Assess the role of ella baker in the civil rights movement The WritePass Journal

Assess the role of ella baker in the civil rights movement Introduction Assess the role of ella baker in the civil rights movement IntroductionBibliographyRelated Introduction Men and their reputations are well known throughout the civil rights movement. McNair-Barnett conducted a study with interviewees from her research in to the movement and asked them who they considered to be the top ten important individual leaders in the movement. 81 individuals were names, 27.2 per cent were women compared to 72.8 per cent of men (McNair Barnett, 1993). It is clear that men were also more focused on in terms of the press and people in the movement. There are many different reasons that could possibly account for this. The women’s liberation movement did not begin in American until the late 1960’s; therefore it was hard for women to have a role in the civil rights movement as an established leader. Also, at the time of the movement, men would have had to lead due to gender bias’ at the time for he movement to have made progress and begin to generate change. As a product of time, men were at he forefront whilst women were more of than not behind the scenes. Typically, men tended to front organisations such as The Congress of Racial Equality and the Nation Association for The Advancement of Coloured People. Men in these roles often controlled meetings and made decisions over policies and movement strategies. Women however, were not in such high profile roles and tended to stay behind the scenes as found by Sacks study (Barnett, 1997). Women typically organised events, and worked in clerical and secretarial roles in order for the movement organisations to run as smoothly as possible. As a result, women have often not been given the recognition that they deserve. Ella Baker in particular has not been recognised for her tireless efforts throughout the civil rights movement. She has been described as â€Å"a largely unsung hero of the Civil Rights Freedom Movement who inspired and guided emerging leaders† (ellabakercenter.org). Baker also acquired the nickname ‘Fundi’ from her time as an activist. ‘Fundi’ is a Swahili word meaning a person who teaches a craft to the next generation (REF), giving a slight indication as to how important her role in the civil rights movement was. Ella Josephine baker was born on December 13th 1903, in Raleigh, North Carolina. She grew up listening to her grandmother’s experiences growing up on slave plantations. Ella Baker attended Shaw University, Raleigh, North Carolina and regularly challenged university policies that she thought were unfair, she graduated as class valedictorian in 1927. After graduating, Baker worked in editorial roles, particularly for the American West Indian News from 1928-1930 and the Negro National News in 1932. Baker had befriended George Schulyer, who founded the Young Negroes Cooperative League together with Baker in 1931, and became its national director (Mueller in Crawford, 1993). This led to her employment with New Deals Works Progress Association bringing people together through collective buying. It was during her time with New Deals Works Progress that Baker was exposed to newer radical ideas surrounding social change. (Ella baker quote in Mueller in Crawford about time in NY) In 1938 Baker joined the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People and stressed the importance of young people and women in the organisation. However, it has been suggested that Baker was against the NAACP’s traditional strategy of appealing to the professional ranks in society to lead the masses (Elliot, 1996). Elliot believes that Ella Bakers philosophy was â€Å"power to the people† (Elliot, 1996). Baker believed that people had to help themselves in order to discover solutions to their problems, she believed that â€Å"oppressed people, whatever their level of formal education have the ability to understand and interpret the world around them, to see the world for what it is, and move to transform it† (www.ellabakercenter.org). by 1941, Baker had become an assistant field secretary of the NAACP. Whilst with the NAACP, baker helped to organise voter registration drives, and actively campaigned for school desegregation and was against police b rutality issues. In the late 1940’s Baker had become a field secretary for the New York Branch of the NAACP and had become â€Å"the NAACP’s most effective organiser† (www.blackpast.org). Ella Baker in an interview with Gerda Lerner, a historian, described her role in the NAACP; â€Å"you would deal with whatever the local problem was and on the basis of the needs of the people you would try to organise them in the NAACP† (Lerner, 1972, p.347). Baker worked well in the NAACP, hence her reputation. She believed that â€Å"you relationships to human beings was more important than your relationship to the amount of money you made† (Cantarow and Omally, p.60). It was perhaps this belief that made her such a central organiser within the NAACP, as she had a very down to earth view of the world and equality, and as a result, was able to work with all people from different walks of life when travelling through the south as a field secretary for the NAACP. Baker left her role as field secretary in 1946 to care for her niece in New York but remained a volunteer, she became its president in 1952 but resigned in 1953 to run for the New York City Council, but it was unsuccessful (Ransby, 2003, p.14). In 1955, Ella Baker, along with Bayard Rustin and Stanley Levison co founded the organisation ‘In Friendship’ to raise money to fight against Jim Crow laws in the south (Payne, 1989). However, it was not until 1957 when she became involved with another prominent organisation in the movement. Baker moved to Atlanta, to help organise the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with Martin Luther King. Baker was the associate director of the SCLC (Elliot, 1996) and was involved with the day to day running of the organisation and the office. Ella Baker later became the SCLC’s Acting Executive Director. The Civil Rights Movement was a largely church based