Critical Reflection On Public Health - 1005 Words

CRITICAL REFLECTION ON PUBLIC HEALTH LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT The World Health Organisation (WHO) has included leadership as one of the building blocks of an effective health system. Good governance and strong leadership are the key elements of a successful health program. Even in the political arena, effective and influential leaders have been the ones with a clear vision, know their weaknesses and strengths, and are able to influence others to follow them. The greatest lesson that I have taken from the course is that everyone is a leader, regardless of the number of the people following or the situation they are in. In addition, leaders are made, and none is born a leader. Prior to my enrolment in the course, I had been working in the Ministry of Health in Malawi as a District Health Officer for 8 years, in 3 different districts. My role was to provide strategic leadership and coordination of the district health care delivery. I was responsible to look after over 3000 members of staff, being a senior member of the District Executive Committee and providing direction to all the stakeholders supporting the health sector in the district. I was also responsible for resource mobilization, planning and budgeting for the health services in the district. It was difficult to isolate being a manager and a leader until I attended this course. I have realised how team work, flexibility and adaptability, courage as well as emotional intelligence are critical in a position of theShow MoreRelatedCritical Reflection On Practicing Public Health Leadership Course922 Words   |  4 Pages CRITICAL REFLECTION ON PRACTICING PUBLIC HEALTH LEADERSHIP COURSE I have been involve in different leadership roles during my professional and personal experience but after attending this course of practicing leadership and public health course, I have enhanced my skills in various perspective which would be helpful for my personal and professional growth. The content of the course provided me the opportunity to explore more about my personal and professional strengths and weakness with the perspectiveRead MoreCanadian Social Work Practice : A New Horizon Of Learning Essay1660 Words   |  7 PagesCanadian Social Work Practice: A New Horizon of Learning My clear and definite understanding of critical theories and postmodern thoughts provides me significant and appropriate frameworks to practice as a progressive social worker in Canadian context (Morley, 2003). My exploration of reflective practice and the fundamentals of critical self reflection approach enhanced my understanding of specific client situations. Moreover, my learning about anti-racist and anti-oppressive practice helpsRead MoreThe Attributes of a Registered Nurse807 Words   |  3 Pagesare important for a registered nurse to have, and why are they important? According to Mason, Isaacs and Colby (2011, p. 11), provision of care in the field of nursing requires comprehensive nursing expertise, critical thinking, sound clinical judgement and a holistic overview of health. Registered nurses need to possess a combination of key attributes when providing care, because these attributes play a significant role in enhancing positive outcomes, not only for the patients in their care butRead MoreMy Experience At The Public Health Leadership984 Words   |  4 PagesReflection This paper discusses my experiences after attending the Public Health Leadership subject in 2015, reflecting on important lessons learnt, the relevance to my work and the support required for my improvement. When I enrolled in this subject, I was not sure that I will get the best out of the subject considering my experiences with many leadership courses where the presenters have focused on theories of leadership skills without giving practical insights. However, at the end of this subjectRead MoreThe Importance Of Reflection And How It Aids The Professional Development Of A Newly Graduated Nurse1622 Words   |  7 Pagesdemanding professional adjustments when transitioning from student nurse to graduate nurse and the use of refection during this time is said to be a very important tool in guiding the learning process. It is common in the field of nursing to utilise reflection to critically analyse certain experiences and reflect on how they made them feel and react. This involves looking deeper into a particular experience and deciding what was good, what was bad and what would be a better course of action if they wereRead MoreMy Experiences After Attending The Practice Of Public Health Leadership998 Words   |  4 PagesReflective Assignment This paper discusses my experiences after attending the Practice of Public Health Leadership (PPHL) subject in 2015, reflecting on important lessons learnt, the relevance to my work and the support required for my improvement. When I enrolled in this PPHL, I was not sure that I will get the best out of the subject due to previous experiences of attending theoretical leadership trainings. However, at the end of the subject, I was challenged, groomed, humbled and inspired asRead MoreHow A Newly Graduated Physiotherapist Can Prepare For Employment Using Self Analysis1126 Words   |  5 Pages(2013) clinical supervision guidelines promote the benefit of clinical supervision for new graduates in adhering to Health and Care Professionals Council [HCPC] (2012) expectations of improving professional development and profiling evidence. There are differences in supervision, development opportunities and senior support for newly qualified physiotherapists in the National Health Service (NHS) and private sector. However, the amount of supervision needed as a new graduate is subjective and relatesRead MoreCritical Reflection Of The Healthy People Healthy Places Reading Material And Consists Of Three Sections1342 Words   |  6 PagesCritical Reflection 1 Introduction This paper is a critical reflection of the healthy people healthy places reading material and consists of three sections. It includes the definition of terms like health inequality and how does it relates to health equity. The first section states the importance of health inequalities and the necessity for a solution to decrease the health inequality gaps. Firstly, the term health inequality has a very broad definition and can be defined as the variations in healthRead MoreThe Prevention Of Abuse Experience By People With A Learning Disability1377 Words   |  6 Pagesgrammatically arrange and well organised. The abstract discussed what the study was about. The purpose of the study was about preventing and supporting people with learning from abuse. The methods used in the research were approved by the National Health Service ethics committee and consent was taken from NHS, but not from the service users themselves who owns the data that were used in the study. Ryan (2007) suggests that data saturation is the use of adequate data in a study. Using of adequate dataRead MoreQuestions On The Ethical Tension1415 Words   |  6 Pagessurgery, Donna has been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It has changed her life in many ways. She has had to leave her job. She has been experiencing short term memory loss, concentration problems and nightmares. Donna has become a public speaker on educating people about anesthesia awareness. Her story is the basis for constructing this report for registered nurses, a framework on how to work through this type of ethical situation. Decision Making Framework and Process Ethical decision

Review of 5 Article Based Research of Motivation in the...

