Selection

Selection is the process used to select the best person for the position available.  The purpose of selection is to gather as much information about the individual as possible then to evaluate that information and assess the candidate.  There are many different methods of selection such as:

·         Short listings from C.V’s

·         Interviews

·         Tests such as personality tests

·         Assessment centres

·         References

·         Work Simulations

·         Telephone screening

·         Graphology

·         Role play

·         Problem solving activities

Different companies will use different selection processes and maybe even two or three.  The company will choose the process which they believe is best for them and most cost effective.

B&Q uses the same process for both their part time jobs and full time managerial jobs.  The process they use is a telephone screening.  This is an automated voice which collects information about the individual and then asks a few questions which if asked correctly moves the individual on to the next stage of the selection process.  There is a problem with this method because you are able to phone several times and keep going through the process until the questions are answered correctly.  The next stage is a group interview where activities such as thinking of items B&Q sell for each letter of the alphabet after these activities individuals are then asked to stay behind for an individual interview.  Then candidate will be asked about what hours they can work, their knowledge on different departments of B&Q and what their current situation is.  Then the individual would be told if they have got the job or not. 

In 2007 one of B&Q interviewers asked candidates to dance to ‘blame it on the boogie’  which was probably used as a process to make individuals more at ease to ensure optimum performance during the interview however for some it may have the opposite effect.  Some saw it as an extremely offensive request saying ‘There is age discrimination - I wasn't even born when Blame it on the Boogie was released race discrimination - as an Irish man, my dancing is more Michael Flatley than Michael Jackson and, of course, on a more serious note, I'm surprised no-one has considered the implications for disabled applicants.’  An ex-employee describes the request as a way B&Q conveys its open, down to earth and fun culture.

In the three methods used by B&Q, telephone screening, group interview and individual interview there are benefits and disadvantages.  Telephone screening is very impersonal and the same person may phone up several times until they eventually get through therefore it is not a very successful process.  However it is a good method to keep numbers down and a cost effective method as no-one is being employed to communicate to the candidates.  Group interviews make candidate feel less pressure and therefore you tend to see more personality and is an opportunity to allow the individuals to get a feel of the culture of the organisation.  Group interviews are vital to see how people work with other individuals and within a team.  However this method does not allow the candidate to produce a 2-way conversation which would give them an opportunity to express their personality more.  This is why it is defiantly good that B&Q do an individual interview to confirm they have made the correct choose and the candidate can further impress the interviewer with past experiences or knowledge they have.

I have been involved in an interview for American Eagle a reasonably price fashion shop in America.  I took the application form back and the manager read it and interviewed me there and then on the shop floor.  It was not a formal interview and I did not realise I was going to be interviewed so was thrown in the deep end however it was really relaxed and I was able to be myself.  I was asked questions such as how would I describe American Eagle to my English friends back home who had never heard of it.  The interview system was not particularly professional however it showed how friendly and down to earth the employees of the shop were and conveyed a comforting yet fun atmosphere to work in.  I then worked there until I left to come back and live in England and they were very flexible when I wanted time off to go visit places in America.  Therefore the interview and selection was both positive for me and the employers and I was one of the staff that stayed there the longest, however it could have been the selection process that in turn resulted in such fast staff turnover.  If the selection process was more thorough they may have employed staff that were more committed to their job and would stay for longer periods of time. To improve the selection of American Eagle a group interview should probably be given and fun activities should be set in place to show the candidate it is a fun company to work for and to try and draw out the individuals personalities.  A short individual interview may want to be held with those chosen from the group interview to confirm they are the correct person for the job and then if suitable the job should be offered to them.  This process would be held by the managers of each individual shop and therefore would not be expensive for the company to hold the selection process.  As the process would be professional and the managers would have a selection of candidate to choose from the employees would be a lot more serious about their job and stay for longer.

A selection process can be very different in small businesses the selection process may be very quick with application forms being handed in and a short interview.  However for large companies and high demanding jobs the company usually spends thousands of pounds on the selection process to ensure the correct employee for the job.  These large selection processes may involve psychometric testing, interviews, telephone screenings and work simulations.  Whatever the process it needs to be a fair system without discrimination and giving every candidate the same opportunity.  Most methods of selection have pro’s and con’s and usually depend on the culture and background of the company to what process is chosen.