movement and as a result, Baker was never considered a legitimate leader, as she had not descended from clergy or church hierarchy; she was Acting Executive Director until a suitable leader was found. Mueller suggests, â€Å"her policy suggestions for greater emphasis on local organising and the inclusion of Women a nd youth were largely ignored† (Mueller in Crawford, 1993, p.62). Ella Baker was aware of this discrimination in the SCLC though when she was asked why she decided to leave the SCLC she replied; â€Å"in the first place, I had known, number one that there would never be any role for me in a leadership capacity with the SCLC. Why? First I’m a woman. Also, I’m not a minister† (Robnett, 1996). Female status in the movement was gained through acts of courage and positions of power were through community work or extraordinary activism, not through church hierarchy, the way men gained leadership was more often than not through church hierarchy in terms of the clergy. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that women weren’t aware of their positions as secondary to the roles of men. Victoria Gray recalls â€Å"there are just so few places where historically the black male could have any authority, if you will. That is not an accident, I assure you. Where that was possible the community supported that† (Robnett, 1997, p.41). Gray suggests that women supported men in positions of power, despite that often meaning that women would come secondary to them. Bernice Johnson Reagon claims â€Å"as an empowered human being I never experienced being held back† (Robnett, 1997, p.37). Whilst these women appear to be unaware of the gender bias at the time, there were women in the spotlight who were aware of the constraints of both race and gender. Dorothy Height, a well known woman in the movement, said the main downside to being a female leader amongst men, was that it was â€Å"sometimes hard for them to realise the importance of womenà ¢â‚¬â„¢s rights†(www.onlinenewshour.com) Martin Luther King Jr acknowledged â€Å"women, while capable of leadership, did not and should not exercise this ability by choice† (Robnett, 1996). It was difficult for women to hold positions of power during the movement, as women’s liberation had not yet begun. However, Dorothy Cotton an activist in the movement recalls; â€Å"Men were programmed to be chauvinistic, but we allowed it too, women deferred to their husbands† (Robnett, 1997, p.43), indicating that a separation of male and female roles in the movement was a product of the time. The post-war era continued the public and private sphere ideology; men and women had their separate roles in separate aspects of life. It is important to realise that men had found themselves in a position of power after so long of having no access to any form of power and therefore the chance to lead was an opportunity that was too good to turn down. Clyde Franklin believes a reason for this is that â€Å"in America, blac k males have only been ‘men’ for about twenty years† (Ling, YR. p.6). After the Greensboro Sit-Ins in 1960, where black members of society sat in segregated white areas in Woolworth stores across America, two months in to the sit-ins, they had spread to 54 cities in 9 states (www.sitins.org). By July 1960, Woolworth stores had agreed to integrate the lunch counter at the Greensboro store. It was after this that Baker realised people were determined to make a change, and called together 300 students for the South wide Student Leadership Conference on Non-violent Resistance to Segregation, which later changed it’s name to Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee. Elliot suggests that students of the SNCC trusted Ella Baker because of instead of dictating policy she guided students to solutions (Elliot, 1996). This could, however, be due to her time spent at The Highlander Folk School. The Highlander Folk School was geared towards teaching African-Americans how to read in order to enable them to progress and to empower black communities to furthe r develop more local leaders. Mueller believed that is was Bakers aim to â€Å"help local leaders develop their own leadership potential† (Mueller in Crawford, 1993, p.58). In Bakers time with the SNCC, she had an active role in coordinating the nationwide freedom rides of 1961, where blacks were to ride busses in to southern states sat in areas of the public busses that had previously been reserved for white passengers (Carson). In 1964, Baker also helped to organise the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.   The party was not seated with delegation but held an influence over the Democratic Party to elect black leaders in Mississippi, which forced a rule change to allow women and minorities to sit as delegates at the Democratic National Convention (FIND REF). Whilst working with the SNCC Baker also worked o the staff of the Southern Conference Education Fund from 1962-1967, which aimed to bring black ad white people together to work for social justice. In her time on the staff of the SCEF, Baker took part in a speaker tour to reunite black and whites and co-hosted important meetings on the links of civil rights and civil liberties (Ransby, 2003). Ella Baker was a strong advocate of Participatory Democracy that was popular during the 1960’s. Participatory Democracy had three main aims focused on participation. The first was an appeal for the grass roots involvement of those in society over decisions that control their own lives. The next step is to minimize hierarchy and emphasis on expertise and professionalism as a basis for the election of a leader. The third main emphasis was to call for direct action as an answer to fear, alienation, and intellectual detachments. Mueller notes, â€Å"participatory democracy legitimized an active public voice† (Mueller in Crawford, 1993, p.52). Participatory democracy is evident in Bakers style of activism; particularly through the way in which she encouraged members of the SNCC to find solutions to their problems rather than to dictate the solutions to them. Baker believed that â€Å"the major job was getting people to understand that they had something in their power that