Archives for January 2019

There are numerous topics that are very interesting that I have learned about so far in this class. The topic I am going to discuss in this blog is that of women in the workplace. In reading, I am going to talk about a couple issues many women have in the workplace still today, compare it to how women are treated where I currently work and also compare it to how it is where my wife works. In closing, I am going to discuss my thoughts on this interesting topic.

In our textbook, it talks about how women still have a huge gap between them and how they are represented in work as far as leadership roles and what they make (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014, p. 142). I would say that just based on what I have experienced firsthand with managers for various places and executives, this seems accurate. Whether it’s a store manager at the local Walmart I shop at or the finance manager I dealt with when applying for a mortgage, it seems to be top heavy with males. Our textbook gives several real life examples of the huge pay gap that males get versus women. According to the National Partnership for Women and Families, women earn 77 cents for every 1 dollar that is paid to full-time men (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014, p. 142). This is a fact that I have not seem in anywhere that I have worked. The fact that this still is an issue in 2019 is absolutely amazing! Another issue women have still today is getting enough leave after having a child. In Chapter 5, a full-time mother of three suggests increasing the leave for the birth of a child from 12 weeks to 16 (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014, p. 153). To me, this is something that across the board that should be done! After becoming a dad for the first time, my wife struggled becoming a mom. From the up all nights to being with the baby 24 hours a day, to hearing the cries of our newborn, I could see how women need the extra time! 12 weeks is not enough time in my eyes to be off, especially being a first time mother. Women need this time to be with their child! Being a mother is the toughest jobs in America and its sad many companies do not recognize this. The ability to have time paid or even unpaid, and knowing you will still have a job to go back to is comforting. By upping it to 16 weeks, I think this shows compassion to women and shows they matter.

Where I work at, many of the male workers treat the women employees like they are inferior. In our textbook, this is seen as hostile sexism (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014, p. 147). A male worker even went as far as to do things to help any males but if a female asked for help, he wouldn’t help! This employee, who is retired now, had a mindset of no women will be above me, which is really sad. Biases are views that influence behavior (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014, p. 147). For this guy, he was an older guy who grew up in the 50’s and was raised where women were to do house chores while the men worked. His bias I believe started here. Many women where I am won’t take a daylight head custodian job because they believe they can’t do the job. This is what is driven in the minds of the women who work there by the sexist males. It even went so far as an argument ensued right in front of my eyes in that a male maintenance worker got into it with a female custodian in that she shouldn’t be a head custodian because he thought she wouldn’t be able to do any of the jobs as there was a lot of heavy lifting and fixing things. As if a woman can’t lift or fix something? I know that this isn’t the case. I know many women who are better than men at fixing broken equipment. In 2019, it’s so sad that this even still exists! Another male worker even made fun of a female worker because she “acted like one of the guys”. Because of this, he wouldn’t sit with her. Because of this, he influenced a lot of the other male workers to do the same. Many also think that she isn’t able to make financial decisions on orders that have to be filled because she is a female. This is known as a stereotype (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014, p. 147). This type of stereotype is extremely counterproductive in the workplace as it hinders men and women from working successfully together (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014, p. 149). This past summer, this was the case in that the same male worker who didn’t sit with the one female worker, would work against her and actually do nothing that she asked him to do. It got so bad that she gave up and let him do whatever he wanted because she didn’t want to fight with him.

On the contrary, where my wife works, there is a huge difference with how women are treated. There have been great strides made by women in the workplace (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014, p. 158).  A good example of this can be seen where she works. Every one of her bosses except for one was a woman. The company where she works actually offered a fast track training program geared towards women to help get into management roles. They also have a huge interest in helping business women succeed. Once I had to stop down at here work to drop something off and I can say without a doubt that they have way more women in her department than men. She was actually given a very important project to work on. This shows their commitment that women can make important decisions as well as men. One of the recommendations in out textbook to help integrate women into the workplace environment is by basing pay on effort and skills and not by gender (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014, p. 159). Where she works at, she gets regular bonuses based on the amount of work that she is able to do. It is not one sided where males get a bonus regardless and women can never get ahead.

