Turning the Job You Have into the Job You Want - Coursework Example

Assessment Name Professor Institution Course Date Turning the job you have into the job you want In many times, I have believed that people who have secured jobs are the happiest individuals in the world because they are able to meet their needs. The belief has stuck in many years and even McGregor’s’ theory claim that employees intrinsically hate work could not change my mind. However, I have realized I was wrong. Many people in the labor market that I have engaged after campus claim that there are actually less motivated concerning their jobs. Majority of these people are less motivated not because of money, but being in the “wrong” profession (Wrzesniewski, Berg & Dutton 2010, p.114). Nevertheless, some of these employees hide such situations from their bosses. For example, my former college mate and a friend who is now a finance office claims that at the workplace, he has established a positive rapport with colleagues and also stays longer at work. However, he feels down and stuck and entrapped by the daily demands of the job since the jobs he does is not what he wanted in the first place. Even with the tough times and less motivation at the workplace, her positive actions have made his managers to consider that he his one of the high potentials in the company (Wrzesniewski, Berg & Dutton 2010, p.115). He thinks he should search for another work, but the slow economic recovery has made him stick to it. He claims that he would have been happy working it the Information department as an IT officer in the same organization because of his love for networking and database management. The situation demonstrates an act of many people working outside their profession and that makes them less satisfied. Wrzesniewski, Berg & Dutton (2010, p.116) claim that the recent survey conducted by The Conference Board on 5,000 U.S. households, only 4 percent of the respondents held that they are satisfied about their work. This figure represents a drop of 15 percent compared to 1978 hen the company first carried out its survey and established that 60% were satisfied (Wrzesniewski, Berg & Dutton 2010, p.116). The world has really changed and population has grown tremendously. Hence, unemployment has gone up because people exceed the number of jobs that are being offered. The situation has led to scramble for the few vacancies between people who belong to the field which is being advertised and people belong to other areas of specialization. Currently, competition is high and career experts are now encouraging candidates to be all round, reduce specialization and study a wide range of profession. In so doing, they will be in a position to secure jobs in other fields outside their area of specialization. It is the competition in employment that makes people stuck in jobs they do not like. They fear that they will get jobs they prefer hence becoming jobless. In my research, I have established that 127,000 people remain jobless despite their outstanding qualifications. In the US alone, unemployment has remained unstable since the world global economic crisis of 2008. In the process of the economic crisis, people were laid off and unemployment increased significantly. On few people who were multitalented were left to be able work in several departments. In some cases, people’s wages were reduced because the company also reduced the number of hours of operations. Wrzesniewski, Berg & Dutton (2010, p. 115) posit that this had made people who are employed to stuck to their jobs even if they have low moments. I have attended some business forums which motivate employees on how to turn the job they have into the job they want or love. In these forums, majority of the speakers have recommended for the use of job crafting. Wrzesniewski, Berg & Dutton (2010, p.116) affirm that Job crafting is regarded as an influential tool used to re-imagine and re-energize one’s work life. Some the employees that have rediscovered their satisfaction from jobs they did not intend to do have redefined jobs in terms of motives, passion and strengths. Personally, I believe one can employee job crafting effectively by envisaging their job, reorganizing and mapping its component to better match their expectations. This exercise requires evaluating core elements of the job such as tasks, relationships and perceptions, then adjusting them to match ones’ desires (Wrzesniewski, Berg & Dutton 2010, p.117). Experts in the field of management suggest that when an employee is finding it hard to complete tasks; he or she needs to perform one task at a time or change the approach on how to carry out the tasks. Lastly, I would advice employees experiencing less motivation to find mentors to coach them on how to find the best out of their jobs. Reflection on how social and environmental sustainability would (or would not) apply in a profession I have wondered why some people criticize stronger brands such as Starbucks, Nike, Apple Inc, Nordstrom, Coca-Cola and McDonald’s amongst others. At some point I tended to believe that some of people are jealous about the market advantages these companies have made over the years. Similarly, I had often believed that such protesters have been hired by competitors of these companies to taint their images. However, as the 21st century unfolds, I have realized how these companies affect how one lives as they try to remain sustainable. Many have led to depletion of natural resources in a bid to provide human needs. For instance, Coca-Cola Company has been accused of excess water usage without proper mechanism for conservation. In 2004, locals of Kerala blocked the operation of a $16 million Coca-Cola plant stating that it led to a severe decline of water to farmers (Stecklow, 2005). I think some company managers have just misunderstood sustainability or have just chose to completely ignore it. Business management experts claim that sustainability means the capability of a business to maintain its fundamental nature for a long time by means of its own endeavors. It involves managing and controlling the financial, environmental and social risks, opportunities and obligations. I believe if these aspects are summarized they entail profits, people and planet (Financial Times 2014). Many companies including the ones mentioned at some point have assumed that the sole responsibility of a business is to make profit. Hence, they have neglected the social welfare of people, including human right, free from pollution, disclosure and financial, and exploitation of resources (Smith & Sharicz, 2011, p.78). For example, Nike Inc management has been accused of sacrificing its corporate responsibility to focus on making profit. For example, Nike has recently been criticized of using child labor, long hours of work and exposure of its employees to toxic chemicals (Mason 2014). Child labor is a human right violation practice which denies children time to get proper education. I also believe it also exposes children to psychological torture in which they have to perform jobs meant for adults. In another case, Starbucks has been