Week 10 EOC: My plans

In my not so distant future I hope to one day open a 1920’s themed restaurant that operates in Hollywood. In order to achieve this goal, I need to do a few things first. The first and primary thing is to make a name for myself in the culinary world. To do this I need to have great job that gets me in the view of people. With being a popular chef for the people, it will gain me a crowd that will be enticed to come to my restaurant. The other thing that I must accomplish is to build and find finical equity that could help give me a chance to get a loan from the bank. Once both of these things are accomplished I can start to look for a location in the area surrounding Hollywood. Once I find an area that I believe has good financial and foot traffic I will have to build the restaurant. While it is being built the menu can be tested out and messed with so that it will be profitable. Once the location is built I have planned to pay off my loan within 5 years.

Week 9 EOC:The Apartment

In the movie The Apartment we see many Human resource related issues. They are in the form of Sexual Harassment and Hostile Workplace Harassment; we see this in many forms and must look at two key instances. The first is sexual harassment; we see this in the elevator when one of the manager's smacks Fran Kubelick on the bum. This is blatant sexual harassment and should be reported to an HR personal, she could even hire a lawyer to make a case for her to sue the company. On top of this is that many of the managers talk about her not sleeping with any of the managers that have tried to engage her their dating relationship outside of work, and purely based off her looks they say she is not a "classy broad". The instance of Hostile Workplace Harassment occurs when Mr. Sheldrake threatens to demote, and later fire, C.C. Baxter unless he, Baxter, gives Sheldrake the key to his apartment to use for a liaison with a woman. This is a form of blackmail and quid pro quo; Sheldrake offer either promotion or termination unless he receives the key, Baxter could take this instance to a higher up manager or form a lawsuit against the company. Both of these instances are prime example of the HR issues of sexual harassment and hostile workplace environment. 

Week 8 EOC: 9 to 5

While a very hysterical movie 9 to 5 presents many nuances of Human Resource related issues. The first issue is insufficient training; we see this in action when Judy Bernly is taught to use the Xerox machine, the "training" was all of 2 minutes this is an insufficient training practice that lead to paper wastage and misuse of office supplies. . Training means giving new or current employees the skills that they need to perform their jobs, such as showing new salespeople how to sell your product. Training might involve having the current jobholder explain the job to the new hire, or multi-week classroom or Internet classes. Another instance of improper training is when Judy is trying to use the rolodex and operate the phone, this leads to her hanging up on someone and spilling the call cards for the company on the floor. The secondary issue we witness is hostile work environment. This is evident in that Violet Newstead warns Judy about Roz who eavesdrops and informs Mr. Hart about the gossip and other such that leads to people being terminated from work. Another instance of hostile work place is how Mr. Hart misleads the entire office into believing that he and Doralee are having an affair; this leads to the other woman in the department treating her with disdain and creates an environment of resent ment and contempt for Doralee. The final evidence of hostile work place is when Mr. Hart threatens to have Judy, Violet, and Doralee arrested if Doralee does not sleep with him. This is a form of blackmail and quid pro quo all in one. This kind of harassment would lead to having any one appear before court.

Dessler, Gary. Human Resource Management, 15th Edition. Pearson Learning Solutions, 2016. [The Art Institutes]. Pg. 235

Week 7 EOC: Prisoners and Veterans

In ever expanding nature of our world we often find in the employment of two major groups in the culinary industry, veterans and prison parolees. Both have a major human resource impact. Primarily focusing on veterans now; they have vast scoop of experience in life however it may not be in the field of everyday jobs or may not be geared towards the culinary industry. When interviewing a veteran, the best thing to do is to ask about any experience they may have that could relate to the firm, in the case of the culinary industry it may how many times they were on kitchen patrol or is they had to spend any time as a CS (culinary specialist). Other interview questions may be on how well they feel that they could fit in to the environment of the firm, in the case of the culinary industry the fraternity that is the military lends itself well to environment that is prevalent in the kitchen. Now to look at paroles; many places have issues hiring parolees and some places out right do not hire them. Often times it is due to the fact that they are a parolee and not their crime. For the culinary industry often times parole hires are the ones that were not imprisoned for serious crimes but that were imprisoned for mandatory minimums. If the parolee was in for theft or violence often they won't be hire for culinary industry. When interviewing a parolee often the best way to go about the interview is looking for behavioral patterns and do a background check on their crime.  One thing that many firms are doing nowadays is creating volunteer groups for local causes. In the case of veterans is may be helping them build a proper resume or lending aid to help them during the interview process with mock interviews. For paroles it could be holding weekly skill building exercises at the prisons. Into days job market we see many veterans and parolees that are seeking employment.

