Work Integrated Learning Experiences’ Reflection
Learning experiences provides insights to the practicality of what we learn in class through practicing the lessons and watching other employees do the same. In that respect, work integrated learning experiences expose us to new ways of doing things on a daily basis as well as an opportunity to reflect on how work place practices conforms or differs with the lessons learnt.. In addition, we are able to reflect on the impact that the practices have on us as well as the impact we have on our work places. Further, the reflection helps us identify what could have been done better by us or others as demonstrated on the three reflective journals on my work experience as a Finance officer with BP covering the human resource, work place and customers related issues that i came across and experienced.
- Reflection on human resource issues
In the course of my work integrated learning in BP, human resource related aspects were among the issues that shaped my learning experience with the learning process as well as the identified issues relating to job descriptions as well as training being reflected on as follows.
Job descriptions
Job description is the key identification of a position’s responsibilities defining its needs in terms of suitable person’s qualifications and attributes. In addition, it also stipulates the roles of the person holding the position hence a key guide to employees’ functions. In that respect, my daily effort involved seeking to learn about the defined roles and practicing added roles that sought to aid related jobs operations. An example was seeking to enhance integration of the Finance accountant roles with those of a Strategic planner by identifying how the finance functions relate to strategic planning. (Bohlander & Snell, 2009)
However, I found the job description in the organization to differ from what I learn in class by failing to consider more than academic and experience qualifications for jobs. This would have included added requirements like personal traits and behaviors. In that respect, I found the job description applied to be inadequate hence a need to enhance it by defining the suitable personal traits and behavior characteristics that suit a specific job. In addition, the job description needed to include a description of various jobs relations in order to act as a guide towards employees’ cooperation in pursuit of the organization’s common goal. (Dessler, 2002)
Training
Training plays a key role in enhancing employees’ capacity to deliver results in an effective manner that seeks to enhance an organization’s performance and sustainability through achievement of set goals and objectives. In my learning role as a Finance officer, i participated and attended several training sessions relating to the specific job functions that sought to equip employees with necessary skills specific to their positions. In that respect, my daily practice involved identifying the relevant training programs that I needed to attend in order to enhance by performance. Thus, my effort was focused on acquiring more skills in the job area in order to improve myself with an objective of improving my service delivery as well as enhancing my career progress. (Dorgham, 2013)
However, in my training programs attendance and learning, I learnt that there were some mismatch between the organization’s practice and what I had learnt in class. I had learnt that training is a process that requires several considerations including among other factors; relevance, employees needs, cost and the program’s effectiveness. In that respect, the program did not employ a study on personal needs for training but rather offered generalized programs that targeted departments covering only specific functional skills. Thus, the practice did not take into account personal training needs which are a crucial aspect in identifying and developing effective training programs for employees. Further, the programs focused on functional skills and did not provide training on organizational objectives, goals and mission which I had learnt in class that they should be a part of the training program in order to enhance employees’ awareness of the organization’s direction and mission as the key common function that they should seek to serve. (Lajili, 2010)
In respect to suitability of the training programs that the organization offers, I find the program not to be comprehensive in terms of its coverage and considerations. With that there is a need for improvement in the way that the training programs are prepared and the areas of training that should be considered. Some of the considerations that should have been taken were identification of my training needs as a new employee in the organization. This would have provided a platform to tailor the training program to address the areas that new employees needs more training in. Further, the effort could have presented an opportunity for all employees to make the training programs more effective through suggestions that would help the Human resource management identify crucial training needs and most preferred methods. This can enhance training effectiveness as employees get trained on the skills they need most to deliver in their jobs as well as with application of suitable methods that enhance learning. (Dorgham, 2013)
Bibliography
Bohlander, G.W. & Snell, S.A. 2009. Managing Human Resources. 15th ed. Oklahoma
South-Western Cengage Lerning. ISBN-10: 0324593317, ISBN-13: 978-0324593310.
Dessler, G., 2002. Human Resource Management. 9th ed. London: Prentice Hall.
