, you havent been accepted or rejected, and the resulting limbo can be frustrating. Youll make better decisions if you have a clear picture of how waitlists work and what your options are. Key Takeaways: College Waitlists Colleges use waitlists to ensure a full incoming class. Students get off the list only if a school falls short of admission targets.Chances of getting off a waitlist vary from year to year and school to school. Because of the uncertainty, you should move on with other plans.Be sure to accept a position on the waitlist and send of letter of continued interest if allowed. In the spring, college applicants begin getting those happy and sad admissions decisions. They tend to begin something like this: Congratulations! . . . or, After careful consideration, we’re sorry to inform you . . . But what about that third type of notification, the one that is neither acceptance nor rejection? Thousands upon thousands of students find themselves in college admissions limbo after having been placed on a waiting list. If this is your situation, what now?  Should you accept a position on the waitlist? Should you get angry at the school for waitlisting you and decide you didn’t want to go there anyway? Do you go ahead and put down a deposit at a school where you’ve been accepted, even if your waitlist school is your first choice? Do you simply sit around and wait? The answers to these questions, of course, vary depending upon your situation and the schools to which you applied. Below youll find advice for your next steps. Heres How Waitlists Work Waitlists have a very specific purpose in the admissions process. All colleges want a full incoming class. Their financial well-being is dependent upon full classrooms and full residence halls. So, when admissions officers send out acceptance letters, they make a conservative estimate of their yield (the percentage of admitted students who will actually enroll). In case the yield falls short of their projections, they need some students on back-up who can fill out the incoming class. These are the students on the waitlist. The widespread acceptance of the Common Application, Coalition Application, and new Cappex Application make it relatively easy for students to apply to many colleges. This may be convenient for students, but it also means that students are applying to more colleges than they typically did in decades past. As a result, colleges get more half-hearted applications and its more difficult to predict the yield on their applications. The end result is that colleges need to put more students on waitlists in order to manage the uncertainty. This is particularly true at highly selective colleges and universities. What Are Your Options When Waitlisted? Most schools send out a letter asking you if you will accept a position on the waitlist. If you refuse, that’s the end of the story. If you accept, you then wait. How long you wait depends on the school’s enrollment picture. Students have been known to receive acceptances from the waitlist a week before classes start. May and June are more typical notification times. You essentially have three options when waitlisted: Decline a position on the waitlist. If you got into a school you like more, you should decline. Its rude and inconvenient for other students and the college if you accept a place on the waitlist simply to see if youll get in. If you dont plan to attend, dont put yourself on the waitlist.Accept a position on the waitlist, sit back, and wait. If youre still considering the school, you should definitely put yourself on the waitlist.Accept a position on the waitlist, and then take action to improve your chances of getting off the waitlist. Be realistic here—your chances of getting off the waitlist probably are not great, and any actions you take may or may not help. Still, something as simple as a letter of continued interest can have a positive effect. What Are Your Chances of Getting Off a Waitlist? It’s important that you have a sense of the math, for in most cases the numbers aren’t encouraging. The examples below vary widely, from Penn State where 80% of waitlisted students were admitted, to Middlebury College where 0% were offered admission. The norm tends to be in the 10% range. This is why you should move on with other options rather than pin your hopes on the waitlist. Also, realize the numbers below will vary significantly from year to year because a colleges yield will vary from year to year. Cornell University Number waitlisted: 3,213Number who accepted a place on waitlist: 1,976Number admitted from waitlist: 279Percentage admitted from waitlist: 14% Grinnell College Number waitlisted: 740Number who accepted a place on waitlist: 279Number admitted from waitlist: 16Percentage admitted from waitlist: 6% Haverford College Number waitlisted: 732Number who accepted a place on waitlist: 305Number admitted from waitlist: 10Percentage admitted from waitlist: 3% Middlebury College Number waitlisted: 1,231Number who accepted a place on waitlist: 603Number admitted from waitlist: 0Percentage admitted from waitlist: 0% Penn State University, University Park Number waitlisted: 1,828Number who accepted a place on waitlist: 1,704Number admitted from waitlist: 1,356Percentage admitted from waitlist: 80% Skidmore College Number waitlisted: 1,584Number who accepted a place on waitlist: 522Number admitted from waitlist: 59Percentage admitted from waitlist: 11% University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Number waitlisted: 8,385Number who accepted a place on waitlist: 2,776Number admitted from waitlist: 525Percentage admitted from waitlist: 19% Yale University Number waitlisted: 728Number who accepted a place on waitlist: 204Number admitted from waitlist: 56Percentage admitted from waitlist: 27% A Final Word on Waitlists Theres no reason to sugarcoat your situation. Yes, we can say, At least you werent rejected! The reality, however, is that its frustrating and discouraging to be placed on a waitlist. If you were waitlisted from your top choice school, you should definitely accept a place on the waitlist and do all you can to get an acceptance. That said, you should also move on with plan B. Accept an offer from the best college that accepted you, put down your deposit, and move forward. If you are lucky and get off the waitlist, you will likely lose your deposit, but thats a small price to pay for attending your top choice school.

