Human Resources in the Leisure and Recreation Industry Essay

Most medium sized to large businesses have a human resource department, which looks after the welfare of staff who are employed in the company. The Leisure and Recreation Industry is the biggest growing area of business in the UK with people spending of over à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½12 billion on leisure and recreation products/services. There are * people working in the Leisure and Recreation industry in the UK. Many of whom work on a temporary basis linked to tourism. External and Internal Influences on a department External Economic climate If the country were in recession this would mean that a lot of people would be unemployed and therefore not able to spend money on leisure and recreation industry because they would need to spend on their basic needs i.e. tax, bills, food etc. However in the UK employees often have a high disposable income, which means that after an employee gains income paying all tax, bills, mortgages etc, then most employees will have money to spend on the leisure and recreation industry because of their high disposable income. Minimum wage The national minimum wage will be à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½5.05 per hour in October 2005 but this often changes from time to time, so that it can meet the demands of cost of living. So if the wage was less than the cost of living people will not be able to afford to live and spend money and may need to work extra shifts/hours to gain more money. However the leisure and recreation industry may have higher wage so that it can motivate the employee because money is the biggest method of motivation. Trends in consumer demand In the fast moving pace of life of today, many consumers want leisure and recreation facilities open earlier and later. This means that human resources departments need more flexible working arrangements with staff. So they may need to recruit extra staff to do different shifts. Employment trends Many students apply to do temporary contracts in the summer months, because students have holidays and so will work for extra money. This is also a good advantage for the HR, as they will organise holidays for other employee that will want to go on Holiday especially during the summer months. So the student will apply to fill in for other employee’s to go on Holiday. Skills shortages In some industries such as carpentry and engineering there is a growing shortage of new recruits going into the trade. The leisure and recreation industry bucks the trend as more and more courses at schools; colleges and university focus on the subject/industry. There are more skills needed in the carpentry and engineering (or other) industries than the leisure and recreation industry, which is why there are more new recruits going into the trade. Location issues If the business is located in the city then it will be very good for the business especially the HR, as there will be a high rate of employment and there will be a high number of people with suitable skills. However the premises would be expensive and the cost of labour would also be high as the cost of living will be high in the city. Internal Organisational structure Organisation charts are mainly used in larger businesses to show where different jobs fit into the organisation (shows who’s doing which job). It also shows the different levels of responsibility employees have. So the higher you go up the chart the responsibility of employees increases. Responding to customer trends in terms of products or services Audit of staffing requirements from department heads Before HR can recruit any one they will need to look if vacancies are available by going around the other departments and ask heads of the departments Staff turnover, career moves Sickness rates, absenteeism and levels of motivation Legally an employer can’t employ someone else to do a job on a permanent basis if there is someone else doing the job already. Statistically employees in the UK work till late, which is why the government are trying to, decrease the number of working hours. This is because working parents seem to neglect their children and aren’t spending enough time with them. Flexible work force HR tries to make employees working time very flexible and so this is why they recruit extra staff to do some shifts permanently so that every employee has flexible working time. Sometimes the HR will recruit some to do part time i.e. Saturdays when it is very busy they will recruit part time employees or even temporarily like the summer holidays. Recruitment and Selection To recruit an employee, first a HR manager for example will have to go around to other different departments to find vacancies, so that he/she can recruit new members of staff. Then if vacancy is available HR will have to draw up a: * Job description – this shows the roles of the job of the employee * Person specification – outline of the skills and qualities required of the post holder * Then they will have to advertise it on the local newspaper or Internet. HR can also go to jobcentres, employment agencies or Head hunters to find employees with higher qualities but this method would be expensive and time consuming so it is mainly used to find employees to do jobs needing high skills. After the job has been advertised, HR will have to go through a process called selection (selecting the right employee) and so HR sort through the applications, putting aside any which are definitely not suitable and then producing a shortlist of applicants to call for selection. This saves time and so next HR will have to arrange interviews for the applicants shortlisted and so references can be followed, practical testing, psychometric testing etc, can be done to speed up the process of selection. Selection process can vary depending on the organisation. Contract of Employment Contract of employment states the terms and conditions of the job, showing a legally binding agreement between the employer and employee. So if an employee offers to work for an organisation then in return the employer must pay that person to do the work. Contract of employment mainly states: * Holidays and sick pay entitlement – legally Employee’s are entitled to at least 4 weeks holiday and so it should state how many weeks of holiday the employee is entitled to, also it should state whether employee is entitled to employer sick pay or SSP (Statutory Sick Pay) * Grievance and disciplinary procedures – it should state who the employee can refer if he or she has a grievance and should state who is responsible for disciplinary procedures. * Notice periods – If an employee decides to leave or is dismissed by the employer then it should state the notice time for that i.e. one-month notice time. * Wage/pay – it should state the amount of pay the employee should receive when job is done, also it may state how it is paid i.e. electronically. * Hours of work – it should also state the hours of work i.e. 48 hours a week, and what time he/he will start and finish * Fringe benefits – it should also state * Period of contract – whether it is permanent or temporary An employee is legally entitled to a contract of employment if he/she is working for the business for 1 month or more. Key components of staff training and development Induction Staff Appraisal Training and Development Induction training is given at the start of a new job to show how the activities of the firm are organised. Performance Reviews Self Evaluation Peer Evaluation Target Setting Measuring individual and group output/production Mentoring and coaching Apprenticeships In-house training External training Motivation Keeping staff motivated is good for the business because: * Motivated workers are more productive and higher productivity usually means higher profits. * In a service industry, workers who are well motivated will provide a better level of customer service, keeping the customers happy. * Staffs who are well motivated are more likely to stay with the company. They grow in experience and become even more valuable to their employer. * If a business successfully keeps the staff it has, the cost of recruiting and training new staff is reduced. > Management styles > Job Rotation, Job Enlargement > Team working > Financial incentives An employee can be demotivated if: * The environment is not safe, so the HR will have to make the environment safe. * The managers/employer

