Table of Contents
Introduction 2
The Benefits of Reflection 2
Experience One 3
Description 3
Feeling 3
Evaluation 4
Analysis 4
Actions 5
Conclusion 7
References 8
Appendices 10
Personal Development Plan 10
Aim 1 10
Aim 2 12
Aim 3 14
Introduction
This report will be used for me to analyse and understand an experience I went through whilst working within retail under a mediocre management, the framework I will be using to segment the experience is Gibbs (1988) version of the reflective cycle. During the cycle I will describe the experience and explain how I felt. Furthermore, I will evaluate and analyse certain aspects which can be backed up by theories. Finally, I will determine the actions I will be taking in a similar situation, linking this to my PDP found in the appendices.
The Benefits of Reflection
“Reflection can be a way to help them make sense of what’s happening to them and what it all means for their future.” (Pave.fas.harvard.edu, 2019) The idea of reflection is that someone can take either a singular moment or a stretched event from their past and evaluate what happened, the way they felt, what it meant and finally what to do next. It’s very personal, it looks for a connection between your experiences, emotions and your education. Furthermore, it is something you can take with you for the rest of your life.
Experience One
This reflective statement will be used to determine whether there is a physical way to
structure the underlying job role of a manager as in is Henri Fayol’s (1917) principles of management. This includes how a manager can be most efficient, how to best utilise their staff and furthermore what they do on the day to day running of the business/department they manage.
Description
The event in question was the experience of being badly managed whilst working in retail during my gap year between college and university. Being in a very low paid job often means you are treated less than appropriately. However, it also means that the managers do not think of you as anything more than pure staff. During this period, myself and my colleagues of a similar age were often treated differently than our elder colleagues, even though we were officially in the same role, we were often given the jobs they didn’t want, more specifically number crunching digits into a database whilst they were enjoying the fresh air and face to face engagement. During this period there was a clear sense of favouritism between the management and a specific number of staff. This resulted in a wedge being built between two groups of staff and also us and the management.
Feeling
During this situation I felt very trapped, I was stuck in a position that I had no experience being in and didn’t know how to get out of. The last thing I wanted to do was upset a long term employee as it wouldn’t be a good image and I wanted to be respected. Furthermore, I didn’t feel comfortable going to management because they were all really good friends and the thought of putting myself further down the pecking order wasn’t an option. I was very aware that the workers in my position felt exactly the same way I did, however it didn’t feel like the management and elder workers felt any remorse. Looking back on the situation I now have much stronger feelings about how I was treated, at the time I knew I didn’t have a choice and just worked through it.
Evaluation
Although the whole situation was negative and something I look back on and regret being a part of, I am now confident that I can certainly take some positives from the situation. One of which being the way I was able to understand not only my own emotions but also the emotions of my colleagues, who were in the same position as myself. Goleman, (1996) stated within his book of emotional intelligence that ‘having the ability to positively influence others whilst also controlling yourself is a much bigger attribute than having the brains to do the job.’ During my time there I felt like it was my responsibility to look after the members of staff that were being emotionally treated poorly by management.
However, there are certain aspects which I regret. I believe that I could’ve and should’ve handled the situation much faster than what I did, for a long time I sat and accepted that this is what my job is and how it is going to stay, when in fact if I had stood up and done something faster I could’ve saved myself an unhappy few months and also the people around me. Also I believe that if I had a manager who treated all their staff in an equal manner the whole situation could’ve been avoided.
During Henri Fayol’s (1917) ‘principles of management’, he pinpoints 14 primary principles that a manager needs to correctly fulfil his role, however the one I’m focussing on is ‘Esprit de Corps’ it is clear to me now that it is a manager’s job to promote team unity and spirit, which wasn’t the case.
Analysis
I feel like the situation was made worse by not only the actions of the manager doing an inadequate job, however also due to the inaction of myself and the colleagues stuck in a similar position. However, I can look back on a lot of how I was treated as a way for me not to treat my staff when I become a manager. One of the major characteristics which was shown by the manager was a path of unconscious bias. Lee (2005) p482 argues that bias can occur from an individual right from the first meeting, the minute our employer hired a new set of employees straight from college we were all discriminated and treated the same way, whereas people who weren’t in our specific group were treated much better. Looking back on the situation I believe there was also a case of separating the staff into groups.
Mannheim (1970) argued that people can be segmented simply through the years in which they were born, otherwise known as the ‘theory of generations’. Myself and my colleagues are part of the generation ‘millennials’. A common characteristic of my generation is that we crave attention however are very ‘tech savy’. Looking back on how we were managed its clear this was taken into account, we were often left with the unsatisfying job surrounding technology and often placed far away from where the rest of the staff/managers would be.
The way in which the situation ended with myself and my relevant colleagues either being fired or resigning has also been cleared up since the event. Kahn & Fellows (2013) expanded on the idea that for a company to reach their intended goals all sections of the food chain must be operating to their maximum. And it is clear now that neither myself or others found the work we were doing meaningful or appreciated and did not work to our capabilities.
However, since analysing the situation I have found that models including Henri Fayol’s (1917) ‘principles of management’ are tough to implement, they try to emphasise that management can be put down to a physical structure and I do not believe that is the case, because since the event I have found that other managers do so much behind the scenes not visible to regular staff that my initial view could’ve been impaired.