References:

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=167380

http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2007/01/23/38953/reader-responses-bq-dancing-at-interviews-row.html

http://www.ae.com/web/international/index_united_kingdom.jsp?_requestid=437366

Recruitment

'Recruitment is the process of identifying and hiring the best-qualified candidate (from within or outside of an organisation) for a job vacancy, in a most timely and cost effective manner,' (Business dictionary, 2011).  The aims of recruitment are to obtain a group of suitable candidate for vacant posts trough a fair process.  The recruitment process and activities must contribute to company goals in an efficient and cost-effective manner.

There are plentiful online recruitment sites which advertise jobs and courses.  www.prospects.ac.uk is a vibrant site which is well layout.  There are easy to read categories such as postgraduate jobs, student life and others.  There are drop down menus, pictures and adverts which keep the reader’s attention.  There is lots of advice and information for the client looking for work and the opportunity to take courses and learn as well as looking for a suitable job.  It is easily accessible to anyone with a computer and internet however there are lots of recruitments sites so knowing the best ones to visit is hard.   Also employers have many sites to post their adverts on so it would be wise to check a few.  Online recruitments systems don’t allow someone to show their personality and individuality and therefore an individual that may fit into an organisation but not into the job title may be lost.  It is also very impersonal and doesn’t give the individual an opportunity to express experiences they have been involved in that may really help with the job.  Online adverts allow a huge range of individuals to apply therefore allowing a much larger pool however it then also decreases the amount of chance of every individual making it a lot harder to get the job from an online advert.

The army’s recruitment campaign has many different methods of inviting people into that occupation.  They advertise on the internet, through television adverts, careers events and media such as newspapers.  They often attend schools, colleges and careers events aims to young adults and teenagers.  There are also offices within shopping centres where you can sign up or go for a careers interview where they will explain the different departments and opportunities within the army.  They have a very well-known phrase ‘Army, be the best’ which is conveyed in every advertisement.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2oEa0SLeiY&feature=related.  One of the Army’s campaigns in 2007 was designed to encourage both women and ethnic minorities to apply as it is seen as a male career, however with over 140 different trades the army want to discard this stereotype.  ‘The British army is launching a new recruitment campaign aimed at attracting more ethnic minority and women soldiers, featuring online personality tests and a new TV and radio advertising campaign.’ (Rob Watson)  By re-branding the army as one, both regular and territorial, and making it more attractive to both women and ethnic minorities the army made their recruitment process more customer based.  It employed methods such as online applications, personality tests and tools to test the motivational profile of individuals.  Other methods that could have been used to advertise to women are showing more females already employed by the army, promote family days and offer nursery’s on bases.

The army is able to offer over 1000 jobs and many different careers.  There is the option of regular army and territorial, which gives the opportunity of flexible hours and there are many benefits when being part of the forces e.g married quarters.  It is a great way to gain life experience and learn lasting skills.  The army’s recruitment centres are everywhere and its jobs are constantly being advertised.  The adverts really draw its audience in with real people, dramatic music and excitement, the forces have a level of respect and many want to be a part of it as they are representing their country.

The advantages and disadvantages of online recruitment:

Advantages

·         Cost effective- putting an advert on a company’s website does not cost anything and putting it on an agencies website is relatively cheap as well.

·         It’s a quick method- as soon as the job is posted it is available to its audience and individuals can apply.

·         It is available to a larger audience- online recruitment sites are now a regular process involved in most peoples job hunting methods. 

·         It is an easy process- individuals simply upload their C.V usually with the help of user friendly direction where little I.T. knowledge is needed.

Disadvantages

·         So many candidates- with online recruitment agencies there usually aren’t a limit of applicants only a period of time it is available for.  This therefore means the amount of candidates is very large as the internet allows the advert to be seen by millions.  This therefore makes the chances of achieving the job role a lot harder and creates a lot more competition for the hopeful job hunter.

·         It is not suitable for all job roles- some jobs just will not be able to be filled through online recruitment and other methods such as recruitment consultants or head hunters will need to be used.  This is usually the case for highly respected jobs with a very specific job requirements, skills and knowledge.  However for some selection processes online recruitment is only the first step and interviews and other methods will be used later on in the process.

