The topic of discussion for Tuesday’s lecture was recognizing employee effort. If being a student was thought of as a job, the job characteristics that would score the highest would be task identity as student work generally requires completion of a whole identifiable piece of work such as an essay. Task significance would score high as well, as most work done in school is very important and affects our learning and abilities. Feedback, autonomy, and skill variety are all negligible as these are dependent on the course and instructor. This course, for example, has high skill variety as we are expected to complete various tasks that are all different and use many of our skills such as reading, writing, analytical and research etc. Autonomy is also a big characteristic in university especially for students transitioning from high school to university as a lot more independence is expected. There are however some courses in which there is limited independence as the instructor may give a lot of direction and instruction; this however, is not a bad thing at all. In this course for example, our instructor has created an outline for notes for us, she has given instruction on what we should focus on, this reduces our autonomy a little bit, but it increases task identity and task significance. This course also requires us to have autonomy, as our career projects are very independent and flexible on our schedules and preferences.
Professors in general could maybe explain tasks and how they relate to the course and why they are significant; this in turn will help to increase task significance as well as task identity. A big problem I find is that sometimes professors do not incorporate a variety of assessments to test our various talents and skills, and generally use only limited means of evaluation such as exams and essays. If professors increased the variety in which students were evaluated, this would help to increase skill variety which would use students’ various talents and abilities, and in turn help to increase self-confidence, among other things.
As I have mentioned previously in this blog, in the summer I worked for Toronto Social Services as a Support Assistant and performed tasks such as making phone calls, filing, scheduling appointments, mailing out letters, making photocopies, etc. This job had skill variety because I was able to use different skills and talents to complete various tasks, but at times it did get somewhat dull, as I found myself repeating some tasks more than others which was frustrating as I felt as though I could do a lot more with my time and knowledge. This position did offer a lot of autonomy, as a lot of the work was independent, and based on personal deadlines. There was definite task identity because we always had to start and finish something; nothing was left undone. Although it was hard to visualize task significance at times, I guess I could understand the importance of my job because I was dealing with customers frontline. How I treated and responded to customers would affect their overall view of the city of Toronto. Sometimes clients would call back and send cards to show their appreciation; this is an example of feedback from the job. Overall this position did include all five core job dimensions, even if it was sometimes hard to recognize.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
class on Oct 21
Last Tuesday’s class was all about motivation. What gets people motivated at work? At school? In general? What motivates me to complete school work, including the career assignment for this class? What we learned in class today will help to answer the questions posed above.
First we talked about Maslow’s hierarchy. The needs that I am currently focused on would have to be all 5 of them: physiological, safety, belongingness, esteem and self-actualization! I don’t quite agree with the basic assumptions underlying this theory, but I do agree that all five stages are universal needs. I need food, water and shelter to survive (physiological). I need to feel safe and secure, and my environment has to absent of threat and illness (safety). I need love and affection from my friends and family (belongingness). I have the need to achieve and accomplish certain tasks such as finishing school, and getting a great job, furthermore, I need people to recognize my achievements (esteem). Finally, I have the need to help others, such as engaging in community service, which is something I do on a weekly basis (self-actualization). I feel that at all points of my life, these needs will be in existence, and they are all extremely important to me.
My motivation is impacted by my equity sensitivity. Equity sensitivity describes my perception of fairness in the distribution and exchange of resources. When I feel that I am doing a lot or most of the work when working with a group, I feel very unmotivated and frustrated. It annoys me to see social loafers, as I feel that it is not fair that they are getting a free ride. Although I feel less motivated to finish the assignment/task at hand, my need for achievement (esteem) kicks in, and I will complete the task anyways, as I do not want to risk receiving a poor mark. This can help me with current and future group projects by finding out what people’s needs are in my group, and trying to fulfill them. For example if everyone in my group wishes to get a good mark, and has a need for esteem and belongingness, I can make it clear to them that they have to put their fair share of work into the assignment in order to be well liked by others, and in order to receive a fair grade!
