Monday, May 4, 2020

Recruiting - Interviewing - Selecting and Orienting

Question: Discuss about the Recruiting, Interviewing, Selecting and Orienting. Answer: Introduction: The Sheraton Gateway Hotel in Torontos Pearson International Airport is one of the most reputable hotels in Canada and the North American circuit, according to reviews conducted by the Trip advisor website (2017). The hotel is the only full-service hotel located inside the Pearson International Airport. It boasts of amenities such as a climate controlled walkway to the airport's main terminal, a 24-hour fitness center, and a heated swimming pool. The hotel also boasts of a popular restaurant that serves international dishes, and an organizational strategy that looks to maximize the hotels location value in gaining more market share. Being located so close to a busy international airport is an important part of Sheraton's strength, especially since it is the only such hotel in the vicinity of the airport. This gives it a huge advantage in attracting travelers (Sheraton, 2017). Sheraton Gateway Hotel is also associated with the Sheraton Gateway Hotel, Los Angeles. It is commonly referred to as the Sheraton inside Canada, and by its full name for those not conversant with it. In completing this research, the group spoke with Goretti Moreno, who works as a meeting and event manager at the hotel. In this role, she manages events and meetings contracts generated by the sales department. She also reviews sales contracts and maintains relationships with new as well as existing clients. For the purposes of this discussion, the hotel will invariably be referred to as Sheraton, hotel, company, organization and firm (Sheraton, 2017). We decided to research this company due to its reputation, and its relevance to the subjects we wanted to study. The hotel currently employs around 500 employees. They are spread across several departments including food and beverage, front office, housekeeping, maintenance, kitchen, sales and marketing, event organization and outside catering, and finance. The biggest number of employees is concentrated in food and beverage and kitchen departments, as well as housekeeping. While the hotel has not received any awards on account of its human resource practices, it has received the Project ICARIUS Supplier Gold Medal from the Global Business Travel Association. The award is given to institutions which excel in the provision of meeting and conferencing services, as well as hospitality. The award also matches the event and meeting managers assertion, that the hotel is heavily focused on quality, above all else. It believes that quality will help it retain a significant market share, necessary as it moves into the future (Sheraton, 2017). Sheraton's organization culture is geared towards innovation and quality of service. The award won by the company is a testament to an organization focused on delivering the best quality service in the region. As Moreno (the event and meeting manager) explained, the companys culture is aligned to cultivate and maintain strong relationships with its clients. The hotel has a modest following on Facebook, with the figure currently at around 1000. The page mainly has comments about past clients, who are very impressed with the level of quality of service they enjoyed during their visit. Employees stay at the hotel because of several reasons. The pay is competitive compared to other hotels, and there are opportunities for growth. Additionally, employees at the hotel are deeply involved in planning their work, meaning that they own their tasks and processes. Sheraton does HR planning. HR planning refers to the set of processes that ensure staffing is not only sufficient and qualified, but that it is competent enough to achieve the organization's goals, and enable fulfillment of the organisation's strategic objectives. The results of this exercise are improved competency and employee motivation. In forecasting how the organization will plan its human capital in a specific timeframe in the future, the organization uses both qualitative and quantitative techniques. The oft-used qualitative technique is the Delphi technique, accompanied by expert opinions. Also used is Markov analysis (Naff al, 2001). The Delphi technique is used to forecast staff needs, with the use of expert opinion. The opinion is gathered from all perspectives of the hotels environment, including economic realities, competition, availability of the desired human resources, and projected profitability of the business. The Delphi technique is a seven step process that is aimed at formulating recommendations and then implementing them. The planning starts with the choosing of facilitators, followed by the identification of relevant experts. The experts will be both from within and outside the organization. The problem is then defined. In this case, the problem may be a shortage of employees, and the resulting dilemma on how the vacant positions will be filled (Naff al, 2001). What follows are three rounds of questions. In this phase, the problem is broken down into several parts for easier analysis. Then, a further analysis probability judgments, for instance, are carried out, after which a set of predictions is formulated. These predictions are further analyzed, and on the basis of the recommendations, planning is implemented. Using Markov analysis follows a different channel. Here, the organization looks at the supply and demand of labor, literacy rate of the country, population growth, and other demographics, economic development and technological development, as well as wage level and growth. Using these variables, the organization comes up with a solution of how the future circumstances of the HR function will be (Belhaj, 2013). The objectives of the HR planning exercise is to come up with a sustainable model that takes into consideration current and future HR and business needs, as well as the prevailing environmental conditions. These are closely aligned with the organizational goals of high quality, and competitiveness in terms of attracting both clients and the best human capital. The organization realizes that to continue offering the quality of service that it currently does, an effective HR strategy is necessary, hence the need for planning (Naff al, 2001). Job Analysis, Design, description, and postings Job descriptions refer to the official cluster of tasks that an employee is obligated to perform in an organization. The job description process at Sheraton is a multi departmental affair since many roles affect more than one department. The human resource department takes the lead in this, offering guidance and referring others to best practice in the industry. The respective departments will thereafter detail the tasks they expect the incumbent to perform. This description is discussed with other departmental managers who are relevant to the specific role, after which they come up with a compromise. The human resource department is thereafter responsible for aligning the job description to the organization's overall aims and strategic direction (Mangaleswaran Kirushanthan, 2015). Job analysis at the Sheraton is conducted periodically, after five years. The analysis is done to determine each jobs main duties, and how the duties are important to the job. This is done via a highly empirical process of data collection and thereafter considering the relevance of each task to the job. The job analysis exercise is an organization wide affair and requires an external consultant to perform. The most used model is the Pearson Chong Path model, which look at job satisfaction, among other important elements needed to perform a job satisfactorily. The exercise has so far succeeded in aligning the organization's jobs with the market, as well as helping the job description process in alignment with organizational strategy (Bernard, 2000). According to Moreno, the organization practices job evaluation. This is especially the case with employees who are not new to the organization, that is, less than 2 years old and are in the lower cadres. The employees are rotated periodically between a select group of departments, which are closely aligned with their general job description. For instance, those employees who are in the housekeeping department may also be posted to the front