QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

1. What is discrimination? Discuss whether it has

truly been lessened or even eliminated in the
modern organization.

Discrimination is treatment or consideration of, or

making a distinction in favor of or against, a person or
thing based on the group, class, or category to which that
person or thing is perceived to belong to rather than on
individual merit. This includes treatment of an individual
or group, based on their actual or perceived membership
in a certain group or social category, "in a way that is
worse than the way people are usually treated"

Discrimination in modern organization

Age discrimination is what occurs when an employer uses age as a

determining (and negative) factor in a job-related decision. For example,
age discrimination takes place when an employer denies an applicant a
job based on age. Similarly, age discrimination occurs any time an
employer denies training, promotions, or any other opportunities based
on age.
Many factors result in age discrimination, including lack of knowledge,
ageist attitudes, and myths and stereo-types about older workers. The
most common stereo-types about older workers are that older workers
are less productive than younger workers; that older workers are more
expensive than younger workers; that older workers are less adaptable
and more rigid than younger workers; and that older people want to
retire early, that they do not want to work.

Discrimination is seen where certain genders are favoured in work

places. It occurs during recruitment and promotions in organizations.

Discrimination against people with disabilities in favor of people who

are not is called ableism or disablism. Disability discrimination, which
treats non-disabled individuals as the standard of normal living, results
in public and private places and services, education, and social work that
are built to serve 'standard' people, thereby excluding those with various
disabilities. Studies have shown, employment is needed to not only
provide a living but to sustain mental health and well-being. Work fulfils
a number of basic needs for an individual such as collective purpose,
social contact, status, and activity. A person with a disability is often
found to be socially isolated and work is one way to reduce isolation.
However, these discrimination has lessened because organizations are
encouraged to recruit people with disabilities. For example, In County
governments of Kenya and other organizations there are positions of
disabled people.

2. Discuss benefits of a fixed-term contract of employment to staff

and the organization

Taking on fixed-term employees lets employers bring in people with

special skills or employ extra labour when it is needed. A fixed-term
contract allows both employee and employer to be flexible in their
commitment. Both can benefit, as the employer has access to specialised
skills to meet a particular need, while the employee can gain broader
experience. In some companies, fixed-term employees are paid more
than permanent staff, either because of their special skills, or to
compensate for the temporary nature of the job.

There are some situations in which employers may find it desirable to

enter into fixed term or specific purpose contracts with their employees.
The main advantage of fixed term or specific purpose contracts is that
they allow for the termination of the contract once the fixed term or the
specific purpose has been completed.

Where a company proposes to employ a person on such a contract the

contract of employment should be tailored accordingly.

What constitutes implied terms of contract of employment? How is it

important to understand their contribution to such implied terms?
An implied term is one which is not set out expressly in the contract, but
which arises because of the circumstances in which the contract is
entered into. In practice, all employment contracts however
comprehensively drafted will have some implied terms, and I set out
below some key common implied terms in employment contracts.
Typically, implied terms are relied upon by the employee rather than the
employer, but they can also be helpful to employers in some
circumstances.

The criteria for implying a term in fact include the following:

It must be reasonable and equitable;

It must be necessary to give business efficacy to the contract;

It must be so obvious, that it goes without saying;

It must be capable of clear expression; and

It must not contradict any expressed term of the contract.

Courts have held that employees are under legal duties to be obedient
and faithful and must provide care and skill to their employer. The main
employee duties are:

1. obedience,
 2. fidelity, and

3. care and skill.

1. An employer has the power to give orders to employees and expect

them to be obeyed. This is balanced by employers having to act fairly
and reasonably.

2. The duty of fidelity includes:

employees must serve their employer in good faith,

employees must act to protect their employers interests,

employees must not make secret profits at their employers

expense, and

employees must not disclose confidential information of their

employer

employees must not use their employers time for their own self-
serving purposes.

3. Employees are expected to carry out their tasks and achieve a standard
of skill and competence that can reasonably be expected of someone
with their experience and training, including not to unreasonably cause
injury or damage in the course of doing their work.
An employers duties involve:

providing a safe working environment for his or her employees,

a duty to provide work for the purposes of the employment

contract,

a duty to be an employer of good conscience,

to act fairly and in good faith (this is an emerging doctrine in the

courts).

4. Most common barriers to learning within an organization how

do you overcome increasing expenditure.

1 Stubbornness and Resistance to Change

This is prevalent mostly in environments with individuals who

have been at their jobs for a long time, and are set in their ways.
Older companies have a hard time with organizational learning, if
they have older career people working for them who feel they
know darn well how to do their job, and wont have some young
guns telling them how to do it better.
This kind of mentality is inevitable, and all human beings are
prone to it, so its the first and most severe barrier to overcome.
This is where you as a leader must be able to win them over and
 make them understand that it is for their benefit, not detriment that
changes and new ideas are being brought in.

