Disadvantages of Censorship Essay Example for Free

Disadvantages of Censorship Essay The censorship debate is a long one, and the numbers seem to be equally divided between both sides. Censorship exists in all forms of media, and far beyond it. Those against are not campaigning for a completely censorship free country, but just to minimise it to an extent where it is not such a predominant part of what we watch, hear and think. It would be impossible and unrealistic to believe that the country would be able to function properly without some control of the information leaked to the general public, but it is also a worrying prospect that we may not know as much as we think we do about the country we live in and the problems facing it. One example of the advantages of censorship is during World War II. It played a major part along with propaganda to maintain a positive atmosphere throughout England, as if all the gruesome details concerning the ever-increasing death rate, the awful state of the soldiers and the destruction of homes and buildings were openly shared, not only would the people of England lose the faith they once had in winning the war, but it would make the country much easier to beat. The army wouldnt have anything to prove, and the German spies closely monitoring the media would be able to pin-point the perfect places to destroy in order to bring morale to such a low that the English would have no choice but to surrender. But was this really justified? Didnt the people have a right to know the real condition other parts of the country were in? What gives the government the right to release incorrect statistics? This is the type of thing being debated about today. To what extent should free speech be limited? Would that even still count as free? What would have happened if an English soldier had been allowed to write home about the true glory of the war? His family would have obviously been horrified, and consequently told their friends and co-workers, warning them against sending their son to war. If this was wide-spread enough, there would have been a dramatic increase in the men avoiding conscription and a decrease in enthusiasm in joining, making it weaker and even more out-numbered by the opposing forces leading to almost definite defeat. But is this a reason enough to make this soldier lie? To subject thousands more men to a gruesome and possibly fatal ordeal? Does the ends really justify the means?

High Staff Turnover in Hotel Industry

High Staff Turnover in Hotel Industry Hotels, catering and leisure industry in the UK remains the sector with the highest level of staff turnover, with all leavers in this category hitting 41%, according to a survey carried out by the CIPD (2008). Many organisations are badly affected by high levels of staff turnover and the survey identified that 74% of organisations in the UK, reported a negative impact on their business performance. This report also identified four main reasons that cause labour turnover. They are, change of career (55%), promotions outside of the company (45%), level of pay (41%) and lack of career development (33%). Employee dissatisfaction caused by poor relationships with supervisors and line managers, undesirable working conditions and lack of career development and training opportunities are also seen as major factors that cause high staff turnover ( Griffeth, Hom and Gaertner 2000). As mentioned in an article published by the Adecco Institute (2008) skills shortage in the jobs market is seen as a major human resources challenge for the future and this is particularly true of the hospitality and leisure industry in the UK, as it has suffered from constant recruitment difficulties over the past so many years. Age positive carried out a survey in the year 2005 and according to the results of the survey nearly 40% of all vacancies in the hospitality industry were hard to fill and much of the problem has been caused by poor retention strategies implemented by organisations. Another factor identified by the survey with regard to why so many vacancies were hard to fill is the lack of necessary ski lls and abilities by potential applicants who apply for jobs in the hotel and hospitality industry. A similar percentage of employers who participated in the survey stated that applicants lack excellent communication skills required, and this is particularly true of receptionists, managers and administrators and this has created immense pressure on HR executives and managers to attract, manage and retain key talent within their organisation which is an essential factor in creating sustainable competitive advantage. The results and information unearthed from these surveys make it crystal clear that high levels of staff turnover is a major problem to all organisations and the HR department of an organisation has a key responsibility of closely monitor labour turnover levels and figures and make right steps in order to bring staff turnover to a manageable level and face the future with resistance. High levels of staff turnover in an organisation may compromise the quality and high standards of customer service, and may impact on the organisation loosing loyal customers, revenue and long term sustainability (Tracy and Hinkin, 2008). Once the well established staff leave a company it may not only increase the workload of the remaining staff members of the company, but would be difficult for the organisation to gain the same highest levels of service from the newly hired staff as they would still be in a period of learning their job, and other key tasks and responsibilities associated with the job. Furthermore when employees leave on a regular basis it creates extra workloads for the remaining staff and as a result they could become depressed with work and not be able to deliver their best performance on the job. This may further exacerbate the problem and may also result in staff getting absent from work regularly and their good health deteriorate. The article of Tracy and Hinkin (2008) also states financial implications for organisations as a result of high levels of staff turnover. The costs associated with replacing staff can be sorted into hard costs, soft costs, and opportunity costs. Hard costs are costs such as money spent on newspaper advertisements, adverts on recruitment agencies etc, and they have a direct impact on the organisation. Other elements such as the time it takes to interview new recruits, and time spent on exit interviews will not be shown in company account statements as they are regarded as soft costs. Opportunity costs such as missed customers and market shares, usually go unmeasured but can still be substantial and may also lower company profitability and competitor advantage of the organisation ( Simons and Hinkin 2001 cited Tracy.J and Hinkin.T, 2008). The following five are identified as major costs categories that contribute towards the total costs of replacing an employee. They are pre-departure, recruitment, selection, orientation and training, and lost productivity (Hinkin and Tracy 2007, 2006, cited Tracy.J and Hinkin.T,2008). The already high staff turnover rates in the hotel industry also reflects high turnover of newly selected staff who leave the company within their first 30 days because the job did not suit them (Woods,1997:141). Does this mean possible issues with the prevailing recruitment and selection methods adopted by the hospitality sector organisations? According to the article by Tracy.J and Hinkin.T, only a few turnover studies have been so far carried out in the hotel and hospitality sector, despite reporting high levels of turnover every year. Therefore my literature review aims to conduct a much broader view of this issue by critically examining the current procedures and practices carried out by the High Beech Hotel UK and some of the other local selected competitor hotels, which may be associated with employee turnover. By doing so this study aims to understand the root causes of high levels of employee turnover of High Beech Hotel and propose solutions and recommendations to overcome those issues. This research benefits High Beech Hotel in terms of minimising the unnecessary costs that may occur due to advertising, interviewing, training of new staff as well as improving the overall standard of the hotel. High Beech Hotel is a three start hotel located in beautiful Hastings area and is faced with stiff competition with many three to four star hotels operating in the area such as, The White Rock Hotel, Travelodge Hastings, The Hotel Undum and the Chatsworth Hotel. The High Beech Hotel is therefore fighting to maintain a sustainable competitive advantage and grow its market share. The opinions of the General Manager, Operations Manager and the HR manager prove that jobs in the industry are difficult in the area and finding the right talent for the right job and the retention of quality staff are major HR challenges currently faced by the hotel. The general manager of the hotel is new to her post and has already expressed concerns about the high staff turnover. Turnover is high among front line staff, waiters and porters and the management has had few discussions to find the reasons why staff left, and find out ways to resolve the problem. I having worked at the hotel as an HR executive (placement student) managed to gain a good understanding of the high turnover and the possible effects the turnover levels have had on the existing staff. Literature review Labour turnover is the rate at which staff leaves an organisation and are replaced by new employees. Too high a labour turnover rate may mean that there is something unsatisfactory about working for the organisation and that action therefore would need to be taken (Adams et al, 1993) Denver and McMahon (1992:143) defined labour turnover as the movement of people into and out of employment within an organisation and can both be voluntary and involuntary. Eade (1993) further categorises turnover into management controllable and unavoidable turnover. Labour turnover index is used to measure staff turnover and according to Armstrong (2001) labour turnover rates provide a valuable means to benchmarking the effectiveness of HR policies and practices in organisations. The hotel industry is essentially comprised of both a production and a service aspect and the creation and rendering of services from the hotel to the customer are mainly achieved through employees. Therefore the industry is essentially represented by people (Lewis 1989; Thompson and Abbott, 1990; Schneider , 1993) and is considered as one of the most labour intensive industries. Turnover in the hotel industry in the UK has been shown to be unacceptably high (Kennedy and Berger, 1994), averaging as much as 200% to 300% per year. Statistically this means that the entire workforce of the industry turns over two to three times per year. The main factors identified, that could impact on turnover are, orientation and good socialisation procedures (Kennedy and Berger 1994, Woods, 1992), ad-hoc recruitment and selection (Benn and Farbringer, 1992, Woods and Macaulay, 1989; Wagner, 1991; Wheelhouse, 1989), discrimination at the workplace (Antolik,1993), lack of training and development oppor tunities (Hogan, 1992; rowden,1995), organisation culture (Woods and Macaulay, 1998) shortage of skills in the labour market (Debrah, 1994; Woods, 1992), high levels of work related stress ( Vallen,1993;Woods, 1992; Ham and Griffeth, 1995), seasonal nature of the industry ( Boella, 1998) and job dissatisfaction ( Bonn and Frbringer, 1992). All of these factors have contributed towards high levels of staff turnover in the hotel industry and it is clear that the success of the industry depends upon taking necessary steps to reduce the above mentioned issues, and problems, and the calibre of employees, and how well they are managed (Nankervis and Debroh, 1995; Berger and Ghel, 1995). Deery and Iverson, (1996) commented that high degree of staff turnover levels consist of recruitment and replacement costs, and regular and loyal customers switching to other competitor hotels as they expect to see their favourite staff members. It is clear labour costs