office and concierge roles, so that they can better understand how the hotel works. Those in sales may also be posted to event organizing, and in the process understand the whole process that is relevant to their specific roles. While employees are rotated at the organization to raise their skills and experience level, they also bring in new skills to their new tasks, in the process enriching those employees as well. According to DuBrin (2011), job rotation succeeds in ensuring that employees are truly competent in their roles and that they are be tter positioned to appreciate the organization's overall strategic direction. Recruitment, Selection and interviewing In order to come up with the best recruitment processes, the hotel has come up with a method of anonymous recruitment whereby the irrelevant details about the candidate are not presented. These details include gender, name, race, religion, among others. Candidates are appraised solely on the basis of their qualifications. To further improve the recruitment process, the hotel has implemented a policy of effectively selling their qualities to the best candidates. The hotel tries to get the best people; it faces strong opposition from the market. To address this, the Sheraton has tried to develop the skills of its recruiters in presenting their offer to potential highly qualified candidates. Recruiting processes are generally forward looking. This means that the recruiters are not guided by history and past trends, but by the future needs of the organization, as well as the strategic direction(Arthur, 2012). In advertising for vacant positions, the hotel uses its website, as well as popular job search websites that are well regarded by professionals. By doing this, the organization maintains its reputation, while also opening up its organization to as many candidates as possible. The organisation that does this is able to get the best employees to fill its positions while improving its reputation as a highly regarded employer(Ullah, 2010). The company looks for a set of skills in its employees, as it tries to thrive in an increasingly challenging atmosphere. The basic requirement is the technical aptitude to work satisfactorily in the assigned role. Besides this, however, the organization has put measures in place to ensure that only employees with innovation skills are hired. Additionally, employees must be ready and able to work in an environment which promotes diversity. The hotel has a culture of constantly learning, as exemplified by its job rotation policy. New employees must, therefore, be ready to learn on the job, and constantly improve their skills (Ullah, 2010). The employee value proposition for Sheraton does not currently exist. This is a major anomaly since the EVP would be crucial in showing employees what they stand to gain should they join the organisation. The ideal EVP for the organization would be employee based. In other words, the EVP must be based on not what the organization feels is important, but on what is most likely to appeal to the employees. Secondly, the EVP must be able to present real and tangible benefits. Merely promising some benefits may not work for the organization, since the EVP may fail to convince the employees to join the organization. The EVP should have a description of what exactly is expected from the employees. This will prevent any ambiguities and confusion from arising in future (Collett, 2014). Orientation, Training, and Development New employees are still nervous about their new jobs. The first task of the organization is to put them at ease. The orientation process is essentially a first impression opportunity for the employer, and how they treat the employee will in future be used by the employees in judging their work environment. The orientation exercise should include a factual and honest presentation of the organization and task. The session should not be rushed, so that the employee may assume their new duties. Instead, the exercise should be well spaced out to give the employee enough time to internalize the information. The orientation exercise should not be all information about the organization and the job. Too much information may not be taken well by the employee. A better use of this time will be by giving the employee a chance to know their colleagues and build a social network that they can rely on for further orientation. These qualities are included in the orientation process conducted at the Sheraton (Peterson, Morrison, Nilsen, 2000). After the orientation process, employees are taken through quality training. This training helps them detect and correct any quality issues in their work, and enables them to point out any deficiencies in quality. At the same time, all employees undergo training to get them up to speed with the various technological tools they will be using in their jobs. These tasks include front office software for the front office staff, as well as kitchen equipment for the kitchen staff (Peterson, Morrison, Nilsen, 2000). While the company's training modules have not been recognised publicly, their training modules are nonetheless very dear to the organization, as Moreno intimated to us. Using these modules, it has been possible to improve orientation, performance, and reduce employee turnover. The training modules have also succeeded in enabling the best employees quickly adjust to their new roles. This has boosted confidence, teamwork, and generally enabled the organization edge ever closer to its organisational strategy goals (Peterson, Morrison, Nilsen, 2000). The organization needs to be keener on its EVP and use it more effectively. While the hotel has been able to consistently get the best candidates to work for it, this may change in the future. Hotels with more financial muscle and better packages may attempt to not only lure valued employees, but they may become the preferred destination for the best employees. To help stop this, the EVP is critical. The process of getting and retaining the best is not just dependent on the EVP. The recruitment process is very important as well. Recruiters should be able to communicate the strengths of the organization clearly, to enable them to get the best employees. While the orientation process has been able to get the required results, this might not be the best results they organization can get. In addition to what the organization is doing, there should be a mentorship programme for new employees. The mentorship programme will enable employees learn their roles faster. It will also enable employees to build social networks in the organization while gaining valuable experience in their positions. Lastly, the organization should be able to involve its employees more in the job analysis exercise. They should have a say in how the external consultant analyses their roles, to help the consultant get a better perspective of the jobs in question. References Arthur, D. (2012). Recruiting, Interviewing, Selecting Orienting New Employees. New York: Amacom. Belhaj, R. (2013). A Markov Model for Human Resources Supply Forecast Dividing the HR System into Subgroups. Journal of Service Science and Managment , 2013 (6), 211-217. Bernard, H. (2000). Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. London: Sage Publications. Collett, A. (2014). Home Insights Blogs Conversations Global Practices Four Key Steps to a Great Employee Value Proposition. Retrieved 04 01, 2017, from edelman.com: https://www.edelman.com/post/four-key-steps-great-employee-value-proposition/ DuBrin, A. (2011). Essentials of Management. Mason: Cengage Learning. Mangaleswaran, T., Kirushanthan, K. (2015). Job Description and Jopb Specification: A study of Selected Organizations in Sri Lanka. International Journal of Information Technology and Business Management , 41 (1), 30-36. Naff, K., al, e. (2001). Personnel Management in Government: Fifth Edition, Politics and Process. New York: Marcel Dekker. Peterson, C., Morrison, E., Nilsen, S. (2000). Multiple Employment and Training Programs:. Washington D. C. : GAO. Sheraton. (2017). Home Page. Retrieved 04 01, 2017, from www.sheratongatewaytorontoairport.com: https://www.sheratongatewaytorontoairport.com/ Ullah, M. (2010). A Systematic Approach of Conducting Employee Selection Interview. International Journal of Business and Management , 5 (6), 106-112.