Actions
There are three main things that I plan to do differently if I was in a similar position again, the first one will be to confront if not my manager but his or her superior. To do this I will need to have more self-confidence in my own ability. Aim 2 of my PDP (Appendices) expresses three ways in which I will do this over the upcoming year. Furthermore, I hope if this situation does arrive again I will have a much better understanding of what a leader actually does and the stress they are under, throughout the experience all thought was they were doing a bad job but the reality is I don’t understand what their job is. Aim 1 within my PDP (Appendices) will help me not only understand what it’s like to be a leader however, also improve my own personal leadership skills.
Finally, I would try to use my improved listening skills to understand what others are going through as well as myself, during the experience one of the reasons I didn’t act was because for the majority of it I thought I was the only one experiencing it, however improving my listening skills I hope to be able to understand what people are telling me in a much clearer manner, whether this is thinking outside of the box or reading between the lines. I will be using many of the actions specified in Aim 3 of my PDP (Appendices) to help improve this technique.
Conclusion
During this event and my reflective summary, I have learnt that even though the situation was unfortunate there was still things that I have learnt to help me in a similar situation. Furthermore, with my future aspirations of being a manager myself it has given me a key insight into how employees can feel when being neglected, even if it is unintentional. I have also taken an insight into how I felt during the experience and how I feel looking back on it, whilst also connecting this to my PDP for future development.
References
Pave.fas.harvard.edu. (2019). Reflection. [online] Available at: https://pave.fas.harvard.edu/what-reflection [Accessed 20 Mar. 2019].
Fayol, H., 1917. General and Industrial Management, Pitman, 1949. Originally published in French as Administration Industrielle et Généralle: prévoyance, organization, commandement, coordination, contrôle, Dunot et E. Pinat.
j Mullins, L. and Christy, G., 2013. Management & Organisational Behaviour. Pearson Education.
Gibbs, G., 1988. The reflective cycle. Kitchen S (1999) An appraisal of methods of reflection and clinical supervision. Br J Theatre Nurs, 9(7), pp.313-7.
Goleman, D., 1996. Emotional intelligence. Why it can matter more than IQ. Learning, 24(6), pp.49-50.
Lee, A.J., 2005. Unconscious bias theory in employment discrimination litigation. Harv. CR-CLL Rev., 40, p.481.
Mannheim, K., 1970. The problem of generations. Psychoanalytic review, 57(3), pp.378-404.
Kahn, W.A. and Fellows, S., 2013. Employee engagement and meaningful work.
Appendices
Personal Development Plan
Aim 1
Improving my understanding of what a leader is and my ability to lead a team.
Action
My current employers have offered to put me through a two-day leadership course with Impact Factory
Watch and understand presentational talks on ‘How to be a great leader’ via TedTalk
Learn from observing experienced managers doing their job
Resources
Training course
https://www.impactfactory.com/leadership-course
With work and university its quite difficult to find two days which I can dedicate to this. Will ask my place of employment for time off.
Presentations
https://www.ted.com/playlists/140/how_leaders_inspire
Observation
Understanding that senior colleagues are willing to let me observe their actions.
Measurement
Training course
Impact Factory course assessment report
Current employer’s quarterly performance review
Presentation
Once I have self-belief that I am gaining an understanding of the benefits of being an effective leader
Observation
Mentoring and performance appraisals with my manager
Seeing an improvement whilst participating in development centre’s
Review Date
All these actions will be received by the latest of this time next year (March 2020)
Aim 2
Improve my self-confidence within the workplace
Action
Volunteer to lead the next project that arises at work to build credibility and experience.
Watch presentations to get a better understanding on how to build my self-confidence and also to understand how it’s okay to fail.
Become more of an outgoing person in relation to work and also my friendship group
Resources
I will need my senior manager to sign off on me taking control of the next project.
https://www.ted.com/playlists/259/talks_to_give_you_a_confidence
Work colleagues and friendship group
Measurement
After project report from my colleagues and manager.
Test myself by entering into situations at work in which I would usually avoid and then analyse the outcome.
After a period question my closer colleagues and friends as to whether they have noticed a change in my personality.
Review Date
These three actions would usually be completed by the end of the academic year 2020, however I see this is a vital part of my process therefore I would like to have completed all of these tasks within the next half year. (September 2019)
Aim 3
Active Listening- I would like to improve my listening skills to better understand situations as they arise.
Action
Watch and understand videos on effective listening skills and how to improve via TEDTalk
Read the article on Forbes ‘6 Ways Effective Listening Can Make You a Better Leader’ to understand what employers are looking for.
Have regular meetings with my supervisor where he will question aspects of work that he expects me to know.
Resources
https://www.ted.com/search?q=listen+better
https://www.forbes.com/sites/glennllopis/2013/05/20/6-effective-ways-listening-can-make-you-a-better-leader/ – 39327d2a1756
The approval and confirmation from my supervisor
Measurement
After watching the videos on active listening attempt to apply what you’ve learnt to a real life scenario. This could be a scheduled meeting with a tutor/mentor, an interview for an out of education event. Analyse what you have learnt and assess whether your performance improved.
Following the next in person professional meeting you have assess whether you actively accomplished the 6 ways in which listening can make you a better leader.
I’m very aware that I struggle with this aspect currently, therefore it will be measured by my supervisor giving me regular feedback meetings.
Review date
All of the above aims will be completed by this time next year (March 2020)
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