they could use, and it could be used if they understood what was happening and how group actions count counter violence† (www.ellabakercenter.org) showing how focused she was on the grass roots involvement of people in the movement. Ella Bakers role in the Civil Rights Movement was essential. Her behind the scenes activism challenged and helped to change the society of America. By Helping to organise voter registration drives she enabled black people of America to have the right to vote in elections, and her role as field secretary of the NAACP helping southern states through the organisation to solve local issues in order to unite a front against national issues. Her co-founding of ‘In Friendship’ also geared towards those in the Jim Crow stricken states in the south where systematic segregation and racism was often stronger than in the northern states. Her organisation of the SNCC was groundbreaking; changing the way people though out solutions to their problems. It was perhaps her role in the SNCC where her strong advocacy for participatory democracy shines through, as she aimed to guide rather than dictate. Shyrlee Dallard sums up the effort of Ella Baker, writing â€Å"for Ella Baker, organisi ng was more than a job† (Dallard, 1990, p.6). Baker put her heart and soul in to organising events and organisations geared towards changing American society in to an equal society. The Ella Baker Center is dedicated to leading in the way that Ella Baker did, to encourage people to work towards professional opportunities in order to better themselves and their local communities through the running of various campaigns. The Heal the Streets Campaign trains people to act against violence in Oakland, Illinois. The center is dedicated towards the following of Ella Baker’s philosophy, ‘Power to The People†. Bibliography Cantarow, E. O’Mally, S. (1980) Moving the Mountain: Women working for Social Change. Old Westbury. Feminist Press. Dallard, S. (1990) Ella Baker: A Leader Behind The Scenes. New Jersey, Silver Burdett Press. Elliot, A. (1996) Ella Baker: Free Agent in the Civil Rights Movement. Journal of Black Studies Vol, 26. No.5. pp.593-603 [JSTOR] Lerner, G. (1972) Developing Community Leadership in Black Women in White America. Pantheon, New York. Ling, J.P. Monteith, S. (2004) Gender and The Cvil Rights Movement. Rutgers: University Press McNair-Barnett, B. (1993) Invisible Southern Black Women Leaders in the Civil Rights Movement: The Triple Constraints of Gender Race and Class. Gender and Society. Vol, 7. No.2 pp.162-182 Mueller, C. Ella Baker and the origins of ‘Participatory Democracy’ in Crawford, V. (1993) Women in the Civil Rights Movement Trailblazers and Torchbearers 1941-1965. Indiana University Press. Indiana. Payne, C. (1989) Ella Baker and Models of Social Change. Signs. Vol, 14. No.4. Ransby,   B. (2003) Ella Baker and The Black Freedom Movement: A Radical Democratic Vision. University of North Carolina Press. Robnett, B. (1996) African American Women in The Civil Rights Movement 1954-65 Gender Leadership and Micro Mobilisation. AJS Vol,1. No.6. pp.1661-1693 Robnett, B. (1997) 1st edn. How Long? How Long? African American Women in the Struggle for Civil Rights. Oxford. Oxford University Press. www.ellabakercenter.org [accessed april 10th 2011] www.sitins.com [accessed april 12th 2011] blackpast.org/?q=aah/baker-ella-1903-1986 sitins.com/timeline.shtml

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A company overview of FedEx

A company overview of FedEx US based FedEx Corporation, is a universally acclaimed corporate giant for logistics and transportation and is a conglomerate of many subsidiary companies like FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight, FedEx Office, FedEx Custom Critical, FedEx Trade Networks and FedEx Services functioning under the FedEx brand name (FedEx, 2009). FedExs core competencies lie in package routing, delivery and employee relations. Frederick W. Smith instituted the FedEx Corporation in 1971 under the name Federal Express. In 1998, the Federal Express Corporation was as FDX Corporation. It was in January 2000, that the FDX Corporation was renamed as FedEx Corporation and its subsidiaries were re-branded as well. 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People-Service-Profit (PSP) doctrine religiously adopted by FedEx Corporation assures that the organizations priceless human resources are well cared for and empowered as well. Owing to the fact that the employees are taken good care of and are d elegated with more power and authority, they reciprocally take care of the organization by delivering ace quality of service thereby facilitating the organization in reaping more profits (Chang, Labovitz Rosansky, 1995, p.34; Birla, 2005, pp.9-13). Hence the People-Service-Profit (PSP) slogan forms the basis for all decisions made by the FedEx top management. Key HR Strategies FedExs core HR strategies and their alignment with organizational objectives are discussed as under: Recruitment and Selection Strategy FedEx recruits capable and qualified manpower for all hierarchical levels. It set up promotion from within policy with the intent of providing fair chance to all employees to employ their skills and competencies at work to the full (Birla, 2005, p.196). The company committed to a no lay-off policy so long as its survival is not imperilled (Frock, 2006, p.67). Communication Strategy FedEx employs several processes like Open-Door Policy (ODP) (Frock, 2006, p-204), Guaranteed Fair Treatment Program (GFTP) (Frock, 2006, p.207) and Survey-Feedback-Action (SFA) (Frock, 2006, p.206) to establish sound and good bipartite communication networks. Employees from all hierarchical levels are made to actively get involved and interact freely in the various discussion and QA programs employed by FedEx. Compensation Strategy FedEx offers extremely competitive pay schemes (Dessler, 2003, p.358). It also gives pay-for-performance incentives. It ensures fair treatment of all employees. It vouches job security for all employees. Training and Development Strategy FedExs Training strategy facilitates in fulfilling its organizational objective of cent