In the end, I’ve listed two totally different workplace environments in dealing with women. Although there has been great strides made, there is still a lot that needs done for women. I think that in a workplace like where I am, everyone needs educated on being equals. No one is better than the other, regardless of sex. If we can honestly understand the issues that really do have a positive or negative effect on women, the workplace would be such a better place. We all of something to gain by understanding issues many women have to go through on a daily basis. I believe a company will only prosper by addressing these needs and putting an end to sexism.

 

 

 

 

 

References:

 

Moran, R.T., Moran, S. V., & Abramson, N. (2014). Managing Cultural Differences: Ninth Edition. New York, NY: Routledge.

One concept from our recent assigned readings that resonates to me comes out of chapter five of our textbooks about women leaders in global business. This blog is about a women at my current job that has not faced but also faces many obstacles and how she is now excelling in them. I work for a company where men typically dominate the board that oversees how everyone works (ex: the president and vice president) and in head maintenance positions. For the past ten years this is how it has always been up until recently. When I first started there, there was only two female workers. Today there are many more with about nine or ten.

Many organizations are working hard to leverage workplace diversity and gender equality so that all people can succeed (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014). In my workplace, even though there are more women working, there really hasn’t been leadership in the past that is dedicated to creating a very diverse workplace. This could be because of lack of interest in people wanting to apply. One thing that has happened that has been a positive change involved our president. Each year elections are held to vote in who they want as their leader and it ended up being a woman. This was a good change because it showed to the rest of the employees there, that we can be diverse and accepting to positive change and not label someone just because of the false belief that they are not equal. With the female leader, we had, she helped to build better comradery amongst other workers, while showing that anyone can bring about change in the workplace. This was awesome to see because women at their highest level of business is quite rare (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014). With good mentoring from the previous head maintenance man, she was able to develop a nurturing and cooperative relationship between one who had more experience and herself who had less-experience to be able to survive and overcome the daily difficult working conditions (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014). This same individual ended up in a job that is quite tough and demanding. It was a surprise to all to see that she has been able to handle the job and so much more!

Before taking the job that she is currently in, which involves running the maintenance in a building, there was a stereotype that the job was too soft for a woman and that she couldn’t be aggressive enough, or that she should be in an office where she can show soft skills. Even in most jobs around the world, women are often seen as more “human” and therefore better suited for a specific type of job, such as human resources, communications, public relations, and marketing (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014). The idea that a woman would take that job was something that no one could see before her success. Today, she has proved all the naysayers wrong and a lot of times often out working other men in the field.

Although often the many stereotypes of women leaders in the workplace can be a hinderance to their advancement, examples like this are able to show us that women are able to work just as hard as men can, making them just as capable of moving up in a company. One possible reason for a stumbling block in the way of women being able to advance is because of the balance of work and family. Most companies might look at women as the ones who should be at home caring for their families. In my example, I cannot say that this would inhibit her only because she does not have any more children living at home. To overcome the many stereotypes that exist to women at my workplace, I think better testing should be given for every applicant and that the biases that women are homebodies who should take care of their children need to be eradicated. Also, there should be more audits to see how my employer’s performance is and whether it is efficient and allowing the “glass ceiling” of creating barriers that prevent women and minorities to be removed while being more responsible to hire more women at all levels (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014). In conclusion, there are some ideas of women leaders in global business that fit together with my example in that there was a good mentoring program between her and the old head maintenance man, but many also align with reasons why women in global business, and this woman, are often looked down upon. The biggest of all of these is the pay gap. I have been there roughly the same amount of time as her, yet I make more. Women leaders in global business are hard to come by because of the many issues they face. At my workplace it was rare to see a woman as leader because of the scope of the job however, the employer is working to fix the problems that exist whether pay gap or employer-sponsored training and because of that we have more women working there and many wanting to take on more risky positions. A different woman has also taken the lead, seeing the first women move up to her challenging position, in being an assistant to the head at another building. Ultimately however, when my employer can do away with the many stereotypes that are attached to women leaders then my workplace will be able to grow into a more diverse and productive place.