Motivation ORGANIZATION BEHAVIOR AND DEVELOPMENT 1 Review of 5 Research-base Article of Motivation in The Workplace MOHD FAIRUS OSMAN MD121113 Faculty of Razak School of Engineering and Advance Technology University Teknologi Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Motivation Abstract 2 This paper is to fulfill the Post Module Assignment of Organizational Behavior and Development in motivation study lectured by Associate Professor Dr. Nik Hasna. This is the review study of 5 various research article done by various scholar and individual related to motivation. This review is to understand the variety method of various company used to motivate their employee with comparison to my local workplace environment. Motivation 3†¦show more content†¦Some people require money for power, freedom, status, security or love. Different people have their own reason to pursue money. In some research shows that if company want to get their employees motivated, it has to differentiate employee by employee rewards tendency so that each people get the right motivation value. Other study shows that people personality also can predict the job engagement than their salaries. About 40% of rating on job satisfaction are determine by personality. People that have a positive personality tend to have high intrinsic motivation than people with lesspositive energy. Article 2 Summary: Motivation in the Workplace for Optimal Results Is Not a One Size Fits All Implementation It is a global issues to the leaders and managers on constantly keep their employees motivated and productive in various working environments. Seems that each person has difference in driving their motivation, its very important to understand individual motivating techniques. To challenge this, here are some examples that might useful to get influence of people we want to keep motivating. Some people belief that they have a secure job and comfort with the task capabilities level. Managers have to know his/her limitation and avoid pushing them towards advancement. Assuring them of their job security by maintaining their consistency of job performance. Other people are satisfied with the companies policies which makes them fall into the selfShow MoreRelatedRelationship Between Employee s Motivation And Performance1634 Words   |  7 Pages â€Æ' 5 5.Theoretical framework A theoretical framework is designed to evaluate the relationship between employee’s motivation and performance. On the basis of three motivational theories- Equity theory, Expectancy theory, Goal setting theory. The two types of variables influence the performance of employees-dependent and independent variables. Read MoreThe Challenges Of Leadership During The Modern World1412 Words   |  6 Pagesintroduction to the special issue. American Psychologist, 62(1), 2-5 This article covers a survey of contemporary trends in leadership. The aim of the author is to develop an understanding of the various challenges that contemporary leaders face so as to come up with effective theoretical models to resolve those challenges. Among the major challenges of leadership, Bennis notes that leadership of human institution is one. The article suggests that effective leadership is â€Å"grounded in a relationshipRead MoreEvaluating Four-Drive Theory in Employee Motivation1090 Words   |  5 PagesBecause of the development of new disciplinary, people now can research human brain and learn more about the drives (including the drives to acquire, bond, comprehend and defend) which underlie human actions. It had many researches mentioning how these drives affect employee motivation in organizations. One of them is the article â€Å"Employee Motivation: A powerful new model†, written by Nitin Nohria (the Richard P. Chapman Professor of Business Administrati on), Boris Groysberg (an associate professorRead MoreNurses Perception Towards Evidence-Based Practice: A Descriptive Study900 Words   |  4 Pagesï » ¿EBP article review: Nurses perception towards evidence-based practice: A descriptive study According to the article, Nurses perception towards evidence-based practice: A descriptive study, while evidence-based practice (EBP) is considered the gold standard in evaluating nursing processes, significant practice gaps have been identified in nursing implantation of EBP. The article chronicles a study involving a survey of 1,144 registered nurses (RNs) nurses working at a Singapore hospital whichRead MoreLearning Curriculum : Towards Student Driven Pedagogy993 Words   |  4 Pagespedagogy in the context of adult English for academic purposes, English for specific purposes, and workplace English programs. TESOL Journal, 5(1), 8-31. This article introduces the concept of a learning curriculum that centralizes adult ESL learners’ needs and encourages their engagement in curriculum development. By summarizing key components of a learning curriculum including needs assessment and content-based curriculum, the study points out that curriculum negotiation in an adult ESL class can aid inRead MoreTransformational Leadership Is Developed By Political Sociologist James Mac Gregor Burns Essay1124 Words   |  5 Pagesand the followers elevate motivation and morality. The transformational leaders pay attention to the needs and motives of followers and help them achieve their fullest potential. They influence their followers’ behaviors by appealing to the ideas and values and enhance the followers’ commitment to their vision. Literature Review 1) Relationship between transformational leadership and employees’ job satisfaction among the academic staff The authors of this article performed a study by collectingRead MoreProject: Group Dynamics and Teamwork1644 Words   |  7 Pagesin today’s workplace. The project is split into the following two parts. Each project part requires you to work individually as well as in groups. Project Part Individual Task and Deliverable Group Task and Deliverable Part 1 (due Complete the self-assessment Choose the topic of research for Project Part 2 Deliverable: Individual answers to the Deliverable: None in Module 3) self-assessment tasks Create a team charter Deliverable: Team charter document Part 2 (due Research around theRead MoreLeadership : Transformational Leadership And Transactional Leadership Essay1607 Words   |  7 Pagesand the followers elevate motivation and morality. The transformational leaders pay attention to the needs and motives of followers and help them achieve their fullest potential. They influence their followers’ behaviors by appealing to the ideas and values and enhance the followers’ commitment to their vision. transformational leaders exhibit behaviors which include idealized influence wherein the leader serves as the role model for followers; inspirational motivation – leader inspires and motivatesRead MoreCritical Review â€Å"Employee Motivation- a Powerful New Model† by Nitin Nohria, Boris Groysberg and Linda-Eling Lee1657 Words   |  7 Pages2013 Critical Review â€Å"Employee Motivation- A Powerful New Model† by Nitin Nohria, Boris Groysberg and Linda-Eling Lee Group 1: Ajit Shenoi (29), Mandar Jha (15), Nandan) Mathur (20), Kshitij Varma (39), Sarin Sio (33) PGDM-Communications 8/9/2013 SUMMARY The article attempts to shed light on the issue of motivating employees. The topic of motivation has been one that has intrigued thinkers thorough our history. As a result from Aristotle to Freud to finally Maslow everyone has had theirRead MoreTransformational Leadership And Leadership Theory Essay1417 Words   |  6 Pagesand the followers elevate motivation and morality. The transformational leaders pay attention to the needs and motives of followers and help them achieve their fullest potential. They influence their followers’ behaviors by appealing to the ideas and values and enhance the followers’ commitment to their vision. transformational leaders exhibit behaviors which include idealized influence wherein the leader serves as the role model for followers; inspirational motivation – leader inspires and motivates

Womens Life Free Essays

WOMEN’S LIFE WORLD CIVIALIZATIONS HIS 103 OCTOBER 9,2012 The life of a women has changed in way of improvement. Back in the days women couldn’t really do much but stay home and take care of the kids. In the 1800 Elizabethan era times most people’s rights were fairly limited. We will write a custom essay sample on Womens Life or any similar topic only for you Order Now There was no democracy, and most people had very little say in national politics, though on the parochial level, men and women could be elected to parish councils. What you did with your life was as much influenced by your social class, degree of wealth, etc, as it was by your gender. For instance, few children get a chance of more than a very basic education,and most boys and girls would go to work at an early age. it was taken for granted that people defered to those of a higher social class, and the young were expected to defer to the old. For women specifically, there were married women’s property acts which were passed in the 1860s and 1880s. The divroce laws were changed so that a woman could obtain a divorce from an adulterous or abusive spouse, and the Infant Custody Act gave women who were innocent parties in divorce the right to have custody of young children. In Elizabethan times, the role of the midwife in society was an important one, since childbirth was regarded as an exclusively female affair. The midwife had to be a woman of good character, and was licenced by the local bishop, since she was authorised to baptise newborn babies who she thought were unlikely to live long enough to have a proper baptissm. However, in the 18th century, the rise of the male obstetrician meant that the midwife became a marginal figure in the childbirthing process,instead of being at the centre of it. In elizabethan times,when most people lived in the country and were at least partially self-sufficient, being a housewife was a demanding role that involved many specialist skills. A housewife had to be able to brew and bake, spin and weave, preserve food, make home remedies for illness, make other household items like soap and candles, many women even made their own cosmetics and perfume. And they would be in charge of the poultry and the dairy, make their own butter and cheese, and sell their urplus produce at market. Women in the Victorian era . A wife’s proper role was to love, honour and obey her husband, as her marriage vows stated. A wife’s place in the family hierarchy was secondary to her husband, but far from being considered unimportant, a wife’s duties to tend to her husband and properly raise her children were considered crucial cornerstones of social stability by the Victorians. Women seen as falling short of society’s expectations were belie ved to be deserving of harsh criticism. In divorce great changes in the situation of women took place in the 19th century, especially concerning marriage laws and the legal rights of women to divorce and/or gain custody of children. The situation that fathers always received custody of their children, leaving the mother without any rights, slowly started to change. husband only had to prove his wife’s adultery, a woman had to prove her husband had not only committed adultery but also incest, bigamy, cruelty or desertion. Women could secure a separation on the grounds of cruelty and claim custody of their children. Magistrates even authorised protection orders to wives whose husbands have been convicted of aggravated assault. Victorian morality and sexuality Women were expected to have sex with only one man, their husband. However, it was acceptable for men to have multiple partners in their life. If women did have sexual contact with another man, they were seen as ruined or fallen. In education women were not freely offered the opportunity to study subjects of an extended, classical, and commercial nature. This made it difficult for a woman to break free from the societal constraints to achieve independent economical status. Education was specialised by gender. Women were provided with the opportunity to study refined subjects such as history, geography and general literature which would provide them with interesting but noncontroversial topics for discussion. Despite the restrictions and stigmatisation, some women did excel in â€Å"male† subjects such as law, physics, engineering, science and art. These women pioneered the path for the much improved gender equality in modern education in the UK. Women were rarely given the opportunity to attend university. It was even said that studying was against their nature and could make them ill. They were to stay more or less an â€Å"ornament of society. An Egyptian woman could acquire possessions in many ways. She could receive it as gifts or as an inheritance from her parents or husband. Or she could receive it from purchases with goods which she earned either through employment, or which she borrowed. A woman had claims to up to one-third of all the community property in her marriage. For example, the property which accrued to her husband and her only after they were married. When a woman brought her own private property to a marriage, ( dowry), it remained hers, even though the husband often had the free use of it. In the event of a divorce her property had to be returned to her, in addition to any divorce settlement that might be stipulated in the original marriage contract. A woman was free to bequeath property from her husband to her children or even to her own brothers and sisters (unless there was some stipulation against such in her husband’s will). A woman could also freely disinherit children of her private property, i. e. , the property she brought to her marriage or her share of the community property. She could selectively bequeath that property to certain children and not to others. Marrige was a very important part of ancient Egyptian society. Some people say it was almost a duty to get married. Compared to today’s world, Egyptian marriages were very different; husbands could marry more than one wife, and people of close relations (first cousins, brothers and sisters, ect. ) could also wed one another. As you read you can see that women’s life has changed to better a women’s life. The women now have lots of rights and are very successful in many ways. Reference , Ph. D / Role Of Women In Ancient Egypt The Natural women’s museum How to cite Womens Life, Essay examples

