The "Ancient Story" very much reminded me of my experience at my current internship within a financial company. I am currently interning in the Wealth Management department with a team of three others. One being the Managing Director of the group who in ranked in the company's "Top Ten Wealth Managers" for having a large amount of assets under management. I often idolized individuals in the financial industry and looked at them with great prestige. However, interning within the industry and observing their weekly behavior, I do not observe individuals in Finance with such high regards as I did prior. The majority of the employees begin counting down the hours as soon as they enter the building. Most are visibly stressed and do not seem to hold their own position in such high regard. I was just recently told that I have the opportunity to hold a position there upon graduating. However, I would only be allowed to stay there for two years because they feel there are greater possibilities for me. Since their job requires discussing investing opportunities with their clients, an overall positive attitude is required. However, once they are done conversating with clients they resume to their un-motivated behavior. The saying, "money isn't everything" is very apparent within this industry. I believe that the majority of the employees were influenced by the Herzberg's "satisfying factors", such as recognition of a prestigious company in the industry, responsibility of large amounts of others belongings, and achievement recognition when acquiring new, high asset clients. These factors influence their performance within the company and give them the drive to go to work daily, regardless of their feelings towards their career industry. I also feel that these factors reinforce and motivate them to remain within the company and not change careers. Overall, the individuals working within the wealth management department all feed each other positive energy. Regardless how they feel about their activities at their workplace, they keep each other laughing.
I would influence employees to view their career in a brighter light because overall they are assisting others stay financially stable in such a unsteady economic environment. Their human needs shown in Maslow's Hierarchy are for the most part being more than satisfied. For instance, their lower-order needs are all being met. They have such friendly co-workers that they even spend time outside of work together, they interact with pleasant customers, and the teams supervisor is extremely accommodating. The financial industry has remained very unstable within the past four years, however wealth managers will always be needed. Very few individuals know the best IRA plans to invest within or which is the next up and coming stock. Therefore, they have high job security in comparison to other financial industries. They also receive safe working conditions and very fair compensation and benefits. Their physiological needs may not be as satisfying as social and safety needs, but they are still very apparent in their careers. Their higher-order needs are also met through esteem, they hold high responsibility. There may not be great room for advancement to a higher position, however they do receive praise and recognition. Also, participation in decision making is apart of their daily objectives and challenging work is definitely administered. Overall, they should view their positions in a greater positive light. There are many individuals that primarily have "lower-order" needs or barely at all. Working within a corporation where both your higher-order and lower-order needs are met is extremely fortunate. They are greatly satisfying others by making them profits in a time of economic instability and have the majority of satisfier factors within their career.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Individual Behavior
Although I feel all of the "Big Five" personality traits are important characteristics to be instilled in a manager, I believe that conscientiousness should be the most prominent. It would seem logical that a manager acquires dependable, organized, and task focused characteristics, however that is not always the case. Many of times I have had managers who were the complete opposite of conscientious and were totally inconscientious. For instance, how I discussed in my previous blog, I had worked in a resturant that was poorly managed. My manager at one period of time was gifted with all inconscientious qualities - careless, impulsive, and not achievement oriented. When the resturant would get very busy and hectic, employees would not be able to rely on her to fix the issue at the time.This would lead to further disorganized and careless behavior from the employee end, due to her not being achievement oriented and assisting the staff at time of need.
Being able to depend on a higher authority especiality in the resturant business is very essential. Employees are often not allowed to preform tasks on their own. For instance, changing or editing and order often requires management approval. If the manager is careless, this will eventually impact customer service, and portray the server as being inefficient. In conclusion, unlike the remaning "Big Five" personality traits, which contain more positive qualities on both sides of the spectrum, inconscientious qualities are rarely positive in an individual; especially in a leadership role.
Being able to depend on a higher authority especiality in the resturant business is very essential. Employees are often not allowed to preform tasks on their own. For instance, changing or editing and order often requires management approval. If the manager is careless, this will eventually impact customer service, and portray the server as being inefficient. In conclusion, unlike the remaning "Big Five" personality traits, which contain more positive qualities on both sides of the spectrum, inconscientious qualities are rarely positive in an individual; especially in a leadership role.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Leadership
The "foundations of leadership" are unfortunately not instilled in all individuals. I believe some are more attuned to being a great listener or follower of rules, rather than a leader. To successfully lead a large group of people or an organization requires a great skill set. To successfully diversify your leadership position requires even a greater one. Besides the four foundations of leadership - power, vision, traits, and style; I believe one must attain competence/knowledge in the subject matter, un-biased point of views, as well as being an innovator of ideas.