play a major part in the industry and high staff turnover is seen as a prime issue hampering the smooth functioning of hotel and organisations within the hospitality industry (Obrien and McDonnell 2003). Deery and Iverson (1996) examined the employee turnover phenomenal and found that high turnover resulted in organisations loosing revenue and profits. They also argued that high turnover, especially when skilled staff leave, contributes to lowering the employee morale and the overall ability of teams within the organisations to get quality work done. Therefore the retention of skilled and well trained staff in any hospitality organisation is important to save unnecessary tangible and intangible costs as well as retaining regular and loyal customers and to provide them with a quality service. It is clear from the arguments put forward by the above mentioned authors and scholars but Despite an array of academic evidence and research on labour turnover the question to be asked is do management of hospitality sector organisations understand the gravity of the issue of staff turnover, and its negative effects on the performance of the organisation and how far they are willing to go to retain the valuable staff. At a time of difficult economic times it is imperative and organisation takes measures to outperform its competitors and any hospitality sector organisation that understands the value of human capital and adopt good HRM policies and management practices in pursuit of employee retention will inevitably outperform the competition (Cho et al., 2006, Hinkin and Tracy, 2000). Staff leaving on a regular basis involves heavy administration costs and a loss of productivity through the breaking up of teams who are used to working together (Denvir and McMohan, 1992:144). Therefore the critical importance of employees staying with an organisation is evident (Brayfield and Crockett, 1995; Cho et al, 2006). It is clear that satisfied and highly motivated employees stay with the organisation which in turn helps the company to reduce unnecessary recruitment and selection costs which could amount to a substantial amount of money, but also produce high quality work which helps the organisation to achieve competitive advantage and increase its profits (Cho et al., 2006; Hinkin and Tracey, 2000). Exit interviews are a great method of collecting information as to why employees leave an organisation. Employees leave for various reasons ranging from lack of employee oriented organisational measures such as succession planning, pay , non-financial rewards, work life balance and undesirable working conditions as well as more personal reasons such as inability to look after their children, other child welfare issues and transport problems. This can also vary depending on how long they have worked for the company and it is a common factor as evident from the High Beech Hotel, and that staff leaves because they soon found out that the job did not suit them. Some other staff members leave after serving the organisation after serving a considerable amount of time and their issues could very well be different to people leaving early. According to the CIPD (2007) costs an organisation approximately  £3500 pounds every time an employee leaves and as stated earlier these costs include bo th tangible costs and intangible costs such as time spent on interviewing new recruits and these often go unreported in company accounts. Denver and McMahon (1992:146) also found out that individual hotel organisations experience different levels of turnover, which helps to confirm that staff turnover is partly within the control of the hotel management. This also contradicts with the common acceptance that staff turnover is high and uniform throughout the industry and uncontrollable. Therefore it is evident that high levels of staff turnover is harmful to the smooth functioning of any organisation, may it be in the hospitality sector or some other sector and hinders the efficient operation of the business resulting in the hotel gradually losing its market share. Therefore it is important that the hospitality sector organisations develop effective and vibrant HRM policies that enable them to successfully recruit, select and retain skilled and efficient employees, who would contribute towards the achievement of the corporate objectives of the business. Factors influence on high Labour Turnover. The hotel industry in the UK is constantly troubled with high staff turnover resulting in increased personnel costs arise from recruitment and selection of new staff, training them (Ham and Griffeth, 1995). There is a strong negative relationship between turnover and organisational commitment which indicates that staff with low levels of commitment and loyalty are more likely to withdraw from the organisation than more committed staff (Johnston et, 1993). He also identified a positive relationship between organisational commitment and career progression opportunities given to employees through internal promotions and succession planning. These employees who are given opportunities to progress up the ladder, exhibit higher levels of organisational commitment, and loyalty and results in skilled staff retention and a gradual decline of low performing employees. This makes it much easier for HR managers to successfully identify low performing employees and eliminate them from the work fo rce which is important and a good for the success of the company as this turnover is considered healthy. Another key factor which may influence staff turnover is the gender difference and certain problems it creates within the organisation. Female workers have different responsibilities to their male counterparts and may value work life balance more as a result. The pressures of work and life, has resulted in more female workers leaving their jobs than male workers (Doherty and Manfredi, 2006:62). In most hotels it can be seen female workers working in the bottom of the organisation hierarchy and the pay gap between males and female workers has been a much talked about issue in the UK. Iverson (2000) conducted a study in the USA involving hotel establishments and found that female managers earn much less than the male managers doing the same job which is commonly seen in the UK and this has resulted in, female workers being reluctant to return to work after their maternity leave. On top of this, most organisations have failed to assist their female workers to arrange necessary child car e arrangements which have aggravated the number of female workers leaving their job. As per above authors the reluctance of female workers to return to work may also be caused by factors such as stress, work dissatisfaction, lack of commitment and low promotion opportunities coupled with a poor organisation culture that does not provide a platform to encourage female workers to move up the career ladder. Therefore the problems and issues female workers face in the workplace is clear and applicable in hospitality sector organisations, and it is very important the HR department address these issues and understand why many female workers leave their jobs early. Organisation culture, average age of the total labour force of the organisation, gender and racial composition and male-female pay gaps are among the reasons why employees leave (Bennett et al, 1993). Prospective employees when joining an organisation look into a number of factors such as career development opportunities, total reward policy and work life balance. Lack of incentives is therefore a main reason why many employees leave their jobs after some time. Incentives include both financial and nonfinancial and employees may simply want praise for their good work and lack of recognition could seriously hamper employee retention. Ritz Carlton hotel in London, has managed to reduce employee turnover to a significant level by focusing on quality recruitment, providing better training and development opportunities and by forming a positive psychological contract with the employees, and also by creating long term incentive and reward systems ( Barky, 1996). Therefore it is fair to assume that to a large extent organisation HRM practices, policies and procedures determine staff turnover. Organisation policies and lack of employee oriented practices and procedures may not only be the sole reason why many organisations particularly in the hospitality industry experience high level of staff turnover. Another factor that affects turnover is the ability of staff to carry out their tasks and responsibilities up to the required standard and the job performance of employees largely affects staff turnover and this is also confirmed by a study conducted by Jewell and Siegal (1990). They found that employees having very high levels of on-the-job performance are highly unlikely to leave their job in contrast with employees with low levels of performance. High performing employees are confident in their job and have better work related knowledge and skills. Low pay, lack of training and career development opportunities, lack of regular and realistic performance appraisals and undesired work environments are among the key reasons that cause low performance which in-turn result in high staff turnover. Therefore it is clear HR professionals in hotel establishments must pay very close attention to developing employee oriented HRM policies and practices that help staff achieve their full potent ial. To name a few these HR policies and practices are training and development opportunities open management communication systems, employee welfare such as child care, flexible working, transport assistant to employees and a comprehensive induction programme that helps new recruits to adopt well to their new roles. When analysing the hospitality and hotel industry in particular it has been found that most organisations have a poor reputation for providing good staff training and development opportunities (Maxwell et al, 2004). High staff turnover in most hospitality sector industries may have also led managers to be reluctant to providing staff with opportunities to further develop their careers fearing they may leave after that ( Davies et al, 2001, Jameson, 2000: Lowey et al, 2002). High staff turnover also causes managers to be occupied with recruitment and selection activity as well as grievance issues, and this may also be a reason for them not to have sufficient time to focus on staff development and talent management. Training and development and staff retention has a close match as poorly trained staff are less satisfied with work and may leave quicker and more than fully trained and highly satisfied staff. Therefore training and development directly affects job satisfaction and organis ational commitment (Lam and Zhang, 2003, Taylor et al, 2001, Lowry et al, 2002). Working hours is another key factor that causes employees to leave and most hospitality sector organisations, because of high staff turnover may require remaining staff to work extra hours on a regular basis. Long working hours without breaks are against the working time regulations as well as current health and safety rules and Female workers are largely affected by this practice because of their family commitments and a research conducted by Erdogan (1996:26) revealed long working hours are among the main reasons for many female workers to quit their jobs. There has also been an increase of single parent families and long hours and unsocial working hours have forced females to leave their jobs. This not only creates staff to leave but unfriendly working hours coupled with a poor corporate and work culture and a hostile working environment of the organisation , may affect the job satisfaction of female workers and even if they remain with the job their work could be highly unproduct ive and suffer from work related stress. Despite the fact that many researchers and academics stressing the importance of a good organisation work environment that provides employees oriented HR measures to achieve these goals and objectives many organisations still suffer from high levels of staff turnover and female staff turnover as evident from research findings. All