Time for a Change Essay Example for Free

Time for a Change Essay Part of running a major business involves periodically examining what’s working and what can get better (Hogg, 2010). As everyone knows, just as every other company needs to work to remain relevant, we have to keep up with our primary competitors including Allstate, Farmers, Geico and Progressive. We need to do work better to perform processes uniformly across the state and the only way to do so is go from four regional offices in California, to one regional office. We first will need to create a transition committee that will have supervisors from each offices, section and division managers as well communication with other zones that have gone through similar transitional change. With this transition, we will also need to take into consideration how much this will cost the company and also how much will be saved as a result in the conclusion of the process. Which office will be the first to close, which will come second which will close last and finally which will remain open? There will also need to be a plan for the increase of work load when we close the offices and how we will keep the work load down and manageable by adding specialty teams that focus on certain areas of the work instead of handling it all. Additionally, we will also need to review how this will affect the potential impacted communities, and how we will handle the internal and external communication plans. When creating a transitional committee we need to select the right members for this committee. We understand that some may not be making the move but their assistants will be beneficial to everyone. Within this committee we need to select who will handle what roles each person will be in charge of. We will have groups in charge of different areas. Such as people count, communication, timelines, training and expenses. For the people count, this group will be in charge of finding out how many people will be moving and how many will be leaving. With this information they ill be required to determine the amount of new associates that need to be hired and how many hiring waves. The group that will handle communication will be the ones who will communicate to associates the time line of transition as well as information on the specialty teams that will be formed. This group of individuals will be required to travel to all offices to a job fair for associates so that they can see how their department is changing and what the new roles will look like. It will give them an opportunity to find out if they would be interested in a certain specialty team. For the training group, their job is to determine how many trainers will be needed and if temporary trainers will need to be pulled to help train new associates as well as set up refresher courses for existing associates. The expense committee will not only be covering the transition expenses, but also travel expenses and hiring expenses. Why is it necessary to transition from 4 regional offices to one? First, with the recent move of our payment plan department and our Life/Health department to other states all four regional offices now have less than 60 percent occupancy. One of our offices is even at 40 percent and the building itself needs some costly upgrades to minimally keep it as a viable work location. Another reason why we need to close these offices is due to the fact that each office seems to do work their own way in lieu of processing work items in the same manner as intended and designed by the corporate office. By combining everything into one singular location, we can ensure that processing consistency is achieved while also aiming to treat every policyholder in the state exactly the same way with consistent high quality service. Doing so would enable our Zone to achieve and retain the Remarkable expectations set forth by policyholders. Another reason why it would be highly beneficial to transition from 4 regional offices to 1 is the day to day expense. The current cost per average month to simply cover electrical utility expenses is one hundred thousand dollars in a single office with gas expenses around fifteen thousand and forty thousand in public water fees. Since we are not a company regulated by stakeholders but a company literally managed by our policyholders also referred to as a mutual company, it is our policyholders who are paying for all the utilities on 4 offices that are not being used at full capacity. In transitioning to a single office we will be saving our policyholders an estimated 5. 6 million ollars annually which can be reinvested into the organization by way of rate reductions and directly benefit customers. We need to determine which office will remain open. Since a separate entity of the company manages facilities and all are owned the decision really comes down to a few details. Which facility can house a majority of the associates, can new talent be recruited in that community to sustain the growth, which facility is the most energy efficient, which facility needs the least amount of necessary upgrades, and where would a majority of our associates be willing to relocate to? This decision was relatively simple as the Central California office location was the newest facility and the only that was not a single level structure, is in a growing city that has an established university and the ability to add much more housing that will be required. An added benefit is that water expenses are minimized as the grounds are all hydrated with reclaimed well water. As a result of that decision the next decision is determining which office to close first. We will first close our West Lake and Costa Mesa offices as each is very costly to keep open and sit on prime freeway real-estate. When any transition involving associates is being planned, one must realize that there are numerous impacts both positive and negative. While the realization is there that we will lose very loyal, experienced, tenured associates we must also realize that we will also shed a significant expense. Employee compensation is our largest investment in the organization. With the loss of those associates and backfill with newer associates there will naturally be a savings component in conjunctions with that realization and change. Newer associates will have a lower base salary, fewer vacation benefits resulting in increased days producing at the office, and potentially an improved work ethic as they are very happy, not for a new job but the potential for a new career. Combined occupancy of the southern office locations were at a total of 70 percent capacity. For those associates there will be a few options. We will offer early retirement packages for those who are at retirement age. We will offer a relocation package to all employees who are willing to relocate and we will provide them with a