Author Archives: Shaila Quinapanta

Employee Retention Assignment

The significance of employee engagement is vital for any organization. Undoubtedly, employees have the power to make or break a company therefore, it is very important to prioritize them. You see when you prioritize your employees, you indicate to them that they are more than just a worker who was hired, you show to them that you value them, their well-being, and help them on how to progress in their career. In order for an organization to flourish it must ensure the sustainability of its employees. 

Let’s take in consideration the case of Harper Jones who is 26 years old and is a Marketing Coordinator at Marketable, Inc. Her interest in her career at Marketable, Inc has declined right after her prior boss, Jose left and from then has a new boss named David. Harper stated that with her former boss they had a great bond, and he was very informative in his communication with her. As a result, Harper always had a sense about what was going on in her workplace. However, with her new boss David, she’s now having a tough time at work. David doesn’t devote in assisting Harper in her work like her prior boss did. Additionally, since the departure of her ex-boss, she was then left to take over some of his responsibilities which was making her burn out due to the loads of work she has to do now. On top of that, Harper is feeling invisible and unappreciated in her workplace so she’s having thoughts on leaving the company. When I put myself in Harper’s shoes, I would feel the exact way she is feeling towards her job. The drastic shift from having a boss I had a great bond with, prioritized me and my work to a boss that rarely ever speaks to me and doesn’t acknowledge the struggles I’m going through at work can definitely be my breaking point. Which is why I sympathize with Harper because she stated herself that she loves the work she does at Marketable, Inc., but the negative traits about the job are starting to outweigh the good. 

The most effective employee retention that will work best in Harper’s situation would be creating a culture of open communication, making it a priority to help employees feel valued and to not overburden them. To create a culture of open communication in Marketable, Inc. can be one way to enlighten the issues Harper is facing. She can address her troubles at work with her boss David and both can come to a solution on how to assist her in her work. Moreover, communication is key to a positive work environment and makes certain that the employees are well informed on what they need in order to thrive at their jobs. Which is what Harper needs in order to not feel lost and be aware of what’s going on at her job. Furthermore, making it a priority to help employees feel valued is essential in Harper’s situation. Harper Jones emphasized that she feels as though her new boss doesn’t acknowledge her work and is rarely ever available to help her when she needs to be advised. Once Marketable, Inc. makes it a priority to help employees feel valued, it will alleviate Harper’s situation. Harper disclosed that she has been doing an immense amount of work that she has ever done before and feels like it’s going unnoticed making her feel disregarded. To avoid losing Harper as an employee, Marketable, Inc. should express gratitude for her hard work being put in the company. The article “8 Effective Employee Retention Strategies” written by Dan Scalco, founder and marketing director at Digitalux states “Employees contribute a huge percentage of their daily lives to enhancing a company’s bottom line, so it’s essential that they feel respected and valued.” (Scalco) The role Harper Jones has at her job is important just like any other employee and it’s significant that the organization displays their appreciation for them and not overlook their deeds especially when they’re doing more work for the job than they ever did before. In addition, another effective employee retention that works best for Harper’s situation is to not overburden employees. For an establishment to overwork their employees, it will only potentially harm the company itself due to having employees that are lacking ambition and the desire to stay working. Harper highlights that since her former boss has left, it was now her duty to take on some of his responsibilities and as a result she had a plethora of work that would affect balancing her work responsibilities and her life out of work. Not overworking your employees will create a healthy work environment and as an outcome the employee’s productivity will rise. In connection to Harper’s situation, not overworking her will be better for her mental health and she’ll have the desire to go to work and do her job with a positive mindset like she used to rather than being excruciatingly exhausted and burned out. 

I believe that the most demotivating part of Harper’s job is being overworked. I say this because being overworked can take a huge toll on you mentally and physically. When that happens, an individual would usually start to lose motivation in doing a good job at their work, won’t be able to stay focused, will be stressed most of the time and it can affect them negatively outside of work as well. If I were an HR manager meeting with Harper’s supervisor, David, I’d advise him that he should do frequent check-ins with Harper personally as needed. Where both of them communicate with one another but most importantly, David listens to Harper and finds a way that will help her feel best at work and in the work environment as a whole. He should make an effort to recognize her contributions at the job, ensure to be available whenever Harper needs advice and focus on her development. Also, to give Harper Jones an appropriate amount of work that will prevent her from being overburdened and hire someone suitable for the job that will fill the role that Jose once had. The downside of losing Harper as an employee is losing someone that genuinely loves working for the company. Most of the time, employees work for the salary but having an employee that loves what they do, and their work performance is phenomenal isn’t as common. Additionally, Harper continuing to work even though she was feeling burned out and stressed displays her being hardworking and committed to the company so, if they were to lose her, they would lose an ambitious and conscientious employee that enhances their company. Overall, it should be vital for organizations to be engaged with their employees and assist them in order to prevent them from leaving.

The Founder Assignment

  1. what makes Ray Kroc & the brothers different from each other?

The difference between Ray Kroc and the brothers is that when Ray Kroc is determined and truly believes that something can result into something great, he won’t give up. He strives to accomplish the goal regardless of the ups and downs he faces. Additionally, the McDonald brothers faced an issue where they tried franchising but all of them didn’t do so well in business. The management was poor, and the menus weren’t what they originally sell. They decided to just focus on their business in Los Angeles. Overall, the McDonald brothers did take a risk before and it didn’t end with good results therefore, they put an end to it.
They have a strict and hesitant mindset where if one thing goes wrong, they plan on not doing it again to prevent any trouble whereby Ray Kroc has a mindset that he’d continue to try because he believes that learning from your mistakes can evoke into a better outcome for business. Also, Ray Kroc likes to get things done quick. For instance, in the movie Ray Kroc states he’s adding a basement and furnace to a McDonald’s restaurant and he’s doing it all in a fast-paced manner, meanwhile in San Bernardino, the brothers like to get their work done thoroughly and rigorously which can take some time.