Poetry and the Marriage of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes Essay

In the introduction of her book Her Husband: Hughes and Plath – a Marriage (2003), Diane Wood Middlebrook wrote that â€Å"poetry had brought Hughes and Plath together, and poetry had kept them together† (Middlebrook, n. pag.). Indeed, the marriage of poets Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes is best described as a union of two talented but volatile personalities who both competed with and complemented one another through poetry. But this observation was often ignored due to the overly simplistic accounts of their marriage, especially those that focused on the period shortly before and after Plath’s death. Hughes is almost always depicted in these explanations as a philandering womanizer, while Plath is shown as a clingy and overly paranoid wife (St. Clair, n. pag.). The life of Sylvia Plath has often been presented as the struggle of a brilliant mind against madness. Plath was an excellent student, graduating summa cum laude from Smith College in 1955 and obtaining a Fulbright scholarship to Cambridge University shortly afterwards. A gifted writer, she published her poems in magazines and won literary awards since her teenage years. However, these accomplishments were overshadowed by her battle with mental illness (MSN Encarta, n. pag.). Plath began to experience episodes of depression, insomnia and suicidal thoughts during her youth, all of which were possibly triggered by her father’s demise when she was only eight years old. In her junior year in college in 1953, Plath tried to kill herself by hiding under her house and overdosing on sleeping pills. She was afterwards confined in a mental institution for six months, where she was subjected to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Plath’s later writings made a constant reference to her experiences with this treatment (MSN Encarta, n. pag.). Plath made a temporary recovery in January 1954, allowing her to graduate from college and pursue further studies in England. While in Cambridge, she met Ted Hughes. Despite warnings from friends about his fickleness in relationships, Hughes and Plath fell in love with each other and got married in 1956 (Neurotic Poets, n. pag.). Their first child, Frieda, was born in 1960, followed by Nicholas in 1962 (MSN Encarta, n. pag.). At first, Plath and Hughes enjoyed a happy marriage. Theirs was a relationship that was â€Å"fueled by their joint passion for poetry† (John-Steiner, 136). For Plath, Hughes was not just a husband – he was a father figure who can fill the void caused by the premature death of her real father. She revealed this sentiment in an undated letter to her mother, Aurelia: We read, we discuss poems we discover, talk, analyze – we continually fascinate each other. It is heaven to have someone like Ted who is so kind and honest and brilliant always stimulating me to think, draw and write. He is better than any teacher, he even fills somehow that huge, sad hole I felt in having no father. (137) As a result, Plath idolized her husband completely. She had so much faith in his ability as a poet that she worked very hard to have his poetry published in English and American magazines. But according to Vera John-Steiner’s book Creative Collaboration (2000), Hughes’ feelings towards his wife’s efforts was not established (John-Steiner, 137). Unfortunately, later accounts of their marriage implied that Hughes was suffocated with Plath’s excessive clinginess. His sister Olwyn recalled that â€Å"he could not go on the simplest of errands without her grabbing a coat and running after him† (John-Steiner, 137). Consequently, Plath and Hughes fought often and the latter had an extramarital affair with a married woman named Assia Wevill (Neurotic Poets, n. pag.). He eventually left her for Wevill in 1962 (MSN Encarta, n. pag.). Plath described the stormy condition of their marriage before their separation in her poems Words heard, by Accident over the Phone, Poppies in July and Burning the Letters (Neurotic Poets, n. pag.). Plath and her children moved to London in December 1962. She wrote poetry at a feverish pace during this period, with an output of more than 25 poems. What made these poems – which included A Secret, The Applicant and Daddy – noteworthy was that they contained Plath’s brutally honest opinions about her marriage and her father’s passing. In January 1963, her semi-autobiographical novel The Bell Jar was published under the pseudonym Victoria Lucas (Neurotic Poets, n. pag.). Despite these literary accomplishments, Plath’s depression worsened. She killed herself in the early morning of February 11, 1963 by putting her head inside a gas oven (MSN Encarta, n. pag.). It would be fair to say that Plath and Hughes used poetry to asses the effects of their tempestuous marriage on themselves. The Applicant, for instance, revealed Plath’s anger