Motivation is an outcome of my expectancy for certain outcomes to occur. When I know an outcome is going to be positive, I am very motivated to perform the action which leads to the outcome. For example, I know that if I put my time and effort into my career assignment, I am likely to receive a good mark; this motivates me to work extra hard and receive a good grade as it significantly contributes to my final mark. The thing that puzzles me about expectancy theory is that if one’s outcome is likely to be negative, why bother performing at all? For example I use to work at Ontario Place, and one of my coworkers use to travel from Ajax to work, and she said it use to cost her $200 a month just for transportation. A typical cashier only made $500-600 a month as we got limited hours. In the end she was left with $300 per month with a job where she had to work very late hours and deal with angry customers; this was a very negative outcome, and I could never understand why she even bothered taking on the job. I would not perform a task that leads to a negative outcome, but I guess not everyone sees the world the way I do.
First we talked about Maslow’s hierarchy. The needs that I am currently focused on would have to be all 5 of them: physiological, safety, belongingness, esteem and self-actualization! I don’t quite agree with the basic assumptions underlying this theory, but I do agree that all five stages are universal needs. I need food, water and shelter to survive (physiological). I need to feel safe and secure, and my environment has to absent of threat and illness (safety). I need love and affection from my friends and family (belongingness). I have the need to achieve and accomplish certain tasks such as finishing school, and getting a great job, furthermore, I need people to recognize my achievements (esteem). Finally, I have the need to help others, such as engaging in community service, which is something I do on a weekly basis (self-actualization). I feel that at all points of my life, these needs will be in existence, and they are all extremely important to me.
My motivation is impacted by my equity sensitivity. Equity sensitivity describes my perception of fairness in the distribution and exchange of resources. When I feel that I am doing a lot or most of the work when working with a group, I feel very unmotivated and frustrated. It annoys me to see social loafers, as I feel that it is not fair that they are getting a free ride. Although I feel less motivated to finish the assignment/task at hand, my need for achievement (esteem) kicks in, and I will complete the task anyways, as I do not want to risk receiving a poor mark. This can help me with current and future group projects by finding out what people’s needs are in my group, and trying to fulfill them. For example if everyone in my group wishes to get a good mark, and has a need for esteem and belongingness, I can make it clear to them that they have to put their fair share of work into the assignment in order to be well liked by others, and in order to receive a fair grade!
Motivation is an outcome of my expectancy for certain outcomes to occur. When I know an outcome is going to be positive, I am very motivated to perform the action which leads to the outcome. For example, I know that if I put my time and effort into my career assignment, I am likely to receive a good mark; this motivates me to work extra hard and receive a good grade as it significantly contributes to my final mark. The thing that puzzles me about expectancy theory is that if one’s outcome is likely to be negative, why bother performing at all? For example I use to work at Ontario Place, and one of my coworkers use to travel from Ajax to work, and she said it use to cost her $200 a month just for transportation. A typical cashier only made $500-600 a month as we got limited hours. In the end she was left with $300 per month with a job where she had to work very late hours and deal with angry customers; this was a very negative outcome, and I could never understand why she even bothered taking on the job. I would not perform a task that leads to a negative outcome, but I guess not everyone sees the world the way I do.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
week six
Many perceptual factors have affected my impression of people, events, and situations. I feel that once I form an impression of someone, I keep that impression, and it takes a long time for me to think otherwise. First impressions are very important as I form ideas and generalizations about individuals and situations; this is referred to as the primacy effect. I also have formed as well as learned stereotypes about certain individuals or groups of people. Stereotypes can be seen in the media, as well as learned from your friends, family, or acquaintances. At times, stereotypes hinder my ability to see past a group or individual, as I find it hard to get past my assumptions; in the end, I am the one who loses out because I may not give some people a fair chance. For example I stereotype all boys as being immature, so if a really nice guy asks me out, I may reject him thinking that he is like all other boys-immature. A final perceptual factor that influences my opinions is the halo effect. If someone I just met has one outstanding factor, I am likely to presume that they also possess several other quality characteristics. Of course, real life has taught me that this is not the case at all!