As I mentioned earlier, it requires a very valuable skill set for one to successfully lead an organization in a profitable direction. I feel it is very difficult for that same individual to transfer their knowledge and innovation to a different field. For instance, an Account Executive in Advertising/Marketing requires creative, thoughtful media ideas for clients. Contrarily, a Managing Director on Wall Street requires creative, thoughtful ideas as well, however in the financial market. These two fields vary tremendously and it is extremely difficult for one to be a great leader in both these diverse categories. Basic business management skills are not sufficient to run a corporation effectively and positively. A leader requires expertise in the subject matter.
I feel the re-positioning of roles in an industry is extremely prominent in Banking. CEOs of employees of investment banks use their expertise of the subject and tend to transfer to multiple firms within their careers. This is portrayed in the role of Barclays' Group Finance director, Chris Lucas who was previously employed by PriceWaterHouseCoopers LLP prior to bringing his expertise in financial services of Barclays. "Chris joined the Board on 1 April 2007. Chris came from professional services company PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, where he was UK Head of Financial Services and Global Head of Banking and Capital Markets. Chris has worked across financial services for most of his career, including three years in New York as Head of the US Banking Audit Practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP". [Barclays.com]
This is also very prominent among the fashion industry. Leaders in all positions in high end retail seem to be continuously using their skills of expertise in numerous corporations. Such as, Prada's previous CEO of North America only held the title for two years before taking his skills elsewhere. Prior to having control of the corporations decisions in North America, he was the CEO of the Italian high-end jewelry company, Bulgari. Recently however, the fashion house - The Row has hired Mr. Kress as their Chief Operating Officer of the company. "Kress has been at Prada since 2010, having previously served as the CEO and managing director of Bulgari. The selection of such a powerful player from a high-profile brand is a bold move for The Row" [HuffingtonPost.com]
Although, I am sure not all leaders in one organization are unsuccessful when transferring their expertise to a different industry, it is however more often the case. This is portrayed within Samsungs' CEO, Kun-Hee Lee whom was extremely successful within Samsung, but unfortunately lacked success within a different industry. "Samsung’s CEO Kun-Hee Lee was so successful with electronics that he thought he could repeat this success with automobiles. He invested $5 billion in an already over saturated auto market. Why? There was no business case. Lee simply loved cars and had dreamed of being in the auto business." [Forbes.com]
Sources:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/26/the-row-hires-prada-ceo_n_1234310.html
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericjackson/2012/01/02/the-seven-habits-of-spectacularly-unsuccessful-executives/
As I mentioned earlier, it requires a very valuable skill set for one to successfully lead an organization in a profitable direction. I feel it is very difficult for that same individual to transfer their knowledge and innovation to a different field. For instance, an Account Executive in Advertising/Marketing requires creative, thoughtful media ideas for clients. Contrarily, a Managing Director on Wall Street requires creative, thoughtful ideas as well, however in the financial market. These two fields vary tremendously and it is extremely difficult for one to be a great leader in both these diverse categories. Basic business management skills are not sufficient to run a corporation effectively and positively. A leader requires expertise in the subject matter.
I feel the re-positioning of roles in an industry is extremely prominent in Banking. CEOs of employees of investment banks use their expertise of the subject and tend to transfer to multiple firms within their careers. This is portrayed in the role of Barclays' Group Finance director, Chris Lucas who was previously employed by PriceWaterHouseCoopers LLP prior to bringing his expertise in financial services of Barclays. "Chris joined the Board on 1 April 2007. Chris came from professional services company PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, where he was UK Head of Financial Services and Global Head of Banking and Capital Markets. Chris has worked across financial services for most of his career, including three years in New York as Head of the US Banking Audit Practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP". [Barclays.com]
This is also very prominent among the fashion industry. Leaders in all positions in high end retail seem to be continuously using their skills of expertise in numerous corporations. Such as, Prada's previous CEO of North America only held the title for two years before taking his skills elsewhere. Prior to having control of the corporations decisions in North America, he was the CEO of the Italian high-end jewelry company, Bulgari. Recently however, the fashion house - The Row has hired Mr. Kress as their Chief Operating Officer of the company. "Kress has been at Prada since 2010, having previously served as the CEO and managing director of Bulgari. The selection of such a powerful player from a high-profile brand is a bold move for The Row" [HuffingtonPost.com]
Although, I am sure not all leaders in one organization are unsuccessful when transferring their expertise to a different industry, it is however more often the case. This is portrayed within Samsungs' CEO, Kun-Hee Lee whom was extremely successful within Samsung, but unfortunately lacked success within a different industry. "Samsung’s CEO Kun-Hee Lee was so successful with electronics that he thought he could repeat this success with automobiles. He invested $5 billion in an already over saturated auto market. Why? There was no business case. Lee simply loved cars and had dreamed of being in the auto business." [Forbes.com]
Sources:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/26/the-row-hires-prada-ceo_n_1234310.html
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericjackson/2012/01/02/the-seven-habits-of-spectacularly-unsuccessful-executives/
Thursday, November 15, 2012
HRM
I began working as a hostess in a seafood restaurant located in Edgewater, New Jersey in the summer of 2009. The restaurant is rather popular in the summer, due to its scenic view of Manhattan. A few of my friends were working there at the time and it was a more pleasurable working environment. The restaurant is rather large and has a large bar area, which leads to the main floor dining area. There is also outdoor seating, which has a beautiful view of Manhattan, as well as a banquet/party room located on the second floor. This is a very large area for a hostess to have control over, especially when there is only two individuals working at the hostess stand. For the majority of the time, there would be three individuals at the hostess stand. One would have control over phone reservations as well as the waiting list (if one was needed at the time). The second person would be referred to as the "greeter" and would greet the patrons as well as inform them of the waiting time. The third person was referred to as the "seater" and would seat the patrons in order of the waiting list, as well as do a mental table check. This is where the flaw occurred, it was very difficult to seat the patrons and parties of guests as well as pay close attention to what tables were about to cleared or were on their last course. Due to the large area of the restaurant, it is not an easy task to seat individuals on the second floor as well as the outdoor patio, while attempting to hurry back to the host stand to seat the next waiting guests.