of the above stated factors and elements contribute to employee dissatisfaction and it is a result of various internal and external factors that were mentioned above. Labour turnover of High Beech Hotel High Beech Hotel had a newly appointed general manager and she has been investigating the reasons for the high staff turnover levels of the hotel over the past three years and has had several discussions with the operations manager and the HR manager of the company. Unfortunately no proper investigation has not been done so far to find out the possible causes of staff turnover but the management in consultation with the company HR records and turnover figures has assumed the reasons as job dissatisfaction, long and unfriendly working hours, pay issues, lack of training and development opportunities for staff, issues with working condition and other personal issues of staff such as work life balance. Importance of HR practices and concepts in relation to staff retention and turnover HRM plays a vital part in creating a sustainable competitive advantage for any organisation, and forward looking organisations adopt good HR policies and practices to ensure the smooth functioning of the organisation (Edvinsson and Malone, 1997; Stewart, 1997; Verma and Dewe, 2008). Research studies have confirmed that well defined organisational goals and corporate objectives directly influence employee retention and productivity. Kim et al, (2005) in their study on corporate orientation found that organisational direction and support had a significant impact on employee job satisfaction and overall commitment. ORGANISATIONAL INITIATIVES The organisational HR initiatives as mentioned above, illustrate how internal factors and forces contribute towards employee retention. The model does not mention about external forces such as local and national competition in the labour market, economic situation, globalisation and international competition which affects attracting skilled employees to various jobs. It can be seen that this model covers the internal factors and reasons that affect staff retention or turnover and it is critically important for an organisation and HR professionals to pay close attention to the factors mentioned under the model to critically assess where they stand as an organisation and take steps to implement those HR practices and policies to retain talented staff ( Horwitz et al, 2003; Steel et al, 2002). These internal HR policies and practices are bundled under the term retention management and it is defined as the ability to hold onto those employees an organisation would want to keep, for longe r than the competitors (Johnson,2000 cited De Vos and Meganck,2007). The external factors should not be neglected at the same time because there may be times employees may leave an organisation due to their influences. The impact of financial and non-financial rewards cannot be undermined and play a critical role in motivating skilled and valued employees and retaining them within the organisation. Financial rewards such as a good basic pay combined with performance related pay and non-financial rewards such as training and development opportunities, initiatives to achieve work life balance for staff and other employee retention initiatives such as a pensions scheme and internal promotions motivate staff and force them to think again before quitting their jobs (Horwitz et al,2003;De Vos and Meganck, 2007). When analysing the theories and ides put forward by the above mentioned academics and scholars it is evident they focused on retaining highly skilled employees and researched to find out the possible reasons why valued employees leave organisations. This is being described as retention management and the word retention embraces with other HR practices such as recruitment and selection, development of employees to achieve their full potential and succession management (Lewis and Heckmanp 2006:140). HR Practices and the importance of Human Psychology HRM involves all management decision and practices that directly affects other people, or human resources, who work for the organisation. The question that arises is that despite the fact that many organisations including the hospitality and hotel industry, implement all accepted HR practices and procedures, why employees still leave and the staff turnover rates are extremely high. A good understanding of the implications of human psychology would help HR managers to find the root causes to this problem. Psychologist Abraham Maslow introduced his concept of hierarchy of needs in 1943 which suggests that people are motivated to fulfil their basic human needs before moving on to other needs. The hierarchy of needs is displayed as a pyramid and the lowest level of the pyramid are made up of the most basic needs, while the more complex needs are at the top. The needs located at the bottom are the most basic human needs and as people progress up the pyramid, needs become increasingly psychological and social. Therefore when it comes to employees staying or leaving a particular organisation which stage the employee is in could play a vital role in his or her decision making process. At the core this theory of Maslow suggests that when an individual satisfies one set of needs they always try to move into the other level. This makes it critically important for HR professionals in the hospitality organisations how this theory of Maslow affects individual employees and how it influences an individuals decision about him staying or leaving the organisation. When an individual joins an organisation the first concern is to organise his life in-terms of food shelter and other essential psychological needs through wages and salary. The next concern would be job security and personal health and safety in the job. Once those needs are satisfied the employee would move in to the other set of needs which are social needs such as friendly colleagues and staff as well as a desirable working environment. After this comes the next stage which is satisfying the esteem needs which is comprised of individual being recognised for his work and valued by the management of the organisation as well as taking full advantage of any courses and exams they could take to get promoted. Once this set of needs are fully satisfied t he employee reaches the stage of self actualisation. Therefore to satisfy the individual employee needs the HR executives working in hospitality sector organisations must understand the needs of employees and aim to provide tailor made HR solutions in line with the corporate strategy of the company. In order to accomplish this, the HR managers must have accurate methods and procedures to understand which stage the employee is in his hierarchy of needs because if this is not done or if the right methods and procedures are not in place there will inevitably be a contradiction. For an example the HR managers may direct their full efforts into satisfying the esteem needs of employees through individual recognition and internal promotions at work when the employees are seeking safety needs. This would result in a waste of company resources and employees considering leaving the organisation. Individuals decision making process An individuals decision making process is comprised of a number of internal and external variables as shown below and the final decision makes by an individual employee is made up of a collection of those internal and external variables. This model is highly useful in understanding an employees decision making in an organisation (Kotler, 2000, p98). As seen the model is comprised of five main stages which an individual may go through before coming into a decision. They are, * Problem recognition * Information search * Evaluation of alternatives * Decision to leave or stay * Post- purchase evaluation Therefore the first stage is problem recognition and that is recognising there is a problem or issue to be answered by the employee. The problem arose can be triggered by internal influences, external influences or both. Once the main problem or problems are recognised by the employee he then moves into the next stage which is information search. For an example if the initial problem recognised by the employee is concerned with training and development opportunities offered by the organisation then through information search he would try to gather as much information as possible through various external and internal sources about what actions and steps he could take in order to gain the desired level of training. The next stage once sufficient information is gathered is the evaluation of alternatives. As per with training and development, the employee in this stage will go through various possible courses to be taken and evaluate the appropriateness of those courses to his job and what help he could get from the organisation in order to take the course. The next stage of the process is the final decision of the employee to stay with the organisation or to leave. This is called the purchase decision and according to Kotler (2000, p 99) two factors can intervene between the purchase intention and purchase decision. The first factor is the attitudes of other people, which is what the others around think of the individuals decision. Influence of other people can become complex and varied when there are more than one persons involved. The second factor Kotler (2000,p 99) mentions is the unanticipated or unexpected situations and as per the above example of training and development, factors such as the recession and cost cutting measures by the organisation could hamper the employees aspiration of embarking on the course. The final stage of the decision making process is the post purchase evaluation which involves the employee evaluating the positives and negatives of the decision taken, and the possible consequences of it. This concept has a high degree of importance to HR even though it is widely used in marketing and regarded more as a marketing related concep High Staff Turnover in Hotel Industry High Staff Turnover in Hotel Industry Hotels, catering and leisure industry in the UK remains the sector with the highest level of staff turnover, with all leavers in this category hitting 41%, according to a survey carried out by the CIPD (2008). Many organisations are badly affected by high levels of staff turnover and the survey identified that 74% of organisations in the UK, reported a negative impact on their business performance. This report also identified four main reasons that cause labour turnover. They are, change of career (55%), promotions outside of the company (45%), level of pay (41%) and lack of career development (33%). Employee dissatisfaction caused by poor relationships with supervisors and line managers, undesirable working conditions and lack of career development and training opportunities are also seen as major factors that cause high staff turnover ( Griffeth, Hom and Gaertner 2000). As mentioned in an article published by the Adecco Institute (2008) skills shortage in the jobs market is seen as a major human resources challenge for the future and this is particularly true of the hospitality and leisure industry in the UK, as it has suffered from constant recruitment difficulties over the past so many years. Age positive carried out a survey in the year 2005 and according to the results of the survey nearly 40% of all vacancies in the hospitality industry were hard to fill and much of the problem has been caused by poor retention strategies implemented by organisations. Another factor identified by the survey with regard to why so many vacancies were hard to fill is the lack of necessary ski lls and abilities by potential applicants who apply for jobs in the hotel and hospitality industry. A similar percentage of employers who participated in the survey stated that applicants lack excellent communication skills required, and this is particularly true of receptionists, managers and administrators and this has created immense pressure on HR executives and managers to attract, manage and retain key talent within their organisation which is an essential factor in creating sustainable competitive