disparaged for tax evasion in the UK in 2011. It must be noted that tax can be used to improve lives through better service delivery. Similarly, Apple Inc was condemned in 2007 for polluting the environment through dumping of old Smartphone products in an open environment. Advocates of social and environmental sustainability contend that organization should conform to three key pillars of sustainability which involves supporting social equality, promoting the economy which they operate in and which benefits everyone, and safeguarding the environment (Smith & Sharicz 2011, p.75). In so doing, they will improve their images towards the society they operate. In the recent years, customers have become aware of the companies effect on the environment and also exploitation and are likely to boycott companies which are majorly focused on making profits. As a chartered finance officer who works with an international company, I have an obligation to promote sustainability and its three pillars including profit, people and planet through conscious capitalism. In this perspective, I have to be always awake to the reality that that my company operates in a wider system and interdependencies must remain for harmonious relationship. Embracing conscious capitalism implies that one does not overlook the interdependencies which exist by just taking a narrow path one or two pillars and ignoring the rest. I stated before, sustainability also encompasses financial management and control; hence as finance office, I am responsible for this process. In actually sense my role entails informing the company of the financial position and whether it is appropriate to invest in certain asset or if it’s the right time to expand. Accurate reporting of the profits and expenditure are also expected of a finance officer while acting in the interest of the society (Cowton 2009, p181). Other roles are to make sure the company pays tax to the government, which can be used for enhancing service delivery. Such activities create a good status and can be an asset as it communicates a message that a business is genuine. In the process, it will attract and retain customers. Conscious capitalism therefore serves as one of the greatest approaches in social and environmental sustainability in companies which intend to take competitive through reputation (Mackey 2013, p.34). It can then be concluded that engaging in social and environmental sustainability will increase profits of the firm while attracting a large customer base. Reflection on how “code switching between cultures” might (or might not) help in developing as a professional in a globalised world Back in the past, I used to ask my self why people could spend more in other countries rather than their own. Foreign nationals have often come in my country to study and work for many years in the recent. At first, I thought they loved our country more than their own. However, I have come to learn that the world has greatly changed due to increase in globalization and advancement in information technology. In the process, boundaries have been removed as people export and import goods from other countries. Ship and airlines now cross one country to another transporting expatriates. Competition has also increased in local markets, prompting business to look for new target markets to maximize their profits. In so doing, different cultures meet and exchange ideas and concepts of doping things. It is not always easy as it looks because cultures have norms, values, behavior and language that differ and switching between cultural codes takes sometimes. At times a US IT officer is sent work China, where there is a Chinese manager and the struggles to motivate the expatriate. Similarly, an Indian is sent to work in South Korea; a culturally different country and fails to adapt to the culture. Managers as the people placed in a position to ensure companies become successful in terms of employees motivation and overall performance usually has to put more effort to achieve such objectives. Such managers have a global mindset and cultural intelligence to understand, appreciate and tolerate cultural diversity within the environment they operate (Molinsky 2012, p.140). However, Molinsky (2012, p.140) contends that global mindset and intelligence alone is not enough and employees needs code switching between cultures to help them develop as a professional in a globalised world. Code switching of culture is the capability to adjust behavior to tolerate diverse cultural values. Since my company is a globalized company, I have found myself working with people from other cultures. What works in one culture cannot work in another, therefore, in any interaction, one needs to switch codes of another culture not to provoke their counterparts. The process of changing is not easy because people even feel ashamed or fake to imitate one culture, yet they subscribe to other values (Molinsky 2012, p.141). In the international arena one may be forced to adopt code switching between cultures to create strong rapport with global clients (Molinsky 2012, p.140). For instance, culturally, Iranian woman is not allowed to shake hands with a male counterpart. Nevertheless, in many times an Iranian business woman meets male businessmen from the west and shakes hands. This is because in western countries shaking of hands is a sign of greetings and permitted by culture. In this perspective, the Iranian woman forced to change his usual behavior to fit into another culture. Management experts argue that people can use three different, but dependable approaches to switch to a new code of culture including diagnosis, behavior adaption and appreciation of code switching value (Molinsky 2012, p.141). I would suggest to employees struggling to adopt another culture to diagnose problems they are experiencing and make adjustments in their behavior step by step until guilt is reduced. In the process, the confidence will increase to an extent of appreciating. When is ingrained in another culture and feels confident they become effective in communicating customer value proposition. References Cowton, C 2009, Accounting and the ethics challenge: Remembering the professional body', Accounting and Business Research, vol. 39, no. 3, pp. 177-189. Financial Times 2014, Definition of Business Sustainability, Financial Times Lexicon Mackey, J 2013, The kind of capitalist you want to be, Harvard Business Review, vol. January – February, p. 34 Mason, W 2014, Nike's latest CSR report examines drop in emissions, labor challenges, South Florida Business journal. Molinsky, AL 2012, Code switching between cultures, Harvard Business Review, vol. January - February, pp. 140 – 141. Smith, P.A.C & Sharicz, C 2011, The shift needed for sustainability. The Learning Organization, Vol.18, No.1, pp.73-86. Stecklow, S 2005, How a Global Web of Activists Gives Coke Problems in India, The Wall Street Journal, Viewed on October 31 2014, from http://www.indiaresource.org/news/2005/1062.html Wrzesniewski, A, Berg, JM & Dutton, JE 2010, Turn the job you have into the job you want, Harvard Business Review, pp. 114-117. Read More