percent customer contentment. The organization practices promotion-from-within policy. Hence it ensures that adequate and all-encompassing training comprising leadership conceptions, quality management and organizational philosophy is provided to employees belonging to all rungs of organizational hierarchy. HRM Models Harvard Model Harvard model sketches four key HR domains 1) Human Resource Flows recruitment, selection, appraisal, termination etc.; 2) Reward systems pay packaging, employee motivation etc.; 3) Employee empowerment empower and delegate employees with more power, authority and accountability; and 4) Work systems work definition, managing diversity of work and alignment of human resources (Price, 2007, pp.35-37). The above four policy areas result in the 4 Cs Commitment, Congruence, Competence and Cost-Effectiveness. The characteristics of Harvard Model of HRM that are prevalent in FedEx environment are the following: Human Resource Flows Recruitment and Selection FedEx is consistently showered with laurels such as best employer, most admired organization and great place to work. FedEx, having earned such recognition and accolades does not obviously have any trouble with enticing and luring the best work force. FedEx carries out both internal and external recruitment drives. In FedEx, collaborative effort is valued more than individual effort. Equal employment opportunities are given to skilled and competent potential candidates at all hierarchical levels. FedExs Job Change Applicant-Tracking System (JCATS) offers opportunities to irregular workers to acquire regular employment (Shen, 2007). Also FedExs Leadership Evaluation and Awareness Process (LEAP) provided employees from non-managerial positions search positions at managerial levels (Holbeche, 2001, p.294). Appraisal FedExs performance appraisal done annually relates pay hikes to individual performance. Performance goals are decided and agreed in advance but of few notable characteristics that deserve appreciation and guaranteed pay hikes are enthusiasm, team playing skills, commitment, customer orientation and technical know-how and expertise (Cook, 208, p.205). Pay reviews for hourly paid workers are done once every 6 months. Reward Systems FedExs rewards system comprises of various awards such as The Five Star Award, Super Star Award, Bravo Zulu, Circle of Excellence and Golden Falcon Award that are instituted to motivate and boost the morale of the employees and push them towards even more better performance (Mcshane, Von Glinow Sharma, 2008, p.552). Employee Empowerment FedEx caters to customers demands by even exceeding their expectations, which is why it is possible to deliver such a top-rate customer service. 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Managing work diversity FedEx won the accolade 100 Best Companies to Work For from Fortune magazine due to its capability of managing work diversity (FORTUNE, 2009, January 23). From the above four policy areas identified in the context of FedEx, we can infer the following Commitment By putting the people first as in the FedEx philosophy People-Service-Profit (PSP) and adopting various employee-friendly HR practices detailed above (recruitment, selection, rewards system, employee empowerment), the workforce will definitely remain committed to fulfilling FedExs goals. FedEx work environment is conducive to innovation and its practices are employee-friendly to ensure that they are kept motivated ever. Congruence All the HR practices outlined above have their objectives aligned perfectly with FedExs goals that is to offer unparalleled customer service. Competence FedExs core competence is its leadership in innovation, human resources and processes. FedEx with its best employer tag and excellent HR practices is able to easily attract and retain talented pool of workforce and this mainly contributes to its success in its operational area. Cost-Effectiveness Obviously, FedExs processes are cost-competitive and facilitate in a great manner to maintain the competitive edge over its competitors. Guest Model This model posits that provided a unified set of HRM practices and procedures is employed in a logical and consistent manner, with the objective of accomplishing the prescriptive objectives of great dedication, superior quality and task flexibility, then super-ordinate employee performance will ensue. Further such a collective performance excellence from employees will eventually result in superior organizational performance too. Guest models six components are 1) an HRM strategy; 2) a set of HRM policies; 3) a set of HRM outcomes; 4) behavioural outcomes; 5) performance outcomes and finally 6) financial outcomes HRM strategy FedExs strategy is differentiation that transcends product, market and geographic boundaries in order to attain 100% customer satisfaction. HRM practices policies Recruitment selection, training, appraisal, rewards, job design, involvement, job security, open-door policy, promotion-from-within, no-layoff-policy, profit-sharing policy, fair-treatment policy HRM outcomes Employee commitment, service quality and flexibility Behavioural outcomes Motivation, involvement and collaboration Performance outcomes High productivity, high innovation, low turnover, low absenteeism, less customer complaints Financial outcomes Profits, good ROI (Return on Investment) Key HRM Activities Recruitment Recruiting the right skilled and talented workforce is crucial to fulfilling FedExs organizational strategy and this becomes a key HRM activity that facilitates FedEx maintaining its competitive edge over its peers as well. The Recruitment and Selection procedures practiced at FedEx are detailed under the HR Planning and Development section below. Rewards FedEx has set up various awards that are defined below to acknowledge talent and to actuate exceedingly gifted employees (Mcshane, Von Glinow Sharma, 2008, p.552; FedEx Overview, n.d.). These awards, tokens of appreciation and accolades immensely facilitate in motivating the employees to improve and do even better and fix high standards for them as individuals and as teams. The Five Star Award The highest and best