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

There Are Many Anecdotes About How Music Can Aid Oneself,

There are many anecdotes about how music can aid oneself, many of which relating to music therapy. One unlucky guy, Paul, was hit by a car when he was thirteen and wasn’t expected to survive, but miraculously he survived and regained all his cognitive abilities and was able to â€Å" walk to the podium to receive his high school diploma — taking steps his doctors once deemed impossible† only to be also diagnosed with leukemia around the time of his graduation. Luckily, Paul was able to receive a bone marrow transplant from one of his seven siblings. During his treatment and recovery he didn’t fall into depression because he had his guitar. The guitar gave Paul something to look forward to during this painful time by preventing him from falling†¦show more content†¦As the children grew up, the scientists used MRI and EEG scans to observe their brains. During the first two years of this study, they found out that the children who were learning music were maturing faster and developing much more of an auditory pathway than the others. â€Å"The enhanced maturity reflects an increase in neuroplasticity – a physiological change in the brain in response to its environment – in this case, exposure to music and music instruction† (Gersema). This fast development of the brain’s neuroplasticity, and auditory pathway can accelerate certain abilities like language development, communication, and reading skills. Studies done by the Children’s Music Workshop showed that music education has an effect on language development. Musical training â€Å"physically develops the part of the left side of the brain known to be involved with processing language, and can actually wire the brain’s circuits in specific ways. Linking familiar songs to new information can also help imprint information on young minds† (The Benefits of Music Education). 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Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Severe Symptoms of COPD-Free-Samples for Students-Myassignment

Question: Do research on COPD and the effects of a Clinical 12 week exercise Intervention. Answer: Abstract: The number of people with moderate to severe COPD has been rising and the morbidity associated with the disease such as frequent asthma attacks and low lung function significantly affects the quality of life of affected people. The most severe symptoms of COPD is progressive shortness of breath resulting in deterioration in quality of life. To reduce the cost attributable to COPD care and management of symptoms of patient, the main purpose of this research was to investigate about the effects of a 12 week exercise intervention on anxiety and quality of life of patients with moderate to severe COPD. The main research hypothesis was that completion of 12 week exercise regimen will reduce perceived anxiety in patients with COPD. The study was done with two groups of participants selected from Manawatu region in New Zealand- first group had participants with moderate COPD and other group has patients with severe COPD with 30-50% predicted FEV1. (Forced expiration volume). All participant s were provided a 12 week exercise programme by U-kinetics exercise and wellness clinic. The statistical analysis of the data revealed positive changes in HADs scores, but moderate change on FEV results. Moderate group showed strong improvement in anxiety score and delayed effect was seen in severe group. Another important finding was that physical perception of self also influenced anxiety level of participants. Hence, the data differed based on severity of symptoms. It can be concluded that exercise interventions are beneficial for COPD patients, however there is a need to consider other strategies or longer duration of exercise programme to improve anxiety symptoms in COPD patients with severity of symptoms. Discussion: Patients with COPD having three or more comorbidities are frequently hospitalized and die prematurely compared to other patients. Among all the comorbidities, anxiety and depression has a major impact on burden of COPD, quality of life and adherence to treatment (Yohannes Alexopoulos 2014). As anxiety disorders are disabling and decrease self-esteem in patients, the importance of physical exercise in improving symptoms in severe to moderate COPD patients has been considered in this study. The aim of the research was to provide 12 week exercise intervention to reduce anxiety and depression in participants. The main exercise given to participants with severe and moderate COPD symptoms included combination of aerobic and resistance exercise provided for 50-60 minutes duration two to three days per week. The selection of aerobic exercise for COPD patients is an effective intervention for this research because evidence has proved that heart rate variability issues is major issue in COPD patients and aerobic exercise training program leads to improvement in autonomic modulation (Borghi-Silva et al., 2009). Hence, aerobic exercise training program can increase exercise tolerance and improvement in anxiety and heart rate of patients. In addition, resistance training in patients with COPD is found to improve respiratory function of patients (Strasser, Siebert, Schobersberger, 2013). Although past studies have proved the benefits of exercise on improving symptoms and quality of life of COPD patients, however this study finding was important to know the difference in outcome in patients with severe and moderate anxiety or depression. There is very few and inconsistent research on analyzing the impact