Roles and Responsibilities- River Island case study Essay Example for Free

Roles and Responsibilities- River Island case study Essay Roles and Responsibilities In a business every employee has a position or role within their workplace. A manager is expected to lead his or her employees, a supervisor is assumed to be good at teaching others as they are usually training additional employees. In this section I will explain the different roles and responsibilities a manager, supervisor and an employee may have including their decision making and problem solving techniques involved in their role. Roles and responsibilities of a Manager: A River Island manager has many responsibilities; they are responsible for the hiring and training of new staff members. The manager has to read through applications and decide whom to interview. The manager has to decide whether the candidate is right for the job in other words fits in with the shops working environment. The shop manager is also reliable for training all hires in the businesss procedures and policies. I spoke to River Island shop managers and she informed me that one of her roles as a manager is to manage her staff. A shop manager has to inform all staff members of their working hours and duties within the shop she also has to think about awarding hard-working staff with promotions or bonuses. On the other hand those who fail to accomplish a duty, the manager will warn them under the disciplinary procedures of the company. In addition a shop manager’s duty is to record and manage all the money that goes into the store. The shop manager must record the amount of money that goes in and out of the store each day, they have to keep track of the stores spending, and including staffing hours and often distributes pay checks to employees. Roles and responsibilities of a Supervisor: A supervisor’s role is to organise the store, a river Island supervisor has to co-ordinate activities of the assigned department, and they usually have to determine how important the activities are on a daily basis. For example an employee who works in the men clothing section in River Island may be assigned the role of organising and cleaning up that department, it is the supervisor’s job to make sure the employee knows this. The supervisor is in charge of making sure that the Sales assistant reports that those jobs are completed for the week. Supervisors have to check the store for cleanliness and ensure that the store display is neat and organized before the store opens. And if the store manager is not available the supervisor steps in to manage the store activities. Supervisors hold staff meetings to discuss issues staff member may have in performing their job within this meeting they discuss changes in routines, clothing offers or discounts. Roles and responsibilities of an Employee (Sales Assistant): I contacted a River Island employee and asked on the main responsibilities of being a River Island sales assistant. The Sales Assistant expressed to me the different responsibilities she had. It is an employee’s job to look after customers when they are shopping meaning they must be ready to answer questions and find items for customers. An employee also must be able to give good advice to their customers ‘As River Island representatives we are expected to ‘step up’ when necessary’. She also declared her role in making sure customers visit to the store is enjoyable and pleasant. Moreover she makes sure her approach to customers is polite and respectable she does this by greeting customers as they enter and leave the store, dealing with customer’s complaints professionally and making sure the customer is satisfied with the conclusion. As well as the above, a sales assistant has to make sure that all shelves are stocked up. Replenishing stock is one of a sales assistant’s most important jobs alongside being able to work at tills and balance the cash registers with receipts received. Qualities and Skills Qualities and Skills of a Manager: A manager must have many skills and qualities. An ideal manager for a retail store must be able to bring out the best in others as well as themselves. A manager should be able to discipline his/her staff, working as a role model towards their staff. A good manager should also be able to commit to a task or activity. On the River Island website I found out information on special skills a manager should have to conduct his/her job successfully. An ideal manager should have good communication skills as they have to communicate with their employees, good leadership skills, are focused, able to persuade his/her employees and organised, a manager should be able to divide large tasks and activities into manageable ones. A manager with good communication skills can help to build an organised and effective team of employees. It also helps to build and manage performance of their team members, having good communication skills can benefit the maintenance of relationships between employees. It is also crucial for a manager because it allows them to deal with customer complaints limiting any negative feedback about your business. A manager should be able to be persuasive and have good organisational, leadership skills. This allows employees to feel as if they can trust their manager; they feel as if they want to be led by them not have to be. This not only helps an employee grow fond of their job but also motivates them to give 100% effort. Helping to give the business an outstanding reputation and influences more customers to buy from their store. Qualities and Skills of a Supervisor: Sometimes the manager may not be available so this is when a supervisor steps in. A supervisor has to