Week 6 EOC: Analysis of Girls Episode Free Snacks

In the episode Free Snacks of the show Girls there are many Human Resources issues that are evident. The first instance is when Hannah starts to work at GQ she is not shown anything about the office. She is simple told to go to her desk and work, she is not given a tour of the office or told how to operate any of the office appliances she is merely left to fend for herself. Another issue of HR is when Hannah and Joe are having water cooler gossip. The issue with having office cooler gossip is that if anyone over hears it they could take it out of context and cause all kinds of office related issues and drama. The main issue in this case is her talking about the fact she thinks one of the coworkers hates her, the issue here is that having a preconceived notion like that can cause relations in the office to be soured making projects either take longer or never get accomplished. The final HR related issue is when Hannah and Joe use the office phone to communicate with each other and not for office related purpose. The issue here is twofold; first by using phone to gossip it ties up the line and prevents anyone from calling them for office issues or to contact other in the office, and secondly it is a waste of office supplies and falls under misuse and misconduct that can lead to the firing of both and their manager for allowing it to occur.

Week 5 EOC: Still Cheerful

An HR related joke:Order Of Operations

The sales chief, the HR chief, and the boss of a company are on their way to lunch when they stumble upon a beat up, but valuable looking brass container.

The sales chief picks it up and starts cleaning it with his handkerchief. Suddenly, a genie emerges out of a curtain of purple smoke. The genie is grateful to be set free, and offers them each a wish.

The HR chief is wide-eyed and ecstatic. She says, “I want to be living on a beautiful beach in Jamaica with a sailboat and enough money to make me happy for the rest of my life.”

Poof! She disappears.

The sales chief says, “I want to be happily married to a wealthy supermodel with penthouses in New York, Paris, and Hong Kong.”

Presto! He vanishes.

“And how about you?” asks the Genie, looking at the boss. The boss scowls and says, “I want both those idiots back in the office by 2 PM.”

Moral of the Story: Always let your boss speak first.

Week 4 EOC: How to Answer Embarrassing Interview Questions

Going through the interview process is a tough obstacle to getting any job. However, many times in the interview there are some questions that are asked that are either embarrassing or inappropriate; when asked these questions one cannot ignore them or not answer them but responses have to be tailored so as not to cause issues. Many times when these questions are asked it is to see how you respond or to find out if you have outside commitments to the firm. The most common is: Are you married? The reason this is asked is to see if you’ll put anything before the job or what obligations you might have that interfere with the job. The best way to answer this question is to state: if you’re worried about my personal life interfering with work it won’t happen. The other major question is: have you smoked weed? The reason for this question is to see if you may use drugs the best way to answer is one of two ways. If you have established a good report with the interviewer and has been joking with you at any point you can say: Is that a requirement. If, however your report is not that style than simple state: If you’re worried about passing a drug test I could today. These strategies are not full proof but can act as a stepping stone for any interviews that have some questions can make one uncomfortable. 