of exercise outcome on patient with different level of severity. The study was done with a total of 42 mixed gender participants. The main outcome of providing 12 week exercise programme to patients with moderate and severe COPD was that significant changes in physiological and psychological scores was seen at baseline and 12 week follow up period. The moderate group showed great improvement in physiological parameters of FEV1, VO2 (Oxygen consumption) and FVC (forced vital capacity). COPD is associated with deteriorating lung function and pulmonary rehabilitation such as exercise training are designed to improve physiological and physical condition of COPD patients. As the major focus was on reduction of anxiety in patients, the 12 week exercise programme was to be useful in positively changing the HADS (Hospital Anxiety and depression score) of patients. The validity of this result can be assessed by comparing it with results of other studies. Consistency in result has been found. Wegner et al., (2014) has shown that depression symptoms is assoc iated with reduction in physical activity in COPD patients and combining resistance training with endurance training improved muscle power and quality of life of patient (Zambom-Ferraresi et al., 2013). Combined training also improved cognitive function in COPD patients thus contributing to high self esteem and high quality of life in patients (Aquino et al., 2016). Another most important result of the research was that it showed that HADS score change uniformly in both groups of participants, however significant improvement in depression could not be achieved. This indicates that physical perception of self affected improvement in depression outcome in participants. Hence, the main conclusion from the study was that exercise based program are useful in improving physiological outcome in patients, however in case of COPD patients with severe symptoms, there is also a need to focus on changing the perception of patients related to management of COPD so that they can take better control on their health condition. Shortness of breath is major symptoms affecting quality of life of patients and this research can be practically applied in COPD patients to improve symptoms breathlessness. Another application of this research in clinical physiology is that it can help to significantly improve the quality of patients with comorbidity of disease. The dura tion and nature of exercise can also be replicated in real setting for patients with moderate symptoms or recent diagnosis of COPD. Despite the success of the research in presenting the difference in outcome of exercise intervention in patients with severe to moderate symptoms of COPD, there are certain limitations in the study too. First limitation that affects the transferability of the research is the small sample size. Secondly, the study was done only with two different severity groups of patients, however no control group was taken. This affected the comparison in study outcome and complete evaluation of intervention. Another limitation was that age specific sample group was not taken which limited getting date related to difference in outcome in older and young patient group. This might contribute to biasness in study results. The duration of the exercise program might also be a limitation as difference in duration of program was not considered for different participants group. Hence, this limitation points out to possible areas of future research on this topic. Firstly, there is a need to do research to i dentify strategies that can help patients with severe COPD to enhance the perception of self. Secondly, there is a need to investigate if longer duration of program such as 24 weeks can affect the outcome of COPD patients or not. There is also a need to identify other combination of exercise intervention that can bring positive outcome for patients with severe symptoms of COPD. References Aquino, G., Iuliano, E., Di Cagno, A., Vardaro, A., Fiorilli, G., Moffa, S., ... Calcagno, G. (2016). Effects of combined training vs aerobic training on cognitive functions in COPD: a randomized controlled trial.International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,11, 711. Borghi-Silva, A., Arena, R., Castello, V., Simoes, R. P., Martins, L. E. B., Catai, A. M., Costa, D. (2009). Aerobic exercise training improves autonomic nervous control in patients with COPD.Respiratory medicine,103(10), 1503-1510. Strasser, B., Siebert, U., Schobersberger, W. (2013). Effects of resistance training on respiratory function in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Sleep and Breathing,17(1), 217-226. Topalovic, M., Helsen, T., Troosters, T., Janssens, W. (2016). Unexpected improvements of lung function in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.Respiratory medicine case reports,18, 81-84. Wegner, M., Helmich, I., Machado, S., E Nardi, A., Arias-Carrion, O., Budde, H. (2014). Effects of exercise on anxiety and depression disorders: review of meta-analyses and neurobiological mechanisms.CNS Neurological Disorders-Drug Targets (Formerly Current Drug Targets-CNS Neurological Disorders),13(6), 1002-1014. Yohannes, A. M., Alexopoulos, G. S. (2014). Depression and anxiety in patients with COPD.European Respiratory Review,23(133), 345-349. Zambom-Ferraresi, F., Cebollero, P., Gorostiaga, E. M., Hernndez, M., Hueto, J., Cascante, J., ... Anton, M. M. (2015). Effects of combined resistance and endurance training versus resistance training alone on strength, exercise capacity, and quality of life in patients with COPD.Journal of cardiopulmonary rehabilitation and prevention,35(6), 446-453.