have similar skills to a manager but supervisors are more in contact with their fellow employees. A supervisor should have good flexibility and time management as well as basic communication skills. A supervisor should be able to motivate his/her employees to perform as well as they can to help the business succeed. Good flexibility can ensure that a supervisor is responsive to changes in the work place and is not blown off by any difficult situations. For example a customer complaint, a good supervisor especially for River Island should be able to stay calm under pressure and respond quickly to difficult circumstances. This also helps to keep the reputation of the business at its highest as customers are more likely to buy from somewhere that is knowledgeable in all situations. A supervisor should be able to manage their time, by doing this it keeps the employees confident that they are being led by someone who knows what they are doing, with this employees work harder increasing productivity, customer service and revenue. Qualities and Skills of an Employee: For a sales assistant especially at a clothing store they must be able to work as part of a team, enjoy working with the public as well as be confident when dealing with difficult situations for example difficult customers. Moreover an employee must have these key skills: †¢ Have a polite and helpful manner †¢ Have basic mathematical skills, for dealing with payments and stock checks and are comfortable with using computerised equipment such as tills. This enhances customer services where customers will tell their friends and family to visit the store due to their good services meaning more customers further more increasing the revenue for the store. †¢ be flexible, adaptable, reliable and trustworthy. These skills helps to prevent reduced employees loyalty due to this more employees refrain from their jobs. This means more money is spent on recruiting more staff, increasing a company cost which is not good for a business’s finances. Training and Development Opportunities According to the River Island website River Island invests in staff and encourages career development. River Island offer many different methods of training for example for sales advisors and store managers they perform a 3-4 week induction programme at a training store. They also provide skill development workshops relevant to the role you have in the river island job for example if you are a manager there are workshops to help you improve on your time management skills, organisation, delegation and other key skills a manager should have. Most River Island stores have regular progress reviews to monitor performance and development needs of individual employees. Even skilled managers have management training modules (relevant to their role) where they train managers off the job basic but in depth skill of being a manager. These training days help to enhance employee’s performance on the job. Benefiting River Island as a business because their employees are always well trained and know what they are doing. Customers would rather go to a store that is well known for employees who are helpful and organised rather than ones that lack these simple skills. ‘We want to help you make the most of your career with River Island and hope you enjoy working with us. ’ Methods of motivation The River Island company use methods of motivation to encourage their employees to do a better job than they otherwise would. Some of the ways River Island motivate their staff is by offering staff discounts of 30% off on items of clothing or accessories within the store for employees a further discount of 50% off if you are a manager. Also River Island offers a monthly salary to their staffs which ensures to pay staff no matter how much hours they work. On top of this River Island also allow their staff to work together in teams to complete certain tasks, this can make the job seem more enjoyable to the staff with a much more comfortable relaxing environment. This helps to retain staff because employees prefer a job were offers and discounts are issued especially with a popular clothing store like River Island rather than working in an environment that does not offer any type of fringe benefits .This relates to the Maslow Hierarchy of needs theory, as staff at River Island feels a sense of belonging working in groups and are meeting their everyday survival needs. Motivating your staff can help to keep a business successful. A River Island staff member said ‘The more motivated I am the harder I work to help the business reach its goals to earn more money’. Motivating your staff can help to increase output, improve quality of your business as well as save money for your business. If employees are keen to stay with the company then money is not loss on hiring and training of new staff. Based on Hertzberg two-factor theory of motivation, I believe River Island could offer more methods of motivation in a way to retain staff, for example empowerment. Empowering an employee makes them feel as if they are being noticed for the hard work they are putting in. This can make a staff member put in extra work and take pride in the extra work they are doing increasing output and quality of the business. . PEST Factors Organisations can face problems from external factors which can affect a business’s products, policies, people and profits. It is a useful strategic tool for understanding market growth or decline, business position, potential and direction for operations. A PEST analysis is usually carried out by business planners this allows them to improve their strategies. Political Factors Political factors usually affect the ways in which