References

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/newsenglish/witn/2007/04/070411_army.shtml

www.prospects.ac.uk

http://www.whatjobsite.com/Online%20Recruitment:%20Advantages%20and%20disadvantages.htm

Equal Opportunities and Diversity

Equal opportunities and diversity are two different things.  ‘Equal opportunities is described as the absence of discrimination, as in the workplace, based on race, colour, age, gender, national origin, religion, or mental or physical disability,’ Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. (2011).  Diversity is the state of being diverse; variety, a range of different things, Dictionary.com (2011).  A company needs diversity and individuality as if everyone had similar personalities conflict would occur, individuals with different backgrounds, experiences and cultures tend to have different ideas which would help expand the creativity of an organisation.  Therefore it is key to have a variety of different individuals in an organisation however the individual needs to fit into the team and the job title.  Equal opportunities remove discrimination and are seen as a human resources issue. 

The legislation supporting equal opportunities has increased over the years.  Listed below are legal acts that are enforced in the U.K which deal with harassment and discrimination.

The Equal Pay Act 1970 amended (1983)- This act ensures that persons of the opposite sex in the same employment are being provided with the same pay when doing like work, work is rated as equivalent, and work is proved as equal value.  However if an employer can prove the difference in pay or benefits are not gender related then this act is not relevant.

Sex Discrimination Act 1975 amended (1986)- This act applies to persons of both genders and all ages including children.  It prohibits sex discrimination in employment, education and the provision of goods, services and facilities. It also stops victimisation to those who have exercised their rights in the Equal Pay Act 1970.

Sexual Orientation Act 2003- This act makes it illegal to discriminate on the ground of sexual orientation in the supply of goods, facilities and services.  This regulation positively impacts those of a lesbian, gay and bisexual community.

Disability Discrimination Act 1995 amended (2003)- This act gave disabled people new opportunities in employment, access to goods, facilities and services, education and public transport.  The requirements were to ensure ‘reasonable requirements’ were provided in organisations and service providers e.g. ramps.  The 2003 amendment provided changes to employment provisions.  The Disability Discrimination Act 2005 was then designed to extend and clarify the rights of disabled people.  It extended the definition of disability, gave protection to those in the public service and introduced house adaptation regulations.

Race Regulations Act 1976 amended (2000)- This act makes is unlawful to discriminate against someone because of their race, colour, ethnicity, nationality and citizenship.  The amended act included public authorities had to promote racial equality. The 2003 Act incorporated the E.U. Race Directive which further focused on equality between those of different race.

Religion or Belief Regulations Act 2003- This act protects individuals from discrimination and harassment about their religion while at work.  It includes employment relationship, recruitment, pay, training, working conditions, promotion and dismissal.

Age Regulations Act 2006- These made ageism, age prejudice and age-based decisions in the workplace unlawful and covers direct and indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation.

Stereotypes of older and younger people:

 To help stop these stereotypes organisations need to try and change the attitudes of staff by running courses on equal opportunities and discrimination.  This should be seen as a team building activity while at the same time educating employees on these subjects.  If the course is fun employees would be more willing to get involved and it may open people’s minds to how some people are affected by such discriminations.  Another method to help employees more aware would be to get involved in events such as Equal Rights - Access for All, 17-25 March 2001, European-wide Action Week against Racism.  Organisations around Europe get involved with activities such as making special T.V. programmes and cleaning wall of racist slogans.   This would be a great opportunity for employees to get out the office and help others while opening their eyes to the discrimination that occurs in their country.

  

ASDA had a benchmark to increase the amount of staff aged over 50 from 15.4% up to 20% this was to support the company’s values and the staff were a good representative of their customer base as all ages use ASDA as their local store.  ASDA has a good history of employing elder staff compared to other superstores however it’s still not good enough for them.  To increase this percentage they removed the age requirement of job applications asking an age and abolished the retirement at 65 restrictions.  This then made it possible for the elder to stay working at ASDA easily however they needed to increase the amount of over 50’s to apply therefore they advertised grandparent and Benidorm leave.  This leave ‘allows all employees with grandchildren to take a seven-day break after the birth of a child. Those wanting to help further with the new arrival can take up to three months' unpaid extended leave at any given time in addition to their holiday entitlement.’ (Nicole Martin, 2000).  Benidorm leave is ‘up to three months unpaid leave regardless of job, contracted hours or length of employment while treating service as continuous.’ (Laterlife.com).  Other ways they have promoted the ‘Goldies’ campaign ‘is to send recruitment teams to coffee mornings, pension queues, bingo halls and other places where they reckon seniors hang out.’ (Laterlife.com)  The ‘Goldies’ campaign is targeting individuals who have celebrated their personal golden anniversary (over 50’s).  In stores there have been rewards for stores that go that extra mile with the campaign, briefings to the whole company as well as in store briefings and held events such as tea dances and open days.  The campaign was extremely successful not only increase the number of elder employers but also bettering the company with results such as ‘absenteeism drop to levels that are a third lower than its national average; labour turnover rates at one per cent less than ASDA average and a more flexible and better motivated workforce.’ (Laterlife.com). 