Hofstede Cultural Dimension - Indonesia free essay sample

Hofstede Cultural Dimension Indonesia BY DJRana Hofstede Cultural Dimension imensions * Description for each of Hofstedes Dimensions listed below Indonesia has Power Distance (PDI) as its highest ranking Hofstede Dimension at 78. The high Power Distance (PDI) is indicative of a high level of inequality of power and wealth within the society. This condition is not necessarily forced upon the population, but rather accepted by the society as part of their cultural heritage. The average Power Distance for the greater Asian countries is 71 . The second highest Hofstede ranking for Indonesia is Uncertainty Avoidance (IJAI) at 48, compared to the greater Asian average of 58 and a world average of 64. This reflects a more moderated influence of this Dimension within the Indonesian society. Generally, a high Uncertainty Avoidance (IJAI) indicates the societys low level of tolerance for uncertainty. In an effort to minimize or reduce this level of uncertainty, strict rules, laws, policies, and regulations are adopted and implemented. The ultimate goal of this population is to control everything in order to eliminate or avoid he unexpected. As a result of this high Uncertainty Avoidance characteristic, the society does not readily accept change and is very risk adverse. Indonesia has one of the lowest world rankings for Individualism with a 14, compared to the greater Asian rank of 23, and world rank of 43. The score on this Dimension indicates the Indonesian society is Collectivist as compared to Individualist. This is manifest in a close long-term commitment to the member group, is that a family, extended family, or extended relationships. Loyalty in a collectivist culture is aramount, and over-rides most other societal rules and regulations. The society fosters strong relationships where everyone takes responsibility for fellow members of their group The combination of these two high scores (IJAI) and (PDI) create societies that are highly rule-oriented with laws, rules, regulations, and controls in order to reduce the amount of uncertainty, while inequalities of power and wealth have been allowed to grow within the society. These cultures are more likely to follow a caste system that does not allow significant upward mobility of its citizens. When these two Dimensions are combined, it creates a situation where leaders have virtually ultimate power and authority, and the rules, laws and regulations developed by those in power, reinforce their own leadership and control. It is not unusual for new leadership to arise from armed insurrection the ultimate power, rather than from diplomatic or democratic change. Power Distance Index (PDI) that is the extent to which the less powerful members of organizations and institutions (like the family) accept and expect that power is distributed unequally. This represents inequality (more versus less), but defined from below, not trom above. It suggests that a societys level ot inequality is endorsed by the followers as much as by the leaders. Power and inequality, of course, are extremely fundamental facts of any society and anybody with some international experience will be aware that all societies are unequal, but some are more unequal than others. Individualism (IDV) on the one side versus its opposite, collectivism, that is the degree to which individuals are inte-grated into groups. On the individualist side we find ocieties in which the ties between individuals are loose: everyone is expected to look after him/herself and his/her immediate family. On the collectivist side, we find societies in which people from birth onwards are integrated into strong, cohesive in- groups, often extended families (with uncles, aunts and grandparents) which continue protecting them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty. The word collectivism in this sense has no political meaning: it refers to the group, not to the state. Again, the issue addressed by this dimension is an extremely fundamental one, egarding all societies in the world. Masculinity (MAS) versus its opposite, femininity, refers to the distribution of roles between the genders which is another fundamental issue for any society to which a range of solutions are found. The IBM studies revealed that (a) womens values differ less among societies than mens values; (b) mens values from one country to another contain a dimension from very assertive and competitive and maximally different from womens values on the one side, to modest and caring and similar to womens values on the other. The assertive pole has been called masculine and the modest, caring pole feminine. The women in feminine countries have the same modest, caring values as the men; in the masculine countries they are somewhat assertive and competitive, but not as much as the men, so that these countries show a gap between mens values and womens values. Uncertainty Avoidance Index (IJAI) deals with a societys tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity; it ultimately refers to mans search for Truth. It indicates to what extent a culture programs its members to feel either uncomfortable or comfortable in nstructured situations. Unstructured situations are novel, unknown, surprising, different from usual. Uncertainty avoiding cultures try to minimize the possibility of such situations by strict laws and rules, safety and security measures, and on the philosophical and religious level by a belief in absolute Truth; there can only be one Truth and we have it. People in uncertainty avoiding countries are also more emotional, and motivated by inner nervous energy. The opposite type, uncertainty accepting cultures, are more tolerant of opinions different from what they are used o; they try to have as few rules as possible, and on the philosophical and religious level they are relativist and allow many currents to flow side by side. People within these cultures are more phlegmatic and contemplative, and not expected by their environment to express emotions. Long-Term Orientation (L TO) versus short-term orientation: this fifth dimension was found in a study among students in 23 countries around the world, using a questionnaire designed by Chinese scholars It can be said to deal with Virtue regardless of Truth. Values associated with Long Term Orientation are thrift and

smoking and advertising Essays (355 words) - Kids, Amateur Sports

High School Sports Do Students Who Play Sports In School Tend To Be More Successful In The Future? High school is a time for young adults to try and find themselves. Some students decide to be the nerds, or join certain clubs but many students venture into the world of sports. I believe that students who play sports are more likely to stay off the streets and not partake in activities that deal with alcohol and drugs. In today's society more and more kids find themselves on streets drinking and doing drugs. I feel that young adults who partake in sports are more likely to stay in school and get an education. Sports give students an opportunity to find themselves. One reason why kids should be involved in sports is that it allows the children to stay of trouble. The schools have a strict policy regarding grades for those who play sports. Sports give the children to have an education because the children have to do well in school to get the opportunity to play a sportthey love very much. These policies, though many kids do not like them very much, keeps kids off of the streets and in the classroom. Sports not only give an incentive to going to classes and school but also doing well in school. Not only do sports academically help young adults today but also society puts great pressures on kids about how they look with great emphasis on their weight. The sports programs in school provides a g reat opportunity to stay healthy and in shape. As well as health issues sports also improve your self-esteem. It is hard to accomplish anything if children do not think they have it in them. In result through sports not only do become physically fit but children also feel good about themselves as a person. Another reason sports are important is that sports provide an easier way of making friends. For many making friends is a hard thing to do, but through sports children do not really have a choice but to get to know their teammates. With these friendships, children are able...

A congolmeration of ineffective factions.

A congolmeration of ineffective factions does not sound like a flattering description of what we know today as the Grand Old Party. However, it was the same delicately threaded patchwork quilt of a party that has recently given us our 43rd U.S. president. In its broadest sense the Republican party consists of econmic and social conservatives. You have those more econmic minded who feel that if you work hard and save your money, you will not need the governments assistance in acheieving the American dream. Then, you have those who are more socially minded and feel that it is the responsibility of the government to act as the moral agent for the nation. This is important because, the forces at work in the Republican party today are essentially unchanged since the partys formation over one hundred and fifty years ago. In order to achieve better insight as to where we are today in the Republican party, one must look into the various groups absorbed into the party. At the time of the formation of the Republican Party, the government was basically a two party system consisting of the Democrats and the Whigs. The Republicans became a national party when John Freemont was nominated for president. One can ascertain rather clearly what was going on at the time simply by studying the slogan under which Freemont ran: Free soil, free labor, free speech, free men, Fremont." While the Republicans would go on to lose the election, they did garner 33% of the vote. Four years later Abraham Lincoln would be elected the first Republican president. In considering the issues of these groups, a parallel can be drawn with the issues of the Republican party of today. The main concern of the Free Soil Party was ensuring that the land of the Western territory be free of slave labor so that the small farmers and wage-earners would have the opportunity to compete. Such views can still clearly be seen in the

The Quality of Leaders Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Quality of Leaders - Assignment Example The other leader who is least admired is the managing director of a local restaurant in the United States. This leader has been in position for about four years in what may generally be referred to as a static restaurant business. Among other things, this latter leader is autocratic, unapproachable, secretive, intemperate and unable to stick to a common plan. The two leaders achieved their levels of power and influence through different means. For example the admired leader rose through the ranks of the sporting club of which he is presently the Chief Executive Director. This is because the company that runs the club has an organizational structure or system that rewards hard work by promoting employees through the ranks of positions. With the type of diligence, hard work and submissiveness that is described by Ancona et al (2007 p. 96), the leader easily won the hearts of the Board of Directors to win promotional status whenever there was vacancy above his rank. As Andreu and Rosanas (2012) opine, leaders are at times able to buy their ways to the top by influencing the judgmental thoughts of the people who are responsible for their endorsement. It has therefore been reported of how the least admired leader managed to influence several people who had voting powers to vote for his promotion to the office in which he currently

Othello by William Shakespeare Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Othello by William Shakespeare - Essay Example Outdoors, the cool autumn New York City air was tinged for a moment with the melancholy sounds of Billy Holliday belting out her first-hand impression of the ever-present scourge of lynching in the Deep South; painfully echoing through the words of a song she named Strange Fruit. Set in northern Italy during the late sixteen century, William Shakespeare's tragedy has never been able to avoid its powerful racial imagery. Perhaps that is as it was meant to be. However today, in such a multi-cultural and yet arguably still a rather segregated society, it is often difficult for Americans to truly gage racial sensibilities across several centuries and such wide bodies of water. When have we ever been able to gage an honest understanding of the true nature of racism within our own society So it is, that the best that we may hope to do is to put notions of racial antagonism and identity within the proper context of a prominent European city immersed within the waning years of the Italian Renaissance. Watching from the very first scene, as Iago appears to speak somewhat disparagingly of him as - 'The Moor', and Roderigo mocks his 'thick lips', what are we to make of the contemporary at

Cover Letter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 9

Cover Letter - Essay Example High collaboration and teamwork skills have assisted in maintaining quality co-ordination with previous workmates during the internship. My presentation and interpersonal skills have also made it possible to share ideas with board members. I am qualified in project management, and this has made it possible for me to attain my goal in building an orientation course for new engineers. I have professional affiliation with various organizations, the Society for human resource management being one that I have been privileged for being part of. Other associations include The Arabic Language Club, International Students’ Organization, Men’s Soccer Club, and College of Technology Student Leadership Council. These organizations have been influential in my career advancement for they have assisted me in learning and advancing myself career wise. Lastly, attached is a Curriculum Vita with my academic and professional