 

References:

Moran, Robert, Abramson, N., & Moran, S. Managing Cultural Differences. Ninth Edition. Routledge Publishing. New York, New York. 2014

 

Culture shock is real, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be between different countries.  It can happen anywhere.  If I would have understood the concept of culture and how it affects each and everyone of us, my life would have been a whole lot easier. 

When I first moved to North Carolina in 2010, I needed a job.  I didn’t have any specific training, other than an Associates degree in law enforcement, and I got a job Carolina Eye Associates, which I knew nothing about.   I had just moved from Ohio, and I have always been a hard worker, and I had a history of customer service experience, so this job seemed to be what I needed at the time.

The first problem I had was adjusting to the culture of the south, in general.  Culture is defined as “deeply embedded values and assumptions of a group which dictates the acceptable ways by which group members interact and address recurrent problems (Folger, Poole & Stutman, 2013).  The culture of the south is much more laid back, and much more religious than the north, where I had lived for 30 years.  My first problem that I had at Carolina Eye with the climate is that because of the laid back culture, I seemed to be moving much faster and getting much more done than my co-workers.  The number of patients that I was helping was higher than my co-workers, the billing that I was inputting was higher than my co-workers, and the data that I was inputting into the system was higher than my co-workers. My bosses thought this was fantastic while my co-workers, some of whom had been there for many, many years, were not as enthusiastic about my work ethic.

As to be expected, it became a “everyone against Megan” sort of mentality, and I began getting written up by my bosses for all sorts of things.  My desk overlooked a patient waiting room where there was a TV.  I received multiple write ups for watching TV rather than doing my job.  It didn’t matter that the TV was set to a channel that I would never watch in my life, but co-workers went to my boss and told them that’s what I was doing.  Even though my numbers were higher, they had seniority and believed my co-workers over me.  I was written up because my pants were too baggy.  It didn’t matter that I was losing weight at the time, and didn’t want to buy new pants until I reached my goal weight.  My co-workers said that I was dressing sloppy and giving Carolina Eye a bad image.  I was only at that job for 5 months because it was becoming a living hell for me, and my mental stability depended on me leaving that job.

Looking back on that job 8 years later, I learned a lot about myself at that job.  As much as I hated it, it was my first foray into the south, and I realize now that I was an outsider, and I was disrupting their way of life by coming in “guns blazing” the way that I did.  If I would have just stopped and looked around and tried to understand the culture of the workplace at Carolina Eye, I would have realized how important it was for me to realize the differences between the north and the south, which I had never encountered before.  The book states that “cultural understanding may minimize the impact of culture shock and maximize intercultural experiences, as well as increase professional development and organizational effectiveness” (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014).  My life would have been immensely easier if I would have realized that concept before it was too late.

References:

Folger, J., Poole, M., & Stutman, R. (2013). Working through conflict (7th ed.). New York: Routledge.

Moran, R., Abramson, N., & Moran, S. (2014). Managing cultural differences (9th ed.). Abingdon: Routledge.

Communication is the most natural skill that we have.  Babies will cry when they are hungry, wet, or not feeling well.  We can determine their needs based on their cries.  We communicate daily without even thinking about it, but what happens when communication doesn’t come naturally?  Communicating isn’t something that I thought about in my day to day life.  Like most everyone, I communicated without even thinking about it.  This all changed when I started dating my husband.  My step-daughter, Caroline, has Angelman Syndrome.  Angelman Syndrome is a rare neuro-genetic disorder.  Common characteristics or symptoms include, “developmental delays, seizures, walking and balance disorders, and lack of speech,” (ASF, 2019).  Communication has now become a very central part of my life.  I didn’t have much experience with the special need’s community before Caroline.  I know I had my own biases but so much has changed the more I’ve come to understand Caroline and communication style.