changes in the government policy can influence businesses. River Island has to abide by the employment laws developed by the government. This may include the equal pay act of 1970 that women and men should receive equal pay for doing the same type of work or even the race relations act of 1976 which states that making discriminations against an employee on grounds of their race is illegal. Other factors may include the sex discrimination act, 1925 which protects employees against discrimination due to the gender for example if river island was promoting manager recruitment they cannot state the employee has to be of a specific gender. Though this does not apply in all situations if there was recruitment for a female attendant for the female changing rooms this would not apply. Similar to the race relations act of 1976 also states discrimination on grounds of race is illegal though there are GOQ’s genuine occupation qualifications that are legitimate in some cases. One of the most recent acts produced lately is the national minimum wage act, 1998. This ensures than employees are not exploited and are paid enough for them to survive. Minimum wage is increased every year in line with the rise in cost of living. Currently the adult rate for workers over 21 is  £6.19.River Island has key principles against these, and states that employment is freely chosen, living wages are paid, working hours are not excessive, discrimination is not practised and regular employment is provided. Economic Factors Economic factors are those that may limit the customer from buying optional luxuries. Economic factors include taxation, inflation, interest rates and economic growth. During a recession, consumers spend less on optional items such as cars and appliances. As a result, the business environment suffers. Alternatively, if the economic environment is one of affluence, consumers are more likely to spend money, not just on necessities, but larger items as well. Last year recession meant that some employee’s wages were cut down, not much employees were made redundant because of this but wages were slashed to pay for other company costs. In case of an unemployment decrease, turnover will rise and recruiting more employees will become harder though the opposite effect if unemployment increases. Another economic factor is Inflation usually affects someone’s buying power –rising prices means you pay more for the same goods. If there is a rise there is a high probability that there will be a fall in the amount of merchandise bought from River Island. These means business costs increase and sometimes have to stop producing lots of merchandise and focus on spending money on important cost leaving some workers unemployed. Social Factors Social trends are one of the key factors affecting a business; this can include the demographics, age distribution and lifestyle. Social trends are important as they focus on the society and at the end of the day, if the public are buying then the demand at River Island will increase, which means more production. The demands for some popular clothes are determined by fashion. Fashion trends are constantly changing every season meaning more customers are willing to buy from a popular up to date clothing store due to its good reputation. People are now more career focused than previous years, people seem to be more determined to achieve a good status in their dream job to make money and buy all their wants and needs. The most significant sign of this is working mothers- back in the 50’s women were forced to stay at home to cook and clean for their families. Now women have the opportunity to work especially to provide for their families. Though working mothers mainly work part time to cater to when they need to pick up their children from school, though it is now modern for women not to have children. They are much more career focused. More and more employees are trying to make as much money as possible, though River Island is not a store that pay their employees high wages, not much of a ‘career focusing job’. River Island, works enthusiastically with its suppliers and official agencies around the world to provide a standard health and safety regulation to its employees. The company always ensures that their suppliers sign a contract which commit to World Wide Ethical standards and those who violate them will be prosecuted. Technological Factors Technology has both a negative and positive effect on business recruitment. The positives are that technology like online selling and shopping can benefit an employee because it allows them to sell River Island clothing and accessories online to a wider variety of people on websites like EBay or Amazon. It also can provide more jobs in creating websites, maintaining and updating the website which a River Island representative could do. Though technology can be a disadvantage having a website means fewer employees to recruit as people can easily just buy products online. Employers also can now employ people who have good IT skills; this can help to keep River Island as a business up to date. Online selling/websites can affect the workforce of River Island, this because consumers find it easier and more effective for them to purchase items online. This affects employees of River Island; they may lose their job because River Island can now reduce cost, and spend it effectively. Employers can also use social networking sites as ways of keeping an eye on their employees, investigating on what they are really like. This is happening more often now, though these social networking sites can act as way of motivating staff by building a relationship with them outside the working environment.