weekend tour of the new facility and community to assist them with their decision. This package also includes a bonus if they were able to sale their house prior to the move. If not, State Farm will buy their house and sell it for them. The last office that will close will be our Northern California office. That will not happen for at least 3 years after the first two offices close in an effort to minimize work flow disruption and well as mitigate the loss of tenured employee capital. With the closing of the two offices, we will need to learn the number of employees that will be part of the transition and how many employees that will take the early retirement package and how many will quit State Farm all together. We will need to determine the work flow as well as how many new associates that need to be hired in the final location. Also being incorporated into the transition process is a new workflow distribution system along with a new specialized team concept approach to facilitate with training new associates to make each job responsibility less than what it currently is. Different associates are strong in certain areas and weaker in others so the thought is to capitalize on each of the strengths. The teams that we need to create should be the following. For example in our Auto Department, they will be going to the following. New business application issuance team consisting of both underwriters and assistants, added car application issuance teams, three processing/production teams, one rating/accounting team, three call center teams finally one training team and one quality review/improvement team. Our Personal Lines Fire team will be doing something very similar as well as our Business Lines Department. Our claims department will also go into smaller specialized teams. With these specialty teams in place it will help with the work flow as well as ensure that the work gets processed correctly an efficiently. Additionally, since our current underwriting assistant training program last a surprising three years due to the complexity of the job. With the specialty teams that will be in place the training will not need to be as long as the focus of each role will evolve to its new state. The new training program will last up to 15 to 18 months to get fully proficient with continuing development to refine complex skill sets in their respective specialty areas. The first year training will be focused on the basics and once the trainers get a feel for what the trainees strengths are after that year, the next 8 months will be focused on their area of specialization. By doing this, we will provide better and more accurate service to our policyholders and more time will be spent doing the work. When we get to the point of communicating to our employees we will be earing different remarks from them such as why us, why not the other office, what am I going to do and so on and so on. They’ll need information to make decisions about their and their family’s future (Van Camp, 2012). When we determine when we are going to tell them employees there are five key concepts that we need to remember when we are communicating to all employees. The news we will be providin g will be life changing for numerous amount of people and we will need to be prepared to handle a large amount of questions and backlash and personal feelings. What we need to do and focus on is providing regular, weekly e-mail blasts from leadership describing the changing events. Let employees know when major decisions are expected to be made; for example, communicate when benefit and personnel information will be released. Encourage dialogue between managers and their teams. If needed, have leadership step in and directly communicate with employees through town hall-style meetings and discussions. Create a channel for two-way open communication. For example, create a virtual suggestion box or a forum for discussion between employees and leadership. Posts can remain anonymous for employees at every level through the organization. If there is no information available or something has yet to be decided, let employees know that, but don’t keep them guessing. Employees who have to wonder about their futures are not engages in their jobs, and productivity and loyalty will be affected (Van Camp, 2012). When we go to the public with this information we will need to provide our plans in writing so that the media does not misconstrue any of our information. We do not want false information being provided and pushed out to the public. We already know that we are changing the lives of our employees but we will also be changing the communities. We also need to be prepared for questions such as what will this do to smaller area’s that depend on the business from State Farm associates, impact to the local housing market and loss of existing talent. For associates not wanting to continue with the company we will assist them with their resumes and interviewing skills in an effort to minimize their personal impacts of the transition. There will be numerous classes to assist with resumes and interviews as well as letter of recommendation from their supervisor to help them get another job. Finally we will have our operations managers from each office deliver the message of the closing of the offices. No one looks forward to addressing an angry audience, but you do have one major factor working in your favor: People definitely care about your message. As with an apprehensive audience, treat their emotions with respect and avoid humor. Prepare thoroughly so you can provide complete information in a calm, rational manner. Consider using the indirect approach to build support for your message while addressing points of concern along the way. Remain calm and don’t engage in emotional exchanges with the audience (Bovee Thill, 2012, p. 477). Our operations managers would be the perfect candidates that will be able to deliver this message so that they will be able to hear the compassion in their voice and to understand that this is not an easy move on anyone. We want to remain ahead of our competitors. We want to ensure that we are not one of those companies that will start having massive layoffs due to the decline of the business. State Farm has been around for 90 years and we want to be around for even more. By having a transitional committee, we will be able to affectively shut down 3 offices and move the work load and employees to one. We will be able to have specialized teams within all of the departments. We will drastically reduce cost which will allow our policyholders to have more rate decreases on their auto and homeowners policies. We will show compassion when delivering speaking to our associates and to the media. Last but not least we will keep everyone in the loop through emails and meetings with management so no one is left in the dark.