advantage. The results and information unearthed from these surveys make it crystal clear that high levels of staff turnover is a major problem to all organisations and the HR department of an organisation has a key responsibility of closely monitor labour turnover levels and figures and make right steps in order to bring staff turnover to a manageable level and face the future with resistance. High levels of staff turnover in an organisation may compromise the quality and high standards of customer service, and may impact on the organisation loosing loyal customers, revenue and long term sustainability (Tracy and Hinkin, 2008). Once the well established staff leave a company it may not only increase the workload of the remaining staff members of the company, but would be difficult for the organisation to gain the same highest levels of service from the newly hired staff as they would still be in a period of learning their job, and other key tasks and responsibilities associated with the job. Furthermore when employees leave on a regular basis it creates extra workloads for the remaining staff and as a result they could become depressed with work and not be able to deliver their best performance on the job. This may further exacerbate the problem and may also result in staff getting absent from work regularly and their good health deteriorate. The article of Tracy and Hinkin (2008) also states financial implications for organisations as a result of high levels of staff turnover. The costs associated with replacing staff can be sorted into hard costs, soft costs, and opportunity costs. Hard costs are costs such as money spent on newspaper advertisements, adverts on recruitment agencies etc, and they have a direct impact on the organisation. Other elements such as the time it takes to interview new recruits, and time spent on exit interviews will not be shown in company account statements as they are regarded as soft costs. Opportunity costs such as missed customers and market shares, usually go unmeasured but can still be substantial and may also lower company profitability and competitor advantage of the organisation ( Simons and Hinkin 2001 cited Tracy.J and Hinkin.T, 2008). The following five are identified as major costs categories that contribute towards the total costs of replacing an employee. They are pre-departure, recruitment, selection, orientation and training, and lost productivity (Hinkin and Tracy 2007, 2006, cited Tracy.J and Hinkin.T,2008). The already high staff turnover rates in the hotel industry also reflects high turnover of newly selected staff who leave the company within their first 30 days because the job did not suit them (Woods,1997:141). Does this mean possible issues with the prevailing recruitment and selection methods adopted by the hospitality sector organisations? According to the article by Tracy.J and Hinkin.T, only a few turnover studies have been so far carried out in the hotel and hospitality sector, despite reporting high levels of turnover every year. Therefore my literature review aims to conduct a much broader view of this issue by critically examining the current procedures and practices carried out by the High Beech Hotel UK and some of the other local selected competitor hotels, which may be associated with employee turnover. By doing so this study aims to understand the root causes of high levels of employee turnover of High Beech Hotel and propose solutions and recommendations to overcome those issues. This research benefits High Beech Hotel in terms of minimising the unnecessary costs that may occur due to advertising, interviewing, training of new staff as well as improving the overall standard of the hotel. High Beech Hotel is a three start hotel located in beautiful Hastings area and is faced with stiff competition with many three to four star hotels operating in the area such as, The White Rock Hotel, Travelodge Hastings, The Hotel Undum and the Chatsworth Hotel. The High Beech Hotel is therefore fighting to maintain a sustainable competitive advantage and grow its market share. The opinions of the General Manager, Operations Manager and the HR manager prove that jobs in the industry are difficult in the area and finding the right talent for the right job and the retention of quality staff are major HR challenges currently faced by the hotel. The general manager of the hotel is new to her post and has already expressed concerns about the high staff turnover. Turnover is high among front line staff, waiters and porters and the management has had few discussions to find the reasons why staff left, and find out ways to resolve the problem. I having worked at the hotel as an HR executive (placement student) managed to gain a good understanding of the high turnover and the possible effects the turnover levels have had on the existing staff. Literature review Labour turnover is the rate at which staff leaves an organisation and are replaced by new employees. Too high a labour turnover rate may mean that there is something unsatisfactory about working for the organisation and that action therefore would need to be taken (Adams et al, 1993) Denver and McMahon (1992:143) defined labour turnover as the movement of people into and out of employment within an organisation and can both be voluntary and involuntary. Eade (1993) further categorises turnover into management controllable and unavoidable turnover. Labour turnover index is used to measure staff turnover and according to Armstrong (2001) labour turnover rates provide a valuable means to benchmarking the effectiveness of HR policies and practices in organisations. The hotel industry is essentially comprised of both a production and a service aspect and the creation and rendering of services from the hotel to the customer are mainly achieved through employees. Therefore the industry is essentially represented by people (Lewis 1989; Thompson and Abbott, 1990; Schneider , 1993) and is considered as one of the most labour intensive industries. Turnover in the hotel industry in the UK has been shown to be unacceptably high (Kennedy and Berger, 1994), averaging as much as 200% to 300% per year. Statistically this means that the entire workforce of the industry turns over two to three times per year. The main factors identified, that could impact on turnover are, orientation and good socialisation procedures (Kennedy and Berger 1994, Woods, 1992), ad-hoc recruitment and selection (Benn and Farbringer, 1992, Woods and Macaulay, 1989; Wagner, 1991; Wheelhouse, 1989), discrimination at the workplace (Antolik,1993), lack of training and development oppor tunities (Hogan, 1992; rowden,1995), organisation culture (Woods and Macaulay, 1998) shortage of skills in the labour market (Debrah, 1994; Woods, 1992), high levels of work related stress ( Vallen,1993;Woods, 1992; Ham and Griffeth, 1995), seasonal nature of the industry ( Boella, 1998) and job dissatisfaction ( Bonn and Frbringer, 1992). All of these factors have contributed towards high levels of staff turnover in the hotel industry and it is clear that the success of the industry depends upon taking necessary steps to reduce the above mentioned issues, and problems, and the calibre of employees, and how well they are managed (Nankervis and Debroh, 1995; Berger and Ghel, 1995). Deery and Iverson, (1996) commented that high degree of staff turnover levels consist of recruitment and replacement costs, and regular and loyal customers switching to other competitor hotels as they expect to see their favourite staff members. It is clear labour costs play a major part in the industry and high staff turnover is seen as a prime issue hampering the smooth functioning of hotel and organisations within the hospitality industry (Obrien and McDonnell 2003). Deery and Iverson (1996) examined the employee turnover phenomenal and found that high turnover resulted in organisations loosing revenue and profits. They also argued that high turnover, especially when skilled staff leave, contributes to lowering the employee morale and the overall ability of teams within the organisations to get quality work done. Therefore the retention of skilled and well trained staff in any hospitality organisation is important to save unnecessary tangible and intangible costs as well as retaining regular and loyal customers and to provide them with a quality service. It is clear from the arguments put forward by the above mentioned authors and scholars but Despite an array of academic evidence and research on labour turnover the question to be asked is do management of hospitality sector organisations understand the gravity of the issue of staff turnover, and its negative effects on the performance of the organisation and how far they are willing to go to retain the valuable staff. At a time of difficult economic times it is imperative and organisation takes measures to outperform its competitors and any hospitality sector organisation that understands the value of human capital and adopt good HRM policies and management practices in pursuit of employee retention will inevitably outperform the competition (Cho et al., 2006, Hinkin and Tracy, 2000). Staff leaving on a regular basis involves heavy administration costs and a loss of productivity through the breaking up of teams who are used to working together (Denvir and McMohan, 1992:144). Therefore the critical importance of employees staying with an organisation is evident (Brayfield and Crockett, 1995; Cho et al, 2006). It is clear that satisfied and highly motivated employees stay with the organisation which in turn helps the company to reduce unnecessary recruitment and selection costs which could amount to a substantial amount of money, but also produce high quality work which helps the organisation to achieve competitive advantage and increase its profits (Cho et al., 2006; Hinkin and Tracey, 2000). Exit interviews are a great method of collecting information as to why employees leave an organisation. Employees leave for various reasons ranging from lack of employee oriented organisational measures such as succession planning, pay , non-financial rewards, work life balance and undesirable working conditions as well as more personal reasons such as inability to look after their children, other child welfare issues and transport problems. This can also vary depending on how long they have worked for the company and it is a common factor as evident from the High Beech Hotel, and that staff leaves because they soon found out that the job did not suit them. Some other staff members leave after serving the organisation after serving a considerable amount of time and their issues could very well be different to people leaving early. According to the CIPD (2007) costs an organisation approximately  £3500 pounds every time an employee leaves and as stated earlier these costs include bo th tangible costs and intangible costs such as time spent on interviewing new recruits and these often go unreported in company accounts. Denver and McMahon (1992:146) also found out that individual hotel organisations experience different levels of turnover, which helps to confirm that staff turnover is partly within the control of the hotel management. This also contradicts with the common acceptance that staff turnover is high and uniform throughout the industry and uncontrollable. Therefore it is evident that high levels of staff turnover is harmful to the smooth functioning of any organisation, may it be in the hospitality sector or some other sector and hinders the efficient operation of the business resulting in the hotel gradually losing its market share. Therefore it is important that the hospitality sector organisations develop effective and vibrant HRM policies that enable them to successfully recruit, select and retain skilled and efficient employees, who would contribute towards the achievement of the corporate objectives of the business. Factors influence on high Labour Turnover. The hotel industry in the UK is constantly troubled with high staff turnover resulting in increased personnel costs arise from recruitment and selection of new staff, training them (Ham and Griffeth, 1995). There is a strong