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

Personnel Management vs Human Resource Management Essay Example

Personnel Management vs Human Resource Management Essay Personnel Management vs. Human Resource Management Word count 2500| January 30 2012 | HNBS 121 HRM Mr. Nick Pronger Diana Carvalho 09607 | | Self evaluation Prior to starting my assignment, I have researched and assessed various organisations to develop my case study and my choice was based on the proximity to one organisation I currently volunteer. Gathering information from the charity I volunteer was rather easy having access to the date I found it easy to select which information to collect and apply into my assignment. However, I had also provided information based on my personal experience. Through my assignment, I have used varied material sources such as, the lecture handouts, text books, the internet, articles, journals and personal experience. However, the lecture handouts were the most effective and straight forward as I was able to follow the template and apply it into my assignment by giving examples, where as text books had broader information, where I was able to get full extended information but had to do more reading that I would like to in order to gather one aspect of a concept. We will write a custom essay sample on Personnel Management vs Human Resource Management specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Personnel Management vs Human Resource Management specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Personnel Management vs Human Resource Management specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer In addition, my internet research reservations was the accuracy, validity as well as how updated it was, therefore, I looked for definitions rather than theories online, due to the language barrier and English not being my mother tongue, I was required to use dictionaries very often to define certain terms, I was unable to understand otherwise and could undermine further the assignment content and would ultimately lead me to the wrong direction and deliver wrong information. My time management was poor, which I intend to improve on my next assignments in other to give myself the spare time necessary researching, gather relevant information and receiving lecturers’ feedback before submitting my assignments. Introduction Over the past twenty two years, since the world moved from personnel management, traditionally defined as â€Å"the task of ensuring the optimum use of human resources to the mutual benefit of the enterprise, each person and the community at large† Armstrong (1997), to embrace human resource management, defined as â€Å"a strategic approach to acquiring, developing, managing, motivating and gaining the commitment of the organisation’s key resource – the people who work in and for it† Armstrong (1997), which functions are primarily concerned with putting â€Å"people first† and at the same time securing management objectives by maximising the ROI (Return on Investment). The manager in HRM is recognised as a holder of an organisation, which achieves organisational objectives through people, therefore, the support of a skilled and motivated workforce to put goals, knowledge and experience into practice, the complementation of efficiency levels can make or break an organisation. Personnel manager’s main job was to ensure that the needs of the workforce as they relate to their immediate concerns were taken care of, it was more administrative, which included recruitment and selection, payroll, contractual obligations and other administrative tasks. Further, personnel managers typically played the role of mediators between the management and the employees and hence there was always the feeling that personnel management was not in harmony with the objectives of the management and many employers today have no training or knowledge of how to reward and treat employees as the key resource, for developing mutuality by concentrating on fostering their commitment and identification with the organisation through communicating well, involving them in organisational decisions, emphasising management and motivation strategic approach in order to retain them, even though most workplaces increased the importance of these concepts. Research methodology Secondary research * Books; * Articles; * Reports; * Online CIPD In order to acquire these resources I have gone to the Kensington Chelsea Library as well the British Library. Research findings In the 70s employment started to develop significantly as shown in figure 1. 1. Personnel techniques developed using theories from the social sciences about motivation through performance appraisal and manpower planning, which included the implementation of organisational behaviour through sophisticated systematic training (under the influence of the training boards), where selection testing became more widely used. Personnel management has gone through a period of major concern about the so-called demographic time bomb, referring to impeding unwelcome shortages of younger people entering the labour market. The recession of the early ‘90’s was affected by this problem, which is still a common place today, and the need to concentrate more on strategies for attracting and retaining high quality staff is just as urgent. The mentality of individualism and unjustifiable greed of the 80’s made way for the spirit of consent and the value of teamwork as well as the concern for employees who were essential to the operation of the organisation since high commitment was required from these employees please refer to figure 1. 2. Recognition of personnel function as a contribution to bottom-line performance have become a more important strategy where an employer is a business partner sharing responsibility with his employees; the most important assets in an organisation, which their effective management will contribute to organisations’ success and it is most likely to be achieved if policies and procedures are closely linked with the achievement of organisational objectives and strategic plans. The organisational climate and managerial behaviour that originated from corporate culture and values will bring a major influence on the achievement of excellence. Strategic HRM is the process of linkin g the human resource function with the strategic objectives of the organisation in order to improve performance† Bratton Gold (2007) Hestia is an empowering organisation, whom welcomes everyone, especially members a minority background. Human resource management department assists in developing volunteers’ skills through training in order to retain and empower them but as well achieving as Hestia organisational goals through a competence and motivated workforce. Hestia priority is to hire competent