Dorgham, M.A., 2013. Education and Training. International Journal of Human Resources
Development and Management, ISSN print: 1465-6612, ISSN online: 1741-5160.
Lajili, K., 2010. Human Capital and Knowledge Governance. Journal of Strategic Change
Management, 2(4), pp. 312 -326.
- Reflection on work place issues
Work place issues shape our experiences within an organization with its various aspects including work place culture and ethics both of which were key learning points for me in the course of my work integrated learning experience with BP and whose issues are reflected on as follows.
Work place culture
Work place culture defines how people relate and view their work place as defined by various aspects including management style, physical environment, dress code, and business values inculcated in employees conduct. In that respect, I sought to learn the organizations aspects that define its culture through daily observations through which i learnt that the organization has a culture that supports among other things cooperation among work colleagues as well as enhances colleagues support for each other. Through this, it was easy to get guidance from my colleagues in terms of my functions as well as easily get the necessary cooperation from various departments which I needed in my role. With that, the culture provided motivation for me and enhanced my service delivery. On the other hand there were some businesses values that marked the work place with some being employees endeavor to improve service delivery on a daily basis. This marked employees’ practices and was enhanced through individuals’ effort in seeking better means of enhancing service delivery through application of creativity and skills. With that, I sought to improve my service delivery by seeking creative solutions around my job. (Bohlander & Snell, 2009)
Although the workplace reflected the organization’s culture, the management’s practice in reference to diversity management differed from what I learnt in class. In that respect, an organization needs to encompass diversity management as a result of differences in the employees involved considering that they have different global origins. Therefore, the company having international sourced manpower that reflects diverse cultures should have sought to harmonize its employees’ cultural differences. (Brakel, 2007)
In respect to what could have been done better, the organization needs to cultivate the culture of flexibility in its working schedule we could have been allowed discretion as to take our assignments for completion outside the office. This would be appropriate for roles that do not necessarily need employees’ presence in the work place and in consideration of the opportunities that technology and information systems provide. Thus, I could have been allowed to perform my duties outside the work place and only report to the workplace when necessary. This would have provided me and other employees’ flexibility in working hours and schedule that is crucial in achieving work life balance which is key in motivating and enhancing performance. On the other hand, I find that I should have contributed more to the work place culture’s enhancement had I sought to increase my participation in the corporate social responsibility related tasks. This could have helped the organization enhance its realization of CSR goals with the organization having a culture of social responsibility in its operations that requires employees to participate in community development focused programs. (Porter & Kramer 2011)
Work ethics
Work ethics determines the principles and standards that individuals and the organization in general applies in determining what is right and wrong practices. This relates to daily practices and how they are carried out in consideration of procedure and effects. In that respect, the work place was a reflection of ethical practices with employees including me being committed to upholding ethical conduct in service delivery. With that, I sought to learn the organizational practices and ethical code that defined what was acceptable practice and what was not. This involved ensuring that I did not compromise set standards in my service delivery and practicing honesty in my roles. (Brakel, 2007)
In that respect, I found the work place to practice what I learnt in class relating to ethical conducts in that organizations apply ethical practices as a means of enhancing their brand image in the market as well as a way of attracting suitable workforce. Therefore, the ethical code in the organization that defined what was acceptable conduct for employees and which defined the organizations operations’ effects on the society, was in line with class lessons on the need of ethical business conduct in the modern business world that not only focuses on profit maximization but also on sustainability that is bolstered on work ethics and acceptable practices. (Bohlander & Snell, 2009)
In respect to what could have been done better, I found that having more programs that motivate employees and address their personal needs through suitable training programs and career development would enhance the organization’s ethical conduct in respect to accountability, honesty and commitment to the organizational goals. This would address issues like employees’ time and resources allocation that would reflect ethical practices like allocation that is not focused on personal gain but rather for organizational benefit. (Porter & Kramer 2011)
Bibliography
Bohlander, G.W. & Snell, S.A. 2009. Managing Human Resources. 15th ed. Oklahoma
South-Western Cengage Lerning. ISBN-10: 0324593317, ISBN-13: 978-0324593310.