Impact of Employer Branding on Employee Performance

Impact of Employer Branding on Employee Performance Acknowledgement Apart from the efforts put by me, the success of any project depends largely on the encouragement and guidelines of many others. I take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the people who have been instrumental in the successful completion of my Thesis. I am heartily thankful to my Thesis Guide- Prof. Robin Thomas, whose encouragement, guidance and support from the initial to the final level enabled me to develop an understanding of this subject. The guidance and support received from all the members who contributed and who are contributing to this research, was vital for the success of this Thesis. I am grateful for their constant support and help. OBJECTIVE: To study the impact of Employer Branding on Employee Performance in the organizations in todays scenario. Also, to study the impact of effective Employer Branding on perceptual and objective areas of Performance Management. ABSTRACT Employer branding is the development and communication of an organizations culture as an employer in the marketplace. It conveys the organizations value proposition the totality of the organizations culture, systems, attitudes, and employee relationship along with encouraging its people to embrace and share goals for success, productivity, and satisfaction both on personal and professional levels. Employer branding represents a firms efforts to promote, both within and outside the firm, a clear view of what makes it different and desirable as an employer. In recent years employer branding has gained popularity among practicing managers. The importance of managing employee perceptions has given rise to the contemporary notion of Employer Brand. This is essentially the brand the employer projects to existing and potential employees via the chain of communication touch points ranging from recruitment intermediaries through to line managers. However one of the major issues in Employer Branding is how to measure an employer brand, what value does the employer brand have? Ultimately, a strong employer brand should contribute to the performance and success of the organization. The workforce is the real driver of profits in todays business world. Employer Branding helps in recruitment and retention of the best of talents. It has its impact in many areas of Human Resource Management like Employee Loyalty, Employee commitment, Employee retention and one of these areas which should get highly affected by this concept is Employee Performance. The strength of an organizations brand has a significant impact on the performance of its employees. A strong Employer Brand has a significant influence in the employees performance and that a strong product brand can essentially support the development of the employment brand. These days companies make a lot of investments in this concept of Employer Branding, thus studying the extent of its impact on Employees Performance in these organizations has become a vital need in todays scenario. THE SCOPE/COMMERCIAL VIABILITY OF THE STUDY * To study the concept of Employer Branding and its evolution over a period of time. * To study what it takes for an organization to build a magnetic Employer Brand. * To study the causes that lead organizations to focus more on this concept of Employer Branding. * To study the extent to which this process of Employer Branding helps the organizations to improve Employee Performance and what impact it has on other areas like Employee Loyalty and Employee Retention. * To study Employees Brand Based Equity and its impact on Employee Performance. * To study the benefits gained by the organizations as well as the obstacles faced by the organizations in the development and implementation of this process of Employer Branding. * To study the ways by which the impact of Employer Branding Process can be measured with Employee Performance being a major area of focus. METHODOLOGY The conceptual study of the thesis will be done through literature reviews. Descriptive research design will be used to get an idea of the implementation of this concept. Also, Causal research design will be used to understand the relationship between the variables under study to reach reliable and valid conclusions. The method of Probability sampling will be used to carry out the required surveys. Hereby, the method of Stratified Random Sampling will be used. The use of these methods and Research Designs would make the study more concrete and reliable. SOURCES OF INFORMATION  · Secondary data collection will be done through websites, literature study, journals, magazines and articles.  · Primary data collection will be done through interviews of professionals and subject experts. Also, the questionnaires will be used to carry out the surveys of the Target Audience. * The target audience would be the H.R [Senior Level] and Subject Experts. Study would be conducted across sectors and around Five Industries would be taken under study. Five Firms would be taken for survey purpose under each Industry. So in all, 25 H.R [Senior Level] across sectors and Five Subject Experts would be surveyed. Sample size would be 30. Note: The thesis has to be divided in three parts. The first part would talk about the following: * The meaning and background of Employer Branding, the dimensions of Employer Branding, etc. * The meaning and background of Employee Performance and how it is defined. * How are Employer Branding and Employee Performance related. The second part would be of Industry research which would include study of various industries taking into consideration various units under various industries. It would include data analysis and data interpretation. The third part would include the derivations of the study. It would include key findings and learning and suggestions. Chapter 1. Introduction to Branding 1.1 Defining a Brand Branding has been around for centuries as a means to distinguish the goods of one producer from those of another. In fact, the word brand is derived from the Old Norse word brandr, which means â€Å"to burn, as brands are the means by which owners of livestock mark their animals to identify them. According to the American Marketing Association (AMA) a brand is a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competition.† Technically speaking, then, whenever a marketer creates a new name, logo, or symbol for a new product, he or she has created a brand. Thus, the key to creating a brand, according to the AMA definition, is to be able to choose a name, logo, symbol, package design, or other attribute that identifies a prod ­uct and distinguishes it from others. These different components of a brand that iden ­tify and differentiate it can be called brand elements. A brand is therefore a product, but one that adds other dimensions that differentiate it in some way from other products designed to satisfy the same need. These differences may be rational and tangible—related to product performance of the brand—or more symbolic, emotional, and intangible—related to what the brand represents. One mar ­keting Observer put it this way. More specifically, what distinguishes a brand from its unbranded commodity counterpart and gives it equity is the sum total of consumers perceptions and feelings about the products attributes and how they perform, about the brand name and what it stands for, and about the company associated with the brand? 1.2 Why Brand? More and more firms and other organizations have come to the realization that one of their most valuable assets is the brand names associated with their products or services. In an increasingly complex world, individuals and businesses are faced with more and more choices but seemingly have less and less time to make those choices. The ability of a strong brand to simplify consumer decision making, reduce risk, and set expectations is thus invaluable. Creating strong brands that deliver on that promise, and maintaining and enhancing the strength of those brands over time, is thus a management imperative. Emile Durkheim in Elementary Forms of The Religious Life explains the religion of the Australian Aborigines. The concept of a church as Durkheim defines it is ‘a shared feeling of a special kind. It is group dynamics, the act of assembling for a common purpose, that creates the feeling of being in the presence of a spirit greater than the individual, a sacred feeling of being in the presence of a spirit greater than the individual, a sacred feeling that strikes a chord with our deepest longings. Brands, too, strike chords. However, striking the right chord is both difficult and often costly. There are no guarantees of the result, although there is a clear difference in the growth of financial value if we compare companies that have done at least a little branding and those that havent branded themselves at all. 1.3 Why do Brands matter? Creating a successful brand entails blending all these various elements to ­gether in a unique way—the product or service has to be of high quality and appropriate to consumer needs, the brand name must be appealing and in tune with the consumers perceptions of the product, the packaging, promo ­tion, pricing and all other elements must similarly meet the tests of appropri ­ateness, appeal, and differentiation. An obvious question is why are brands important? What functions do they per ­form that make them so valuable to marketers? One can take a couple of per ­spectives to uncover the value of brands to both consumers and firms themselves. 1.3.1 To Consumers As with the term product, this book uses the term consumer broadly to encompass all types of customers, including individuals as well as organizations. To consumers, brands provide important functions. Brands identify the source or maker of a product and allow consumers to assign responsibility to a particular manufacturer or distributor. Most important, brands take on special meaning to consumers. Because of past experi ­ences with the product and its marketing program over the years, consumers learn about brands. They find out which brands satisfy their needs and which ones do not. As a result, brands provide a shorthand device or means of simplification for their product decisions. If consumers recognize a brand and have some knowledge about it, then they do not have to engage in a lot of additional thought or processing of information to make a product decision. Thus, from an economic perspective, brands allow consumers to lour search costs for products both internally (in terms of how much they have to think) and externally (in terms of how much they have to look around). Based on what they already know about the brand—its quality, product characteristics, and so forth— consumers can make assumptions and form reasonable expectations about what they may not know about the brand. Brands can also play a significant role in signaling certain product characteristics to consumers. Researchers have classified products and their associated attributes or benefits into three major categories: search goods, experience goods, and credence goods. With search goods, product attributes can be evaluated by visual inspection (e.g., the sturdiness, size, color, style, weight, and ingredient composition of a product). With experience goods, product attributes—potentially equally important—cannot be assessed so easily by inspection, and actual product trial and experience is necessary (e.g., as with durability, service quality, safety, and ease of handling or use). With cre ­dence goods, product attributes may be rarely learned (e.g., insurance coverage). Because of the difficulty in assessing and interpreting product attributes and benefits with experience and credence goods, brands may be particularly important signals of quality and other characteristics to consumers for these types of products. Brands can reduce the risks in product decisions. Consumers may perceive many different types of risks in buying and consuming a product: *Functional risk: The product does not perform up to expectations *Physical risk: The product poses a threat to the physical well-being or health of the user or others *Financial risk: The product is not worth the price paid *Social risk: The product results in embarrassment from others *Psychological risk: The product affects the mental well-being of the user *Time risk: The failure of the product results in an opportunity cost of finding another satis ­factory product Although there are a number of different means by which consumers handle these risks, certainly one way in which consumers cope is to buy well-known brands, espe ­cially those brands with which consumers have had favorable past experiences. Thus, brands can be a very important risk-handling device, especially in business to business settings where these risks can sometimes have quite profound implications. 