workforce and hire the right person for the right job, after that manpower decides about other tangible and intangible resources. Essentially, other resources rely on HRM to plan, organise and monitor human resources. HR department contribution to overall strategy is crucial for Hestia’s ultimate success and effectiveness, from areas ranging from strategic planning to image, the areas in which HR maintains control can enhance Hestias’ perception of the department throughout the workforce, improving Hestia’s essence and running with the knowledge of how human capital affects organisational success. Strategic management takes part in organisational decision-making which underlies present staffing assessments and projections for future workforce needs based on organisations demand. From a financial perspective, skills and experience are necessary in order to set realistic development structures in regards to wages competition with organisations competing for employees with similar skills, the extensive conduct salary surveys in order to maintain costs in line with the organisations current financial status and projected revenue, as well as the reduction of costs associated with turnover, attrition and hiring replacement workers, the ability to negotiate group benefit packages for employees, within Hestia’s budget and consistent with economic conditions, the department is also are familiar with employee benefits most likely to attract and retain workers. Under The Health and Safety at Work Act (HASAWA) 1974 Hestia is bound to provide safe working conditions and HRM manages and ensures that the organisation complies with the regulations by maintaining accurate work logs and records and developing programs that reduce the number of workplace injuries and in cidents by engaging employees in promoting awareness and safe handling of dangerous machinery and hazardous chemicals under The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) 1998 legislation. In case of dispute, HRM department investigates and attempts to mediate workplace issues, which unresolved, may escalate and place the Hestia in a legal dispute, which can stain its image as well as compensation pay outs to employees if found accountable. HR assists Hestia achieve high performance, morale and satisfaction levels throughout the employees, by promoting ways of strengthening good working relationships by administering employee opinion surveys, conduct focus groups and seek employee input regarding job satisfaction, also provides training that supports the companys fair employment practices and employee development to prepare ambitious leaders for supervisory and management positions. They provide guidance to line managers who are not familiar with HR or standard hiring processes and determine the most effective methods for recruiting applicants best suited for Hestia’s needs. In HRM, â€Å"reward refers to all of the monetary, non-monetary and psychological payments that an organisation provides for its employees in exchange for the work they perform† (Bratton Gold, 2007) â€Å"The average worker dislikes work and avoids it if possible – will only be made to work by control and threats. Carrot and stick approach; use of payments system to provide incentives† McGregor (1960) and its management process designs, implements, and maintains policies and systems in order to assist on organisational strategic plans, which are appointed to improve performance and productivity by attracting talent, retaining, encouraging a committed and efficient workforce according to their value and contribution to the organisation. The role between managers and HR department leads to effective HRM practices, e. g. , performance appraisals. The success of Hestia’s performance appraisal system depends on the ability of both parties to do their jobs appropriately. HR department develop the system, while line managers provide the actual performance evaluations. Line managers direct employees day-to-day tasks. From an HRM perspective, line managers are responsible for implementing HRM practices and providing HRM with necessary input for developing effective practices. Managers carry out many procedures and methods devised by HR professionals such as: * Placing the right person on the right job * Starting new employees in the organisation * Training employees for the jobs that are new to them * Improving the job performance of each person Gaining creative cooperation and developing smooth working relationships * Interpreting the organisation’s policies and procedures * Controlling labour costs * Developing the abilities of each person * Creating and maintaining department morale * Protecting employees’ h ealth and physical condition * Interview job applicants * Provide and communicate job performance ratings * Recommend salary increases * Carry out disciplinary procedures * Investigate accidents * Settle grievance issues Hestia Legal Framework: Hestia operates policies and practices in line with statutory requirements. The present statutory framework applied includes e. g. , the legislation bellow: Gender: * Code of practice – sex discrimination Code of practice on equal pay * Gender Equality pay – Code of practice of England and Wales Race: * Statutory code of practice on racial equality in employment * Statutory code of practice on the duty to promote race equality * Statutory code of practice on racial equality in housing: England Disability: * The duty to promote equality; statutory code practice: England and Wales * Code of practice: Employment and occupation * Guidance on matters to be taken into account in determining questions relating to the definition of disa bility Hestia legal and regulatory framework on human resource management has a great impact especially among the minority group. Being a charity assisting people gaining control over their lives, guiding and providing housing support as well as empowering mainly homeless, ex offenders, people mental health and HIV issues, service users get attached to the organisation and tend to volunteer, and in some cases end up getting paid employment within the organisation, therefore, a strong legal framework emphasis, specially confidentiality, it is crucial, due to the nature of service users situation. Motivation is defined as McGregor (1960) stated in, theory Y, the mental process also called as â€Å"Intrinsic motivation† which, is the motivation that comes from the inside of the individual due to self gratification of completing or carrying a task rather than the external factors, such as pay and rewards and theory X; the social process also called as â€Å"Extrinsic motivation† which, is the motivation that comes from the outside of an individual due to external factors, such as pay and rewards being the main gratification, thus tasks are carried and/or completed as a result. Within an organisation different individuals and teams are motivated by different factors, these factors have different levels as shown below on figure 1. 