REFERENCES:

http://www.gos.gov.uk/497296/docs/347293/347303/356449/WEB_LEGISLATION_1.pdf 

 http://www.unitedagainstracism.org/pages/InfoARW_01.htm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5298164.stm

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1375383/Asda-offers-its-staff-grandparent-leave.html
http://www.laterlife.com/laterlife-asda.htm

Teamwork

Teamwork is defined as ‘the combined action of a group of people, especially when effective and efficient.’ (Oxford Dictionary, 2009).  Teams or groups can be formed at work, friendship groups or sometimes strangers can be placed together to perform an action or activity; depending on the situation the group will be formal, informal, permanent or temporary.

A successful team I have been involved in is the cheerleading squad.  There is a team of 35 for competition and we have to all work together to produce a clean, well-choreographed and spectacular routine.  Last competition we received a trophy which was a reward of our hard work and commitment.  A relevant theory that can be identified in such a large group is Belbins team roles theory.  Belbins (1993) team role theory is based on the position within a group that a person will take.   It’s the skills at which they are best at performing and the way in which they behave and interact within a team.  All the individuals of the squad show one or more of the team roles and take on different responsibilities when working in the cheerleading team.  Within Belbin’s theory there are nine different roles that may be observed in a team working together.

 The nine roles are:

The first team role is a ‘plant’ they are identified as the plant as the individual is ‘planted’ within the team and is usually creative and good at solving problems in unusual yet affective ways. 

The second is the monitor evaluator; this is the individual that is logical thinking and can make rational judgements and weigh up options without letting excitement or passion get in the way.  This role is almost the opposite of the plant.

Another role is the co-ordinators role within the team.  This role includes keeping objectives in mind and being able to assign members to specific tasks and keep the team organised and on task.

The role of Resource investigator is to use contacts and links to investigate the competition or use their knowledge to make sure the project is able to fit into the outside world.  They are a good communicator and able to utilise information to the max.

Implementers are practical hands on individuals that use their strategic minds to insure the project or product will work efficiently.

Completers or Finishers are the individuals that will edit a piece of work or run through a presentation over and over again to ensure it is to the best standard it can be.  The will polish the work and pick up any errors or imperfections.

Shapers are individuals that keep the team motivated and on task, encouraging them and keeping them focused.

The final role is the ‘specialist’ this team member is the one with the expert knowledge in an area within the task.  Their knowledge usually makes them of rather high authority within the team however they do have a tendency to dwell on their specialist subject and not the whole task at hand.

All roles may not be present within a team however a team will succeed a lot better if there is a balance of almost all the roles.  I feel the cheer team is so successful because so many of the roles are apparent within the team making it well balanced.  Some people show the same team roles which may sometimes cause conflict but there is always a shaper to remind the group to focus on the goals of the sport.

Bruce Tuckman developed his theory ‘Team stages model’ in 1965.  It is a basis for team building and leadership and is backed up by extensive research.  Some of his studies include reviewing members of the U.S Navy, small group behaviour and analysing articles on group development.  Tuckmans teamwork theory is divided into four main sections ‘Forming,’ ‘Storming,’ ‘Norming,’ and ‘Performing.’  Tuchmans theory helps us understand that a team needs to evolve to develop and helps us understand how a team will handle a problem when at different stages of evolution.  However the theory is very linear and some groups can ‘loop’ when working for a long period of time.

Forming is when the team first interacts with one another and begin to establish their position by sizing one another up.  Generally people are quite guarded and it takes a while for the team to feel comfortable therefore the focus on work is very little.

