Lifetime Employability: Understanding The Workplace

With conflict, “people can disapprove over outcomes, they can uphold the result so that no one loses or wins” (Nahavandi & Malekzadeh 1998, p. 455). Power always plays a key role in conflict. Power struggles may be created by conflict as creativity is challenged in finding new innovations to enhance productivity and quality concerns.

In today’s world teamwork is being utilized by companies across the globe. Employers are seeing the value of teamwork and what can be accomplished when people put the strengths together. These teams consist of people from different cultures with different personalities. Conflict is inevitable when it comes to group dynamics. Conflict resolution is necessary to keep the group functioning efficiently. This paper will analyze group dynamics and focus on conflict resolution by way of communication.

‘You should be alert, businesslike, firm and unapologetic. But you must avoid showing anger or frustration even when you feel it.’

In 1989-1995, my father took a job as a manager of the newspaper Marin Independent Journal company called Gannett. His job required him to have bouts of experience and to be able to solve problems quickly. When a carrier didn’t show up, he needed to quickly come up with a solution to get the mail out. Another problem he faced was how some people’s mail were stolen. His own experience with these issues and critical thinking is what helped him become manager for almost four years. In her article, “Bosses Seek ‘Critical Thinking’, but what is that”, Melissa Korn claims that qualities like critical thinking and problem solving are major assets that young workers may lack. As she explains, critical thinking is something that is hard to describe and can have many different ways of wording it. That, in turn makes it difficult for employers to set this bar. Korn continues to give multiple types of definitions of critical thinking to show exactly how the definitions can differ. She then adds that an incorporation has their candidates work through company assessments to see how they reach their conclusions. This lets them see if their workers are qualified. Korn then proceeds to bring Jerry Houser’s opinion on how schools are encouraging students to focus too much on their social lives. Upon reading Korn’s article, i’ve found that although many parts are agreeable, such as when she talks about how difficult it is to actually describe and prescribe critical thinking, other parts like

Civility in the workplace is a mirror of the behavior exhibited in society as a whole. Civility is defined as behavior wherein the respect that is shown toward another person, makes that person feel valued, a beneficiary of

Civility in the workplace is a mirror of the behavior exhibited in society as a whole. Civility is defined as behavior wherein the respect that is shown toward another person, makes that person feel valued, a beneficiary of mutual respect, effective communication,

Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation is a detailed summary of the proper etiquette of the time. The book covers everything from actions to avoid in public to mannerism expected

The conflict that is flexible and encourages creativity, innovation or open-mindedness can create a healthy work environment. The adaptive conflict has the opportunity to challenge group thinking. It can push a dynamic group to create a different paradigm of a business. The further new thinking one has, the more innovation the team can be. A system that has the ability to manage and encourage honorable conflict by discovering and opening new doors can be career

Critical thinking, in the context of employability, it is a broad term that encompasses the use of “problem solving, analysis, creative thinking, interpretation, and reasoning.” (Dash, “Why Critical Thinking Skills Are Essential in Business”) In other words, while there are varying definitions for critical thinking, it is generally considered a skill set with specific parameters. One of the necessary conditions within of this definition is that the idea to which the term ‘critical thinking’ is ascribed is a skill set. This is also considered a “key area” of professional development. (Joschik, “Well-Prepared in Their Own Eyes”) Furthermore, critical thinking is necessarily a mental process. This is due to the fact that each of the encompassed terms, such as problem solving and analysis, are mental processes. Finally, if the subject to which the term ‘critical thinking’ is being applied is “the ability to think clearly and rationally,” then the subject possesses the sufficient condition to be considered critical thinking. (Hofmeister, “Critical Thinking and Getting a Job”)

There are proposed reasons for the emphasis that is currently on critical thinking. Many factors can be related to this emphasis. They include the societal factors of economic shifts

It is essential for business leaders to have excellent verbal and non-verbal communication skills, as leaders are often a symbol of a company’s integrity and this affects not only how customers perceive the company, but also impacts the thoughts and actions of lower positioned employees. For example, a leader that speaks using improper grammar, or writes correspondence with spelling errors throughout it, could project a negative image that can be harmful to a company. Customers might conclude that the leader is incompetent and they might decide that they do not wish to purchase goods from a company that hires inept leaders. Furthermore, employees might become less apt to respect an authority that appears to be uneducated, as well as employees might feel that if the leader disregards using proper communication than it is not necessary for them to use it either. Business leaders need to know when to listen, when to talk, and how to share ideas effectively. Clear and concise communication states exactly how, who, what, and when and serves to guide, direct, protect, persuade, and to inform. Communication is essential for decreasing miscommunications and for increasing productivity, motivation, and efficiency. When someone uses effective communication, he or she is more apt to have favorable results and his or her requests will become granted more often. Furthermore, communication builds goodwill. Having excellent communication skills is

Teams without conflict tend to be less innovative due to the creative function of conflict. Conflict’s creative function comes from the necessity of varying perspectives to reach a consensus. Indeed, “teams tend to make higher quality decisions when dissent exists about the wisest course of action” (Sidle, ρ.75). Dissent and conflict forces team members to think outside of the normal realm of experience and knowledge to realize a collaborative solution.

Etiquette has always been an important part of life, be it social or business. However, it seems that business etiquette is has become more important in the last decade. This is mainly due to the fact that the business world is becoming more global and that “relationship selling” has become must for success. Etiquette is important for a variety of reasons. It helps to ease what might become and uneasy situation and can make or break business relationships that are worth millions of dollars. In essence, etiquette helps people to understand what is appropriate in any situation. It is also important to know the difference between business protocol and business etiquette. Business

Business communication can be defined as the process of sharing information among business professionals, prospective customers, and affiliates who are associated with an organization. The essential skills of business communications are currently in demand and highly required for the workforce for the modern workforce. To be an effective communicator is to have the ability to respond with skill, confidence, and assertiveness and is pertinent to the quality and expertise business professionals considered for employment. Hence, knowing how to communicate properly in an organizational structure requires the skill of communication necessary to interact with different levels of management. In a world

Business communication is abound in today's society. The ability to communicate has always had its advantages, with its rich history, and traditions, modern business communication is valued as a modern day concept. Business executives rate the ability of business communication skills as among the personal factors necessary in gaining a job. As stated by Hynes (2005)” effective business communication is the key to planning, leading, organizing, and controlling the resources of the organizations to achieve objectives” (Conrad & Newberry, 2011, p112). This essay will examine what business communication skills is needed for the process of graduating in Westminster Business School, while giving recommendations in studying