award one will get in FedEx for exceptional performance is the Five Star Award. The employee who contributes to an extraordinary extent to enhance teamwork, service quality and profitableness receives this most coveted award. Super Star Award Employees who perform consistently and are constant achievers in terms of performance deserve this Super Star award. Bravo Zulu Bravo Zulu is slang used by US Navy for well done. Employees whose performance is outstanding are sure to receive this award. Circle of Excellence Team and collaborative effort demands appreciation, recognition and encouragement. This award is one such award given to teams rather than individuals that do exceptionally good. Golden Falcon award Employees who offer extraordinary customer service by exceeding the customers expectations deserve the Golden Falcon award. Internal Communication Bipartite communication involving the top management and the employees is prevalent in FedEx Corporation. FedEx is committed to Open-Door Policy (ODP), Guaranteed Fair Treatment Program (GFTP) and Survey-Feedback-Action (SFA) in order to facilitate such a bipartite communication. Open-Door Policy (ODP) ODP facilitates employee empowerment by enabling them to call into question / to register their displeasure (or) discontent regarding various organizational policies such as hiring, career, benefits, compensation, etc. The formal accusations and charges thus registered are put forward to the open door forum and are later on forwarded to the respective official to be handled (Frock, 2006, p.204). Guaranteed Fair Treatment Program (GFTP) FedEx requires having a professional grievance handling system to cater to such a huge workforce. GFTP precisely satiates such a need. GFTP facilitates employees to record their grievances, displeasure and discontent on several aspects like disciplinary measures, appraisals, layoffs, downsizing and placements. Such issues are processed at three levels of managerial hierarchy. The manager at the first hierarchical level who is the employees immediate superior reviews the issue. Any issue that reaches second level is carefully reviewed by the Vice President of the section. If the issue is still not resolved at the second level also, then it is addressed by the Supreme Court of FedEx Corporation headed by none other than Fred Smith (Frock, 2006, p.207). Survey-Feedback-Action (SFA) FedEx instituted SFA with the purpose of enhancing employee top management relationships. Employees are made to form teams or work groups amongst themselves and chosen representatives from such teams have to complete questionnaires on several management aspects and superiors. The advent of technological innovations have facilitated setting up of on-line SFAs so as to give instant, easy and immediate access to its global team of employees (Frock, 2006, p.206). FedExs bipartite communication mechanisms described here thus let openness and transparency prevail in the operations and hence should be appreciated for the same. HR Planning and Development The core HR Planning and Development activities / processes namely the recruitment and selection, training and development and succession planning that are performed in FedEx are elaborated below: Recruitment and Selection FedExs organizational objective is to provide unrivalled quality customer service. So recruitment becomes a critical process that needs to be carried out with careful consideration. FedEx only recruits people who were ready to accept challenges and take risks and also possessed enterprising attitude. FedEx entices functional experts by providing them stock options as well as chance to work in exciting and ambitious environs. FedEx adopts a logical and well-planned procedure to carry out recruitment and selection. FedEx supports recruiting students / graduates for intern positions so as to train them for taking up challenging job offers in the future (Working at FedEx., n.d.). Roughly around 25,000 employees are recruited at FedEx for various permanent as well as ad hoc positions. Keeping pace with the technological innovations and internet, FedEx automated the whole job application and application screening procedures. Job applicants can apply online by clicking the Career Centre ico n in the FedEx home page http://www.fedex.com. Vacancies prevailed in various areas such as administrative support, aviation maintenance, customer service, e-commerce, engineering, operations, HR, IT, marketing, truck drivers, vehicle technicians etc. are updated in Personnel Records and Information System (PRISM) (FedEx Overview, n.d.). Prospective applicants can apply online for jobs that commensurate with ones skills, talent, education, training and experience. College graduates and students are also welcome to apply online for internships and permanent positions as well. Prospective candidates can complete information pertaining to their preference (job and place of work). FedEx job application system allows such prospective candidates to create and store on-line resumes. The candidate details are then checked with job eligibility criteria stored in PRISM and suitable candidates are identified. Such short-listed candidates have to further take an aptitude test that quizzes thei r Math, English and reasoning skills, followed by interview. Candidates who clear the interview further undergo a fitness examination and a background credentials check, and finally are given appointment letters. The new (online) system facilitated the screening procedure and drastically brought down the time taken for the procedure by about 50%. There is no race, gender, religion, nationality, disability or age discrimination when it comes to providing employment opportunities. Fair and equal treatment is provided to one and all at FedEx. Thus the recruitment and selection procedures at FedEx are carried out efficaciously thereby helping FedEx to maintain its competitive edge over the rest. Training and Development FedEx has a well-defined training program in place so as to train the new hires and to facilitate them to perform the tasks they are expected to. FedExs training and development program not only imparts job-specific