News Events in Television History :: essays papers

News Events in Television History News Events in the History of TV In chronicling the past 50 years of television, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences includes many clips from historical events that were carried on television. Including these news events is appropriate to the history of television because the advent of this technology brought the nation and world together in times of tragedy and joy via the 'global village' created by this medium. The events that changed our world also changed the world of television. It can be argued that it is not necessary to include world events when discussing the history of television, simply because they were not created for television, but television created programming to include it, but this is a narrow-minded view of the medium that is television. The fact that the entire world was able to be brought together and be educated about world news at the same time was a revolutionary thing. Rather than television changing the course of human events, human events changed the direction in which television programming was headed. Prior to television, people found out about happenings through word of mouth, or newspapers at best. This new media source brought a sense of immediacy to current events. The inclusion of the assassination of John F. Kennedy in the montage from the Emmy awards shows a critical turning point in television news. Prior to this event, news on television was not as important to citizens because nothing so monumental had been broadcast that affected as many people. This changed the basis of television news from small, local, everyday events, to coverage of worldwide occurrences that had a deep impact on everyone. Some may argue that these news events should not have been included in such a short montage of the history of television. Clips from such events as the Vietnam War and the crash of the space shuttle Challenger were not part of television. They were part of the military history and NASA, respectively. Simply because they were broadcast on television does not make them part of television history. Television began as an entertainment medium, and continues to entertain as a primary function. The broadcast of news events is part of television, but should not be considered so important as to be included in such a compact history.

A Critique of Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich

Barbara Ehrenreich’s book, Nickel and Dimed, was certainly a wonderful read and is verily able to open the reader’s eyes to a reality that is usually set aside by many. The book was originally a compilation of her researches as she went undercover to write about people who had to work multiple jobs just to make ends meet. Those people whose wages were below the minimum wage and were so busy with work they were not able to pursue their own interests and who were also supporting dependents. As a whole, the author was able to document her experiences as she wrote in her journal her everyday experiences. Through this, the readers were able to have a glimpse into the lives of people she had worked with as a waitress at Florida, a healthcare aide at Maine and a salesperson of Wal-Mart at Minnesota. To be able to do this properly, though, she had to fake her qualifications and disguise her motives from her fellow workers. As a journalist, she also had to restrain herself from pointing out her political views to her colleagues. I think her method of studying the people may have some flaws, some biases. Below would be several of them. First of all, she wasn’t really like them. These people has had different experiences and lived in a different environment unlike hers. Such factors would have made an impact on how the subjects would act as people, as workers. The author mentioned that her co-workers didn’t even ask about insurance or other possible benefits included on the job they were on and just accepted what their boss said. If the workers were people who knew about such things, they would probably ask. Then, again, even if they knew, most of them would not have time to think about such benefits as a whole because they would be too busy trying to ake ends meet anyway. Then, as one who had to experience the life of a poor worker, she was not able to live out the role very well. One, she did not have anyone who depended on her earnings—no family or siblings, unlike most of the subjects she studied. She did not feed anyone else other than herself nor did she have to consider the medical problems of other people. The author also did not trust religious organizations even when her coworkers were telling her that it would be a great help. She always refused to accept money from charities and other such organizations. People in actual situations would not be refusing such help; in fact, they would have been the ones who would be asking for help from such organizations, whether they believed in its cause or not. She also insisted on living alone, thus pay her rent by herself. She always seemed to talk about this issue but was never really able to solve such an easy problem. Real people would have gone and looked for roommates to share the rent of the house. That way, she could have saved more money and may even develop a relationship with other people. The last part of the statement was also one of the things she failed to do. Humans are social beings, that’s a fact even when there are a few who say they prefer to live alone. All people need each other and so far, the human race is progressing because of helping each other. The same principle still happens and is certainly one of the most effective ways to survive—to help one another. The author, unfortunately, was not able to build a proper relationship with her co-workers. She was not able to build a support network which most people actually have. I