Sunday, March 29, 2020

Watching television is a waste of time Essay Example

Watching television is a waste of time Paper Nowadays, television has become a major part of our lives. Almost every home has a television. In fact, even restaurants, grocery shop, clinics and also mamak stores have televisions as a way to attract customers. We are now a television nation but this is not something that we should be proud of because television is not a vital necessity in our lives. Furthermore, too much television is eating our life away. Watching television is a waste of time. When we watch television, we give it our visual and audio attention and there Is very little we can do while watching television. We may enjoy a snack or two but that only ad up to the television does not allow us to do something else beneficial. A television maybe a source of information but not all that it shows consists of useful information. We will find more beneficial knowledge from books and other resources compared to television, things like sobe opera, telecommersial, entertainment programs are obviously Junk but many of us seem to enjoy feeding on it every day. Besides that, people like students tend to spend too much time on television and forget that they have other responsibility. They will not e a good student when televlslon time has occupied most of their time. Consequently, they will have home works not done, revisions forgotten, project incomplete and soon their great will decline. As a conclusion, watching television maybe a good way to relax our mind but it is never a good thing to overdo the habit. If we spend too much time on television, we will only end up missing out on other good things In life one day. Therefore it is time to switch off the television and start doing something else Instead. Ways of spending leisure time usefully Nowadays. people are getting busier and busier every day. We will write a custom essay sample on Watching television is a waste of time specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Watching television is a waste of time specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Watching television is a waste of time specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We can hardly find time to relax and unwind but when we do, there are plenty of ways to spend our leisure usefully. First of all, doing exercise is one of the beneficial things we can do when we are free. When we exercise, we can maintain our health and strength. Therefore, we will not come sick and tired easily. Besides that, we can use our leisure time to read. Reading Is a good habit because we can Increase knowledge and Improve our language. We became more confident from reading. In addltlon to this, we can try gardening during our free time. Gardening can calm our nerves and beautify our iving surrounding. Therefore, our home can look more beautiful and natural which will further enhance our sense of pleasure. Finally, doing house chores is also one of the beneficial ways to spend our leisure time. We get to understand the hard work and effort needed to maintain appreciate our parents who have been working hard maintaining our home to the tip top condition. As a conclusion, time Is precious, let alone leisure time which are hard to get for some people. Therefore, we must use our time wisely and beneficial so we will not waste our life away. Do you agree watching television is waste of time? Most people agree that television Is one of the most Important Inventions of the past century. Oplnlons vary as to Its value, but no one can deny the great effect that television. I think watching television can be beneficial if we do not abuse using it. Firstly, television is one of the greatest educational tools of all time. Documentary programmes about foreign countries and their inhabitants, instructional programmes on science, medicine, engineering, natural history and many others are all brought to the homes of ordinary people, who without television would have nown very little or nothing about these things. In connection to that, special School Television has been introduced in many parts of the world including Malaysia where Astro broadcast an educational channel specially designed for our schools in collaboration with the Ministry of Education. Teachers can make full use of the channel as a teaching aid since many of the programmes are prepared according to the syllabus taught in schools. In these programmes, instructional tools such as pictures, films, and diagrams are used to greatly add to the knowledge of the pupils. What is the entertainment value of watching television? At best, TV is good form of entertainment which either stimulates or creates an interest in the arts. We can see top line artists cheaply and from comfort of our homes. A concert by Justin Bieber, a movie directed by Steven Spielberg, a tour of Europe visiting all the top draws and an hour with the wild animals from Africa. All these would be beyond the resources of most of us. In the past, movie-going was limited to the rich. Nowadays there are many good movies that can be seen on television with first class actors and actresses. Consequently, access to entertainment becomes more affordable with television. Watching televisions is one of the most popular hobbies for students nowadays. But some peoples said that television is not important modern inventions for students. But most students have the opinion that the television is important and needed. By watching television, it can provide a good source of information. Examples like National Geographic and Animal Planet TVs show. It tells us about world and animals around us, some students cannot understand if there is Just only learn about theory. This channel provides some 3D show like how an animal grows so students can understand it easily. Next, students can watch lives events or news on television. In that time, they could spend more time with family by watching the television together. After that, students could watch interesting programs on TV like dramas, comedy and many more with their family. Means students were not only could explore what is going on around them but they can gain more interested to be with their family from their friends. By watching news or dramas in TV, they could get moral value because every act by ctor in the film, they could be more understanding on why and how to be a good person. Generally, students could fill their time more wisely. Because some students nowadays, they cannot spend their times correctly examples like smoking, loafing gaining frequently nowadays and no wonders, they are lack of moral values and cannot respect anybody that are older than them anymore including their parents. In a nutshell, watching television is not a disaster thing or hobby for students but it was very important for them to gaining more knowledge and new information