Week 3 EOC: This Charming Man

In the short film Der Er En Yndig Mand(This Charming Man) we see many instances of and examples of behavior that are an HR managers nightmare. We see an example of this when Lars Hansen runs into Ida, he makes a comment on the fact that she has lost weight. Often times in the work place people sham or joke about others weight which can lead to having harassment claims being filed out by the injured party. Another instance is when Lars, Pelle and Niels are at the bar making a joke about Pakistanis. Once again this can lead to harassment charges at a place of work not to mention some might try and file claims of hostile workplace. Another instance of HR nightmares occurs when Omid complains about being denied for work despite have a degree in engineering. This is bad due to the fact that if this where true he could in the United States file a lawsuit for racial discrimination with the EEOC. One instance that doesn’t translate well is when Lars calls the receptionist a peasant girl. This is an instance of classism that Americans would not recognize; he essentially is being derogatory to her upbringing and education due to her job or the way she talks. The American equivalent is calling someone a red neck hick.

Week 2 EOC: Sweet Charity Interview

Sweet Charity is a movie that deals with a character that endeavors to leave her current job as a taxi dancer and work in an office setting. In one scene she goes before employment agency, during this scene she is interview about her skills and education. There were a few things that she did right and a few things wrong. The first thing she did right was the way she dressed, when she shows up for the interview she is dressed more conservative than normal. However, her style of clothing is in contrast to the rest of the workers. She could have looked at the dress code or just at the way people there dressed. “One researcher estimates that in 85% of the cases, interviewers had made up their minds before the interview even began, based on first impressions the interviewers gleaned from candidates’ applications and personal appearance.” Page 209. During her interview she responds to the questions with a no too quickly. Instead she should have said was willing to learn those skills. “Interviewers who don’t have an accurate picture of what the job entails and what sort of candidate is best for it usually make their decisions based on incorrect impressions or stereotypes of what a good applicant is. They then erroneously match interviewees with their incorrect stereotypes.” page 209. During the termination of the interview when she is being told that she won’t get the job and he thinks this a joke instead of causing a scene she allows herself to leave with a sense of grace. While this was a good choice a better choice she should have taken was to ask about locations to attain the skills needed for the jobs she was being interviewed about; or she could have asked about jobs that would allow her to attain those skills. “In rejecting a candidate, one perennial question is, should you provide an explanation or not? In one study, rejected candidates who received an explanation felt that the rejection process was fairer. Unfortunately, doing so may not be practical. Most employers say little, to avoid pushback and legal problems.” Page 214.

Dessler, Gary. Human Resource Management, 15th Edition. Pearson Learning Solutions, 2016. [The Art Institutes].

Week 1 EOC: Best and Worst Job

The best job I ever had was at Raising Canes. While the pay was not the greatest, but for a first job was fair, it was great working environment. The manager staff was fantastic. They made you feel like an important person and valued you as a human being. On top of this they were also able to make working fun and productive. In addition, they recognized peoples’ birthdays by bring them a cake for individuals that worked on their birthdays. The worst job I ever had was a Vector Marketing which is a subsidiary for Cutco. While the job was fun, direct sales person for knives and other household goods, the managing staff was very harsh on you. If you had high sales, they would give you recognition; but if you had low sales you demeaned in front of the entire work office. The pressure to be in office in order to make appointments was high, demand for a minimum of 10 appointments to be set up with in 2 hours on a Wednesday evening every week in office were you were cheered or booed depending on your numbers was a sure fire way to make people feel unappreciated. The language that was used in that office was also demeaning. In total recognition I feel that for both of these companies the management team in charge will either make or break how people perceive jobs as being great or bad places to work at.

Week 1 EOC: My voice

In the English world there is an old adage along the lines of, “If you can’t stand the heat of the kitchen; Get out!” While in the culinary industry the heat of a professional kitchen is higher than a home one; there are so many other factors that influence the industry and how well you do in it. As a culinary professional I can say that this industry is a very hard one to work in. While a viewer from the outside my say that the work done in this industry is relatively easy, it is not. This industry is rough and merciless. As I continue to adapt and climb the ladder of my industry, I develop more skills that allow me to be successful as well as attain meaningful knowledge. I continually seek out jobs that will challenge me in ways that I have never been; my dreams and aspirations in my field have been extensive. I do not wish to be a simple line cook or executive chef; my end goal is to work as the executive chef for the White House. How I reach my goal is through a 12 year plan I have set up.