Author Archives: Robert Calaf

Fish to Go Case Assignment – Robert Calaf

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Robert Calaf                                                                                                                                                    BUS311 – 1801                                                                                                                                            May 9th, 2021                                                                                                                                                  Prof. Brielle Buckler

  1. What are the advantages of choosing a host-country national staffing strategy?

A. There are numerous advantages to choosing a host-country national staffing strategy for an international country. Some advantages are the elimination of any possible language barriers between the employees of that host country and their national customers/vendors; better understanding of local rules and laws since those employees live there, and additional hiring costs would be avoided such as visas, cost of relocating employees from home country to host country and additional incentive pay for them; and last but not least, local employees are in tuned with the local culture which could avoid cultural mistakes when dealing with local customers, employee evaluations, and labor force management.

2. Develop a compensation plan for each of the two countries, revising the current compensation for managers in the United States, if necessary. The compensation plan should include salary, benefits, and any fringe benefits to attract the most qualified people. The plan should also address any legal compensation requirements for both countries.

US

  • Restaurant Manager – $45,000 per year, plus 2 percent profit sharing. (Current offering)
  • According to Indeed.com, a General Manager in a US Quick Service Restaurant on average makes about $44,592 per year. Fish to Go’s current salary offering of $45,000 plus 2 percent profit sharing is competitive with current industry wide salary averages. The 2 percent profit sharing would serve as the General Managers performance bonus since the more successful the business is, the more that payout from the profit sharing will be and the more the company will bring in.
  • Other Industry wide common benefits offered to quick service restaurant general managers are dental, health, life, and vision insurance. These benefits should be offered at Fish to Go as well to ensure they are competitive in the industry; in addition to vacation and sick pay. It will also attract longer-term career employees to this role since these benefits are almost considered mandatory for staying power in a company. It ensures that the employee feels safe and secure in their medical needs and that the company is investing in their well-being by offering these quality-of-life benefits.

Mexico

  • Restaurant Manager (per linkedin.com, “in-salary”) – $270,000 MXN (Mexican Peso) per year. At the time of this research (May 8, 2021), 1 Mexican Peso = 0.050 United States Dollar. This means that this salary is equal to $13,562.32 USD per year. A 2 percent profit sharing should be offered in Mexico as well and would serve as the General Managers performance bonus. This would put the position on par with its American counterpart in terms of compensation incentives.
  • According to the website “Thomson Reuters Practical Law”, the following notable rights are given to workers in Mexico under the FLL (Federal Labour Law):
  1. Employment benefits, for example:
  2. Christmas bonus (aguinaldo);
  3. vacations;
  4. vacation premium (an amount paid to an employee on top of his/her regular pay for vacation days).
  5. Working conditions, for example:
  6. maximum working schedule;
  7. weekly day of rest;
  8. statutory days of rest.
  9. Payment of employees’ profit-share.
  10. Protection against dismissal.

“Minimum paid holiday entitlement

The FLL provides for a minimum vacation period that all employers must grant to their employees. Minimum vacation days are dependent on the employee’s length of service as described below:

  • Six days’ vacation after one year of service.
  • Eight days’ vacation after two years of service.
  • Ten days’ vacation after three years of service.
  • Twelve days’ vacation after four years of service.
  • After the fourth year of service, an employee’s vacation entitlement will increase by two days for every further four years of service.

Employers must pay full salary and benefits during the employee’s vacation period.

In addition to the paid holiday entitlement outlined above, employees are also entitled to a vacation premium consisting of 25% of their base salary, payable during the vacation period.”

“Entitlement to paid time off

Employees are entitled to paid time off in the case of illness or injury whether or not they have been caused by work. Such illness or injury must be certified by the medical authorities of the IMSS for the paid time off to apply. The maximum time limit regarding the amount of paid time off that an employee can take is 52 weeks (whether the illness or injury is work related or not). “

  • Dental, health, life, and vision insurance should be offered for Fish to Go General managers in the Mexico market that is on par with industry wide averages/expectations in Mexico. These benefits should be offered to ensure they are competitive in the industry. Vacation and Sick pay should offered that meets Mexican Labor law expectations listed above.

UK

  • Restaurant Manager (per talent.com) – £35,976 per year. At the time of this research (May 8, 2021), 1 Euro = 1.22 United States Dollar. This means that this salary is equal to $43,758.47 USD per year. A 2 percent profit sharing should be offered in the UK as well and would serve as the General Managers performance bonus. This would put the position on par with its American counterpart in terms of compensation incentives.
  • According to the website “Thomson Reuters Practical Law”, the following notable rights are given to workers in United Kingdom

“Minimum paid holiday entitlement

All workers have the right to 5.6 weeks’ paid holiday each year. For these purposes, a week means a normal working week for that individual (although the maximum statutory entitlement is 28 days, regardless of how long the normal working week is). If a worker starts or ends work part way through a holiday year he/she is entitled to paid holiday on a pro rata basis.