Saturday, March 7, 2020

How to Find Trustworthy Sources

How to Find Trustworthy Sources Whether youre conducting research for a book report, an essay, or a news article, finding trustworthy sources of information is essential. This is crucial for a few reasons. First, you want to be sure that the information youre using is based on fact and not on opinion. Second, your readers are placing their trust in your ability to gauge a sources reliability. And third, by using legitimate sources, youre protecting your reputation as a writer. An Exercise in Trust It can be helpful to put the topic of trustworthy sources into perspective with an exercise. Imagine that you are walking down a neighborhood street and you come upon a disturbing scene. A man is lying on the ground with a leg wound and several paramedics and police officers are buzzing around him. A small spectator crowd has gathered, so you approach one of the bystanders to ask what happened. This guy was jogging down the street and a big dog came running out and attacked him, the man says. You take a few steps and approach a woman. You ask her what happened. This man was trying to rob that house and a dog bit him, she replies. Two different people have given different accounts of an event. To get closer to the truth, youll have to find out if either person is connected to the event in any way. You soon discover that the man is a friend of the bite victim. You also realize that the woman is the dogs owner. Now, what do you believe? Its probably time to find a third source of information and one who is not a stakeholder in this scene. Bias Factors In the scene described above, both witnesses have a big stake in the outcome of this event. If the police determine that an innocent jogger was attacked by a dog, the dogs owner is subject to fines and further legal trouble. If the police determine that the apparent jogger was actually involved in an illegal activity at the time he was bitten, the wounded man faces a penalty and the woman is off the hook. If you were a news reporter, you would have to determine whom to trust by digging deeper and making an assessment of each source. You would have to collect details and determine if your witnesses statements are trustworthy or not. Bias can stem from many causes: Stakeholders ambitionsPreconceived beliefsPolitical designsPrejudiceSloppy research Every eyewitness account of an event involves points of view and opinion to some degree. It is your job to assess each persons trustworthiness by scrutinizing their statements for potential bias.   What To Look For It is nearly impossible after an event has occurred to determine the exactness of every detail. The following tips will help you determine the trustworthiness of your sources: Every writer, lecturer, reporter, and teacher has an opinion. The most reliable sources are straightforward about how and why they are presenting their information to the public.An Internet article that provides news but does not provide a list of sources is not very trustworthy. An article that lists its sources, either in the text or in a bibliography, and places those sources into context is more reliable.An article that is published by a reputable media organization or reputable institution (such as a university or research organization) is also trustworthy.Books are generally considered more trustworthy because the author and publisher are clearly stated and they are held responsible. When a book publisher publishes a book, that publisher takes responsibility for its truthfulness.News organizations are generally for-profit businesses (there are exceptions, such as National Public Radio, which is a non-profit organization). If you use these as sources, you must consider their man y stakeholders and political slants. Fiction is made up, so fiction is not a good source of information. Even movies based on real events are fiction.Memoirs and autobiographies are nonfiction, but they contain a single persons point of view and opinions. If you use an autobiography as a source, you must acknowledge that the information is one-sided.A nonfiction book that provides a bibliography of sources is more trustworthy than a book that does not.An article that is published in a scholarly journal is usually scrutinized for accuracy by a team of editors and fact-checkers. University presses are particularly good sources for nonfiction and scholarly works.Some sources are peer-reviewed. These books and articles go before a panel of non-stakeholding professionals for review and assessment. This body of professionals acts as a small jury to determine truthfulness. Peer-reviewed articles are very trustworthy. Research is a quest for truth. Your job as a researcher is to use the most trustworthy sources to find the most accurate information. Your job also involves using a variety of sources, to reduce the chances that you are relying on tainted, opinion-filled evidence.