Good and Evil in Bless Me, Ultima :: Bless Me, Ultima

Good and Evil in Bless Me, Ultima In Rodolfo Anaya's novel, Bless Me, Ultima the author uses different settings in order to develop Antonio's sense of good and evil. An example of this would be Rosie's, the local whorehouse. To Antonio, Rosie's tempted his brothers and was the cause of their sins. In one of Antonio's dreams, three figures "silently beckoned" (pg. 65) Antonio into the "house of the sinful women" (pg. 156). Antonio saw his brothers entering and he told Andrew, the last of the three to go in, not to enter. Andrew told Tony that he would wait until Tony lost his innocence and only then would Andrew go into the bordelo. So , to Antonio, seeing Andrew in the "evil house" (pg. 156) was a confirmation of Tony's lost innocence and Tony wanted to stay innocent forever. Another example of the evolution of Tony's sense of good and evil through the utilisation of setting is Tony's own home. To him, his home provided him with warmth and safety. This was due to the people who lived in the house. Antonio's father creates a sense of protection in the home. When Tenorio and his men come to he house to take Ultima away, Tony's father "would let no man invade his home" (pg 123). This gave Tony faith that as long as his father was around, he would be protected. Antonio's mother made home a loving and caring place to be. She would always baby Antonio and give him the affection he needed whenever he needed it. The morning after Tony had seen Lupito killed, Ultima tells Tony's mother not to be too hard on Antonio; he had a hard night last night. His mother puts her arms around Tony and holds him saying he "is only a boy, a baby yet" (Pg.28). The Virgin also makes the atmosphere of Antonio's home peaceful and protected. Tony loves the Virgi n Mary because "she always forgave" (Pg. 42). Tony thought she was "full of a quiet, peaceful love" (Pg.42) which she filled the home with. The most important person who contributed to the goodness of Antonio's home was Ultima. She made Antonio feel as though her presence filled the home with safety, love, and a sense of security. When Tony saw Lupito get killed, it was Ultima who calmed him. Whenever he had a nightmare, Ultima was there to comfort Antonio and "[he] could sleep again" (Pg.