2 Ignoring Purple Elephants

There are often problems and situations in a professional

environment that everyone knows about, but nobody wants to
discuss. This may be the result of it being a sensitive subject that
could result in offense, or possibly something that collectively is
upsetting to the whole, resulting in the innate desire to turn the
other way.
These things, however unpleasant, must be discussed, openly
though with discretion. If problems exist that go ignored then
learning dynamics will ultimately fail as a result. One must never
ignore the purple elephants, they will trample everyone in time.

3 Lack of Direct Leadership

Leadership that is overly passive isnt going to get the job done
with organizational learning. While some passive, mellow mindset
helps in leadership with modern culture, leaders need to be present
and involved in every aspect of learning, to motivate people and
give them the resolve and confidence they need to press on.
Leaders must ask difficult questions and be a little tough where
need be tough love isnt always a bad thing.
4 Disregard of Team Success

In many corporate cultures, a mindset sinks in of congratulation

and adoration of personal accomplishments, but a sense of team
spirit and unity isnt really there. Beyond a sense of zeitgeist
within the company as a whole, teamwork is viewed as a means to
an end, and not something to be valued itself.
For organizational learning to be successful, then team success and
unity must be valued equally to if not more than individual success
and prosperity.

5 Lack of Value for learning Itself

In some environments, learning for the sake of knowledge and

wisdom itself isnt present, which can result in a disregard by parts
of the whole for the new learning being introduced. The problem
here is that for an organization to be trained as a unit, some
individuals must learn new information they dont immediately
need to apply.
When individuals dont value new learning and growth for its own
sake, this will make that aspect of organizational learning very
difficult and troublesome overall.

6 Short-Term Focus
 In business, its often easy to focus on stop gaps to solve short term
problems without looking at the big picture. When one is in a
leadership position that isnt so grandiose as CEO or the like, this
is often necessary, in order to carry on with things.
Unfortunately, this is a mistake in organizational learning, as the
big picture must always be the focus of all involved. This includes
the people learning as well as the leadership in charge.
7 Too Much Control
While being organized and planned out is always valuable, its
often an unintentional habit for leaders to abuse charts and graphs
and the like when planning out organizational learning like any
other procedure. The problem is that this kind of thing will
frustrate those involved, and the act of charting and plotting
everything will take on a mind of its own.
It is best to keep the plotting and charts simple. They are needed,
but only in small doses most of the time.
These are the seven biggest barriers to organizational training, but
remember, theyre not the only ones so always be self-aware.
5. Reasons why any organization might spend money on
assessment centres- activities in assessment centres. So what is
an assessment centre and how do we get the most from them?

Assessment centres are sometimes known as selection centres and

typically consist of a number of exercises designed to assess the full
range of skills and personal attributes required for the job. They are
usually one of the most reliable methods of assessing candidate
employees. Interviews, or any other method, taken alone, may be as low
as 15% accurate. However, when scores from a number of different
selection exercises are combined, their accuracy can rise to over 60%.

When correctly established and run with a professional approach, most

assessment centres are generally accepted as a fair method of selection,
providing equal opportunities for all candidates and selection based on
merit. Add to this that a typical assessment centre provides much more
information about fit, skills, competencies and future potential than
virtually any other method of recruitment.

What are the specific benefits?

Typical benefits of assessment centres include the improved accuracy as

they allow a broader range of selection methods to be used during the
process. They also facilitate an assessment of existing performance as
well as helping to predict future job performance.

Several other benefits are available depending on how you stricture your
assessment process. These include:

The opportunity to assess and differentiate between candidates

who seem very similar whilst giving candidates a better insight
into the role as they are tested on exercises, which are focused on
the role they have applied for.
 Help with building your employment proposition and employer
brand. A business often impresses candidates who attend
assessment centres where the process and assessment genuinely
reflect the job and the organization, even if they are rejected.

Costs associated with an assessment centre are usually lower

compared with the potential cost of many recruitment phases.
Given most assessment centres also reduce or mitigate recruitment
errors, there is an intrinsic cost reduction by having fewer errors.

6. Training of staff is an expensive activity. What is its importance

and effects on employees

Benefits of employee training and development include:

Employees are better prepared to help the organization achieve its

goals

Staff are more productive

Employees are more motivated

Well trained staff require less supervision

A pool of employees are ready to replace others who leave

 Staff that engage in continuous learning are better able to meet the
challenges of changes in the organization

Staff are able to manage/work on new programs

Your organization will be more successful at attracting and

retaining employees

Improves morale of employees-

Training helps the employee to get job security and job
satisfaction. The more satisfied the employee is and the greater is
his morale, the more he will contribute to organizational success
and the lesser will be employee absenteeism and turnover. 2.
Other benefits
Less supervision
A well trained employee will be well acquainted with the job and will
need less of supervision. Thus, there will be less wastage of time and
efforts. 3.