Storming is the stage at which the team begin to challenge one another for a task or question one another’s ability.  At this stage typically there is conflict and the focus of the task is lost. 

Norming is the stage at which the team has established rules and a sense of organisation.  They fit into their roles and the focus is on the task and progress is made. 

Performing is when both the relationship of the member and the focus on the task are equal and the team are working together. At this final stage the work is being produced efficiently and usually at a good standard.

One of the most academic teams I have been a part of has been a team of three when writing an assignment about motivation.  The team included Harry Young, Gina McCaffrey and myself.  The team did not seem to follow Tuckman’s theory however this may have been that as individuals we already knew one another and as a class already form a group so we did not pass through the forming and storming stages as we already anticipated one another’s personalities and actions.  The intensity of the group working together was not much as we did not spend much time together and the importance of the task was not extremely high therefore the pressure on group members was not enough to cause stress and conflict.  Even without passing through the stages of Tuckmans theory and not spending large amounts of time together to write the assignment a well written piece of work was produced which was rewarded with a respectable grade, showing a degree of success.

Employees of P3 the best company to work for according to The Sunday Times survey must be so successful because of its teamwork.  As it is a charity there will be low wages and employees will not be motivated by monetary materials but by the atmosphere and feeling of achievement developed by the team.  P3 is a company based around people, potential and possibility.  It has been up and running for 40years, successfully helping vulnerable people in the most deprived places in the U.K.  The Sunday times describes P3’s success as ‘P3's victory lies not in big pay and bonuses — the average salary of a support worker is just over £17,000 and only six of the 262 staff earn more than £35,000 — but rather in its supportive, inclusive culture which promotes control, choice and independence for staff as well as clients.’ (Sue Leonard, 2010)  This is strongly supported by the Chief executive Martin Kinsella saying: ‘People who come to work for us do not want to make a million pounds or be the next X Factor winner but to do something to make a difference.’  Employees love working for the company and get a real sense of achievement out of it. They are supported by all superior staff and often enjoy teambuilding and training days, making employees feel up to speed with the latest information.

Hitting the number two spot of the best company to work for is company Luminus, a community housing company.  Luminus is involved in all aspects of housing and with a small workforce of 287 it is obvious each employee works extremely hard and is stimulated and inspired by the work they do.  Ranking second in the Sunday times survey strongly suggests each team feels like a small family and to further these bonds the Chief executive of the company organises a luminous conference involving, ‘the winner of our special award for leadership. Birthdays and achievements are celebrated and feedback from customers is read out. Thank-you dinners, letters from Abraham, and £25 and £50 rewards are given to hard-working employees who go the extra mile.’ (Sunday times, 2010)  The relationship between employees shows great teamwork and the openness between the Chief executive and other employees makes them feel appreciated as he wants then to share ideas and comments with him.  There are opportunities for employees to improve their skills with ‘The training budget allocates an average of £509 per employee every year. There is a range of opportunities on offer, from NVQs to a leadership academy, and personal development courses run by experts in the workforce such as photography and the good food club.’ (Sunday times, 2010)  Employees are extremely happy here with a good balance between work and home life explaining why Luminus achieved rank two in such a survey.

References

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/career_and_jobs/best_100_companies/article7030218.ece

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/career_and_jobs/best_100_companies/best_100_tables/

Personality

There are many debates about whether personality is nomothetic, a fixed behaviour when born or idiographic, moulded through experiences and environment.  Scientists still cannot determine which is correct and therefore many people’s opinions are different.  ‘Personality is the relatively stable, consistent, and distinctive set of mental and emotional characteristics a person exhibits when alone, or when interacting with people and his or her external environment.’(Business Dictionary, 2011.)  Personality traits are characteristics that describe an individual’s personality; the traits may have different degrees of strength to make a mix and therefore a unique personality for each individual.  Two opposite personalities that are commonly referred to are ‘Extrovert’ and ‘Introvert’; an introvert individual will have traits such as calm, likes being alone, quiet and shy, where as an extrovert individual will have traits such as sociable, active, expressive and risk taking.  There are many other traits and theorists have tried to breakdown traits and explain personality and have discovered ways to test it. I feel personality is developed through different experiences throughout life.  I think people may have a bad characteristic and then realise this from an argument or incident and feel they want to change themselves into a better person, I believe this is possible and personalities can change.  I also think if a child is brought up in a certain culture they will respect this culture to a certain degree and this will mould their personality for the future.  I also think everyone’s personality changes from when they were a child into adolescence, maybe not through a huge change but with experience and responsibility a person has to grow up and develop therefore either strengthening traits within their personality or developing new ones.