negative relationship between turnover and organisational commitment which indicates that staff with low levels of commitment and loyalty are more likely to withdraw from the organisation than more committed staff (Johnston et, 1993). He also identified a positive relationship between organisational commitment and career progression opportunities given to employees through internal promotions and succession planning. These employees who are given opportunities to progress up the ladder, exhibit higher levels of organisational commitment, and loyalty and results in skilled staff retention and a gradual decline of low performing employees. This makes it much easier for HR managers to successfully identify low performing employees and eliminate them from the work fo rce which is important and a good for the success of the company as this turnover is considered healthy. Another key factor which may influence staff turnover is the gender difference and certain problems it creates within the organisation. Female workers have different responsibilities to their male counterparts and may value work life balance more as a result. The pressures of work and life, has resulted in more female workers leaving their jobs than male workers (Doherty and Manfredi, 2006:62). In most hotels it can be seen female workers working in the bottom of the organisation hierarchy and the pay gap between males and female workers has been a much talked about issue in the UK. Iverson (2000) conducted a study in the USA involving hotel establishments and found that female managers earn much less than the male managers doing the same job which is commonly seen in the UK and this has resulted in, female workers being reluctant to return to work after their maternity leave. On top of this, most organisations have failed to assist their female workers to arrange necessary child car e arrangements which have aggravated the number of female workers leaving their job. As per above authors the reluctance of female workers to return to work may also be caused by factors such as stress, work dissatisfaction, lack of commitment and low promotion opportunities coupled with a poor organisation culture that does not provide a platform to encourage female workers to move up the career ladder. Therefore the problems and issues female workers face in the workplace is clear and applicable in hospitality sector organisations, and it is very important the HR department address these issues and understand why many female workers leave their jobs early. Organisation culture, average age of the total labour force of the organisation, gender and racial composition and male-female pay gaps are among the reasons why employees leave (Bennett et al, 1993). Prospective employees when joining an organisation look into a number of factors such as career development opportunities, total reward policy and work life balance. Lack of incentives is therefore a main reason why many employees leave their jobs after some time. Incentives include both financial and nonfinancial and employees may simply want praise for their good work and lack of recognition could seriously hamper employee retention. Ritz Carlton hotel in London, has managed to reduce employee turnover to a significant level by focusing on quality recruitment, providing better training and development opportunities and by forming a positive psychological contract with the employees, and also by creating long term incentive and reward systems ( Barky, 1996). Therefore it is fair to assume that to a large extent organisation HRM practices, policies and procedures determine staff turnover. Organisation policies and lack of employee oriented practices and procedures may not only be the sole reason why many organisations particularly in the hospitality industry experience high level of staff turnover. Another factor that affects turnover is the ability of staff to carry out their tasks and responsibilities up to the required standard and the job performance of employees largely affects staff turnover and this is also confirmed by a study conducted by Jewell and Siegal (1990). They found that employees having very high levels of on-the-job performance are highly unlikely to leave their job in contrast with employees with low levels of performance. High performing employees are confident in their job and have better work related knowledge and skills. Low pay, lack of training and career development opportunities, lack of regular and realistic performance appraisals and undesired work environments are among the key reasons that cause low performance which in-turn result in high staff turnover. Therefore it is clear HR professionals in hotel establishments must pay very close attention to developing employee oriented HRM policies and practices that help staff achieve their full potent ial. To name a few these HR policies and practices are training and development opportunities open management communication systems, employee welfare such as child care, flexible working, transport assistant to employees and a comprehensive induction programme that helps new recruits to adopt well to their new roles. When analysing the hospitality and hotel industry in particular it has been found that most organisations have a poor reputation for providing good staff training and development opportunities (Maxwell et al, 2004). High staff turnover in most hospitality sector industries may have also led managers to be reluctant to providing staff with opportunities to further develop their careers fearing they may leave after that ( Davies et al, 2001, Jameson, 2000: Lowey et al, 2002). High staff turnover also causes managers to be occupied with recruitment and selection activity as well as grievance issues, and this may also be a reason for them not to have sufficient time to focus on staff development and talent management. Training and development and staff retention has a close match as poorly trained staff are less satisfied with work and may leave quicker and more than fully trained and highly satisfied staff. Therefore training and development directly affects job satisfaction and organis ational commitment (Lam and Zhang, 2003, Taylor et al, 2001, Lowry et al, 2002). Working hours is another key factor that causes employees to leave and most hospitality sector organisations, because of high staff turnover may require remaining staff to work extra hours on a regular basis. Long working hours without breaks are against the working time regulations as well as current health and safety rules and Female workers are largely affected by this practice because of their family commitments and a research conducted by Erdogan (1996:26) revealed long working hours are among the main reasons for many female workers to quit their jobs. There has also been an increase of single parent families and long hours and unsocial working hours have forced females to leave their jobs. This not only creates staff to leave but unfriendly working hours coupled with a poor corporate and work culture and a hostile working environment of the organisation , may affect the job satisfaction of female workers and even if they remain with the job their work could be highly unproduct ive and suffer from work related stress. Despite the fact that many researchers and academics stressing the importance of a good organisation work environment that provides employees oriented HR measures to achieve these goals and objectives many organisations still suffer from high levels of staff turnover and female staff turnover as evident from research findings. All of the above stated factors and elements contribute to employee dissatisfaction and it is a result of various internal and external factors that were mentioned above. Labour turnover of High Beech Hotel High Beech Hotel had a newly appointed general manager and she has been investigating the reasons for the high staff turnover levels of the hotel over the past three years and has had several discussions with the operations manager and the HR manager of the company. Unfortunately no proper investigation has not been done so far to find out the possible causes of staff turnover but the management in consultation with the company HR records and turnover figures has assumed the reasons as job dissatisfaction, long and unfriendly working hours, pay issues, lack of training and development opportunities for staff, issues with working condition and other personal issues of staff such as work life balance. Importance of HR practices and concepts in relation to staff retention and turnover HRM plays a vital part in creating a sustainable competitive advantage for any organisation, and forward looking organisations adopt good HR policies and practices to ensure the smooth functioning of the organisation (Edvinsson and Malone, 1997; Stewart, 1997; Verma and Dewe, 2008). Research studies have confirmed that well defined organisational goals and corporate objectives directly influence employee retention and productivity. Kim et al, (2005) in their study on corporate orientation found that organisational direction and support had a significant impact on employee job satisfaction and overall commitment. ORGANISATIONAL INITIATIVES The organisational HR initiatives as mentioned above, illustrate how internal factors and forces contribute towards employee retention. The model does not mention about external forces such as local and national competition in the labour market, economic situation, globalisation and international competition which affects attracting skilled employees to various jobs. It can be seen that this model covers the internal factors and reasons that affect staff retention or turnover and it is critically important for an organisation and HR professionals to pay close attention to the factors mentioned under the model to critically assess where they stand as an organisation and take steps to implement those HR practices and policies to retain talented staff ( Horwitz et al, 2003; Steel et al, 2002). These internal HR policies and practices are bundled under the term retention management and it is defined as the ability to hold onto those employees an organisation would want to keep, for longe r than the competitors (Johnson,2000 cited De Vos and Meganck,2007). The external factors should not be neglected at the same time because there may be times employees may leave an organisation due to their influences. The impact of financial and non-financial rewards cannot be undermined and play a critical role in motivating skilled and valued employees and retaining them within the organisation. Financial rewards such as a good basic pay combined with performance related pay and non-financial rewards such as training and development opportunities, initiatives to achieve work life balance for staff and other employee retention initiatives such as a pensions scheme and internal promotions motivate staff and force them to think again before quitting their jobs (Horwitz et al,2003;De Vos and Meganck, 2007). When analysing the theories and ides put forward by the above mentioned academics and scholars it is evident they focused on retaining highly skilled employees and researched to find out the possible reasons why valued employees leave organisations. This is being described as retention management and the word retention embraces with other HR practices such as recruitment and selection, development of employees to achieve their full potential and succession management (Lewis and Heckmanp 2006:140). HR Practices and the importance of Human Psychology HRM involves all management decision and practices that directly affects other people, or human resources, who work for the organisation. The question that arises is that despite the fact that many organisations including the hospitality and hotel industry, implement all accepted HR practices and procedures, why employees still leave and the staff turnover rates are extremely high. A good understanding of the implications of human psychology would help HR managers to find the root causes to this problem. Psychologist Abraham Maslow introduced his concept of hierarchy of needs in 1943 which suggests that people are motivated to fulfil