After bringing this to the attention of management, they agreed to hire an additional hostess for Friday and Saturday evenings. Unfortunately, this further worsened the situation. I would often find the fellow "seater" approaching the same table I was bringing my party to as well. There was a very big gap in verbal communication. Although this only happened a few times, it was a few times too many. Communication between the hostesses was also lacking in other areas. When the restaurant approached high levels of waiting times - greater than an hour, it became very chaotic. We would find ourselves cleaning the table areas, in order to reduce the wait times, and seat the agitated guests. This caused further confusion between one another. When we left our designated roles, it applied further pressure on our co-workers. For instance, if the "greater" left the host stand, the "seater" would have to seat, as well as greet customers. It is very easy to become forgetful and panic in this type of high pressure environment. Hiring of an additional host was not the efficient solution to the restaurants dilemma, hiring additional staff was needed. If additional bus boys (cleaners of the restaurant tables) were hired, hostesses would not feel the pressure to clean the tables themselves, as well as leave the host stand.
Unfortunately, it was more of a management issue. Very poor management was exercised at the restaurant and we would often be managing ourselves in times of need. There was a lack of communication between ourselves as hostess as well as with the restaurant staff. Due to the size of the restaurant it was very difficult to communicate with fellow employees. I tried to convince management that walkie-talkie headphone devices were needed and it would be very sufficient to communicate with each other through it. However, being a corporately owned restaurant, upper management did not approve. Thankfully, I left the restaurant and its stressful nights behind last summer. The money being made was not worth the aggravation as well as working holidays. Management should hire additional bus boys, as well as contribute themselves more to the guests. Being available to the staff and guests is extremely important in this working environment.
After bringing this to the attention of management, they agreed to hire an additional hostess for Friday and Saturday evenings. Unfortunately, this further worsened the situation. I would often find the fellow "seater" approaching the same table I was bringing my party to as well. There was a very big gap in verbal communication. Although this only happened a few times, it was a few times too many. Communication between the hostesses was also lacking in other areas. When the restaurant approached high levels of waiting times - greater than an hour, it became very chaotic. We would find ourselves cleaning the table areas, in order to reduce the wait times, and seat the agitated guests. This caused further confusion between one another. When we left our designated roles, it applied further pressure on our co-workers. For instance, if the "greater" left the host stand, the "seater" would have to seat, as well as greet customers. It is very easy to become forgetful and panic in this type of high pressure environment. Hiring of an additional host was not the efficient solution to the restaurants dilemma, hiring additional staff was needed. If additional bus boys (cleaners of the restaurant tables) were hired, hostesses would not feel the pressure to clean the tables themselves, as well as leave the host stand.
Unfortunately, it was more of a management issue. Very poor management was exercised at the restaurant and we would often be managing ourselves in times of need. There was a lack of communication between ourselves as hostess as well as with the restaurant staff. Due to the size of the restaurant it was very difficult to communicate with fellow employees. I tried to convince management that walkie-talkie headphone devices were needed and it would be very sufficient to communicate with each other through it. However, being a corporately owned restaurant, upper management did not approve. Thankfully, I left the restaurant and its stressful nights behind last summer. The money being made was not worth the aggravation as well as working holidays. Management should hire additional bus boys, as well as contribute themselves more to the guests. Being available to the staff and guests is extremely important in this working environment.
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