The Myers-Briggs type indicator is a very popular personality assessment; it involves 100questions and results in 16 different personality types.  Individual are categorised into:

·         Extroverted v introverted  E/I

·         Sensing v intuitive               S/N

·         Thinking v feeling                T/F

·         Judging v perceiving            J/P

Extroverted = outgoing, sociable

Introverted = quiet, shy

Sensing        = practical, organised

Intuitive      = look at bigger picture

Thinking      = reason and logical

Feeling        = felling and emotions

Judging       = controlling, ordered, structure

Perceiving  = flexible, spontaneous

From the 8 different personality traits, 16 different personality types can be established, for example:

ESTJ- Organisers = realistic, logical, analytical and decisive, natural leaders in business.  They like to organise and run activities.

This questionnaire is easy to carry out and gives a developed answer for each individual, however 100 questions may take some people a while to fill out.  It is a system that is used widely and therefore must be very successful for those that are using it already.

Here is Eysenck’s personality types:

This model is an easy to read method of showing different personalities and what mix of traits they contain.  For example and emotionally stable introvert is calm, careful, reliable, event-tempered ect.  It is visually easy to understand however this model does not tell each individual what they are a person would have to pick out what they think their traits are and then the model will suggest they are introvert or extrovert.  A questionnaire would have to be taken before which would determine which personality they have.

Other theories are the ‘Big 5 Model’ this is made up of the 5 traits:

Extraversion- gregarious, warm, positive versus quiet, reserved, shy.

Agreeableness – straightforward, compliant, sympathetic versus quarrelsome, oppositional and unfeeling.

Conscientiousness – achievement-oriented, dutiful, self-disciplined versus frivolous, irresponsible, disorganised.

Neuroticism – anxious, depressed, self-conscious versus calm, contented, self-assured.

Openness – creative, open-minded, intellectual versus unimaginative, traditional, narrow minded.

The big 5 model is the personality test I took on the BBC website it took 20minutes and gave a very detailed results video.  My results are shown below:

The results show I am mainly extroversion and agreeableness, this would suggest I am an active individual that is conscious of the people around me.  I feel this is correct and I do like to be social and have people around me however when meeting new people I can sometimes be shy.  I also like to be spontaneous which is a trait of and extrovert however I plan everything in advance which gives me little opportunity to be spontaneous especially as I hate it when my plans are not followed.  I am very low in openness which shocked me however listening to the result I understood that I am reasonably traditional and rather unimaginative.  I see things the way they are and generally don’t think any more about it where as many other people analyse and go into deep thought about things such as how the world got here and different experiences they have been involved in.  Another result was medium neuroticism, again I was rather shocked however I feel medium is rather suitable as my emotions fluctuate and therefore sometimes I will be extremely calm about something and then in other situations I will be anxious, nervous and rather worked up about things.  I do sometimes suddenly flip and become very neurotic.  My last result conscientiousness I am pleased with as I feel I am a conscientious person and am self-disciplined when I need to be and like to achieve things.  I feel the results of this test are rather accurate and I also learnt something about my personality so generally a successful assessment.

Such a test could be used in a recruitment process, before promotion and for development and training.  It is a relatively fast process and employees would enjoy discovering more about their personalities.  It allows employers to establish which individuals would fit into the team and organisation better and which individuals want to achieve and are more energetic and therefore will want to help the company be more successful.  The advantages of such a process are that it is consistent and the same for each applicant.  It is a process that gets through a large amount of individuals quickly and for those that are successful is gives questions that the interview can be based on.  It is a cost effective system and means employers will not judge the applicants by appearance.  However this form of assessment would mask a disability and is very impersonal.  The process may also eliminate someone who would fit into the organisation well but not the job role and may also pick someone that could have a personality clash in the organisation as to many of the same personality can cause conflict.