1 on Maslow’s need theory (1954), which suggests that people’s ultimate goal is to fulfil each level of need until self actualisation is satisfied, different ways of motivation, flexibility and commitment as McKenna and Beech (2002, p. 189) suggested such as the â€Å"appropriate management style, competitive compensation package and supportive culture† (cited by Armstrong and Murlis, 1994) will promote organisation success. Some would disagree with Maslow’s theory due to the fact that individuals’ needs vary, e. g. self-actualisation is not imperative to being successful for everybody, or an individual’s needs that are being met at home do not need to be met at the workplace but the theory establishes that ‘higher order needs’ will have to be aligned with rewards and incentive s in order to motivate and satisfy and this approach enables organisations to understand the sort of rewards employees need to receive in order to have the following needs met: Training, opportunities for promotion and career progression| Recognition, the chance to make a difference| Staff room, team working opportunities | Health and safety provision, job security| Pay, decent working conditions | Figure. 1. 3 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs ; the Workplace Figure 1. 4 Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory Herzberg’s theory defined Motivators as factors, also called intrinsic rewards which can motivate employees to greater performance and positive attitude by offering job satisfaction of ‘higher-level needs’ associated with recognition, responsibility, achievement and career progression, proven to be effective. Hygiene factors, also called extrinsic rewards, which can only cause dissatisfaction if not fulfilled, needs associated with company policy, pay, working conditions and organisations, must ensure that motivators exit so that employees are satisfied and that hygiene factors are met so that employees are not demotivated. Herzberg’s theory has also been criticised particularly of job satisfaction on work performance â€Å"A satisfied worker is not necessarily a high producer and a high producer is not necessarily and satisfied worker† Armstrong, 2003). The two factor theory, focused mainly on job design, challenge, empowerment, responsibility, recognition and contentment of the work. Based on McClelland theory, high achievers are unlikely to remain in jobs that do not pay them well, reinforcing pay as a hygiene factor but total reward concept, seems to be the most effective in order to motivate employees as it combines extrinsic and intrinsic rewards. Most people aim when applying for employment is to secure an income, Taylor approach known as scientific management â€Å"What the workmen want from their employers beyond anything else is high wages, and what employers want from their workmen most of all is low labour cost of manufacture. (Taylor, 1911), his theory, was further explained as instrumental orientation, when people saw work as purely a form of income that may provide them with the opportunity in obtaining the things that the worker really wants, even though they might not necessarily like their job. The essence of scien tific management is regarded as efficiency, which is the greatest output per unit of input, and workers get good rates of pay based on their productivity, demonstrating that output was influenced on other factors other than pay, although the size of income will impact on employees’ standard of living, most employees are mostly concerned with earning enough income to meets their needs, and know that their pay is fair in comparison with others, where legislation come into play under the equality Act 2010, the employment rights Act 1996 and the national Min wage Act 1998. Job evaluation is a systematic assessment of the respective worth of various jobs within organisations or industries in order to determine relationships between jobs and establish an internal outlook and design impartial wage rates structure and managing view. It is concerned with the internal outlook, which is, employees doing the same kind of work, receive the equal rewards. Job evaluation quantifies differences between jobs and lays them into groups and ranking order and can be categorised as follows: Scheme | Characteristics | Advantages| Disadvantages | Factor comparison| Each job is compared individually in turn with all others being evaluated. Points awarded according to whether the job is more, less or equally demanding than the jobs with which it is being compared, points are added to determine the rank order and the scores are analysed and discussed. | Easier to compare a job with one other job than with whole range of jobs. | It neither explains why one job is more important than the other nor assesses differences between them. | Points rating| Separate factors are scored to produce overall points. | Consistency in judgement is assisted by having defined factor levels. Considered the best system in equal value. | Complex to maintain. Objectivity is apparent, subjective judgement required to rate jobs of different factors. Ranking| Whole job comparisons made to place them in order of importance| Simple, cheap, and easy to understand| Complex, whilst determining middle range jobs, and bias whilst assessing of the performance of the employee rather than the job itself| Job classification| Job grades defined and slotted in to grades by comparing the whole job description with the grade definition| Simple, judgment is provided in the shape of grade definitions | Difficult to fit complex jobs into a grade without using elaborate grade definitions. | Competence ; skill grading| Jobs placed in grades in accordance with level of competence/skill| Based on one input factor. Direct pay structure. Non-analytical, difficult to differentiate clearly between competence/skills levels. | Other factors determining pay Competence and skill analysis: Employee’s competence relevance to the needs of the organisation based on operational significance. External systems: when examining job evaluation is not longer the direct consideration where rewards is concerned, eternal market and environment conditions are of greater importance. A large number of employers have taken steps to move away from collective bargaining systems to a more individualised reward system. Performance related pay is a good example of this, which is a payment that takes into account the quality of performance instead of being related to a wage grade. External competiveness associated with a job evaluation scheme is a issue in determining rewards and this is evident when