their basic human needs before moving on to other needs. The hierarchy of needs is displayed as a pyramid and the lowest level of the pyramid are made up of the most basic needs, while the more complex needs are at the top. The needs located at the bottom are the most basic human needs and as people progress up the pyramid, needs become increasingly psychological and social. Therefore when it comes to employees staying or leaving a particular organisation which stage the employee is in could play a vital role in his or her decision making process. At the core this theory of Maslow suggests that when an individual satisfies one set of needs they always try to move into the other level. This makes it critically important for HR professionals in the hospitality organisations how this theory of Maslow affects individual employees and how it influences an individuals decision about him staying or leaving the organisation. When an individual joins an organisation the first concern is to organise his life in-terms of food shelter and other essential psychological needs through wages and salary. The next concern would be job security and personal health and safety in the job. Once those needs are satisfied the employee would move in to the other set of needs which are social needs such as friendly colleagues and staff as well as a desirable working environment. After this comes the next stage which is satisfying the esteem needs which is comprised of individual being recognised for his work and valued by the management of the organisation as well as taking full advantage of any courses and exams they could take to get promoted. Once this set of needs are fully satisfied t he employee reaches the stage of self actualisation. Therefore to satisfy the individual employee needs the HR executives working in hospitality sector organisations must understand the needs of employees and aim to provide tailor made HR solutions in line with the corporate strategy of the company. In order to accomplish this, the HR managers must have accurate methods and procedures to understand which stage the employee is in his hierarchy of needs because if this is not done or if the right methods and procedures are not in place there will inevitably be a contradiction. For an example the HR managers may direct their full efforts into satisfying the esteem needs of employees through individual recognition and internal promotions at work when the employees are seeking safety needs. This would result in a waste of company resources and employees considering leaving the organisation. Individuals decision making process An individuals decision making process is comprised of a number of internal and external variables as shown below and the final decision makes by an individual employee is made up of a collection of those internal and external variables. This model is highly useful in understanding an employees decision making in an organisation (Kotler, 2000, p98). As seen the model is comprised of five main stages which an individual may go through before coming into a decision. They are, * Problem recognition * Information search * Evaluation of alternatives * Decision to leave or stay * Post- purchase evaluation Therefore the first stage is problem recognition and that is recognising there is a problem or issue to be answered by the employee. The problem arose can be triggered by internal influences, external influences or both. Once the main problem or problems are recognised by the employee he then moves into the next stage which is information search. For an example if the initial problem recognised by the employee is concerned with training and development opportunities offered by the organisation then through information search he would try to gather as much information as possible through various external and internal sources about what actions and steps he could take in order to gain the desired level of training. The next stage once sufficient information is gathered is the evaluation of alternatives. As per with training and development, the employee in this stage will go through various possible courses to be taken and evaluate the appropriateness of those courses to his job and what help he could get from the organisation in order to take the course. The next stage of the process is the final decision of the employee to stay with the organisation or to leave. This is called the purchase decision and according to Kotler (2000, p 99) two factors can intervene between the purchase intention and purchase decision. The first factor is the attitudes of other people, which is what the others around think of the individuals decision. Influence of other people can become complex and varied when there are more than one persons involved. The second factor Kotler (2000,p 99) mentions is the unanticipated or unexpected situations and as per the above example of training and development, factors such as the recession and cost cutting measures by the organisation could hamper the employees aspiration of embarking on the course. The final stage of the decision making process is the post purchase evaluation which involves the employee evaluating the positives and negatives of the decision taken, and the possible consequences of it. This concept has a high degree of importance to HR even though it is widely used in marketing and regarded more as a marketing related concep

The Employment And Reintegration For Registered Sex Offenders Criminology Essay

The Employment And Reintegration For Registered Sex Offenders Criminology Essay Employment and reintegration into the community for registered sex offenders is a daunting challenge due to victim access concerns, employment restrictions, reluctance from potential employers because of the stigma, housing and transportation problems. These are critical barriers that exacerbate finding employment. Instability in the above areas has also been correlated with recidivism. In order to secure safety and successful reintegration of sex offenders into the community, collaboration between the prison system and community partners are needed to facilitate vocational and career training to develop, improve and enhance sex offenders job skills and competencies to prepare them for reentry into society and the workforce (Center for sex offender management). What are Perceived Barriers to Employment Vocational Opportunities for Registered Sex Offenders? Many offenders will be released from state and federal institutions with many challenges and barriers to come when they enter and/or reenter the workforce. The barriers will not only be at an individual level, it will be at a social, environmental, and economical level. There are limited resources available to aide in the transition of offenders, even more so for individuals who are registered sex offenders. Sustainable employment is critical to the success of an ex-offenders avoiding re-offending. Vocational guidance an assistance programs that include financial assistance and follow-up services have been shown to be very effective in not only keeping the community safe but also decreasing the numbers of offenders re-offending and improving the number of offenders finding gainful employment (Harrison Schehr, 2004). The need for additional vocational and career training programs to develop job skills and competencies for ex-offenders is an immense necessity. There is limited researc h on the specific issues that ex-offenders face while attempting to reintegrate into the legitimate workforce and the lack of career development focus on the specific needs of this population (Shivy, Wu, Moon Mann, 2007). Ex-offenders are generally released to the community on conditional and unconditional terms. Ex-offenders that are granted conditional terms are a form of supervision that is mandated by the courts and is managed through a probation or parole officer (Shivy, et. al. 2007). Conditional release can include restrictions and rules such as curfews, drug testing, and the requirement to search for, obtain, and keep a job (Shivy, et., al. 2007). McDonough Burrell (2008) suggest the traditional approach to offender employment has been passive on the behalf of the parole/probation officers (PO). The training of PO as employment specialist has also promoted the change in the probation philosophy including physical changes in probation agencies replacing sports and general interest magazines with employment related reading materials and posters (McDonough Burrell, 2007). Parole agencies play a critical role in the supervision of ex-prisoners and the reduction of recidivism rates (Rakis, 2005). Preliminary results of this study are promising. In addition, probation staffs are required to assess risk of sex-offenders and ex-offenders in employment. POs are launched in an array of different job duties that include assessing if certain jobs are suitable or not suitable not based on level of knowledge, skills, and/or interest or abilities of offenders but monitoring sex offenders and offenders in their work related activities to ensure they do not have opportunities to reoffend. These opportunities to reoffend include taking in consideration the type of job, co-workers, and location of employer, work hours and travel routes needed to get to job sites (Brown, Deakin Spencer, 2005). There are well-funded and comprehensive programs like Accelerated Community Entry Program (ACE) aimed at preparing offenders for community reentry, successfully focusing on the many barriers faced by offenders when released however barriers such as housing, community reactions, self-support and cos t threatens long-term success of programs such as ACE (Knollenberg Martin, 2008). In addition, some conditional released programs are well-funded and have a comprehensive and focused on deterring re-offense but similar to ACE program face significant barriers in housing, community reactions (Arkowitz, Shale Carabello, 2008). Barriers are not just limited to the sex offenders and ex-offenders but also programs that are set out to help in the process of reintegration into the community. The termed phrase to encompass the process of inmates transitioning from correctional institutions to the community is prisoner reentry (Shivy, et. al. 2007). This construct has gained valuable curiosity with policymakers acknowledging prominent disadvantages and challenges of the reintegration process that include substance abuse, physical and mental health, employability and workforce participation, housing and the interrelationships among these challenges for ex-offenders (Shivy, et., al. 2007). Harrison Schehr (2004) reported that upon release from prison ex-offenders receive an average of $69 from the state department of correction, or between $100-$500 from the Federal Bureau of Prisons to aid in their transition back into their communities. Although, this may seem like a substantial amount of money to help in the process but this is very minuscule to an individual who has no family or support network to depend on and to rely on this money until a job is obtained may be fright ening for an ex-offender. As offenders search for legitimate work opportunities, they deal with the stigma attached to a criminal record and being a registered sex offender and legally enforced employment restrictions barring them from working in several occupations (Harrison Schehr, 2004). In addition, most states and federal government prohibit ex-offenders from accessing public aid funds or financial assistance for school. It appears that society continues to further punish offenders for a crime they have paid their debt to society by serving their time. However, when returning to the community the system remains to oppress and disadvantage these individuals. Invisible punishments embedded within existing policies will continue to further oppress without modifications of these policies the ability of reentry services to foster behavioral health and community reintegration is limited (Pogorselski, Wolff, Pan Blitz, 2005). Many released inmates are forced to return to isolated, impoverished communities where few jobs opportunities exist (Harrison Schehr, 2004). According to the Reentry Policy