Personality is the characteristics and traits that make an individual who they are.  Whether the personality is taught through experiences (nurture) or is fixed for each individual (nature) it is vital and different for each and every one of us.  Employers have now started using personality test to establish whether a candidate will fit well into the culture of an organisation and also the demands of the job, this is a successful process however a recruitment, promotion, development or redundancy process should not only be based on these results other methods such as interview will need to be explored as well.  Personality test not only tell the employer about an individual but also allows and individual to explore and understand their characteristics and also teach them how to use certain traits positively.

References:

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/personality.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.trans4mind.com/personality

Perception and Communication

Perception is ‘The process by which individuals organise and interpret their sensory impression in order to give meaning to their environment,’ Robbins et al (2010.) Everyone has either been perceived or perceived someone as something they’re not and the commonly used quote, ‘don’t judge a book by its cover,’ is an easy and understandable way to explain perception.  Perception is influenced by all five senses: sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch.  Through these senses the perceiver will absorb the situation and make a judgement and opinion about someone, something or somehow.  Sometimes people make the wrong decision about someone from a hasty decision through perception and in turn their perception changes.  There are many types of perception: visual, sensory, colour, depth and form perception.

 Perception Theory

The psychology of perception interoperates it as an active process which follows on from the passive process of sensations.  This is a passive process as it is an automatic process which is performed subconsciously and is the process of the senses bringing information from the outside world into the body and brain.  After the senses collecting the information it is the active process of perception where the brain selects, organises and interoperates the information.  To create a final perception processes are used to decide what is meaningful and relevant in the situation the individual is in.  Selective attention is the process where an individual discriminates between what is important and what is irrelevant to them in the situation they are in.  For example students sat in a class room will be concentrating on the teacher whereas students walking by may focus on the students sat in the class, who the teacher may be or even the decoration of the class room, not the same thing as the students being taught.  Another thought process that influences your perception is perception expectancy this is built up from past experiences, cultures and biological make up.  For example an Englishman would look at a road and expect to see cars and motorbikes, not planes however an individual from another country may not recognise a road and be shocked to see such a thing.  These processes are called Psychophysics and are the study of how physical stimuli are translated into psychological experience.

The diagram to the left interoperates perception in a classic neural theory, although a scientific diagram the psychology of the process is easy to see as well.  The first step is the outside world that is picked up by the receptors and processed through senses which creates perceptions which is influenced by sensation which are the expectancy perception.  The perception then creates feelings and opinions about the person or object.

My perceptions

I have made a perception of many people before and often been wrong.  This is very apparent with a friend at university.  When I first saw her in the opposite room at Brook street halls I saw a hysterical woman shouting, screaming and moaning about where her things were and what everyone else was doing.  My first impression was shock at how loud and outgoing and even rude this person was and I remember saying ‘well I’m going to hate her!’  After just a few days and university living with her she became a friend.  Although what I saw of Caroline and the way she was acting induced my perception it was because of the stressful situation she was in that made her act that way.  My think about the situation and the different emotions she would have been feeling as she was in the process of moving into halls.  Although Caroline is a loud and still sometimes moans I have now seen a person that is fun and kind and will do anything to help you out.  This shows you should not always trust first instincts as you could be missing out on a really rewarding friendship.  To stop myself from making judgements of someone before getting to know them, I would consider the situation they were in and how I would act in that situation because I may do the same.  Also make sure I communicate with the person and they might explain why they are acting that way. 

Using perception within companies

Organisation need to used different methods to convey messages about their business aims and targets to different audiences.  Staff need to know the companies aims inside out so they are able to communicate them to all ages and this is what the challenge created by the company Unilever was trying to achieve.  Their staff had to explain the company’s goals to a room full of children and pitch it in a way the children would understand and be interested.  The companies goals explained in the next paragraph are those of ‘petpals ‘a company that offers an alternative to kennel boarding or catteries.  They offer pet boarding, pet sitting and dog walking services. http://www.petpals.com/

HAVE YOU GOT ANY ANIMALS?

HOW MANY AND WHAT ARE THEIR NAMES?

ARE THEY YOUR BEST FRIEND?

References

http://www.alleydog.com/101notes/s&p.html

http://home.earthlink.net/~icedneuron/EN_SensationPerception.htm

http://www.petpals.com/

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.mscareergirl.com/

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.whitedovebooks.co.uk/