1.3.2 To Firms Brands also provide a number of valuable functions to firms. Fundamentally, they serve an identification purpose to simplify product handling or tracing for the firm. Operationally, brands help to organize inventory and accounting records. A brand also offers the firm legal protection for unique features or aspects of the product. A brand can retain intellectual property rights, giving legal title to the brand owner. The brand name can be protected through registered trademarks, manufacturing processes can be protected through patents, and packaging can be protected through copyrights and designs. These intellectual property rights ensure that the firm can safely invest in the brand and reap the benefits of a valuable asset. As noted earlier, these investments in the brand can endow a product with unique associations and meanings that differentiate it from other products. Brands can signal a certain level of quality so that satisfied buyers can easily choose the product again. This brand loyalty provides predictability and security of demand for the firm and cre ­ates barriers of entry that make it difficult for other firms to enter the market. Although manufacturing processes and product designs may be easily duplicated, last ­ing impressions in the minds of individuals and organizations from years of marketing activity and product experience may not be so easily reproduced. In this sense, brand ­ing can be seen as a powerful means of securing a competitive advantage. 1.4 Can anything be branded? [Can organizations be branded?] Brands clearly provide important benefits to both consumers and firms. An obvious question, then, is, How are brands created? How do we brand a product? Although firms provide the impetus for brand creation through their marketing programs and other activities, ultimately a brand is something that resides in the minds of consumers. A brand is a perceptual entity that is rooted in reality, but it is also more than that, reflecting the perceptions and perhaps even the idiosyncrasies of consumers. To brand a product it is necessary to teach consumers who the product is by giving it a name and using other brand elements to help identify it—as well as what the product does and why consumers should care. In other words, to brand a product or ser ­vice, it is necessary to give consumers a label for the product (i.e., heres how we can identify the product) and to provide meaning for the brand to consumers (i.e., heres what this particular product can do for we and why it is special and different from other brand name products). Branding involves creating mental structures and helping con ­sumers organize their knowledge about products and services in a way that clarifies their decision making and, in the process, provides value to the firm. The key to brand ­ing is that consumers perceive differences among brands in a product category. As noted earlier, brand differences often are related to attributes or benefits of the product itself. In other cases, however, brand d ifferences may be related to more intangible image considerations. The universality of branding can be recognized by looking at some different product applications. As noted previously, products can be defined broadly to include phys ­ical-goods, services, retail stores, online businesses, people, organizations, places, or ideas. Brands extend beyond products and services. People and organizations also can be viewed as brands. The naming aspect of the brand is generally straightforward in this case, and people and organizations also often have well-defined images understood and liked or disliked by others. This fact becomes particularly true when considering public figures such as politicians, entertainers, and professional athletes. All of these different public figures compete in some sense for public approval and acceptance and benefit from conveying a strong and desirable image. 2: Introduction to Employer Branding 2.1 Defining an Employer Brand Like a consumer brand, it is an emotional relationship, but between an employer and employee, one that radiates out from this core to other stakeholders, to the community at large, and obviously to potential employees. Employer branding is the development and communication of an organizations culture as an employer in the marketplace. It conveys a value proposition the totality of a culture, systems, attitudes, and employee relationship along with encouraging a people to embrace and share goals for success, productivity, and satisfaction both on personal and professional levels. Employer branding is the essence of the employment experience, providing points that commence with initial employer brand awareness, and continuing throughout the tenure of employment, even extending into retirement. Employer branding is a distinguishing and relevant opportunity for a company to differentiate itself from the competition creating its branded factors as its USP for employee satisfaction and happiness resulting in retention, productivity and efficiency. 2.2 Elements/ Essentials of an Employer Brand Few things that form an Employer Brand are:  § AN EMPLOYER BRAND MUST ARTICULATE A PROMISE TO EMPLOYEES. Just as every business has a customer brand, every business has an employer brand, too. Whether or not a business has ever spent any time developing it. Thats because every business needs employees. And as it recruits and retains and motivates, a business needs to clarify what it stands for. Why it must exist. What difference it can make. What it believes in. How its offerings align with its values. And if a business doesnt define an employer brand, just ask the recruiters. They will tell the story based on their own experience. In fact, more than 90 percent of people on line looking for jobs say they must very closely or closely understand the value of working for a company, according to the 2005 poll by Yahoo! Hot Jobs. An employer brand is a promise to employees to provide an experience that, in return, will motivate their commitment to deliver a customer brand. The real spirit of a employer brand is a combination of what a business may promise and deliver, inside and outside. Essentially, its about a relationship, between a business and a people. How business generally approaches people, or talent, has actually changed a bit over the years. We can remember when business viewed employees as followers in a campaign—people who simply did as they were told. Then, as time passed, business progressed to considering employees as partners in the implementation of strategies. This led, in recent years, to a consideration of the exchange between employees and business—sort of a we do this in exchange for this—to express the relationship. But that was primarily a financial transaction. And over time the old ways of framing the relationship functionally became outdated. Employees began to demand a relationship that reached for something more: an emotional connection. Thats where employer brand makes a difference. An employer brand can be a magical combination of what a business values, offers, and rewards—marrying what a brand promises outside with what a experience demands inside; what a business believes in and how we fundamentally respect the people who deliver a brand.  § AN EMPLOYER BRAND MUST SUPPORT A BUSINESS STRATEGY. But one cant just build an employer brand because everyone else does. Its too important. Theres too much it must accomplish. The need must come from a business strategy. The key to a successful employer brand is alignment with the business strategy, says Yvonne Larkin of Diageo. Together the business and organization strategies give the employer brand a reason for being. The power of employer brand is how it connects the internal experience to the external business need. How it grounds the necessity for this internal experience in the economic realities of the buying decisions a customers make. For example, is a business in a phase of rapid growth? An employer brand is essential to a growth strategy. Thats because growth will demand that a business continue to hire the right people in the right jobs at the right time. And keep the people we currently have. This constant effort to recruit and re recruit demands that a business enjoy a reputation in the marketplace that will support am bitions for growth. An employer brand can help a business clarify what will and will not change as we grow. And what growth means to the people who choose to work for we. Or is a business shrinking? An employer brand is essential to a strategy for stability. It can, simply, give employees something to hold on to during periods of significant turbulence. An emotional connection with employees will be tested as a business faces challenges, such as reducing a size without cutting out a heart, or shifting a direction from what employees may consider sacred. And is a business changing? Considering or pursuing new strategies? An employer brand is essential to any change strategy simply because it provides a focal point for employees. An employer brand is a touchstone for a employees, as their willingness to emotionally connect may be tested with each action each day. The essence of effective change management is effective stability management, giving people things to protect as they adjust to things that change. An employer brand can give people that emotional anchor as they may emotionally react to how they are expected to change. It can help people sing off the same page and embrace a common vision.  § AN EMPLOYER BRAND MUST DEFINE, FOR EMPLOYEES, WHAT A CUSTOMERS EXPERIENCE. An employer brand will never thrive if its only an HR thing or a Communications thing. If its only purpose is to make people feel better. It will only thrive if it makes a difference in results by making a difference to customers. If it supports every touch point a customers have with a business. Such importance is a key reason why Hallmark, as part of its internal efforts to excite employees about its consumer brand, annually gives each employee a card pack as a friendly way to tell others of sending greeting cards. The card pack is just that—an attractive folder with three greeting cards inside, along with a note to the employee suggesting that they share this pack with someone outside Hallmark and their immediate family, such as a new neighbor, the person sitting next to them on an airplane or bus, or the helpful sacker at the grocery store.† The approach clearly connects employees to consumer touch points to help share Hallmarks mission of enriching lives. A customer who has a positive experience will be more likely to return. But that positive experience doesnt simply happen. People make it happen. And most of these are employees of a business. A customers experience, regardless of the product or service a business offers, is a series of reactions and observ ations at each touch point: how people notice, observe, hear, experience, and talk. Every brand experience has a defining moment. An authentic brand experience will be consistent from one person to the next because employees internalize what they must accomplish at each customer touch point. And ultimately they will tell others what they think based on what their experience. Commitment to the brand is just as important for an employee who touches customers as for an employee who never sees a customer. People who work with customers must live the brand in every interaction they conduct. Others, at the same time, work behind the scenes to make sure customer-facing employees have the tools and support they need for a positive interaction. Any business has people who never see a customer but who, in every interaction, represent the brand. Regardless of where an employee works, the commitment to deliver the brand involves internalizing the promise the brand makes, developing the skills necessary to deliver the promise, and displaying the behavior necessary when implementing those skills. At every touch point.  § AN EMPLOYER BRAND MUST DEFINE WHAT A BUSINESS NEEDS FROM AN EMPLOYEES. All the magical things that can happen when a brand connects with customers dont simply happen. Employees make them happen. An employer brand is more than simply articulating what the customer brand is all about. A employer brand must define what a business needs from employees to deliver the brand Two things must happen for any employee of any business— from the smallest gas station on the corner to the largest global business—to live the brand. First, the employee must understand what the brand is all about. The employee must understand and internalize the essence of what a business is about—how that essence authentically applies to the products and services and experiences a business offers, and how the customer brand articulates this essence. What customers expect. To successfully deliver the brand promise to customers, the employee must understand the difference a business makes to customers—through its brands as well as what employees are expected to deliver. Which is the difference between doing the job and delivering the brand? Second, the employee must believe how the brand differentiates from what else is available on the market. Its not enough for the employee to believe the product, service, or business is a better choice. The employee must seriously believe it is the only choice. How the brand is aspirational. The employee must believe in the authenticity of the pictures the brand can create. The idea the brand promotes. How the brand reaches beyond a single product or service to articulate the cumulative purpose of a business behind the brand and how it connects to what people aspire to be. How the brand is inspirational. The employee must believe in the authenticity of the brand. What a business stands for. How it differentiates from others, not just in products and services, but in fundamental integrity. How its business proposition stands apart. What is unique in how a business inspires people to connect? How the brand is emotional. The employee must feel a sense of ownership in the brand, how the brand represents a business and anyone who works for a business. As if each employee wears the brand on his or her sleeve. And it certainly involves more than wearing a logo on a shirt. This has everything to do with the values of a business. Its as if, to strongly believe in the brand, the employee must believe there is something at this business they simply cannot find anywhere else. This has everything to do with how the employees values align with the values of a business. And if everyone in a business shares and aligns with these values, the brand will grow stronger. How the brand is functional. Finally, the employee must believe the products and services a business produces will actually work. They must believe in the functional integrity of what a business delivers.  § AN EMPLOYER BRAND MUST DEFINE ON-BRAND BEHAVIOR. On-brand behavior is what brand is all about. Any business needs specific behaviors from employees to deliver its brand promise to customers. This on-brand behavior occurs when an employee acts (or delivers) in a way that is consistent with what the brand is all about. And its important because customers experience the brand only when employees deliver the characteristics the brand promises—when the behavior of employees supports the promise of the brand. The key to delivery of the brand is the on-brand behavior of employees at each touch point. PG carefully outlines the principles for creating exciting, memorable PG experiences—in short, a summary of on-brand behavior. In materials distributed to employees, the company says, â€Å"To make the experience personal for a consumer, the employee is encouraged, for example, to anticipate, appreciate, and respond to diverse styles, needs, and motivations. To put the guest in the center of the experience, the employee is encouraged to be genuine and authentic in actions and behavior. To deliberately build a consistent delightful experience for the consumer, the employee is encouraged to define and execute a total experience from the very first moment the guest is made aware through the final follow-up. To make the guests experience comfortable and seemingly simple, the employee is suggested to put the guest at ease. And to respond generously and selflessly to delight, and go beyond what is expected, the employee is encouraged to always look for ways to improve an experience .† The role of the employee to deliver the brand will differ from one business to another, simply because of the differences in what businesses offer. On-brand behavior is just as important in businesses whose employees never see a customer. Employees create what a business sells to customers. And customers experience the brand.  § AN EMPLOYER BRAND MUST CONNECT WHAT HAPPENS OUTSIDE TO WHAT HAPPENS INSIDE. A business has a customer brand as a place to buy—and an employer brand as a place to work. While a customer brand focuses on specific products or services available externally, an employer brand may highlight distinct experiences or opportunities available internally. An employer brand, on the inside, frames the experience a business creates for employees, so they in turn deliver the brand promises to customers. In fact, the only way an employer brand can authentically reflect a business is if it articulates an identity, mission and values. That can happen only if an employer brand builds from the inside—to incorporate an essential identity, mission, and values. But its not just about what happens inside a business. To fully picture the potential of an employer brand, we must focus on what happens outside—and what an employees must deliver.  § A EMPLOYER BRAND MUST FOCUS ON EMPLOYEE CHOICE Every day, employees make choices about where and how to work. They view each stage of their relationship with a business as a brand experience that a business delivers. Some may consider new opportunities they believe may better meet their personal expectations. Some may wonder Whats in it for me? if they contribute to the demands of the job and a business. Some may decide to depart a business about which they hold memories of what they experience—and they likely will share those experiences with others still actively connected to or certainly considering a business as an employer. Thats why a business needs to use its employer brand no matter what it is doing or w Impact of Employer Branding on Employee Performance Impact of Employer Branding on Employee Performance Acknowledgement Apart from the efforts put by me, the success of any project depends largely on the encouragement and guidelines of many others. I take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the people who have been instrumental in the successful completion of my Thesis. I am heartily thankful to my Thesis Guide- Prof. Robin Thomas, whose encouragement, guidance and support from the initial to the final level enabled me to develop an understanding of this subject. The guidance and support received from all the members who contributed and who are contributing to this research, was vital for the success of this Thesis. I am grateful for their constant support and help. OBJECTIVE: To study the impact of Employer Branding on Employee Performance in the organizations in todays scenario. Also, to study the impact of effective Employer Branding on perceptual and objective areas of Performance Management. ABSTRACT Employer branding is the development and communication of an organizations culture as an employer in the marketplace. It conveys the organizations value proposition the totality of the organizations culture, systems, attitudes, and employee relationship along with encouraging its people to embrace and share goals for success, productivity, and satisfaction both on personal and professional levels. Employer branding represents a firms efforts to promote, both within and outside the firm, a clear view of what makes it different and desirable as an employer. In recent years employer branding has gained popularity among practicing managers. The importance of managing employee perceptions has given rise to the contemporary notion of Employer Brand. This is essentially the brand the employer projects to existing and potential employees via the chain of communication touch points ranging from recruitment intermediaries through to line managers. However one of the major issues in Employer Branding is how to measure an employer brand, what value does the employer brand have? Ultimately, a strong employer brand should contribute to the performance and success of the organization. The workforce is the real driver of profits in todays business world. Employer Branding helps in recruitment and retention of the best of talents. It has its impact in many areas of Human Resource Management like Employee Loyalty, Employee commitment, Employee retention and one of these areas which should get highly affected by this concept is Employee Performance. The strength of an organizations brand has a significant impact on the performance of its employees. A strong Employer Brand has a significant influence in the employees performance and that a strong product brand can essentially support the development of the employment brand. These days companies make a lot of investments in this concept of Employer Branding, thus studying the extent of its impact on Employees Performance in these organizations has become a vital need in todays scenario. THE SCOPE/COMMERCIAL VIABILITY OF THE STUDY * To study the concept of Employer Branding and its evolution over a period of time. * To study what it takes for an organization to build a magnetic Employer Brand. * To study the causes that lead organizations to focus more on this concept of Employer Branding. * To study the extent to which this process of Employer Branding helps the organizations to improve Employee Performance and what impact it has on other areas like Employee Loyalty and Employee Retention. * To study Employees Brand Based Equity and its impact on Employee Performance. * To study the benefits gained by the organizations as well as the obstacles faced by the organizations in the development and implementation of this process of Employer Branding. * To study the ways by which the impact of Employer Branding Process can be measured with Employee Performance being a major area of focus. METHODOLOGY The conceptual study of the thesis will be done through literature reviews. Descriptive research design will be used to get an idea of the implementation of this concept. Also, Causal research design will be used to understand the relationship between the variables under study to reach reliable and valid conclusions. The method of Probability sampling will be used to carry out the required surveys. Hereby, the method of Stratified Random Sampling will be used. The use of these methods and Research Designs would make the study more concrete and reliable. SOURCES OF INFORMATION  · Secondary data collection will be done through websites, literature study, journals, magazines and articles.  · Primary data collection will be done through interviews of professionals and subject experts. Also, the questionnaires will be used to carry out the surveys of the Target Audience. * The target audience would be the H.R [Senior Level] and Subject Experts. Study would be conducted across sectors and around Five Industries would be taken under study. Five Firms would be taken for survey purpose under each Industry. So in all, 25 H.R [Senior Level] across sectors and Five Subject Experts would be surveyed. Sample size would be 30. Note: The thesis has to be divided in three parts. The first part would talk about the following: * The meaning and background of Employer Branding, the dimensions of Employer Branding, etc. * The meaning and background of Employee Performance and how it is defined. * How are Employer Branding and Employee Performance related. The second part would be of Industry research which would include study of various industries taking into consideration various units under various industries. It would include data analysis and data interpretation. The third part would include the derivations of the study. It would include key findings and learning and suggestions. Chapter 1. Introduction to Branding 1.1 Defining a Brand Branding has been around for centuries as a means to distinguish the goods of one producer from those of another. In fact, the word brand is derived from the Old Norse word brandr, which means â€Å"to burn, as brands are the means by which owners of livestock mark their animals to identify them. According to the American Marketing Association (AMA) a brand is a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competition.