Brakel, A. 2007. The Moral Standard of a Company: Performing the norms of Corporate
Codes. International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics, 3(1), DOI: 10.1504/IJBGE.2007.011936.
Porter, M., & Kramer, M., 2011. Creating Shared Value. Harvard Business Review, 89(1/2),
pp. 62-77.
- Reflection on customers issues
Customers form the basis of any organization’s operations hence being a key aspect of organization’s management. (Dessler, 2002) In that respect, customer related issues including customer service challenges and customer-employees relations are among the key aspects that shaped my experience in the course of my work integrated learning in BP as reflected on below.
Customer service challenges
In the course of my learning, I encountered some issues that related to challenges in customer service which I sought to address on a daily basis. Some of the key challenges I faced included dealing with difficult customers who have demands that were beyond the organization’s service level agreement. With that, I had to learn how to serve customers and explain to them the scope of the organization’s service delivery in adressing their needs. This helped me in developing relationships with clients that were characterized by realistic expectations on what the organization could offer and what was not within the business capacity. The other customer service challenge that i faced was seeking to meet customers’ demands without compromising the organization’s standards. This involved daily learning of what procedures were for my role in order to ensure that I followed the stipulated procedure. (Dorgham, 2013)
Customer service is a key business function that seeks to establish long-term relationship with customers by addressing their concerns and ensuring that they have access to the desired service. In that respect, the organization has in place an effective customer service department through which we sought to provide solutions to customers on aspects of a diverse nature. In line with the lessons i learnt in class, the nature of customer service requires cooperation between various departments as a result of different skills and capacities needed in effectively addressing customers concerns. In that respect, the organization practices a centralized customer service where a customer can get a solution from a single department without unnecessary reference to different personals and departments but with coordination between the various departments concerned with a customer’s issue. This plays a great role in addressing customer service challenges like dealing with difficult customers and ensuring that we as employees did not compromise the organizational standards and procedures in addressing customer needs. (Bohlander & Snell, 2009)
However, there could have been an improvement in customer service if all employees were committed to effective service delivery that would reduce customer challenges like complaints. This would require commitment to learn the specific jobs roles which would enhance addressing customers’ needs hence no need for concerns over standards of service received. In addition, I could have taken more responsibility to undertake customer education in my service delivery which would have played a greater role in ensuring that customers understood the value and scope of the organizations services. (Lajili, 2010)
Other employees with customers
The learning process also involved observing other employees practices in relation to handling customers from which I sought to learn from the best practices. This helped me in picking and learning crucial customer care skills and practices like addressing customers’ feedback and handling customer complaints. (Bohlander & Snell, 2009)
In their encounter and relationships with customers, the organization’s employees were a representation of BP’s brand image. This was reflected in their commitment to deliver value guided by the organization’s value prepositions that seeks to create a brand that customers would want to identify with. Some of those values that were highly reflected in customers interactions and service and which I leant from included the need to listen to customer needs in order to deliver services that are tailored to suit their specific concerns. Other values were efficiency service delivery in terms of timing and cost considerations. (Dorgham, 2013)
In respect to learning from the other employees, I find that it would have been more effective had I been allocated specific persons who I would work with and from whose practices I would learn. This would have focused my effort more in learning the best practices in specific roles of interest which would have been better that being left to learn general roles for various jobs that characterized my learning experience as I was moved from departments and roles to others. (Bohlander & Snell, 2009)
Bibliography
Bohlander, G.W. & Snell, S.A. 2009. Managing Human Resources. 15th ed. Oklahoma
South-Western Cengage Lerning. ISBN-10: 0324593317, ISBN-13: 978-0324593310.
Dessler, G., 2002. Human Resource Management. 9th ed. London: Prentice Hall.
Dorgham, M.A., 2013. Education and Training. International Journal of Human Resources
Development and Management, ISSN print: 1465-6612, ISSN online: 1741-5160.
Lajili, K., 2010. Human Capital and Knowledge Governance. Journal of Strategic Change
Management, 2(4), pp. 312 -326.