Communication & Crisis Essay

Many disasters happen around us that we have no control over, nor do we know what the impact will be of these disasters long term and short term. On the environment surrounding us as well as what it may do to our health. Working as the director of health for my region it is my job to stay on top of such issues. Keeping an eye out for such emergencies that may endanger us in our everyday living space and most of all our health. I want to go through how I might deal with such situations and how I would address it head on. While at the same time keeping the public informed without overwhelming them as well as looking at who I would collaborate with to make this situation resolve in the smoothest and best way possible. The issue that has come to my attention is water contamination in a certain area. This contamination is life threatening and needs to be acknowledged and dealt with accurately and promptly. As I am the director of emergency health situations I see myself and the mediator and problem solver between the public (people) and media. Those two things are there for each other but if you are not too careful they can harm each other; giving out too much information or not enough or sometimes the wrong information can be harmful to all parties involved. Having such a situation on had you need to talk to the right people and receive all the right information. I would first go to the areas that have been affected and gather all the proper data and forms that show what chemicals are incorrect causing this contamination. I need this information for hard copy evidence so when I contact the media or speak in public I will have all the proper information. I will also get the CDC involved if they are not already involved. They will be conducting the proper tests and research to discover what the contaminated bacteria is. They will also have the proper protocol in containing it, as well as seeing the damage it has done to people who have ingested it and come in contact  with it. Finding an antidote will be another task they will have. In such a situation you will also get in contact with the proper news channels; national and local. Having my statements ready giving the media and public the help and information that they need. Communicating in any situation has its advantages and setbacks. Working in such a high pace and high stress industry makes communication that much more important and not to mention difficult. Being in the health care industry means you work and deal with a lot of the same people consistently. This at times can be a good thing. You build relationships with them you become accountable to one another, you even learn each other’s communications styles; you become comfortable with them, in some cases they even become your second family. Having that crutch that comfort in such a high stress and high demand career is needed. As I said befor you become accountable to one another and the team work/bond is unbreakable unparalleled. This kind of bond is desperately needed in such careers. Especially when you are dealing with millions of people’s lives, they always count on me as director of emergency health. Providing them with the best and most accurate information, help and solution to our health care crisis, that is no easy task and I cannot do it on my own. I use me organizations from the inside and outside; to give my best and keep our environment safe and clean. This same relationship is needed in any high profile type of career i.e. chief of medicine of a hospital the president of the United States. They all need to have great communication skills with their organizations and network of people. On the other side of the spectrum you can have communication issues that can do more damage than the crisis itself. You not only need to have basic communication skills with your staff and organizations but as we just finished discussing a great understanding and relationship with each other. If someone in the organizations you deal with miscommunicate on purpose for their own personal gain, whether that be to give themselves an advantage or just to give you a disadvantage, that may hinder your ability to protect yourself and the issue you are trying to solve. Giving you more steps to complete, possibly even making you back track. Making sure you have a good relationship and communication relationship with all the organizations you  deal with inside your office and outside is key. Even if you only deal with them occasionally or if you deal with them on a regular basis. Communicating in a non-crisis situation verses a crisis situation can have its differences. The main importance is no matter the situation your communication should be using the basic knowledge of conversing. Communication in a non-crisis is a little more relaxed, yes you still have things to get across to each other and they are somewhat important; but for the most part your emotions are not running high you have yourself composed and thinking rationally. The stakes aren’t usually as high it’s not a life or heath situation. A crisis situation the emotions are running high, you are frazzled thinking a million miles a minute. Dealing with this type of communication crisis at work should be handled with a calm clear and patient mind frame. We obviously know listening is key in any situation especially a crisis situation. I tend to be the listener when it comes to these situations and just in general. Most likely you will have most of the people in the room (people dealing with the crisis) trying to do the talking and not listening and we know communication is not just talking. I’ve learned from experience that you need to be understanding and patient with everyone in the situation, if you want to get anywhere with solving the issue or just communicating what you mean you need to take a minute and just breathe. Personally I have been in such similar situations before and it really makes a difference if you are the one with a cool head. This way of dealing with things can go for a non-health care setting and a health care setting. I am going to give you a personal story that just so happens to be in a health care setting. About 5 years ago my grandmother was hospitalized she had leukemia and lung cancer as well as a case of pneumonia which is why she went to the hospital. While at the hospital she was infected with MRSA. Once she was diagnosed with MRSA our family went into crisis mode because the doctors told us the prognosis was not good at all. She basically had maybe weeks to live. She was put on life support hoping the MRSA was clearing up and my uncles went into their â€Å"communication mode†. There are 7 brothers including my father and they are all stubborn Armenian men who have the worste communication skills ever. The wives know not to get involved too much because if was their mothers life hanging in the balance;  and none of them have any medical background to really understand what is going on and if they should pull the plug of keep her alive with the machines. As we all know doctors can only tell you so much, my sister and I are the listeners of the family and we are the vice of reason when it comes to most anything. We both just so happen to be the only two with medical backgrounds I am a nurse and she is in her medical resid ency. We had to use our knowledge and better communication skills to inform them and really show them that my grandmother was not coming out of this after we had our what I call â€Å"crisis family meeting† they decided to pull the plug that evening and my grandmother passed. In any situation whether it be medical, personal or work related communication is the same. Something that we are just now getting comfortable using in everyday life as well as crisis situations is modern technology for communicating. This is a useful tool that we still need to learn how to properly use it in such crisis situations. Sending out mass email and text messages to keep the public informed, is one of the best ways we can use social media to alert the public of ever changing crisis management issues. This has just recently eveolved into something we use in this capacity. When hurricane Katrina hit we still only used news and it was a â€Å"wow† new idea to check in with loved one over facebook and twitter because all other forms of communication such as phones were down. How 5-10 years makes a world of differences. Finishing off this paper about communicating during a crisis and how you might communicate during a non-crisis be different. How you should and could deal with people that you need to communicate during a crisis. How it really is important and how much of a new role social media is playing in crisis management. Writing this paper really made me think about how important it is to properly communicate with each other whether it’s for work or social. Being a good communicator is a bog key in all parts of life. References de Pre , A. (2005). Communicating about health: current issues and perspectives. : The Mcgraw-Hill. Fulk, J., Schmitz, J., & Ryu, D. (1995, February ). Congnative elements in social construction of communication technology.Manegment Communication Quarterly , 8(3).

The Strengths And Weaknesses Of Mainstream Supply Chain...

‘With the help of critical analytical frameworks to GSCs analyse the strengths and weaknesses of mainstream supply chain management’ BUS 326 – Coursework Introduction During the past decades many academics strived to conceptualise a framework that explain what a global supply chain is and how it is managed. GSC is an old phenomenon as it derives from colonialism, where European countries threatened weaker populations in Asia and Africa taking advantage of their resources, but it strongly developed in contemporary times thanks to the globalisation and the enhancement of IT, resulting in the habit of firms to outsource production when they see a benefit. Supply chain is defined by Jacobi (2009) as ‘the set of activities involved in moving a product and its ancillary services from the ultimate supplier to the ultimate costumer’. SCM is therefore the discipline that aims to understand the firms’ practices and strategies in managing the supply chain. As I said before, many academics tried to build a framework for the understanding of it, but being SCM a relatively new subject all of them present strengths and weaknesses and it is extremely difficult to say which of the framework is more reliable. In this short paper, my main focus will be the analysis and critique of the strong and weak points of Christopher, which built the mainstream SCM framework. Besides the mainstream framework, I will use several other works as the Cox’s critical, the GVC and the GPN, initially toShow MoreRelatedThe Mainstream Supply Chain Management1649 Words   |  7 Pagesus to critically analyze the strengths and weaknesses of mainstream supply chain management with the help of other critical frameworks of GSCs. 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