Budgeting

The class on budgeting and time management was good. I don't feel like I learned anything new but it was a good reminder of how much time is actually available to me. I once kept a log for a week of everything I did and for how long. About 3 days into it I realized how much time was spent on non productive things. It is good to make the most of our time but I think sometimes the non productive things we do are necessary to keep our sanity. It's just a matter of balancing the two and making sure that we use time effectively. I also think it is important to be flexible with our plans ans no that no matter how well we plan some things will always change. We need to be prepared to deal with that and not let it become a major crisis in our life.

Ethics 2/18/2014

Today I expected to learn about ethics committees and how they operate. I think I was able to get an idea of how an ethics committee is formed, what their purpose is, and how to operate one. I also received answers to some of my questions in regards to who the committee reports to and how much say or power they have in the final decision. I think it is helpful to understand circumstances in which we would call for an ethics committee so that we can be prepared to make that call. I have not run into anything that I felt needed this type of intervention yet but when I do I feel I will be better prepared to handle it. I enjoyed the scenarios and the discussion that comes from them. I also liked the follow up in class even though it was shortened a little. It is good to evaluate our own ethics and standards to decide if we can operate and provide quality care under circumstances that may present us with negative feelings regarding our assignments as nurses.

Performance Appraisal Interview

For this assignment I spoke with my neighbor who is a sales manager for a company that sales large pieces of equipment to municipalities and general contractors for road construction projects. Due to his position he is responsible for evaluating the effort and effectiveness of his sales people. The questions that were asked were as follows:
What consitutes acceptable performance by your sales people?
How do you pay them? (Commission or salary)
If they don't meet their quota what are the repercussions?
How do you keep them motivated?
Are you succesful in retaining good sales people long term?
The answers I received seemed fairly typical of what most good businesses do to be successful. He described the performance requirements for sales people in his organization as completing a minimum of 100 cold calls per day, scheduling at least 10 appointments per week for his demo rep who is in the field, setting weekly goals and explaining how they will be achieved, and closing at least 2 deals per month. He explained to me that employees are given the option to be paid straight commission at a much higher rate or take a reasonable salary plus a small commission. The salary option is meant to help sales people get trained and comfortable before they go to straight commission, but he told me that most employees never leave the comfort of this option even though they could potentially make much more money on straight commission. Only the best sales people venture into the straight commission and he said they are the ones that show the highest job satisfaction. Each employee has to attend a monthly sales meeting to review their quota. If they ahve fallen short new goals and expectations are set with additional emphasis from the sales manager on meeting weekly goals and then monthly goals. If a sales person goes 3 months without meeting their quota they are put on probation and have 2 months to get back on track or they are let go. He explained to me that in order to keep people motivated and happy with the company so that they will want to stay. Bonuses are handed out each month for those who achieve a higher standard and every year the top 3 sales people all receive an all expense paid trip to places like cabo san lucas or a cruise or something of that nature. For those who are struggling he said he usually tries to work with them on a weekly basis but he will only do this for so long. If an employee can't motivate himself most of the time then he won't cut it as a sales person. He said that he usually knows in the first 2 months if they wil make it but the company policy makes him wait at least 5 months to let the non-productive ones go.

Organizational Structure

I am not sure that I come to class expecting to learn anything specific anymore. I think that what I learned from class today is that nurses can find positions in pretty much any part of the organizational structure. I also had a lot of fun watching the video about men and women. Not sure how much of it is true but it sure seemed to hit the target on a few things. I enjoy the information we get from this class and I really enjoy the some of the fun things we do.

Performance Appraisal & Problem Employee Reflective Journal

I have learned to come to class with no expectations of what I would learn. Today I learned a little bit about the purpose of performance appraisals and what things may or may not be important to employees when trying to recruit and retain them. Knowing this information at this point helps me to know how to approach my supervisors when it comes to performance appraisals.  It also gives me an idea of how I am being perceived as an employee. Maybe this will have greater application for me later on but given my current position I am looking at it more from the side of the employee than the manager. As far as how I felt about the material, I would say I don't have any + or - feelings either way. It is all part of the game and the sooner I learn how to play it the better off I will be.