organisations adopt market driven reward systems where the rate for the jobs reflects the rate required to attract rather than being based on a payment that is undermined by an internal grading structure. Market rates of pay system: the collection of data on the pay rates for similar jobs with competition to establish their market rate and track movements in those rates. The aim is to assist set the organisation’s own pay rates at the suitable level in order to recruit and retain the staff. Although the concept of a market rate for a job is fairly common, there is no such thing as an accurate or scientific single rate of pay for a job or role, and rates may vary even for the same occupation and in the same location. A central decision relates to how the data will be interpreted, and for this organisations need to consider where they wish to position their pay levels in relation to the market – for example at the median or the upper quartile level of pay in the external labour market. Most organisations use pay surveys to get current and updated pay rate and the sources of information on market rates include: Published data from paid surveys and similar organisations give indication of going rates, it is limited because of problems in comparing like with like, but can help with periodic reality checks on levels and movements, and are valuable sources of data on specific occupations or localities. Pay clubs of employer groups that regularly exchange information on pay levels. These only allow participants access to the data. Special surveys launched by individual organisations from specialist pay consultancies but access is limited to the contractor and participants. Consultants’ pay databases containing data collected on a systematic or ad hoc basis which they relate to the results of their job evaluation schemes to compare pay rates across organisations on a common basis: this ability is one of the attractions of job evaluation to many organisations. To be viable it is important that the factors measure common job/role characteristics and can enable comparisons to be made across different jobs/roles and organisations; the data is based on an adequate sample; and the job analyses are carried out systematically and conscientiously. Market rates of pay will vary on supply and demand in the open market, factors such as: 1. Relative scarcity of particular skills 2. Sensitivity of employees to pay, as it may or may not be an incentive 3. Affordability 4. Culture and value system 5. Bargaining (trade union) 6. Government intervention Internal comparison: It is possible to use job evaluation as a way of matching jobs to enable market pricing to take place (although other approaches also exist to comparing jobs, as detailed below). However, there are certain tensions between job evaluation and market pricing approaches. Job evaluation has an internal focus as it ranks jobs and their relative mportance within an organisation – whereas the main focus of market pricing is external as it aims to compare the pay rate for an organisation’s jobs with those in the wider labour market. Employers may need to seek resolutions to such tensions if they wish to ensure that pay rates remain both internally equitable an d externally competitive. For example, where higher earnings are commanded in the external market for a particular position than justified by an internal job evaluation exercise, one approach would be to use temporary market supplements to top up earnings for that role as necessary. Hestia aims to be a learning organisation with cultures of continuous improvement and staff development. To achieve this aim Hestia is committed to supporting everyone who works for the organisation to develop their professional skills and to achieve their full potential and that is achieved by rewarding and enhancing the contribution employees make to assist Hestia achieve their goals. The process is implemented through policies such as the work based learning policy, which is defined as any on-going and continuous activity that contributes to the development needs of the individual, team and organisation, where the responsibility for work based learning is that of the individual workers supported the line manager. These learning needs will be indentified and the objectives set at the following levels: Level| When set | Objectives set by| Individual| * Induction: when a new workers starts, or an existing worker transfers to a new post * Supervision: when learning needs will be identified to achieve job requirements, or, a requirement to improve performance has been identified * Appraisal: when longer term development learning needs are identified| * Individual ; Line Manager| Team| * To enable the team to meet recommendations made by external stakeholders, e. g. CSCI, NOMS, Supporting People * To implement identified efficiency improvements * To implement changes to local working practice| * Project/Department Manager through annual team development team | Organisational | * Implement changes to organisational strategy * Ensure compliance with new, or changes to legislation * To implement the reorganisation of management or work practices | * Corporate management Team| Classification of Work Based Learning Needs: Core| Specialist | Professional| * Essential for all workers e. g. health and safety, induction, implementation of organisational changes| * To meet requirements of specialised work within different projects at a central team or individual level| * Link to relevant national occupational standards recognise the diversity of the work undertaken within Hestia | | | | Professional Development Fund ; Loans – This where Hestia invites employees without outstanding disciplinary actions whom passed their probationary period to apply for funding for a course lasting no longer than two years. Hestia commits to contribute up to a maximum of 50% of the cost of the course fees, which may be recovered if the applicant does not complete the course, or leaves the organisation within completing the course. In addition, Hestia will give an interest-free professional development loan of a relevant extended course, which the Human Resource Manager will determine whether or not the course is relevant. Study Leave ; Day Release – Up to five days study leave per year can be agreed where an employee is studying a relevant course. The line manager will determine course relevancy and potential for disruption within the working team and where it does not does not disrupt, Hestia will allow paid day release for employees to attend extended courses in a relevant area of work. The line manager will need to ensure that the cost of relief staff is within the budget and the Corporate Services Director must approve to the leave and budget release. Evaluation of Work Based