Thursday, February 20, 2020

Motivation in Workplace Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Motivation in Workplace - Essay Example The earlier theories of motivation include the work of many pioneers in the field such as Herzberg, Maslow etc and attempted to analyse and evaluate the motivation within work environment. However, the literature on the subject has evolved over the period of time to include many important and new topics also. This essay will look into the motivation concepts and theories as outlined in the work of Maslow, Aldefer, and Herzberg besides discussing the motivation theory of acquired needs. It is also important to understand that this paper will attempt to analyse above mentioned theories with respect to FBI- an American agency involved in criminal justice. Maslow's theory of motivation is one of the earliest attempts to study motivation and it advocated a systematic and staged process of motivation. According to this theory, in order to motivate an employee, it is necessary that first the physical needs of the employee are taken care off. ... FBI agents though might have a good pay and most of their physical needs are fulfilled however their social security and safety stage may not be achieved. One of the most critical flaws in Maslow's theory of motivation is the fact that it advocates that an employee cannot proceed to next stage if her needs at the earliest stage are not fulfilled therefore though given the nature of the job of FBI agents, their social security and safety may not be guaranteed by their employer. In this regards, Maslow's theory of motivation may not be the appropriate theory to achieve employee motivation until it allow the skipping of various stages of motivation. Aldefer's theory of motivation Aldefer's ERG theory is another attempt to look at the motivation in much broader level as compared to the Maslow's theory. ERG theory is also a hierarchical in nature as that of Maslow's however it attempts to reduce the stages of motivation and classify the human needs into three classes or stages. Existence, Relatedness and Growth are three stages of motivation as outlined by Aldefer. The first level of motivation which is of existence suggest that in order to motivate an employee it is important that the employee's physiological needs are fulfilled first and then followed by the security needs. Since FBI is a crime investigation agency and most of its employees are directly involved into crime investigation which involve possible threat to the life therefore again like Maslow's theory, the safety needs of the employee are not being guaranteed by FBI. It is important to note that FBI has in place different benefits for its employees including Health Insurance benefits, life insurance benefits, retirement

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Personal Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Personal Philosophy - Essay Example Taking charge of these differences in abilities allows the teacher to take charge of the class and every learner at a personal level. This is crucial in tailoring the learning process to meet the abilities of each learner at an individual level, which ensures that none is left out. In relation to the individual interest of the learner, teaching takes care of the needs of the learner based on his or her interests and not based on the wishes of the teacher. This can be seen in cases where learners should not be forced to engage in activities that they do not like or those in which they are strongly opposed. Instead, learning should be enjoyable on all levels in that they are encouraged and drawn to do that which they find pleasure in rather than engaging in mass activities. Considering the common curriculum applied for young learners, it is not suited for this purpose but for pushing information into learners, which is also called rote learning. Rote learning and personal interests of the learners do not auger well with each other but instead push learners away from the education. In addition to the issue of interests and individualization, it is important to note the role of freedom in the learning process and the role of a teacher. ... Freedom in teaching granted by the teacher kills the boredom that conventional teaching and methods bring, which creates room for learners to explore areas and fields that interest them. Freedom coupled with exploration generates more knowledge as compared to rote learning in which learners only acquire what teachers plan for them (Sarah, 2010). Instead, learners get to collect information from the information and discover that which they like and which learning methods work best for them. This freedom in knowledge also changes the attitude of the learners towards education and teachers creating opportunities for learners and teachers to experience improved relations and support services. Creativity as a philosophy falls under the responsibility of both the learner and then teacher, but more heavily on the teacher. The teachers’ role in fostering creativity is to ensure freedom and allow learners to explore the environment as they interact with one another, where they receive inspiration to come up with their own ideas and interests. This creativity is a strong tool for both learners and teacher such that they can capitalize on it in relation to perception of concepts. This can be seen in cases where learners are allowed to express themselves concerning how they perceive certain objects and events in the environment. This assists in conceptualization of complex concepts that rote learning does not cater and allows individual attention in teaching. Without tapping into the creative ability of learners, the educational system might as well produce dummies, who only follow instruction with no sense of novelty as in the Lean Concept. This is such that the learners only follow the conventional ways