I enjoyed learning about the Johari window today. I believe that my biggest quadrant would have to be “mysteries of life”. I feel that I may have a lot of qualities that I cannot see, and nor can others; or maybe I just can’t see them, and everyone else can, in that case my biggest quadrant would be blind spots. My smallest quadrant would probably be open area (public domain), because I believe that I do possess a lot of qualities, but it is very difficult for me to identify what they are as I do not just excel in one area, I find that I am pretty well-rounded; I believe that others see this trait in me as well.
The emotional intelligence survey confirmed my suspicion that I had a high EQ. I always knew that I was in touch with my feelings, and that I could express them very easily. I’m also aware that I can hide my feelings when necessary. I scored a whapping 113 on the questionnaire, which means that I have a strong ability to perceive and express emotion, understand and reason with emotion, as well as regulate emotions in myself and in others. There have been situations in which I have had to regulate my emotions, for example, I was let go from my first job, and I was so upset about it. I felt useless and depressed, but I couldn’t let my employer see that, so I had to hide my feelings. I think people who are very close to me would agree that I have a high emotional intelligence, but people who are acquaintances would probably guess that I would have a low EQ as I regulate my emotions around strangers. My emotional intelligence is definitely seen more by my friends and family than my coworkers, as I am more likely to express my true thoughts and feelings with people who are closer to me. In addition, I find it unprofessional to express your emotions in the workplace, many decisions should be made with your head and not your heart (for the most part), and by involving your emotions at the workplace, you can sometimes get so caught up with your feelings that you cannot look past certain things; as a result, your decision making skills are partial and biased.
I enjoyed learning about the Johari window today. I believe that my biggest quadrant would have to be “mysteries of life”. I feel that I may have a lot of qualities that I cannot see, and nor can others; or maybe I just can’t see them, and everyone else can, in that case my biggest quadrant would be blind spots. My smallest quadrant would probably be open area (public domain), because I believe that I do possess a lot of qualities, but it is very difficult for me to identify what they are as I do not just excel in one area, I find that I am pretty well-rounded; I believe that others see this trait in me as well.
The emotional intelligence survey confirmed my suspicion that I had a high EQ. I always knew that I was in touch with my feelings, and that I could express them very easily. I’m also aware that I can hide my feelings when necessary. I scored a whapping 113 on the questionnaire, which means that I have a strong ability to perceive and express emotion, understand and reason with emotion, as well as regulate emotions in myself and in others. There have been situations in which I have had to regulate my emotions, for example, I was let go from my first job, and I was so upset about it. I felt useless and depressed, but I couldn’t let my employer see that, so I had to hide my feelings. I think people who are very close to me would agree that I have a high emotional intelligence, but people who are acquaintances would probably guess that I would have a low EQ as I regulate my emotions around strangers. My emotional intelligence is definitely seen more by my friends and family than my coworkers, as I am more likely to express my true thoughts and feelings with people who are closer to me. In addition, I find it unprofessional to express your emotions in the workplace, many decisions should be made with your head and not your heart (for the most part), and by involving your emotions at the workplace, you can sometimes get so caught up with your feelings that you cannot look past certain things; as a result, your decision making skills are partial and biased.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
lecture five
Yesterday’s class was pretty much a review for me. In second year I took a course called personality psychology, and in that class we learned a lot about ourselves. It was good to see how consistent my personality has remained over the past two years, especially in relation to OCEAN; or how the textbook addresses it: CANOE. The Myers Briggs inventory was new to me, and it was interesting to see where I stand relative to my peers. My personality type was XNFJ which means that I am both introverted and extroverted, and I use intuition, feelings, and judgments to make my decisions. This knowledge will help me to match my personality to a career that is best suited for me.