skills and competencies but also contributes greatly to the wholesome development of human resources. FedEx provides an environment that favours continuous learning and hence stagnation of skills or plateauing is highly unlikely. New recruits are made to undergo a very effective orientation program that is formulated with the intent of making first day at office or on-boarding in general a beautiful, enjoyable and unforgettable affair. The orientation program comprised of a New Hire Orientation Kit that includes 1) letter from the CEO; 2) checklists; 3) welcome letter personalized and signed by the managers; 4) first day / first week / through the year employee work schedule. And then the kit also includes a half-an-hour video program Welcome to our World that details out the benefits and facilities of FedEx (Connor, 2003, January 1). The orientation program enabled the new recruits to become conversant with the doctrine, policies and procedures, and the type and nature of relationship between higher-ups and equals at FedEx. An on-the-job training program commences once after the orientation program is over. The training program is designed as per the type and nature of job and tasks the new recruits were required to execute. The higher-ups who are in-charge of the new recruits are also instructed as to how and in what manner the new recruits need to be provided on-the-job training. The employee types such as customer service representatives (CSRs), couriers and service agents, who have to interact more with customers were trained with extra care and significance. The training program for such CSR trainees was a rigorous eight-week schedule during which they were trained about FedExs service types and were put in conditions simulating real work environment. They were taken through computer screens which they will be required to use during their work; they were made to listen to customer live calls in order to get a flavour of the actual job environment. Tests were also conducted as part of the training p rogram and the trainees have to obtain good scores in these tests in order to complete training successfully and be put to actual work. Couriers / service agents have to successfully complete a four-week on-the-job training before being assigned to real field tasks. FedEx is a learning organization that provides a continuous learning atmosphere to facilitate honing the skills, capabilities and competencies of the employees. To evaluate the competencies and proficiencies of the employees, they are subject to taking up a job-knowledge online test once every six months. The performance of the employees becomes an employee training record and is stored in Personnel Records and Information System (PRISM). By way of such evaluation it is possible to determine the areas in which employees ought to enhance their competencies and are assisted and trained further in improving their performance. If despite being trained the employees flunk the job-knowledge tests, they have no other option but to quit FedEx. Such is the significance of periodically assessing the employees job proficiencies. FedEx started the Leadership Development Institute (LDI) during the 80s, and this was instrumental in formulating various training sessions and programs for employees from various hierarchical levels of management. The LDI backed training programs covered three subjects Core Management Principles, outdoor-based learning, and Electives. LDI was staffed by Managing Directors and senior managers together to be called as Management Preceptors. FedExs LDI recognizes leadership material by functioning the Leadership Evaluation and Awareness Process (LEAP) (FedEx Overview, n.d.). LEAP is established on various leadership attributes such as charisma, dependability, flexibility etc. Team play is crucial in this LEAP process. This program is designed to cater to and evaluate the needs and potential of all employees who evince interest and involvement in donning leadership roles. Interested candidates are made to participate in a one-day introductory classroom session Is Management For Me? in order to make them conversant with managerial capabilities and responsibilities. On successful completion of this, the candidate progresses to the next stage to finish the leadership awareness activities. During a 3-6 month period, LEAP candidates are trained and evaluated in leadership qualities. Depending on the candidates performance during this tenure, the manager makes a written recommendation by either favouring or rejecting the candidates attempt for acquiring managerial positions (Murley, 1997, p.502). Succession Planning FedEx believes in fostering and nurturing in-house talents and in promoting them to top rungs of management. FedEx also gives chances for employees from non-managerial cadres to get promoted to managerial positions. FedExs Leadership Evaluation and Awareness Process (LEAP) (Murley, 1997, p.502) was established in 1988 to enable non-managerial employees opt for managerial positions. The LEAP essentially involved assessing the leadership skills and capabilities of the employees who wish to get into managerial positions. FedEx gives preference to in-house talent and hence posts job vacancies in its on-line job portal called Job Change Applicant Tracking System (JCATS). FedEx encourages mentoring and coaching which is yet another non-formal but efficient way of succession planning. FedExs mentoring and coaching programs are carried out efficaciously in FedExs Leadership Development Institute (Murray, 2001). These are the various means by which FedEx facilitates career progression within the organization. Performance Monitoring and Enhancement The HR performance needs to be monitored regularly to enhance the effectiveness. So performance monitoring in FedEx is carried out and the various ways by which the HR performance is assessed are given below: Performance Appraisal System FedExs appraisal system links pay increases to the employees productivity and performance. Annual performance appraisals are carried out and employees are evaluated on the basis of various job-specific attributes few noteworthy ones being customer