Monday, January 27, 2020

Preventing Youth Offending through Social Work

Preventing Youth Offending through Social Work Introduction to Social Work. David Gower and Jackie Plenty. S134487 The area I have chosen to discuss is Youth Offending and intend to look at options that will help prevent re-offending and how we, as Social Workers, work as part of a team within Youth Offending. I intend to look at what areas of society are more likely to offend or re-offend. A young offender is defined as someone under 18 years of age who has committed an offence. The legal age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales, is ten years old, therefore anyone under the age of 10 cannot be held responsible for their actions. Anyone aged between 10 and 14 years old is presumed to understand the difference between right and wrong, so they can be convicted of a criminal offence if found guilty. Teenagers between 14 and 17 years old are fully responsible for any crimes they commit, but they are sentenced differently in relation to adults. Young offenders are assessed by the (1) Youth Justice System (YJS). There are a number of risk factors which may make a young person more likely to become involved in committing crime or anti-social behaviour. Whilst not exhaustive these include a lack of education, poor family relationships, having family members or peers who have offended, and misuse of substances. The YJS aim to tackle these problems (www.yjb.gov.uk) According to the Children Act 1989, the childs welfare shall be the courts paramount consideration. Therefore why do we lock so many children up, but allow terrorist to walk free under a control order? (Part 1 Welfare of the child) In the United Kingdom we lock up more children than any other country in Europe. 90% of young offenders put in prison will reoffend within two years of release. The UKs (2) Youth Justice Board spends 70% of its budget on custody, 5% on preventive methods; leaving just 25% for restorative and other methods. The age of criminal responsibility in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is 10 years old. In Scotland its eight. Interviews with young offenders revealed litanies of jailed mothers, abuse at home, street living, and failed foster care. Almost all such children are excluded from school, and other attempts to divert them are laughable: youth clubs with a pool table, one TV and one PlayStation to fight over. (radio-youth justice)   The Crime and Disorder Act was legislated in 1998 for the first time. Working together as part of the new Multi-agency (3) Youth Offending Team under section 39(5) a Youth Offending Team (YOT) would now consist of a Social worker, a police officer, a probation officer, a nominated person from the education department a nominated person from the health authority. Working as part of a YOT involves being a member of possibly the most diverse and wide ranging multi-agency team within Social Care. Under the (4)GSCC code of practice Social workers have 6 standards (5)that need to be maintained within Social Care settings ensuring that you can build up a relationship with your client and their carers, whilst using this we also need to take into account the National Occupational Standards and use these to provide a benchmark within our practice. Within Youth Justice the National Standards are set by the Home Secretary and issued by the YJB. The Standards provide a benchmark to measure good practice whilst working with children and young people who offend, as well as their families and victims. Social work has little to contribute and little wish to contribute to the effectiveness of prisons if one takes the view that their primary purpose is to punish and humiliate their inmates. If, on the other hand, prisoners are there as a punishment, not for additional punishment, Social Work has an important role, prison based Social Workers can play a vital part in helping prisoners maintain contact with communities, preparing them for constructive activities after their release, and providing opportunities for reflection on their offending and planning for a better life. Social Work is based upon a belief in dignity and worth of all human beings, and in individuals ability to change. (Williams cited in) The role of social work may be more effective if partnered with a service user using a Care Control system, thus avoiding more custodial sentences. The service user would be well aware they had narrowly avoided a custodial sentence and would be guided by the Social Worker if they do not conform to the agreement that they could end up back in court and eventually back to Prison. Having a basic understanding of the Human Development as well as a good knowledge of Social Work Codes of Practice will help us to understand the service users role within society. We need to help empower the service user into making the right decision for them, by giving them the means and help to do it. By treating them with dignity and respect at a level they can understand without them feeling inferior or pressurised to make a decision by the Social Worker. Within this we can offer help with past problems they have suffered using (6)S.W.O.T. analysis, counselling, curfews, boundaries, mentoring, restorati ve work, talking to parents and working with multiple agencies to ensure the service user gets the service and support they need. Helping the service user to promote positive change and help reduce risk. A service user is a term used to emphasis a professional relationship. Service user involvement is putting the people who use our services in control of the lives offering support they may need, to help them overcome their issues and empowering them to lead more fulfilling lives. The anti-social behaviour orders were introduced by Tony Blair in 1998 and by 2005 55 per cent were being breached (cited in article-1228445 Daily Mail) is this because the courts and the police are making the (7)ASBOs unrealistic , Setting out for the Young person to fail and break the order, so they can then go back to court to get the young person of the streets. Working as professionals within the Multiagency setting of YOT we should be looking for opportunities to empower the young person into meeting realistic targets and not setting ASBOs which we know they will be unable to comply with for various reasons. Under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) State Parties recognise the right of every child alleged as, accused of, or recognised as having infringed the penal law to be treated in a manner consistent with the promotion of the childs sense of dignity and self worth.(Youth Justice and Social Work ) Piaget distinguished three stages in childrens awareness to rules by playing   games, 1st ages up to 4-5, rules not really understood,2nd stage 4-5 up to 9-10, rules were seen to be coming for a higher authority (e.g. adults, god, town council) 3rd stage 9-10 onwards rules could be mutually changed by others. (cited Understanding childrens development) Many young people who become involved in violence and crime have experienced this type of behaviour from a parent or a peer, if they have learnt that this is the accepted way of dealing with a problem and have seen or experienced this kind of abuse they may have little self esteem and perceive this to be the correct way of dealing with an issue. As discussed by Paiget about children learning and understanding rules, if a child is taught the wrong moral standings by an adult in stage 2, it could lead to them following the wrong path in life. Using this theory we can benchmark where a child should be. There was a drop in the number of children entering the justice system for the first time in 2007/08. Numbers of first time entrants aged 10 to 17 entering the Youth Justice System in England and Wales were around 87,400, a fall of about 7 per cent on the previous