  1. Do you think the McDonalds brothers did the right thing by selling out to Ray Kroc? Did Ray Kroc give the brothers a good deal?

From my perspective, the McDonalds brothers did not do the right thing by selling out to Ray Kroc. Ray Kroc was insinuating to many that he made McDonalds when that’s in fact a lie. Also, he was changing a lot about McDonalds that the brothers did not agree on. For example, having powdered milk for ice cream instead of actual milk but he continued doing so to all franchisees except the brothers. Also, he wanted to rise his 1.4 percent cut of a 15 cent hamburger but the deal was done and the brothers didn’t want anything to change about the contract. Moreover, Ray Kroc would evoke stress and frustration to the McDonalds brothers due to Kroc wanting complete control over everything and he’d make adjustments to the company without the agreement of the brothers in writing because the adjustments weren’t “changes” in his own words “It’s not a change. It’s a company. It’s it’s own separate company. Which puts it outside your purview.” However, the brothers would strongly persist that anything related to McDonalds is within their purview. Ray Kroc also implemented the name “McDonalds” in his real estate corporation like he owned and created McDonalds himself. All in all, there were a lot of complications on the way Ray Kroc and the McDonald brothers would work together.

  1. How did the local store franchisees make money?

The local franchisees made money by creating creative ideas that gained interests and made customers continue to come back to McDonald’s. To add on, the managers also would bring customers that are fond of them increasing the amount of customers that come in.

  1. How did Kroc make money? How was that different than the franchisees, running the local stores?

Kroc made money off his franchise corporation and his McDonalds real estate company. In addition, he bought the brothers company. This was different than the franchisees and running the local stores because he exceeded from just managing business inside of McDonalds but obtained land and leased them out to franchise partners resulting in the company to continue to grow. Thus, making him earn great profit.

  1. Does this view change your view of McDonalds?

I view McDonalds as a restaurant that serves unhealthy food to adults and kids. When talking about health, McDonalds is not precisely up to standards towards a good health. However, the movie made me realize the entrepreneurial side of McDonalds and the ideas and actions that resulted in McDonalds to go national. McDonalds originated from Dick and Mac McDonald who had a vision for themselves but someone like Ray Kroc was hungrier. Therefore, he took it into his hands to make their company into something national. Later on, Ray Kroc bought their company leaving the brothers with one million dollars each after taxes and no royalties. Overall, Ray Kroc’s actions towards the brothers can be very saddening but his way of expanding the McDonald brother’s idea was genius.

Forever 21 Ethics

Forever 21 is a family-owned brand that has approximately about 815 stores around the world. The company Forever 21 is a clothing brand that I’m fond of whenever I desire to shop for attire. It provides me and many other customers with clothing for any season for a low price.

Forever 21 is an American fast fashion retailer brand that supplies their customers with trendy clothes and low prices. However, even though customers may be satisfied with their shopping in Forever 21, there is controversy that revolves around the company due to its ethics towards social responsibility and labor conditions.

It was known that the brand wasn’t vocal about how their production practices can impact the environment leaving many costumers concerned. Forever 21 contributes significantly to the pollution in the environment and to the waste in landfills since the clothes have a short lifespan because they’re of low quality, therefore, sell at low costs. https://www.sbstatesman.com/2019/09/29/sustainable-fashion-is-on-the-rise-as-forever-21-nears-its-end/ It is not acceptable to disregard the damage your products can do to the environment and have lack of social responsibility. To put behind this issue, Forever 21 has responded by stating exactly how they establish conducting their business in an ethical manner. “Forever 21’s provides 100% recyclable and reusable plastic and paper bags in many of its stores, we will continue to transport products via sea versus airfreight in order to help reduce carbon emissions — New Forever 21 stores include energy efficient lighting systems to vastly cut down on energy usage.” https://www.forever21.com/us/socialresponsibility/socialresponsibility.html Thus, emphasizing forever 21’s need to clear any concern their customers may have to show that they’re socially responsible.

Moreover, the labor conditions and employee relations in Forever 21 is uncertain. Employees that work in factories for Forever 21 are paid below minimum wage and work in heinous and unsanitary conditions. “None of its supply chain is certified by labor standards which ensure worker health and safety, living wages, or other labor rights. It also publishes zero information about its supplier policies and audits and doesn’t disclose any policies or safeguards to protect suppliers and workers in its supply chain from the impacts of COVID-19.” https://goodonyou.eco/how-ethical-is-forever-21/ The employees are significant to a business so they must be provided with ethical working conditions. Additionally, the health and safety of their workers should be essential and a priority because it’s morally right to provide them to work in a safe and sanitary working condition. Anything opposite of safe and sanitary would be a human right violation for the workers. In addition, Forever 21 then committed to providing their workers to a safe workplace and safe environment. The brand calls attention to the fact that they cooperate with the Department of Labor and have a global ethical program to avoid exploitative, illegal or hazardous conditions and abuse in the workplace. https://www.forever21.com/us/socialresponsibility/socialresponsibility.html

All in all, in order to corporate social responsibility and have a sustainable business is to provide information on how the company’s production works and how it may affect the environment. The public has the right to know how your products are being produced and how they may affect the environment. Hiding the truth on how harmful your products can be to the environment and not doing anything to stop it is utterly immoral and unethical. Also, a company should prioritize all its workers’ health from the beginning and not realize halfway how horrible their working conditions are because behind the title “employee” that is still a human being.