over what marriage does to a woman: But in twenty-five years she’ll be silver, In fifty, gold. A living doll, everywhere you look. It can sew, it can cook, It can talk, talk, talk. (n. pag.) For Plath, marriage and or domestic relationships condemned a woman to a â€Å"living death† (Dobbs, 11). When a woman marries, her â€Å"worth† will be based on how well she takes care of her family. In effect, she is almost similar to a dead person because her identity as an individual is replaced with that of a wife and a mother. The Applicant was probably based on Plath’s dilemma as to whether she should still pursue careers in the academe and in writing even if she was already married or just resign herself to being a full-time housewife. Letters to and the remembrances of friends and family members revealed this conflict. Although Plath was able to maintain a balance between work and family life, she resented her family for making demands that drained her creativity. But at the same time, she felt guilty for harboring such bitterness – her husband left her for another woman probably because she didn’t spend enough time on him. It must be noted that one constant source of their disagreements was that Hughes wanted Plath to stop working and take care of their children instead (Dobbs, 13). Words heard, by Accident over the Phone, meanwhile, is an account of Hughes’ affair with Wevill: Speak, speak! Who is it? †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ O god, how shall I ever clean the phone table? They are pressing out of the many-holed earpiece, they are looking for a listener. Is he there? (n. pag.) According to some accounts, there was an instance when Plath heard the phone in their house ringing as she returned from a morning outing with her mother. When she answered it, it was Wevill, trying to disguise her voice. After Hughes finished talking to Wevill, Plath was so upset that she unplugged the phone wire from its socket. It was only during that incident that Plath realized that her husband was having an affair (NeuroticPoets, n. pag.). Burning the Letters showed Plath’s rage over the said discovery: I made a fire; being tired Of the white fists of old Letters and their death rattle When I came too close to the wastebasket What did they know that I didn’t? Love, love, and well, I was tired (n. pag.) Plath was said to be so upset over Hughes’ affair with Wevill that she tore up and threw into the fire the manuscript of the novel that she had been working on (the sequel to The Bell Jar). She also burned all the letters that received from her mother, as well as Hughes’ letters and drafts of poems (NeuroticPoets, n. pag.). Hughes has often been blamed for Plath’s death. This was fueled largely by the women’s movement of the 1970s, which strongly identified itself with her life and poetry. For decades, Hughes kept silent regarding his former wife’s passing. But in 1998, he published Birthday Letters, a collection of his poems that focused on his relationship with Plath and her sad fate. Hughes implied in most of his poems that one of the reasons for the failure of his marriage to Plath was their incompatibilities in terms of personal success. Being the daughter of educators, Plath grew up adhering to conventional standards of achievement. Accounts of her life gave the impression that she wanted nothing more but to establish herself both in writing and in teaching. Hughes, on the other hand, felt suffocated at the idea of a tenured academic job (Rees, n. pag.). Hughes echoed this sentiment in The Blue Flannel Suit. This poem mockingly described Plath’s nervousness during her first day as an English lecturer in her alma mater. In order to project the respectable image of an academic, she wore a badly-tailored suit that she made by herself. Looking back at this incident, he wrote: That blue suit, A mad, execution uniform, Survived your sentence. (n. pag.) But in A Picture of Otto, Hughes lamented that he and Plath separated primarily because he was not able to take the place of her father, Otto, in her life. For him, Otto was inseparable from my shadow As long as your daughter’s words can stir a candle. She could hardly tell us apart in the end. (458) In the end, Hughes finally accepted that Plath will always be her father’s daughter: you never could have released her. I was a whole myth too late to replace you. This underworld, my friend, is her heart’s home. Inseparable, here we must remain. (459) Human relationships are too complex for their failure to be attributed to just one person. While Hughes may have his faults, Plath was already a disturbed character even before their marriage. Their poetry was just a reflection of a couple, who, despite their fame, underwent the travails of any other failed marriage. Hence, the works of Hughes and Plath should not be used as additional fodder to continue a battle of the sexes that was blown out of proportion.