The textbook and lecture helped me to learn that I am more likely to set higher personal goals for myself, and I’m more motivated and have higher performance expectations than individuals with low levels of conscientiousness. In addition, I am more likely to provide better customer service. Now that I look back at myself, I can agree with all the statements above; I do set personal goals for myself, and I am very motivated when it comes to school.
The case we discussed today, “Pushing Paper Can be Fun”, is a classic example of what goes on in the workplace. No matter where you work, everyone always wants to do the fun stuff, but no one ever wants to do the dull and boring tasks. This goes for volunteer work as well. For example, most of my volunteer positions involve filling out a bundle of paperwork, following my shift, and I often find myself leaving these tasks to the last minute, as I do not want to complete them. I found that this one agency I volunteered with solved this problem during training. The agency made it clear that if we could not complete the paperwork, then we could not volunteer, as a big part of our job was ensuring that we had accurate and up-to-date paperwork in case of a lawsuit. I think that this is the best way to go about the problem in the case study. During training, potential officers need to be sure that their paperwork is complete, clear, and concise, as someone’s life may depend on it. Paperwork should be a requirement of the job, and it should be stated along with the job description. As for current officers, they should all be retrained in how to write and complete paperwork, and the importance of this task should be stressed during their training. In addition, the department should notify all officers that their job description has changed, and it is now absolutely mandatory for all officers to complete paperwork; if an officer does not fulfill these requirements, he or she will have to deal with the consequences (i.e. go through retraining, or work the graveyard shift etc.)
The MARS model we learned in lecture today helped to identify problems and issues in everyday situations. I found it to be extremely useful when analyzing the Pushing Paper Can be Fun case. I’m glad that we learned this model, as I will be able to apply it to everyday situations including my career project. Following my research, I will be able to see if I am motivated, have the ability to work as CA, what my role perception of the field was before and after my research, and what types of situational factors will effect my possibility of becoming a CA. This analysis will help me to evaluate if the career is indeed a perfect fit for me.
The textbook and lecture helped me to learn that I am more likely to set higher personal goals for myself, and I’m more motivated and have higher performance expectations than individuals with low levels of conscientiousness. In addition, I am more likely to provide better customer service. Now that I look back at myself, I can agree with all the statements above; I do set personal goals for myself, and I am very motivated when it comes to school.
The case we discussed today, “Pushing Paper Can be Fun”, is a classic example of what goes on in the workplace. No matter where you work, everyone always wants to do the fun stuff, but no one ever wants to do the dull and boring tasks. This goes for volunteer work as well. For example, most of my volunteer positions involve filling out a bundle of paperwork, following my shift, and I often find myself leaving these tasks to the last minute, as I do not want to complete them. I found that this one agency I volunteered with solved this problem during training. The agency made it clear that if we could not complete the paperwork, then we could not volunteer, as a big part of our job was ensuring that we had accurate and up-to-date paperwork in case of a lawsuit. I think that this is the best way to go about the problem in the case study. During training, potential officers need to be sure that their paperwork is complete, clear, and concise, as someone’s life may depend on it. Paperwork should be a requirement of the job, and it should be stated along with the job description. As for current officers, they should all be retrained in how to write and complete paperwork, and the importance of this task should be stressed during their training. In addition, the department should notify all officers that their job description has changed, and it is now absolutely mandatory for all officers to complete paperwork; if an officer does not fulfill these requirements, he or she will have to deal with the consequences (i.e. go through retraining, or work the graveyard shift etc.)
The MARS model we learned in lecture today helped to identify problems and issues in everyday situations. I found it to be extremely useful when analyzing the Pushing Paper Can be Fun case. I’m glad that we learned this model, as I will be able to apply it to everyday situations including my career project. Following my research, I will be able to see if I am motivated, have the ability to work as CA, what my role perception of the field was before and after my research, and what types of situational factors will effect my possibility of becoming a CA. This analysis will help me to evaluate if the career is indeed a perfect fit for me.
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