Council, ex-offenders face barriers at an individual and community level that hinders efforts to secure and maintain employment. Barriers are mainly due to ex-offenders returning to communities that have limited amount of available jobs due to the low-income, disadvantaged communities which provide few contacts to legitimate work, weak networks and contacts. In addition, the stigma of having a criminal record exacerbates employability and earning capabilities because of limited education, low skill levels and physical, mental and drug problems (Reentry Policy Council). In addition, Bergman Chalkley (2007) address a new aspect of stigma to include dirty work which are tasks, jobs, or occupations that most members of society would rather not personally perform because the work, or people or setting associated with it, is viewed by society as repugnant, revolting, or debasing. Dirty work is potentially stigmatizing to people who either currently or formerly performed duties and are judged negatively because of the job, in which they may had only qualified for and/or met the standards due to location, education and criminal history. Most employers are reluctant and hesitant to hire ex-offenders, especially sex offenders. There state and federal laws that prohibit individuals with certain convictions to work in certain occupations (Reentry Policy Council). Employers fear taking a risk of hiring an ex-offender since they can be held legally liable for certain crimes if committed by an employee of their own. Brown and colleagues (2005) purports that American employers are more negative about employing ex-offenders but become more positive if offenders increased their education while incarcerated compared to Britain which are fairly positive in considering individuals with criminal records depending on size and industry type. Research has suggested that there is a hierarchy of offenses, suggesting there is a greater likelihood that employers would employ offenders of some offense categories rather than others with sex offenses being the most serious and judged the must negatively by employers with employers not at a ll likely to employ (Brown, et.al. 2005). One of the most challenging of barriers to employment for ex-offenders is the criminal record in which they are responsible for disclosing to potential employers and offenders being cognizant that they will not be judged on experience, skills or abilities but the criminal record. Even if the offender is not honest about their criminal history, legislation allows employers to seek disclosure from the criminal record bureau to any convictions an employee or potential employee may have. There are common characteristics that have been identified that reduce employability which include low literacy rate, school drop-outs, no qualifications, alcohol, drug and health problems and accommodation requirements (Brown et. al., 2005). Career services offered by the correctional systems throughout the United States have been vocational in nature providing skills training in prison industry jobs that can be held during incarceration which reduce operating cost of the prison by inmates supplying many of the services (Shivy, et. al., 2007). Educational training is provided to offenders to earn a general education degree. Employment training services that are provided in prisons focus on basic career-related activities such as resume writing, interviewing, and workplace relationship skills (Shivy, et. a., 2007). The correctional system efforts are being put into ex-offenders finding a job after release but not on the awareness of their career interests, needs/values, and abilities and suitability of jobs for offenders (Shivy, et. al., 2007). Correspondingly, Basile (2005) suggest that sex offenders and ex-offenders lack education and vocational skills, however, the focus need to be on treating and rehabilitating these individuals holistically at the point of entry and release to foster success in the transition into the community. Bouffard, Mackenzie Hickman (2000) found in their examination of effectiveness of vocational education and employment programs in reducing recidivism of the adult correctional population: are vocational education programs, multi-component correctional industry programs, and community programs have been shown to work and be effective in reducing recidivism. Graffam, Shinkfield, Lavelle McPherson (2004) conducted a study examining six domains influencing reintegration of ex-offenders including personal conditions, justice system, rehabilitation and counseling support, and employment and training support. Participants were asked to identify variables within each domain that affect success or failure of offenders in making a positive life transition. The results identified variables included a readiness to change, achieving stable housing and obtaining employment, avoidin g illegal activity and complying with mandatory reporting, remaining free of dependency, and addressing basic education and training needs. Shivy and colleagues (2007) found similar results, that the role of social networks was very important to ex-offenders. Suggesting that finding and keeping a supportive social network is highly correlated with ex-offenders finding and keeping a job and the possibility of the workplace offering opportunities for social support network. Many ex-offenders may lack social skills and confidence may also approach social situations with considerable amount of anxiety coupled with the impact of the stigma associated with being an ex-offender. The environmental factors that ex-offenders are encountering such as limited job opportunities are addressed in Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT). This theory acknowledges that career development can be made difficult by environmental influences such as differential socialization processes and opportunities as well as internalization of these influences (Chartrand Rose, 1996). It is important to understand some ex-offenders may have confidence in their own ability to accomplish a career task but believe that their efforts will not be rewarded because of external forces such as discrimination. SCCT purports that when opportunities are limited, the direct effects of self-efficacy and outcome beliefs on choice actions will be stronger than their indirect effects through interests and goals (Chartrand Rose, 1996). When working with ex-offenders the need to understand their beliefs about opportunities may be primary and interest exploration and goal setting is secondary (Chartrand Rose, 1996). Chartrand Rose (1996) suggest that the impact of sociocultural and economic factors is important but it is imperative that counselors are cognizant that at-risk populations view work as a source of income rather than a source of self-realization. However, professionals should be careful to not over generalize or assume that these individuals experiencing many barriers and hardships ;do not want or need career development services the demand for immediate employment is primary but work experience serves as a source of positive identity and stepping stones to future career opportunities (Chartran Rose, 1996). The offender population has not been highly considered by the counseling profession in the design and the delivery of career development interventions (Shivy, et. al. 2007). The expertise of counseling psychologist in career development and transition in personal and work related adjustment appears to be a good fit to tap into work with the diverse ex-offender population (Shivy and colleagues, 2007). Methods Participants 50 male registered sex offenders from each state will be recruited from National Probation offices across the United States. All males will be 18 years of age and up of all ethnicities. All males will be convicted of a state sex crime including individuals that have assaulted children and adults. The registered sex offenders will be on parole/probation and being supervised while living in the community. All participants will have been released from prison/jail for 6 months and have not violated and/or reoffended since their release date. Participation in this study will fully be voluntary and will be explained that participation in this study will not in any shape or form help with any court dates, sentencing and/or leniency in their current parole/probation. Materials All registered sex offenders will complete a demographic information sheet which will include questions about age, race, education, sex offense, current and past employment and etc. Participants will be interviewed utilizing a semi-structured interview that will ask questions about their experience, barriers to work and their vocational opportunities, attitudes and perceptions of employment. In addition, questions about self-efficacy, interest, abilities, health and disabilities. All interviews will be tape recorded. Procedure Participants will be contacted by principle researcher to invite sex offenders to participate in study. All information of sex offenders will be provided by participating probation officers and agencies. The study will fully be explained to all offenders, where the offenders will agree or disagree to participate in the study. Researcher will then schedule a time to meet or be contacted via phone. All informed consent forms will be completed before any participation in the study. For individuals who opt for the phone contact interview, informed consent will need to be mailed or faxed before scheduled appointment. The interviews will last between 45 to 60 minutes each. The interviews will be conducted on a semi-structured basis and will be recorded. The purpose and goal of this study will be clearly explained. All interviews will be transcribed by trained research assistants. All assistants will be trained on administering semi-structured interviews, demographic information sheet and trained on transcribing. Each state will have 10 trained student research assistants that will recruit and administer interviews over a timeline of 1 to 3 years. In addition, all research assistants will be trained on qualitative research and coding. Each site will transcribe interviews and code interviews for developing themes and patterns. Each site will have a lead researcher/investigator that will oversee each research site. After all data has been collected, coded and transcribed lead researchers will meet and collaborate with fellow lead researchers from other recruitment sites across the country. Lead resea rchers will meet to examine data and develop final themes and patterns of data where inter-rater reliability can be conducted to confirm themes and patterns for manuscript writing. Analysis The analysis to be utilized for this qualitative study will be Phenomenological/hermeneutics approach. This approach was selected based on the descriptive, interpretative nature of this study setting out to understand the perceived barriers of registered sex offenders in their journey to reintegrate back into the community and workforce and create meaning of the these lived experiences of sex offenders through semi-structured interviews (Ryan, Coughlan Cronin, 2007). Initially, the data will be openly read without focusing on the research question in order to understand the participants expression and meaning in the broadest context. Secondly, researchers will differentiate the parts of the description meaning units. Themes will be identified to organize the data. Attitude is a big component in the phenomenological approach; attitude will be expected to be considered for all research assistants participating in the data analysis (Wertz, 2005). Attitude will assist research assistants in fully submerging themselves in the written description for reflection on meaning and experiential processes (Ryan et. al. 2007). Through examination of the transcribed interviews, research assistants will be able to look for features that can be identified as general, to verify the broader applicability of the insight and knowledge from interview to interview. This process will render common meaning, general constituents, themes, psychological processes and organi zational features (Ryan, et. al. 2007).