orientation, team skills, loyalty, technical expertise etc. (Cook, 208, p.205). Apart from hefty pay packages, several attractive prerequisites like 1) tuition fees reimbursement, 2) travel discounts and 3) jump-seat availability (free flight privileges for employees). All such prerequisites are provided over and above the already entitled hefty pay packages. FedEx also offers a 10% profit-sharing scheme for those valued employees. All such enticing aspects related to compensation and benefits keep the employees happy and motivated and enable FedEx to enjoy unmatched position when compared to its peers. Staff Surveys FedEx conducts staff surveys on an annual basis and this serves to be crucial business enhancement tool. Participants are supposed to provide replies to 32 questions electronically in a two week period (Mosley, n.d.). Active participation of staff has been witnessed over these years. This Survey-Feedback-Action (SFA) procedure was introduced with the objective of helping top management in deciding upon issues related to promotions. But then SFA was practiced in reality only to the magnitude of evaluating the employees belonging to the managerial cadre. The employees from various teams are supposed to respond to the 32 questions asked about their higher-ups and the overall management anonymously. The survey results are collated and tabulated and given to the concerned team managers. The managers carry on feedback sessions with the employees, conduct a detailed discussion about the survey results obtained and spot the issues which ought to be handled. Once the feedback sessions conclud e, the team members need to draft a formal plan of action to resolve the spotted issues. The plan is thereon reviewed on a regular basis to monitor the advancement of the corrective measures being carried out. Few sample questions from the survey are as follows: I feel free to tell my manager what I think My manager lets me know whats expected of me Favouritism is not a problem in my work group My manager: helps us find ways to do our jobs better The SFA helps 1) to assess the managerial performance, 2) to resolve employee problems and 3) to enhance relations at work place. Turnover rates FedEx has a very less and insignificant turnover rate of about 1 percent. This being the best employer knows the trick of successful and effective employee retention mechanisms. There is no dearth of career plans or opportunities for the FedEx employees and this is one crucial reason why FedEx is capable of successfully retaining its invaluable workforce. Promotion-from-within policy enables elevating the employees in the hierarchical rungs from within. Also employees performance, efforts and contributions are well-recognized and exceptional employees are awarded for their competencies and proficiencies. Also open and transparent communication too plays a great role in reducing the employee turnover rates. Also, employees should take pride in what they do and this is where imparting proper training to hone the employees skills becomes essential. FedEx has a well-defined on-the-job training mechanism which greatly helps in enabling the employees perform a meaningful job for which they can own pride and responsibility. Motivation and Job Satisfaction FedEx thrives on innovation. For innovation to prevail at impressive levels, creativity, productivity and discretionary efforts are prerequisites. Such attributes are fostered by high levels of employee motivation and job satisfaction experienced by the employees. FedEx has won a slew of accolades thanks to its job-satisfied and motivated workforce. FedEx environment is conducive to innovation and this in turn motivates the workforce to perform exceedingly well. HR Policy Requirements Here we compare and contrast three identified HR policies of two diverse organizations. The two organizations taken for study and comparison of HR policies are 1) Northumbria Police and 2) UCL Londons Global University. The three policies that are considered for comparison are 1) Diversity and Equality, 2) No Smoking, 3) Work life Balance HR Policy 1 Diversity and Equality Northumbria Police versus UCL Londons Global University Northumbrias Diversity and Equality Policy (Northumbria Diversity Equality, 2009, April 8) strives to boost, encourage and preserve diversity, equality and human rights and inform individuals and community about the significance of honouring equality, diversity and human rights within the Northumbria Police. The policy is formulated to evince the Northumbria police support and compliance to enforcing anti-discriminatory, equal opportunity and fair treatment measures in the workplace. UCLs Race Equality Policy (UCL Human Resources Race Equality, n.d.) aims to promote racial equality in all its functions and to value diversity of staff and student and to forbid illegal acts of racial discrimination. The Policy goes about defining racism and means of implementing the policy. UCLs Equality objectives are clearly defined and an Equality Action Framework is formulated too. Special mention about dealing with the acts of harassment and bullying is made and institution of boards and committees to keep acts of inequality under check and control. Managing work force diversity and promoting fair treatment in recruitment and selection procedures at UCL is emphasized. Both the staff and student communities are included in defining the various equality initiatives that are required to be taken as per the policy. HR Policy 2 No Smoking Northumbria Police versus UCL Londons Global University Northumbrias No Smoking Policy (Northumbria No Smoking, 2009, April 1) states about the existence of No Smoking policy within the building premises and vehicles under its control. The objectives of this policy is to 1) ascertain that non-smokers are not involuntarily exposed to tobacco smoke, 2) to educate people about the health hazards associated with smoking, 3) to help those who wish to quit smoking and 4) to accommodate smokers as well. UCLs No Smoking Policy (UCL Human Resources No Smoking, 2007, June 1) strives to create a smoke-free healthy environment f

Ghandi vs Jesus