† Technically speaking, then, whenever a marketer creates a new name, logo, or symbol for a new product, he or she has created a brand. Thus, the key to creating a brand, according to the AMA definition, is to be able to choose a name, logo, symbol, package design, or other attribute that identifies a prod ­uct and distinguishes it from others. These different components of a brand that iden ­tify and differentiate it can be called brand elements. A brand is therefore a product, but one that adds other dimensions that differentiate it in some way from other products designed to satisfy the same need. These differences may be rational and tangible—related to product performance of the brand—or more symbolic, emotional, and intangible—related to what the brand represents. One mar ­keting Observer put it this way. More specifically, what distinguishes a brand from its unbranded commodity counterpart and gives it equity is the sum total of consumers perceptions and feelings about the products attributes and how they perform, about the brand name and what it stands for, and about the company associated with the brand? 1.2 Why Brand? More and more firms and other organizations have come to the realization that one of their most valuable assets is the brand names associated with their products or services. In an increasingly complex world, individuals and businesses are faced with more and more choices but seemingly have less and less time to make those choices. The ability of a strong brand to simplify consumer decision making, reduce risk, and set expectations is thus invaluable. Creating strong brands that deliver on that promise, and maintaining and enhancing the strength of those brands over time, is thus a management imperative. Emile Durkheim in Elementary Forms of The Religious Life explains the religion of the Australian Aborigines. The concept of a church as Durkheim defines it is ‘a shared feeling of a special kind. It is group dynamics, the act of assembling for a common purpose, that creates the feeling of being in the presence of a spirit greater than the individual, a sacred feeling of being in the presence of a spirit greater than the individual, a sacred feeling that strikes a chord with our deepest longings. Brands, too, strike chords. However, striking the right chord is both difficult and often costly. There are no guarantees of the result, although there is a clear difference in the growth of financial value if we compare companies that have done at least a little branding and those that havent branded themselves at all. 1.3 Why do Brands matter? Creating a successful brand entails blending all these various elements to ­gether in a unique way—the product or service has to be of high quality and appropriate to consumer needs, the brand name must be appealing and in tune with the consumers perceptions of the product, the packaging, promo ­tion, pricing and all other elements must similarly meet the tests of appropri ­ateness, appeal, and differentiation. An obvious question is why are brands important? What functions do they per ­form that make them so valuable to marketers? One can take a couple of per ­spectives to uncover the value of brands to both consumers and firms themselves. 1.3.1 To Consumers As with the term product, this book uses the term consumer broadly to encompass all types of customers, including individuals as well as organizations. To consumers, brands provide important functions. Brands identify the source or maker of a product and allow consumers to assign responsibility to a particular manufacturer or distributor. Most important, brands take on special meaning to consumers. Because of past experi ­ences with the product and its marketing program over the years, consumers learn about brands. They find out which brands satisfy their needs and which ones do not. As a result, brands provide a shorthand device or means of simplification for their product decisions. If consumers recognize a brand and have some knowledge about it, then they do not have to engage in a lot of additional thought or processing of information to make a product decision. Thus, from an economic perspective, brands allow consumers to lour search costs for products both internally (in terms of how much they have to think) and externally (in terms of how much they have to look around). Based on what they already know about the brand—its quality, product characteristics, and so forth— consumers can make assumptions and form reasonable expectations about what they may not know about the brand. Brands can also play a significant role in signaling certain product characteristics to consumers. Researchers have classified products and their associated attributes or benefits into three major categories: search goods, experience goods, and credence goods. With search goods, product attributes can be evaluated by visual inspection (e.g., the sturdiness, size, color, style, weight, and ingredient composition of a product). With experience goods, product attributes—potentially equally important—cannot be assessed so easily by inspection, and actual product trial and experience is necessary (e.g., as with durability, service quality, safety, and ease of handling or use). With cre ­dence goods, product attributes may be rarely learned (e.g., insurance coverage). Because of the difficulty in assessing and interpreting product attributes and benefits with experience and credence goods, brands may be particularly important signals of quality and other characteristics to consumers for these types of products. Brands can reduce the risks in product decisions. Consumers may perceive many different types of risks in buying and consuming a product: *Functional risk: The product does not perform up to expectations *Physical risk: The product poses a threat to the physical well-being or health of the user or others *Financial risk: The product is not worth the price paid *Social risk: The product results in embarrassment from others *Psychological risk: The product affects the mental well-being of the user *Time risk: The failure of the product results in an opportunity cost of finding another satis ­factory product Although there are a number of different means by which consumers handle these risks, certainly one way in which consumers cope is to buy well-known brands, espe ­cially those brands with which consumers have had favorable past experiences. Thus, brands can be a very important risk-handling device, especially in business to business settings where these risks can sometimes have quite profound implications. 1.3.2 To Firms Brands also provide a number of valuable functions to firms. Fundamentally, they serve an identification purpose to simplify product handling or tracing for the firm. Operationally, brands help to organize inventory and accounting records. A brand also offers the firm legal protection for unique features or aspects of the product. A brand can retain intellectual property rights, giving legal title to the brand owner. The brand name can be protected through registered trademarks, manufacturing processes can be protected through patents, and packaging can be protected through copyrights and designs. These intellectual property rights ensure that the firm can safely invest in the brand and reap the benefits of a valuable asset. As noted earlier, these investments in the brand can endow a product with unique associations and meanings that differentiate it from other products. Brands can signal a certain level of quality so that satisfied buyers can easily choose the product again. This brand loyalty provides predictability and security of demand for the firm and cre ­ates barriers of entry that make it difficult for other firms to enter the market. Although manufacturing processes and product designs may be easily duplicated, last ­ing impressions in the minds of individuals and organizations from years of marketing activity and product experience may not be so easily reproduced. In this sense, brand ­ing can be seen as a powerful means of securing a competitive advantage. 1.4 Can anything be branded? [Can organizations be branded?] Brands clearly provide important benefits to both consumers and firms. An obvious question, then, is, How are brands created? How do we brand a product? Although firms provide the impetus for brand creation through their marketing programs and other activities, ultimately a brand is something that resides in the minds of consumers. A brand is a perceptual entity that is rooted in reality, but it is also more than that, reflecting the perceptions and perhaps even the idiosyncrasies of consumers. To brand a product it is necessary to teach consumers who the product is by giving it a name and using other brand elements to help identify it—as well as what the product does and why consumers should care. In other words, to brand a product or ser ­vice, it is necessary to give consumers a label for the product (i.e., heres how we can identify the product) and to provide meaning for the brand to consumers (i.e., heres what this particular product can do for we and why it is special and different from other brand name products). Branding involves creating mental structures and helping con ­sumers organize their knowledge about products and services in a way that clarifies their decision making and, in the process, provides value to the firm. The key to brand ­ing is that consumers perceive differences among brands in a product category. As noted earlier, brand differences often are related to attributes or benefits of the product itself. In other cases, however, brand d ifferences may be related to more intangible image considerations. The universality of branding can be recognized by looking at some different product applications. As noted previously, products can be defined broadly to include phys ­ical-goods, services, retail stores, online businesses, people, organizations, places, or ideas. Brands extend beyond products and services. People and organizations also can be viewed as brands. The naming aspect of the brand is generally straightforward in this case, and people and organizations also often have well-defined images understood and liked or disliked by others. This fact becomes particularly true when considering public figures such as politicians, entertainers, and professional athletes. All of these different public figures compete in some sense for public approval and acceptance and benefit from conveying a strong and desirable image. 2: Introduction to Employer Branding 2.1 Defining an Employer Brand Like a consumer brand, it is an emotional relationship, but between an employer and employee, one that radiates out from this core to other stakeholders, to the community at large, and obviously to potential employees. Employer branding is the development and communication of an organizations culture as an employer in the marketplace. It conveys a value proposition the totality of a culture, systems, attitudes, and employee relationship along with encouraging a people to embrace and share goals for success, productivity, and satisfaction both on personal and professional levels. Employer branding is the essence of the employment experience, providing points that commence with initial employer brand awareness, and continuing throughout the tenure of employment, even extending into retirement. Employer branding is a distinguishing and relevant opportunity for a company to differentiate itself from the competition creating its branded factors as its USP for employee satisfaction and happiness resulting in retention, productivity and efficiency. 