While my life experience with communication hasn’t yet been on a global scale, trying to communicate with someone who cannot say anything back or sign back can still be very challenging.  From lesson four and our chapter readings, we understand that communication is the exchange of information.  When I communicate with Caroline, it is essential that I not only use key works that she understands but also make sure that my facial expressions match the context of what I am saying.  This is important when she is decoding the message.  She usually has very high receptive skills and nonverbal skills.  I have also had to learn how to understand what she may be trying to ask for when she pointed at something or behaved a certain way.

When I first started dating my husband, Caroline was working on communicating with using pictures.  She could point to pictures of what she wants to eat or drink, or she could choose a red “x” for no and a green check mark for yes.  This was difficult at first because there were not enough pictures for what she wanted.  We had to look at the things she used or did daily to create different categories with pictures for her life.  Most recently in the last six months she has started to use an iPad that has a program with different categories and pictures to give her even further options to communicate her needs and wants.  When I talk to her, I use the tablet to mimic the way she should use the tablet and get her familiarized with her options.  There is an increased potential for error with so many options, but she has come a long way in six months. She can ask for food, drinks, or toys.  The most entertaining part of this is to see her use the “no” and “I don’t like” buttons when trying to wake her up in the morning.  She is just like other kids in that she doesn’t like to wake up and go to school in the morning and it makes me proud to see her gain the ability to voice this feeling.

There is plenty of potential for error when we try to communicate with each other.  Sometimes she babbles and squeals and talk back to her like I would her step-sister.  Communicating with Caroline has given me a different perspective and I try to put myself in her place when she is getting frustrated because she can’t explain what she wants.  Living with Caroline has taught me a lot about communication and patience.  Even thought we may not all communicate the same way, it is still important that we try to listen as best we can to understand each other.  Our methods may be different, but patience, kindness, and understanding can go a long way.

Angelman Syndrome Foundation. (n.d.). Retrieved January 28, 2019, from https://www.angelman.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Quick-Facts-about-Angelman-Syndrome.pdf

 

Hello everyone!

My name is Taylor Greene and I am currently taking this class from Long Island, NY. I am an integrative arts major with a focus in photography and I am excited to say that I am going to be graduating at the end of this semester. I am taking this course in order to fulfill graduation requirements but once I’ve received my BA I will be heading right back to school to start on my new path towards becoming a pediatric nurse. (I know, a complete 180)

I look forward to the rest of this semester and completing this course to the best of my abilities with the rest of you. Good luck in all your classes and I hope we all have a great semester!

Best,

Taylor

Hello fellow classmates!

My name is Nick and I was born & raised in Milwaukee, WI. I currently work in manufacturing, but I hope to move forward into a career that involves writing once I get my degree from PSU (currently a Junior in the Journalism program).

This is my 3rd go-around at this whole college thing (2 false starts at universities in WI when I was a teenager), but after 10 years of working and maturing, I finally shook off the procrastination label and I’m in the midst of finishing what I started. Good luck to you all this semester!

Nick

Hi everyone,

• My name is Nick DiRienzo. I am 36 years old and live outside Philadelphia in NJ. with my wife, two kids and a cat.
• I am pursuing my BA in Organizational Leadership, currently a sophomore.
• My hope is to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the subject.
• There adjectives to describe me:
  • Pragmatic: being pragmatic helps increase efficiency in my life and reduces risk.
  • Proactive: I like to be prepared and reduce reaction. Reactive behavior increases risk, poor decisions, and cost.
  • Strategic: Understanding and developing goals take a strategy.

Hello everyone, I am Marc Snopkowski from Niagara Falls and currently in Sierra Vista, AZ.  I am a Warrant Officer in the US Army, have been serving for just over 12 years now.  I am pursuing my Bachelor’s in Organizational Leadership, with hopes to continue on to my Masters in Education.  I am married to my amazing wife Jody and have my daughter Morgan(15yo) and Nick(13yo).  So yes working full time and school with 2 teenagers does become crazy. When I have free time I love to airbrush and build custom motorcycles. Look forward to learning from everyone and seeing how different people see global leadership.