McCarthyism :: Joseph McCarthy Communism

The Alien Registration Act passed by Congress on 29th June, 1940, made it illegal for anyone in the United States to advocate, abet, or teach the desirability of overthrowing the government. The law also required all alien residents in the United States over 14 years of age to file a comprehensive statement of their personal and occupational status and a record of their political beliefs. Within four months a total of 4,741,971 aliens had been registered. The main objective of the Alien Registration Act was to undermine the American Communist Party and other left-wing political groups in the United States. It was decided that the House of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), that had been set up by Congress under Martin Dies in 1938 to investigate people suspected of unpatriotic behavior, would be the best vehicle to discover if people were trying to overthrow the government. In 1947 the House of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), chaired by J. Parnell Thomas, began an investigation into the Hollywood Motion Picture Industry. The HUAC interviewed 41 people who were working in Hollywood. These people attended voluntarily and became known as "friendly witnesses". During their interviews they named nineteen people who they accused of holding left-wing views. One of those named, Bertolt Brecht, a playwright, gave evidence and then left for East Germany. Ten others: Herbert Biberman, Lester Cole, Albert Maltz, Adrian Scott, Samuel Ornitz,, Dalton Trumbo, Edward Dmytryk, Ring Lardner Jr., John Howard Lawson and Alvah Bessie refused to answer any questions. Known as the Hollywood Ten, they claimed that the 1st Amendment of the United States Constitution gave them the right to do this. The House of Un-American Activities Committee and the courts during appeals disagreed and they all were found guilty of contempt of congress and each was sentenced to between six and twelve months in prison. Larry Parks was the only actor in the original nineteen people named. He was also the only person on the list who the average moviegoer would have known. Parks agreed to give evidence to the HUAC and admitted that he had joined the Communist Party in 1941 but left it four years later. When asked for the names of fellow members, Parks replied: "I would prefer, if you would allow me, not to mention other people's names. Don't present me with the choice of either being in contempt of this Committee and going to jail or forcing me to really crawl through the mud to be an informer.

virtues :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Ten Commandments, Seven Deadly Sins, Seven Virtues, and the Attitudes are the sets of laws that people base their lives around in becoming good Christians. Each set of the laws affect a Christian individual, more than any other because of the laws are rooted to the bible and Christian beliefs. So, a Christian individuals knowingly or unknowingly bases what they do in life around these sets of law. The Ten Commandments and seven deadly sins tell an individual on what they are not supposed to do. The Seven Virtues and the attitudes tell an individual on what they must do and how they can combat the deadly sins. However, even though some of the laws are outdated they still play a role in how we act. Each set of laws has its own distinct characteristic, for example some tell people what not to do in their lives and some tell people what to do in their lives and how to live their lives. The Seven Virtues are separated into two different types of virtues. They are Theological and Cardinal Virtues, and they can be defined as the heart of our moral life. Virtues are healthy, good habits that help us to do well and empower us to become what God wants us to be. These personal qualities emphasize that who we are affects what we do. There are two types of virtues, Theological and Cardinal virtues. Theological Virtues: The theological virtues can be defined as gifts from God that empower us to be good so that we may do good. The three theological virtues are love, hope and faith. These are the three virtues that will combat the three of the deadly sins pride, envy and wrath. Also the reaming four out of the seven deadly sins being lust, greed, sloth and gluttony are combated by four Cardinal Virtues justice, prudence, temperance, and fortitude. While one set of laws tells a person what things to avoid in their lives to live a good Christian life, the other sets tells us how a person may combat these desire and what they can do to live a good Christian life. These sets of laws even effect individual who are not of Christian background. Over time these laws have been translated and absorbed into many other religions and affect many others in a different way.

Has Cultural Globalization Been Good or Bad for Egypt?

Globalization is defined as â€Å"making something worldwide in a certain function† (dictionary. com). The incredible shift a country, the society, and the country’s culture inherits both positive and negative aspects. The change is not as visible in developed countries in comparison to developing countries. Egypt is a poor, developing country in which is influenced by countries across the world. Different elements such as the economy and the society must be considered to determine whether globalization has a positive or negative effect on Egypt. To begin, with the spread of the idea of globalization in Egypt and worldwide new economical advancements have forced an alteration in how bank systems are used today. The positive outlook on this developing issue is that the new system tries to adapt in order to fit the global picture of how a bank should act and what exactly their roles should contain. Also, globalization has â€Å"enhanced the manner of how businesses should operate and the manner of how larger companies take in and execute the cash flow of money† (Ganguly). On the other hand, the bank system is corrupt and several citizens till this day do not understand the new system. The reason behind their confusion is because the lack of knowledge, gap of social classes, and inability to adapt to a new development. Their aspect is the manner in which the bank is perceived negatively and is why several citizens, especially the ones of a lower class, stay far away from the bank system. Next, the issue that has shaken the Egyptian society as a whole is whether or not to accept the fact that their original cultural values are beginning to adjust due to the uprising and spreading of globalization. With the distribution of diverse cultures, it is difficult for the citizens of Egypt to stay intact with their own cultural principles. For instance, fashion plays a tremendous role in the altering of cultural values. This can be seen today in the male youths who walk the streets of Cairo, Egypt wearing low-waist jeans, loose t-shirts and holding the â€Å"coolest trend of all, a cigarette in their right hand†(Ganguly). When being compared to the youths of the early 1900s men at this time did not have the lavish choice to wear anything but slacks and a dress shirt. Even on casual outings their dress code required nothing but chinos.

Dulce Et Decorum Est Essay

The poem â€Å"Dulce et Decorum est’ was the work of Wilfred owen’s and in this essay I will be writing how the mood and atmosphere is made and what it is like. I will write about the horrific and sading mood of World War One. ‘Dulce et Decorum Est; is about the soldier’s expedience in the WW1 trenches in France. He writes about how the men are walking and coughing, he talk about how they look and talk, he then gose in to talk about the old lie dulce et decorum est pro patris mori. In the first stanza of the poem he talks about how horrifying the way the soldiers are walking. â€Å"bent double, like old beggars under sacks, knock-kneed, coughing like hags† he gives them impression that the young men are like old men with a bad back and knock kneed, they are like horrible old hags coughing and hacking to clear their throats of smoke and dirt. The startling description of the solders shows them to be in poor healthy creating a black and sad mood. In the second stanza he talks about how the solders are looking like and what is going on behind them. He shows you what they look likes by saying. â€Å"Men marched asleep, many had lost their boots, but limped on, blood-shot†. This make you think the solders are so tired from the war and the horrible fighting, that they look like the=y are all asleep with one shoe on and one off. That the war bad they are so tired, to tired to walk. Later in the stanza he goes on to say. â€Å"All went lame; all blind; drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots of tired, outstripped five-nines that dropped behind.† In this part of the poem he make it sound like they are all blind and all can’t walk, it make the atmosphere that they are all in a terrible condition and are extremely exhausted. In the third stanza is where the writer try to set the atmosphere to be horrifying and sadding, he use lots of words choses and other language techniques to set the mood and atmosphere, a good example is. â€Å"Gas! Gas! Quick, Boys!† with the short sentences is gives you the atmosphere of fear that the gas is coming and they have to be quick or they will die. In the last two stanzas the writer set the atmosphere by taking about after the gas attack. â€Å"If you could hear , at every jolt, the blood come gargling from the forth-corrupted lungs.† It make you think of what the gas can do to you and makes the mood a sading and terrifying, it make you think of the blood is coming from his lungs whenever the van jolts. It make an unsettling mood. Later in the last stanza he says. â€Å"The old lie; Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori† This means it is sweet and fitting to die for you country. This last sentences in the poem makes you see how horrifying, terrifying and sading the war really is, not the sweet or fitting but cruel and terrible. This set the atmosphere for the poem to be terrifying and horrible Overall, I think that the writer has made a particular atmosphere and mood thought out this poem and kept the mood thought out it. he effected use of poetic techniques to creat this atmosphere and to get this important message across.