Fewer accidents
- Errors are likely to occur if the employees lack knowledge and skills
required for doing a particular job. The more trained an employee is, the
less are the chances of committing accidents in job and the more
proficient the employee becomes.
Chances of promotion-
Employees acquire skills and efficiency during training. They become
more eligible for promotion. They become an asset for the organization.
Increased productivity-
Training improves efficiency and productivity of employees. Well
trained employees show both quantity and quality performance. There is
less wastage of time, money and resources if employees are properly
trained.
Training is crucial because it Educates workers about the effective use of
technology, Ensures competitive edge in the market, Promotes safety
and health among employees, Creates opportunities for career
development and personal growth, an important factor in retaining
workers Helps employers comply with laws and regulations and
Improves productivity and profitability. Surveys indicate the main issue
facing business is attracting and retaining good employees. Nationally
the average turnover rate is approaching 15%. Keep in mind that a
turnover rate of 10% is desirable. Continuous improvement for a
company is parting with the lowest 10% of your performers and
replacing them with higher quality employees. Therefore, the goal is to
part with under-achievers, and retain your top performing employees.
Inevitably, you will lose good performers; the key is to minimize that
fact. A complete employee training program includes a formal new hire
training program with an overview of the job expectations and
performance skills needed to perform the job functions. A new hire
training program provides a fundamental understanding of the position
and how the position fits within the organizational structure.
Is performance related pay system is truly the most motivational?
Taylorism applied this thinking to financial rewards, contending that
money was the sole motivator for workers to perform. This is an
essentially employer centric view of reward,
Based on the premise that behavior can be controlled and moulded to
suit employer needs.
It is a view that takes no account of employee reward preferences.

Offering life insurance to your employees helps them financially support

those they care most about at a very difficult time. It allows them to be
secure in knowing their loved ones will be provided for. Job seekers
often want to know one thing -- how much the job pays. Many people
focus on salary alone. However, to really evaluate compensation, you
have to look at the whole package. Salary is part of the equation, but so
are other benefits such as employer-paid retirement, fringe benefits,
work/life balance, student loan payoff assistance, or use of a company
car.
Fringe Benefits
The Internal Revenue Service defines a fringe benefit as "a form of pay
for the performance of services." Types of fringe benefits include
accident and health benefits, employee discounts, free day care,
employer provided car or cell phone, gym membership, employer-paid
insurances, educational benefits, cafeteria plans, retirement planning
services and free housing. Often, fringe benefits are things employees
normally would have to pay for themselves. When the employer pays
these for you, you get to keep more of your paycheck for other things.

Professional Development

Sometimes employers who cannot offer an above-industry salary make

up for it in other ways. For example, they might provide employees with
more opportunities to advance or take on additional responsibilities.
Opportunities to attend industry-specific conferences or training, or to
gain certifications, may pay off in the long run. Many employers also
help foot the bill for college or other educational expenses. This all can
amount to increased knowledge and experience, which is often worth
more money. Some employers will reimburse you for educational
expenses you already incurred, or your employer may qualify you for
certain student loan payoff programs.

Investment Accounts

While you might not collect it at the moment, the money your employer
contributes to your retirement is yours. Employers may match your
contribution to your 401(k), or help fund a retirement account or pension
plan. The younger you are, the greater the value this contribution will
gain over time. Some employers also offer you stock options or pay into
a health savings account for you to use. For example, if your employer
pays 11.5 percent of your salary into a retirement fund and puts $2,500
into your health savings account, you should add this compensation to
your salary when comparing job offers.

Flexible Schedule

A flexible schedule can be worth money. For example, employers who

encourage telecommuting may help you stretch your paycheck further.
Working from home could mean saving money on commuting, extended
day care hours, office attire, food costs, vehicle maintenance costs,
parking costs, and stress-related health care costs; people often do not
realize how much it costs to go to work. Calculate the value of the
options for a flexible schedule into your total compensation.

Extra Pay

Some employers -- or certain positions with many employers -- offer

bonuses or commission in addition to salary and wages. Sales jobs
generally include a bonus or commission component in the pay
structure, supplementing salary and wages. In some companies, all
employees receive a bonus when the company does well or at specific
intervals, such as a Christmas bonus. Hourly employees also receive
overtime pay when they work additional hours or on holidays, which is
more than the standard hourly wage. Tips are another form of extra pay,
which service workers expect to receive in addition to the pay they
receive from an employer.