Learning Activity – costs and benefits are evaluated in order to assess how effective work based learning activities have been in meeting organisational aims and objectives. The evaluation process is undertaken at a variety of different levels and the output is used to: validate the core plan for the previous year, identify any learning from evaluation that needs to be incorporated into following years core learning plan. Evaluation Level| Undertaken By| Timescales| Individual| Individual and Line Manager| * Immediately after activity (individual) * Two months after learning (line manager)| Team| Line Manager| * Annual to be completed by project/dept manager | Organisational| Corporate Management Team| * Annual to be completed by Human Resources | â€Å"A sample was selected using a random sampling procedure. Population frames were developed based upon geographic regions. A random selection was made of two or three offices within each sales region. A package of the appropriate number of surveys was then sent to each of the selected offices. Further, it was decided that questionnaires would be sent to each of the 75 district managers, regardless of whether their office had been selected for the study. Therefore, 100% of the district managers, 25. 2 1% of the sales mangers and 25 . 4% of the sales agents were surveyed for a total sample size of 534. † Shinew, (1993), The Attractiveness and effectiveness of Incentives Reward Options. Willing ness To Increase Productivity On a 7-point scale anchored by â€Å"no additional effort at all† and â€Å"a great deal of additionaleffort,† respondents were asked to indicate how much additional effort they would be willing to exert in order to achieve each incentive reward. Their responses are displayed on the right. They were most willing to exert extra effort for cash, followedby sales conference trips and personal vacationtrips, respectively. These differences are statistically significant. Motivational Effect Respondents were asked to indicate on a 7 -point scale ranging from â€Å"motivating† to â€Å"not motivating,† their reaction to each of the incentives. When simply examining the â€Å"motivating† response category, sales conferences had the highest rating. Almost 65% indicated that they found the reward motivating. This was followed by cash and personal vacation trips, respectively. One of the objectives of the present study was to examine differences in levels of organizational commitment between employees who had received an incentive award in the past two years and those who had not. These two groups are referred to as recipients and non-recipients. In this analysis, only the achievement of cash, merchandise and conference trip awards were considered. As illustrated in the graph on the right, the two groups differed in their levels of organizational commitment. Therecipients indicated higherlevels of organizationalcommitment than did the non recipients. The difference between the two groups is statistically significant. â€Å"The three recipient groups were then compared in terms of their levels of organizational c commitment. The cash recipients indicated the highest level, followed by merchandise and conference recipients, respectively. † Shinew, (1993), The Attractiveness and effectiveness of Incentives Reward Options. The returned questionnaires provided valuable information regarding the effectiveness of the incentive rewards at the Company. The findings indicated that: * Sales conferences and personal vacation trips were the most attractive incentive rewards to the respondents. * Travel rewards were followed in att ractiveness by cash, merchandise, recognition and status awards, respectively. These findings suggest that in terms of attractiveness, travel rewards were superior to the other incentive options. However, when asked to indicate how much additional effort they would be willing to exert in order to achieve each of the incentives, the respondents were most willing to exert extra effort to achieve cash, followed by sales conference trips and personal vacation trips. Shinew, (1993), The Attractiveness and effectiveness of Incentives Reward Options. Hestia Competence-based appraisal The appraisal is a two-way meeting between employees and the line manager once employees have completed the probation with Hestia. Pos probation period, it is several months until the annual appraisal, employees will be set a work-based and development plan following his/her probation review The annual meeting will usually take place each June/July to provide the employees the opportunity to: * Express how emp loyees have performed in the previous year and to provide examples of how employees have met their outcomes and core competencies. Receive constructive feedback from the line manager on how employees have been performing, both to recognise and assure employees in what they are doing well and to guide them in their on-going work performance and continuous professional development * Discuss how employees are working through a competence-based review, * Identifying learning and development needs and agree the resources they require meet those needs, and * Agreeing relevant and realistic outcomes to achieve over the next twelve months At the end of the meeting employees should develop and work-based development plan which will be signed off by the line manger and reviewed (or possibly amended in light of changes) regularly through the year during employees supervisions. Employees appraisal plan will be review and signed by a a second line manager for consistency and to provide any additional comments. Timeline (Appendix 5) Conclusion The present analysis was undertaken to answer the question of the value of rewards as motivators for employees. Intrinsic motivational factors have been found to be significant, in both the presence of Hestia’s training scheme and in its absence, this finding of the motivational importance of intrinsic factors within the organisation. Intrinsic rewards dominate extrinsic. Extrinsic motivators do play a role, but not to the extent that classical agency theory suggests a people are motivated by non-economic rewards. In addition, the importance of intrinsic motivators highlights the importance of context in the motivation of staff. It is through the organisation that employees are able to work with clients whom witness their successes, achieve a good work/life balance and have fun at work. Appendixes Figure 1. 1 Employment development Figure 1. 2 Referencing McKenna, E. , Beech, N. (2002) Human Resource Management a concise analysis. England. Armstrong, M. (1991) A Handbook of Personnel Management Practice. London BPP, (2010) Human Resource Management. London Shinew, (1993), The Attractiveness and effectiveness of Incentives Reward Options. NY. Available from: [30/01/2012]