year. Slightly more than 2,700 of children in this age group were in custody in England and Wales in December 2008, including around 500 children aged 15 and under. The majority of young offenders in custody were boys (94 per cent). More than four-fifths (86 per cent) of young offenders were held in Young Offenders Institutions, 8 per cent were in Secure Training Centres and 6 per cent were in Secure Childrens Homes. Around 51,000 children aged 10 to 17 were found guilty of indictable offences in 2007 and a further 75,000 were cautioned. Of those found guilty of an indictable offence, more than a third (36 per cent) were found guilty of theft and handling stolen goods and around 14 per cent were found guilty of violence against the person. Boys aged 15 to 17 accounted for 69 per cent of all children found guilty of indictable offences in 2007 including theft and handling stolen goods (11,200 offenders), violence against the person (5,500 offenders), drug offences (4,600 offenders) and burglary (4,500 offenders). (Source: Home Office, Ministry of Justice, Youth Justice Board ) In Order to help prevent this from happening the government launched a program called Youth Inclusion program (8)(YIP) which was established in 2000, and tailor-made programmes for 8 to 17-year-olds, who are identified as being at high risk of involvement in offending or anti-social behaviour. Whilst the programs are run for the identified children, YIPs are also open to other young people in the local area. The programme operates in110 of the most deprived/high crime estates in England and Wales. YIPs aim to reduce youth crime and anti-social behaviour in neighbourhoods where they work. Young people on the YIP are identified through a number of different agencies including youth offending teams (YOTs), police, social services, local education authorities or schools, and other local agencies. YIP receives a grant each year from the Youth Justice Board annually via its Youth Offending Team and is required to find the same amount of funding via Local Agencies. (Cited YJB/Prevention YIPS) Working in genuine partnership with other agencies and being able to access more information will enable the social worker to assess the service users needs quicker and have a detailed history of the client, which will help everyone involved within the multiagency partnership. Most referrals will come via a common assessment form (9) CAF which is used to highlight the areas each individual agency feels the service user is at risk and working within the comprehensive framework for assessment. An independent national evaluation of the first three years of YIPs found that: arrest rates for the 50 young people considered to be most at risk of crime in each YIP had been reduced by 65% of those who had offended before joining the programme, 73% were arrested for fewer offences after engaging with a YIP of those who had not offended previously but who were at risk, 74% did not go on to be arrested after engaging with a YIP. (Cited YJB/Prevention YIPS) Even though these results prove YIP to be an effective project it struggles for the necessary funding. If YIP had more readily available funding there would be more opportunity to intervene early with the affected children.   Earlier invention would help to refocus the energies of children. This could mean that eventually that we can have early intervention programmes running in all areas where children are more at risk and this could potentially prevent my children becoming involved in crime. The evidence shows that intervening early with the most challenging families in this country works. Ed Balls MP, Childrens Secretary (cited Children Young People Now) The conflict between Social work ethics and the legal systems is arguably more distinct in the practice of youth justice than any area within the Social work field. Positive, constructive achievement through social work intervention for a young person will encourage the young person to take responsibility for their actions and empower them to reflect their options whilst making decisions. For a young person, age discrimination and labeling often occur, which could give the young person an attitude and make them feel quite defensive, paranoid sometimes. I think Society possibly needs to change its way of thinking, our New Labour government has passed over 900 new laws since coming to power. This has had an effect on how we view children and young people, 20 years ago we had 339 children in prison, today we have over 3000, does this mean that children have become 10 times more dangerous?. I dont believe that children and young people have really changed as much as statistics say, I believe it is because we have too many laws and because some people live in such a dysfunctional manner, that they prefer to be in prison as they are warm, safe, can get qualifications, they have friends and they get 3 meals day and it is a routine for them, whereas living within a family that is dysfunctional could mean living with violence, drug or alcohol abuse and not having their basic needs met on a regular basis. Everything that happens within a service users life is logical to them. A positivist believes that crime is not chosen but caused largely by factors beyond the offenders control. In essence, the belief is that offenders simply cant help themselves, certain genetic, psychological or environmental factors have influenced their behavior and the existence of these factors means that offenders are almost pre-programmed to become criminals. This is one of the great contradictions of the positivist approach to crime is its focus on reformation and rehabilitation. (Taylor et. Al. (1973) cited in Youth Justice and Social Work Appendix YJS- Youth Justice System YJB Youth Justice Board YOT- Youth Offending Team GSCC General Social Care Council GSCC-   6 Standards S.W.O.T Strength, Weakness, Opportunities Threats. ASBO- Anti Social Behaviour   Order YIP- Youth Inclusion Program CAF- Common Assessment Form General Social Care Council Standards: Code of practice. As a social care worker, you must protect the rights and promote the interests of service users and carers. As a social care worker, you must strive to establish and maintain the trust and confidence of service users and carers. As a social care worker, you must promote the independence of service users while protecting them as far as possible from danger or harm. As a social care worker, you must respect the rights of service users while seeking to ensure that their behaviour does not harm themselves or other people. As a social care worker, you must uphold public trust and confidence in social care services. As a social care worker, you must be accountable for the quality of your work and take responsibility for maintaining and improving your knowledge and skills. Referencing http://www.yjb.gov.uk/en-gb/yjs/Prevention/ http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/feb/15/radio-youthjustice Oxford: Blackwell. Davies, M. (2000) The Blackwell Companion To Social Work,Oxford: Blackwell. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1228445/We-rein-ASBOs-Tories-plan-instant-penalties-control-yobs.htm Dugmore, P. and Pickford, J. (2006) Youth Justice and Social Work,Exeter: Learning Matters. Smith, P.K. and Cowie, H. (1996)   Understanding Childrens Development (2nd ed.),  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Oxford: Blackwell. Page 198 Source: Home Office, Ministry of Justice, Youth Justice Board http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=2200) http://www.yjb.gov.uk/en-gb/yjs/Prevention/YIP/ Ed Balls quote (Children Young People Now) 3-9.12.09 Dugmore, P. and Pickford, J. (2006)  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Youth Justice and Social Work,  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Exeter: Learning Matters. Page 49 Taylor