Jesus Christ, who is the founder for Christianity, and Mahatma Gandhi, who is the teacher for Hindu, is two teachers that have similarities in their ways of teaching. These two religions are totally different, but they Gandhi was considered a modern day of Jesus, since they share same ideas about what they teach and practice. One major similarity in teaching between these two religions, are that they are both based on non-violence. Gandhi and Jesus both believe that, non-violence is the greatest force that human must maintain and use to achieve in any struggles. They also teach that non-violence should be use as a means to bring about changes within a society, which can be social or even political. This brings about also another similarity in their teaching, which is the teaching of being compassion. Jesus teaches his followers to love their enemies as thyself (Matthew 5:44), instead of showing them hatred and anger. Gandhi teaches the same to his followers, showing compassion to everyone including the enemies, instead of fighting against each other who might be the enemies. Gandhi believes that this will assist with easing the anger and violence that they might have for each other, which will then allows individual’s reactions towards them become compassionate. The â€Å"Sermon on the Mount† is what is said to attach Gandhi towards Jesus teaching. Gandhi states that this part of the bible made him become more aware of not only of non-violence, but also the â€Å"Law of Love†. They both believe and teach that individuals should have endless love and should not retaliate no matter of the situation. The good shall be embrace and the evil should not be thought about in order to live a life without issue and which is good. Forgiveness was another common similarity in Jesus and Gandhi teachings. Jesus state that one should forgive and forget, also one should turn the other cheek instead of hitting back an abuser. This also incorporates the teaching of non-violence, they both teaches that violence will bring about more wrongs instead of rights. Jesus sacrifices himself for his people which were also showing love to his followers. While this was being done, he asks God to forgive the people conducting the sacrifice since they do not know what they are doing. Gandhi teaches that forgiveness truly show the truth and also the love in man. They both teach that one should forgive in order to continue living with compassion for each other. In conclusion, while examining the teachings of Jesus Christ and Mahatma Gandhi, there are a few common traits which are similar in their ways of teaching. Teaching their followers to be compassion, showing forgiveness and also teaching the followers to always behave in a non-violence way is some similarities between these two teachers. They both taught people to follow the right path in life, through having peace with each other, showing compassion and also loving each other. The main aim was to allow the followers to live a good life.

Appreciation of Shakespeare’s sonnet 18

His early plays were mainly comedies and istories, genres he raised to the peak of sophistication and artistry by the end of the sixteenth century. He then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth, considered some of the finest works in the English language. In his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights . Shakespeare's reputation did not rise to its present heights until the nineteenth century.The Romantics, in particular, acclaimed Shakespeare's genius, and the Victorians worshipped Shakespeare with a reverence that George Bernard Shaw called â€Å"bardolatry†. In the twentieth century, his work was repeatedly adopted and rediscovered by new movements in scholarship and performance. His plays remain highly popular today and are constantly studied, performed and reinterpreted in diverse cultural and political contexts throughout the world.His plays have been translated into ev ery major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Of Shakespeare's sonnets in the text, Sonnet 18 is one of the most moving lyric poems that I have ever read. There is great use of imagery within the sonnet. This is not to say that the rest of the poems in the ook were not good, but this to me was the best, most interesting, and most beautiful of them. Sonnet 18 Shall I compare thee toa summer's day?Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date: Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimmed, And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed: But thy eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st, Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade,

Recruitment And Mentorship Plan For Enlisted Aide Program

The Enlisted Aide Program doesn’t have a standardize recruitment and mentorship plan. Single aide Enlisted Aides have no direct leadership above them. This causes inexperienced Enlisted Aides to be fired within a few months of checking in. The Enlisted Aide Program Manager needs to implement a plan to standardize a recruitment and mentorship plan. The Enlisted Aide Community is struggling with recruitment of top qualified candidates to fill these high priority billets. Until recently, Sailors weren’t aware of the Enlisted Aide Program. As fleet Sailors found out about the Enlisted Aide Program, their senior leaders had nothing but negative things to say about the Enlisted Aide Program, thus discouraging young Sailors from being interested in the Enlisted Aide Program. Needless to say, the senior Fleet CS’ looked down on the Enlisted Aide Program CS. Having this type of mindset of the senior fleet CS’ putting out negative points to the junior CS’, no junior CS wants to apply for the Enlisted Aide Program. This leaves our Detailer with a difficult time of recruiting new Enlisted Aides. Also, without funding available for the Detailer to do fleet visits to talk about the Enlisted Aide Program, it’s even harder to get the word out to our fleet Sailors about this Special Program available to all CS’. Assigning Regional Mentors in major fleet concentrated areas can assist the Detailer in recruiting and screening future Enlisted Aides. Senior Enlisted Aides assigned as a