2.2 Elements/ Essentials of an Employer Brand Few things that form an Employer Brand are:  § AN EMPLOYER BRAND MUST ARTICULATE A PROMISE TO EMPLOYEES. Just as every business has a customer brand, every business has an employer brand, too. Whether or not a business has ever spent any time developing it. Thats because every business needs employees. And as it recruits and retains and motivates, a business needs to clarify what it stands for. Why it must exist. What difference it can make. What it believes in. How its offerings align with its values. And if a business doesnt define an employer brand, just ask the recruiters. They will tell the story based on their own experience. In fact, more than 90 percent of people on line looking for jobs say they must very closely or closely understand the value of working for a company, according to the 2005 poll by Yahoo! Hot Jobs. An employer brand is a promise to employees to provide an experience that, in return, will motivate their commitment to deliver a customer brand. The real spirit of a employer brand is a combination of what a business may promise and deliver, inside and outside. Essentially, its about a relationship, between a business and a people. How business generally approaches people, or talent, has actually changed a bit over the years. We can remember when business viewed employees as followers in a campaign—people who simply did as they were told. Then, as time passed, business progressed to considering employees as partners in the implementation of strategies. This led, in recent years, to a consideration of the exchange between employees and business—sort of a we do this in exchange for this—to express the relationship. But that was primarily a financial transaction. And over time the old ways of framing the relationship functionally became outdated. Employees began to demand a relationship that reached for something more: an emotional connection. Thats where employer brand makes a difference. An employer brand can be a magical combination of what a business values, offers, and rewards—marrying what a brand promises outside with what a experience demands inside; what a business believes in and how we fundamentally respect the people who deliver a brand.  § AN EMPLOYER BRAND MUST SUPPORT A BUSINESS STRATEGY. But one cant just build an employer brand because everyone else does. Its too important. Theres too much it must accomplish. The need must come from a business strategy. The key to a successful employer brand is alignment with the business strategy, says Yvonne Larkin of Diageo. Together the business and organization strategies give the employer brand a reason for being. The power of employer brand is how it connects the internal experience to the external business need. How it grounds the necessity for this internal experience in the economic realities of the buying decisions a customers make. For example, is a business in a phase of rapid growth? An employer brand is essential to a growth strategy. Thats because growth will demand that a business continue to hire the right people in the right jobs at the right time. And keep the people we currently have. This constant effort to recruit and re recruit demands that a business enjoy a reputation in the marketplace that will support am bitions for growth. An employer brand can help a business clarify what will and will not change as we grow. And what growth means to the people who choose to work for we. Or is a business shrinking? An employer brand is essential to a strategy for stability. It can, simply, give employees something to hold on to during periods of significant turbulence. An emotional connection with employees will be tested as a business faces challenges, such as reducing a size without cutting out a heart, or shifting a direction from what employees may consider sacred. And is a business changing? Considering or pursuing new strategies? An employer brand is essential to any change strategy simply because it provides a focal point for employees. An employer brand is a touchstone for a employees, as their willingness to emotionally connect may be tested with each action each day. The essence of effective change management is effective stability management, giving people things to protect as they adjust to things that change. An employer brand can give people that emotional anchor as they may emotionally react to how they are expected to change. It can help people sing off the same page and embrace a common vision.  § AN EMPLOYER BRAND MUST DEFINE, FOR EMPLOYEES, WHAT A CUSTOMERS EXPERIENCE. An employer brand will never thrive if its only an HR thing or a Communications thing. If its only purpose is to make people feel better. It will only thrive if it makes a difference in results by making a difference to customers. If it supports every touch point a customers have with a business. Such importance is a key reason why Hallmark, as part of its internal efforts to excite employees about its consumer brand, annually gives each employee a card pack as a friendly way to tell others of sending greeting cards. The card pack is just that—an attractive folder with three greeting cards inside, along with a note to the employee suggesting that they share this pack with someone outside Hallmark and their immediate family, such as a new neighbor, the person sitting next to them on an airplane or bus, or the helpful sacker at the grocery store.† The approach clearly connects employees to consumer touch points to help share Hallmarks mission of enriching lives. A customer who has a positive experience will be more likely to return. But that positive experience doesnt simply happen. People make it happen. And most of these are employees of a business. A customers experience, regardless of the product or service a business offers, is a series of reactions and observ ations at each touch point: how people notice, observe, hear, experience, and talk. Every brand experience has a defining moment. An authentic brand experience will be consistent from one person to the next because employees internalize what they must accomplish at each customer touch point. And ultimately they will tell others what they think based on what their experience. Commitment to the brand is just as important for an employee who touches customers as for an employee who never sees a customer. People who work with customers must live the brand in every interaction they conduct. Others, at the same time, work behind the scenes to make sure customer-facing employees have the tools and support they need for a positive interaction. Any business has people who never see a customer but who, in every interaction, represent the brand. Regardless of where an employee works, the commitment to deliver the brand involves internalizing the promise the brand makes, developing the skills necessary to deliver the promise, and displaying the behavior necessary when implementing those skills. At every touch point.  § AN EMPLOYER BRAND MUST DEFINE WHAT A BUSINESS NEEDS FROM AN EMPLOYEES. All the magical things that can happen when a brand connects with customers dont simply happen. Employees make them happen. An employer brand is more than simply articulating what the customer brand is all about. A employer brand must define what a business needs from employees to deliver the brand Two things must happen for any employee of any business— from the smallest gas station on the corner to the largest global business—to live the brand. First, the employee must understand what the brand is all about. The employee must understand and internalize the essence of what a business is about—how that essence authentically applies to the products and services and experiences a business offers, and how the customer brand articulates this essence. What customers expect. To successfully deliver the brand promise to customers, the employee must understand the difference a business makes to customers—through its brands as well as what employees are expected to deliver. Which is the difference between doing the job and delivering the brand? Second, the employee must believe how the brand differentiates from what else is available on the market. Its not enough for the employee to believe the product, service, or business is a better choice. The employee must seriously believe it is the only choice. How the brand is aspirational. The employee must believe in the authenticity of the pictures the brand can create. The idea the brand promotes. How the brand reaches beyond a single product or service to articulate the cumulative purpose of a business behind the brand and how it connects to what people aspire to be. How the brand is inspirational. The employee must believe in the authenticity of the brand. What a business stands for. How it differentiates from others, not just in products and services, but in fundamental integrity. How its business proposition stands apart. What is unique in how a business inspires people to connect? How the brand is emotional. The employee must feel a sense of ownership in the brand, how the brand represents a business and anyone who works for a business. As if each employee wears the brand on his or her sleeve. And it certainly involves more than wearing a logo on a shirt. This has everything to do with the values of a business. Its as if, to strongly believe in the brand, the employee must believe there is something at this business they simply cannot find anywhere else. This has everything to do with how the employees values align with the values of a business. And if everyone in a business shares and aligns with these values, the brand will grow stronger. How the brand is functional. Finally, the employee must believe the products and services a business produces will actually work. They must believe in the functional integrity of what a business delivers.  § AN EMPLOYER BRAND MUST DEFINE ON-BRAND BEHAVIOR. On-brand behavior is what brand is all about. Any business needs specific behaviors from employees to deliver its brand promise to customers. This on-brand behavior occurs when an employee acts (or delivers) in a way that is consistent with what the brand is all about. And its important because customers experience the brand only when employees deliver the characteristics the brand promises—when the behavior of employees supports the promise of the brand. The key to delivery of the brand is the on-brand behavior of employees at each touch point. PG carefully outlines the principles for creating exciting, memorable PG experiences—in short, a summary of on-brand behavior. In materials distributed to employees, the company says, â€Å"To make the experience personal for a consumer, the employee is encouraged, for example, to anticipate, appreciate, and respond to diverse styles, needs, and motivations. To put the guest in the center of the experience, the employee is encouraged to be genuine and authentic in actions and behavior. To deliberately build a consistent delightful experience for the consumer, the employee is encouraged to define and execute a total experience from the very first moment the guest is made aware through the final follow-up. To make the guests experience comfortable and seemingly simple, the employee is suggested to put the guest at ease. And to respond generously and selflessly to delight, and go beyond what is expected, the employee is encouraged to always look for ways to improve an experience .† The role of the employee to deliver the brand will differ from one business to another, simply because of the differences in what businesses offer. On-brand behavior is just as important in businesses whose employees never see a customer. Employees create what a business sells to customers. And customers experience the brand.  § AN EMPLOYER BRAND MUST CONNECT WHAT HAPPENS OUTSIDE TO WHAT HAPPENS INSIDE. A business has a customer brand as a place to buy—and an employer brand as a place to work. While a customer brand focuses on specific products or services available externally, an employer brand may highlight distinct experiences or opportunities available internally. An employer brand, on the inside, frames the experience a business creates for employees, so they in turn deliver the brand promises to customers. In fact, the only way an employer brand can authentically reflect a business is if it articulates an identity, mission and values. That can happen only if an employer brand builds from the inside—to incorporate an essential identity, mission, and values. But its not just about what happens inside a business. To fully picture the potential of an employer brand, we must focus on what happens outside—and what an employees must deliver.  § A EMPLOYER BRAND MUST FOCUS ON EMPLOYEE CHOICE Every day, employees make choices about where and how to work. They view each stage of their relationship with a business as a brand experience that a business delivers. Some may consider new opportunities they believe may better meet their personal expectations. Some may wonder Whats in it for me? if they contribute to the demands of the job and a business. Some may decide to depart a business about which they hold memories of what they experience—and they likely will share those experiences with others still actively connected to or certainly considering a business as an employer. Thats why a business needs to use its employer brand no matter what it is doing or w