Compare and contrast the cultural expectations for women in Kincaids Essay

Compare and contrast the cultural expectations for women in Kincaids Girl and Faulkners A Rose for Emily - Essay Example tips from the trivial things (â€Å"Don’t walk barehead in the hot sun.† ) to the practical (â€Å"This is how you grow okra---far from the house, because okra tree harbors red ants.†) to the profound (â€Å"This is how to love a man, and if this doesn’t work there are other ways, and if they don’t work don’t feel too bad about giving up.†). The mood of the text is that of a sermon delivered to an unwilling audience. The narrator’s active oration is like a burst of thoughts and emotions that have long struggled to break free, like a tidal wave finally let out. Its maniacal pace seems as if the narrator does not have enough time to elaborate on each tip. It captivates the reader to keep reading, as if to hungrily devour tiny bits of appetizers without actually feeling full. One gets a taste of a chunk of wisdom, and before the reader even gets to swallow it, another is on the way. Its sarcasm at the redundant accusation that the girl is â€Å"bent on becoming a slut† loses its sting, as a barrage of information gets thrown at her. Faulkner’s â€Å"A Rose for Emily† is a short story that holds the readers’ attention despite the fact that it tells of a rather boring tale of a woman who lives in a small town. The narrator effectively describes the characters in such a way that the readers clearly visualize them in their minds’ eye. It is about Emily, a white girl from an aristocratic family in the south, the Griersons. It chronicles Emily’s life from her girlhood, when her parents selfishly prohibit her from dating men, as it seems all men were beneath them. â€Å"the Griersons held themselves a little too high for what they really were. None of the young men were quite good for Miss Emily and such.† Being so, Miss Emily has grown to believe that she occupies a special position in society, even to her old age when she refused to pay her taxes, having been privileged by a former Mayor who owed the Griersons favors. The narrator depicted a