believe that this is one of the most vital parts in the lives of the working class. Yeah, they may be feeding more mouths and spending more, but the human companionship, the support, these extra people are giving to the workers actually motivate them to go on fighting and working. There was also this part on the book where she walks out in the middle of her shift as a worker in a restaurant just two weeks after being hired. The truth is, real people would not have done this, simply because they did not have the liberty to do so. They just could not afford to lose a job, however hard it is or low paying it is. And speaking of low-income, hard, stressful jobs, she also irresponsibly argues against corporations giving such small wages without considering the economics behind it like insurance and overhead. These things are work requirements and are deducted from the employees’ salaries. Of course, with those things, and probably additional loans, the employees would really get a small wage after all the deductions are done. Also, the fact that she seemed to give her own thoughts and comments on the issues that were tackled on the book made it less like professional journalism. Ehrenreich thought that the book was the product of undercover reporting, but it certainly lacked a bit of that sense because of the lack of objectivity of reporting the events. She was not even able to tell or relate the lives her subjects were living. She could have picked a person, tried to get to know him and be able to relate in the book more concretely the problems and issues the person was facing. Instead, the book was actually, in another point of view, mostly about her and how she coped up with living the life of such people. Sure, there were the other characters but it almost always seemed like she was the hero since the whole thing revolved around herself. The subjects she was supposed to be studying were like backdrops in her play. She really should have focused more on the lives of the people she was studying. She should have delved more on exactly how these people lived, what are the exact problems they were facing, if possible, what these people wanted, wished, they could do for themselves and what the government could do for them. I’m not saying that Ehrenreich was all the way wrong in her methods and because of that, her book was essentially ineffective. The truth is, although it would have been better with the above suggestion, it has, in effect, really opened the eyes of its readers of the many people who have jobs but still really are poor. The book certainly disproved the mindset that if one has a job, then everything’s going to be alright. It also might have made people reconsider their thoughts about the poor, saying that they are like that because they are lazy. The book shows that there are hardworking people, but unfortunately, even with all the jobs they are balancing, they are still not able to get out of the sticky web called poverty. Works Cited Ehrenreich, Barbara. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By In America. New York: Metropolitan Books, 2001.

A Modest Proposal Essay - 586 Words

A Modest Proposal Since the beginning of the 19th century, America has had to deal with the on going problem of drugs. We’re surrounded by them everyday, whether we realize it, or not. The evening news is filled with stories of â€Å"crack heads† killing each other as well innocent standers- by in a fiendish attempt to find drugs or money to buy drugs. Perhaps you may recall reading the morning paper only to find that another teen has been found dead in an attempt to sale drugs as a way to quick and easy money. Surely every true American as heard a story or two or four about major â€Å"drug cartels† paying off police chiefs, judges, and even some members our beloved American government. I think it is agreed by all Americans†¦show more content†¦It is time yet again for the government to make a â€Å" compromise† that appeases the minority and glorifies the majority. Why not make the use of drugs legal in America? Surely all Americans will love this compromise! The legalization of drugs will make for a better economy. First, more imports and exports will be coming into and out of the country. America can import drugs from countries such as Tiajuana, and Brazil, and apply to them a flat rate tax. In exchange, America can export illegal immigrants to these countries as indentured servants, therefore maximizing the economy while lowering the amount of people on welfare. Secondly, President George W. Bush will have solid ground for means of his trillion dollar federal tax cut. This will be made possible by implementing a 16.25 cent on the dollar federal tax on all drugs sold in America. Subsequently, the legalization of drugs will make for bigger government, which will in turn grant more power to Big Tobacco. Therefore allowing the amount of drugs imported and sold per annum to be regulated by Big Tobacco. Thirdly and most important, the nation will have more wealth. This will be made possible not only by the previously mentioned strategies but also by the advertisement and use of slogans created by the government and Big Tobacco to make the use of drugs more desirable. This wealth will also be achieved by applying the principle of supply and demand. Big Tobacco will start outShow MoreRelatedModest Proposal1066 Words   |  5 PagesA Modest Proposal was a satirical essay written by Jonathan Swift depicting the horrific conditions of Ireland and the lives of the Irish people in 1729. Swift writes the satire disguised as a social planner of the time who as Swift satirizes were known to be overly rational rather than compassionate. The author portrays and attacks the cruel and unjust oppression of Ireland by its oppressor, the mighty English and ridicules the Irish people at the same time. 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