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Ambulatory Care and the Mental Health Services

Adults with serious mental illness and children who have serious emotional problems are part of the mission for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS). SAMHSA (substance abuse and mental health services administration’s center for mental health services, according to their principles provides a national leadership forum that â€Å"improves quality and availability of treatment for the mentally ill, especially adults with serious illness and children with emotional disturbances.† They promote managed care systems in order to carry this out. This paper will compare the principles of this system with those of the IOM. SAMHSA promotes two major principles in care and those include quality of care and consumer participation and rights.In quality of care is included the need to treat all patients with respect and dignity, basing all decisions and treatments on best practice, developing delivery and data collection systems, ensuring that services are tailored to individual needs, established verification processes for credentials, providing a way for providers to resolve disputes, ensure a continuum of care, ensure a wrap around for children, and incorporate targeted prevention activities. Further, they have a set of principles which involve consumer rights and protection.Plan members should be involved in discerning care, respect should be shown for choice of service, necessary legal and ethical rights, education for all consumers, families, and supporting consumer rights, and ensuring confidentiality. Comparison with IOM In comparing this to the supportive beliefs of the IOM, the primary goals are quality of care and improvement if not doing away with the inequities of care in this country as well as the ideal of seamless service. These are very important factors in moving care from the treatment of illness to the prevention of illness.Allowing for a continuum of care as well as a stable base of care is important as well as the need to be able to have testing done that might provide prevention for diseases such as colon cancer. Mental health and community care is also strong in the quality principles that they have applied (IOM. edu). In fact many of the principles of the two areas are well matched. It appears that some of these principles will be seen in the new healthcare also, as it includes prevention as part of the mandatory insurance rules.For example, many people were unable to have a colonoscopy because of the cost or the copay that will not longer be so as preventative has no cost or copay if you have insurance. Treating Veterans with PTSD The new IOM as well as the SAMHSAC have principles that dictate treatment based on need, respect, and dignity. The new principles in both cases address serious mental illness which would certainly include PTSD. Veterans with mental illness are presently one of the disparity groups and these groups are the ones tha t the IOM is attempting to bring to attention at this time.This can only help this group of people. Conclusion The mental health issues in this country, among other very difficult health issues have been on the back burner for some time. With the advent of the new health program and support by these two agencies, there is hope that there will be improvement in this care. SLP Articles The articles chosen were Prevention best Medicine and Health Centers to get 250 million in grants. These two articles seemed to be collaborative articles in solving the same issues.Prevention best medicine by Emily Bregel (2010), states that there has been a history of delay in preventative care in the US. This is caused because of the expense of the tests, not covered by insurance or those that have costly co-pay. Under the new healthcare reform law, health insurance plans that begin on or after Sept. 23 must cover recommended preventive services and cannot charge patients co-payments or deductibles. T his causes a shift in the type of care that is given from coverage for illness to coverage for prevention of illness.Many of the larger insurance companies were interviewed and it was felt by most that this would not be a large difference in cost for them as it will decrease costs in the end. This whole change will be better quality care for the patient. Health Center to get $250 million in grants by Fears (2010) reviews the newer grants that are available for building community clinics in an effort to boost service. Of course, health centers across the country are lining up to get a piece of this money.Many of which got quite a large grant last time it was offered and because of growth need granted money again. The funding is available under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and is meant to establish medical homes for patients that at this time do not have them. These health centers have been the safety net for the uninsured to provide comprehensive medical care as wel l as pharmacy, mental health, substance abuse treatment, and dental care. This is a part of the continuum of care as well as a place to use the new prevention funds to stave off chronic illness.References Bregel, E. (2010). Prevention best medicine. Health. Fears D. (2010). Health Centers to get $250 million in grants to build clinics, boost services. Washington Post. Principles for Systems of Managed Care. National Mental Health Information Center, (2010) available at http://mentalhealth. samhsa. gov/ NLM Gateway. (2005). The evidence and recommendations of IOM report for achieving the 6 aims of quality in rural America. Academy Health22 (3876)