Government Regulations towards Small & Medium Enterprises Essay

Government Regulations towards Small & Medium Enterprises - Essay Example The hypotheses are then tested against the observed characteristics of entrepreneurs and small business owners in the real world. However, there are a number of problems with this approach that have been discussed as follows:- 1. Some regions are more favored than others at establishing successful small businesses and entrepreneurs and hence their economic development is more successful. The question of whether this is due to characteristics in the population or due to certain aspects of the environment and infrastructure which enable potential entrepreneurs to exploit their skills and opportunities more easily, remains, at this stage, an open one. For example, research undertaken for Scottish Enterprise (2), after concern with low participation rates in entrepreneurship, showed that a complex series of factors contributed to low participation rates in Scotland. For example, the historical dependence of the population on a limited number of large employers coupled with inward investment (North Sea oil) had produced a 'dependency culture', that is, that people were used to depending on large employers for employment. Thus, the thought of going into business on their own account did not come easily to them. Yet other factors were important as well such as lack of finance. This example shows why participation rates might be different in particular regions for varying complex reasons. 2. Concern has been expressed at the existence of latent entrepreneurial talent. For example, why are there so few successful female entrepreneurs Again this remains open question which appears to have no simple solution but rather is caused by a complex combination of social and economic reasons. Little research has been conducted specifically on these groups in the UK, although a study carried out by the David Deakins and Ram (3) with African - Caribbean entrepreneurs suggests that motivations among this minority group in the UK consists of a combination of positive (pull) and negative (push) factors. Positive factors are associated with the attractions of entrepreneurship and negative factors are associated with limited opportunities in the inner-city and deprived urban environments. 3. Attention has focused on the role of networks in successful entrepreneurial development. For example, some research suggests that inter-firm networks contribute to successful entrepreneurship as discussed below. Start-ups (4): We know that a high proportion of new firms fail within three years of start - up. For example, in the UK, 30 percent of new firms cease trading by the third year and 50 percent by the fifth year. In addition, there is only a small proportion that grow to employ 50 workers. One of the factors is the potential loss of control faced by the entrepreneur as the firm grows. New small firms and entrepreneurs that are successful are predominantly located in the South - East in the UK. This suggests that the environment and infrastructure is at least as important as the characteristics of the entrepreneur. It is also likely that the development of inter-firm networks is more advanced in the South - East than in other regions of the UK. Inter -Organizational Networks (5): The inter-organizational

Twitter & Navigation Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Twitter & Navigation - Coursework Example The following is the formula used to translate the coordinates: Decimal Degrees = Degrees + minutes/60 + seconds/3600 After configuring the degrees of the points the group must plot these positions on the paper map. The lack of identifying local landmarks or road signs in any case would cause issues with accuracy on pinpointing location. In order to avoid lack of accuracy a group should use some form of tracking device. For this project the iPhone is issued as a viable tracking device to be used secondary to the laptop. In reference to the project, a group encountered a problem when uploading data. The group had covered the laptop tracking device and could not retrieve a track record. The issued was solved by enabling the tracking system on the iPhone. The understanding that can be developed in this case is that the use of the paper map without assistance from electronics could be crippling. Utilizing a GPS as the main source for navigation and finding places has different outcome po ssibilities. Naturally coordinates have to be enabled on the system. This can be done by entering the same decimal degrees as map groups. The GPS will calculate and pinpoint these locations automatically. The tracking system within the GPS will develop a path for the group. However, the issue here can be based solely on the accuracy of the device. Should the pseudorandom code and the local copy of the coordinates be flawed by heavy error there will be destinations that do not match up. In the case of groups there should be a second record to show how accurate the findings are. In this case the use of a local map is implemented to show the right destination of the course. What can be picked up using the GPS method is that the accuracy of the device is hardly incapable of being disrupted. For that reason, individuals should not depend on one GPS result or test. A more accurate reading could be done if more than three devices are used. In general the use of a GPS system in combination with a map could be a suitable match. Though the project requires the use of paper maps and devices separately, they were typically used together to confirm information. The laptops were tracking as GPS devices would and the local area maps were a considerable replica of those paper maps. Twitter Twitter has an entire system is based on an Open System Environment. Currently, the users are implementing a Geo-tagging API to allow themselves to create TwitterVision, #UKSnow, and Trendsmaps in connection with Google Maps. With Geo-tagging one basically uses an iPhone (with viable signal) to deliver a corresponding coordinate to the system that transfers the iPhone signal into a location tag. Focusing more on the use of open systems can qualify the Twitter system to implement forums for educational environments and a larger scale of customer to business purchases as used in Second Life. The only major improvement that could be linked to the mapping system at present could be a location t o location open video attachment blog in real time to create a video conferencing concept. There is a current possibility of geo-tagging a video to a map using a camcorder that is GPS enabled. The basic concept is to utilize the available system the same as one would to geotag a photo (Catt 1). Should the concept of open software be generated to act as a system such as CISCO Webex there would be a live feed to connect universal Geo-taggers. This way individuals that use Geo-tagging for mapping could also enable real time video messaging

Disease or conditions of the body Research Paper

Disease or conditions of the body - Research Paper Example h one’s body is unable to produce adequate levels of insulin to help drive the glucose to the body cells that need it for energy production (Poretsky, 2009). Also, the body may be unable to use the insulin it produces in effectively facilitating the process of generating energy. Since the body will be unable to use the glucose produced from the digestive process in the body, it will pile up in blood, leading to very high levels of sugar in the blood. This situation is also very detrimental to one’s health since it can lead to further health complications. For instance, the increased blood sugars can damage blood vessels thereby affecting kidneys as well as the heart (PenÄ ić-Popović, et al., 2014). Hence, diabetes is also associated with a host of other diseases including coronary diseases, blindness, and kidney problems among others. There are three main types of diabetes. These are Type 1 diabetes, Type 2 diabetes, and Gestational diabetes. Type 1 diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes is also called juvenile-onset diabetes because in most cases it begins affecting people in their childhood. This is an autoimmune condition arising from the body launching an attack to its own pancreas by producing antibodies that affect the functioning of the pancreas. Therefore, the pancreas becomes unable to produce insulin, leading to an increase in blood sugar levels in the body (Poretsky, 2009). This type of diabetes can be caused by a variety of issues including the genetic predisposition of someone. It can also result from faulty beta cells that produce insulin in the pancreas. This diabetic condition is also associated with many other health complications including stroke, heart disease, kidney problems, and damages to blood vessels in the eyes and nerves (EkoeÃŒ , 2008). Type 2 diabetes is the most common type of diabetes, which accounts for about 95% of all diabetes cases among adults. This is also considered a milder type of diabetes in comparison to Type 1, but

Personal Platinum Label Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Personal Platinum Label - Assignment Example Also, being a person who is relaxed and systematic when handling tasks, this labels is essential as it helps others appreciate my organize behavior and thus complement it. Lastly, as a formal and conservative being, this platinum label is crucial in pinpointing what I stand for and therefore help others understand my decisions. In general, the above platinum label is significant in making others understand who I am, depending on whether they perceive the label as a strength and weakness, and hence guide their interactions with to avoid interpersonal conflicts. My stretch moment elicited a number of emotional experiences where I had to deal with unhelpful thoughts that flooded my mind. For example, as an introvert, I have had to deal with less understanding colleagues who have used it to harm me emotionally. In not less than one occasion, memories of my previous engagement with friends who accused me of being uncooperative almost drove me berserk. I could simply not let them know the emotional turmoil I was undergoing while at the same time they could not understand me as an introvert. Similarly, being a person who likes being relaxed and systematic in my activities, I dislike working under pressure. Unfortunately, when faced with team exercises that require speed, excess pressure always puts me at logger's heads with colleagues. Nonetheless, the stretch experience I had connected significantly with cognitive defusion, a core principle of ACT. Here, I observed the uncomfortable emotions without attaching much attention to them. For instance , as the memories of my negative experiences with my colleagues came into my mind, I observed them but tried as much as possible not to attach much value to them. As a result, the thoughts were simply streaming through my mind without significant impact on my stretch exercise. The label above is  applicable to the animal matrix cross-hair matrix as it forms the basis upon which the various description of the matrix is answered.