Holiday pay is paid at the same rate as normal pay, and should include any elements of pay directly linked to the work that the worker is required to carry out.”

“Entitlement to paid time off

Employees who are unable to work due to illness or injury, generally for four or more consecutive days, are entitled to receive statutory sick pay (SSP), provided they meet the qualifying conditions. Employees do not receive SSP for the first three days of any sickness absence. The current weekly rate of SSP, from 6 April 2020, is GBP95.85. The maximum entitlement is 28 weeks’ SSP during any continuous period of incapacity for work (or any series of linked periods).

An employee may also be entitled to contractual sick pay (that is, pay during sick leave at a higher rate than SSP) if the employer offers this benefit.”

  • Dental, health, life, and vision insurance should be offered for Fish to Go General managers in the United Kingdom market that is on par with industry wide averages/expectations in the UK. These benefits should be offered to ensure they are competitive in the industry. Vacation and Sick pay should offered that meets UK law expectations listed above.

3. Develop an outline for a training plan, making reasonable assumptions about the information a new manager would need to know at Fish to Go.

A. The following will serve as an outline for general manager training at Fish to Go in the American, Mexico and UK Market.

  • Food safety and food waste
  • Workplace safety
  • Cash handling
  • Procurement
  • Inventory management
  • Equipment training
  • Managing/Developing new hires
  • Employee conflict management
  • Customer service
  • Marketing (e.g., oversight of social media, online reviews, etc.)

References

https://www.kickfin.com/blog/restaurant-management-training-plan/

https://uk.practicallaw.thomsonreuters.com/7-503-4973?transitionType=Default&contextData=(sc.Default)&firstPage=true#co_anchor_a341021

https://content.next.westlaw.com/3-502-9997?__lrTS=20201014231220699&transitionType=Default&contextData=(sc.Default)&firstPage=true

https://www.linkedin.com/salary/restaurant-manager-salaries-in-mexico

https://www.salary.com/research/salary/posting/fast-food-restaurant-manager-salary

https://www.indeed.com/cmp/Quick-Service-Restaurant/salaries/General-Manager

https://www.workforce.com/news/learning-to-manage-host-country-nationals

 

Ethics Debate Reflection

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Robert Calaf

April 28th, 2021

BUS311 – 1801

Prof. Brielle Buckler

Having been assigned to the team arguing for “students returning to in-person learning”, I had an opportunity to go more in-depth on this position besides the on the surface points of the issue I was hearing from friends and family. After the conclusion of the live debate, I found myself even more convinced that this is the right decision. Prior to the debate, I honestly did not find myself strongly supporting enough of either side to the point that I could not be easily swayed. What the debate brought to the surface for me that there is no black and white answer to this, there is no way to completely mitigate risk or potential impact to either side of the argument. Instead, this has become a conversation on whether the impact should be on the students or the teachers/staff and if a side should be impacted; how severe is the impact versus what mitigation tools are available. Based on the points my team has made and the research put together, I confidently believe that there are more ways to control risk to the teachers/staff then the educational impact to the kids and the secondary effects. This is because of the current availability of vaccines to society; an example is anyone 16 & up currently in NY able to get a vaccine without an appointment. Also with our continued increase in knowledge of the virus and how it transmits we can translate those lessons learned into protective measures in schools. What we can’t do, is allow our next generation of students and leaders to suffer because of a reduced quality of education. While there is a benefit in introducing them to technology and perhaps learning styles that may very well become the norm of future education; it is my opinion that our current educational platforms are not up to the task yet. There simply is just no substitute for human-to-human education. Especially when it comes to children that are most in need such as special needs children who require specialized services. The longer those children go without that additional help, the longer they are behind their peers in the educational curve. There are many children that also look to our schools as a beacon of stability in their lives, as a safe place, where people always look out for them. Those kids may come from a home in which abuse takes place or has a high degree of instability. Without access to their school via in-person learning, those at home issues will all but surely have an increased impact on their educational future. The last part for me that solidified my opinion were remarks from Professor Buckler and Mrs. Buckler. They expressed a desire not only as educators but also mentors to their students; that they wanted to return to the classroom. I believe that is where the magic of teaching takes place. Not only in simply learning the material being taught, but forming social bonds, growing more comfortable being out in front of others and leaving the class having grown a little bit more into who you will be in the workforce. There is something lost when a conversation is had over a laptop camera, humans are social creatures by nature; it is my profound hope that the next generation is not adversely affected over the long term. Only time will tell.

 

 

Risk Management Assignment

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Risk Management Assignment

In 2020, modern day companies are having to adjust to rapidly changing technology, interconnectivity between customers and tech + the sophistication of today’s cyber-attacks in the private and public sector. As technology improves, so does the avenues of attack that cyber criminals and perhaps state sponsored hackers have to penetrate IT systems and cause financial + operational damage. Its scary to say but anyone with a laptop, a Wi-Fi connection, and the technical know how could launch such attacks from anywhere on the planet. The risk of cyber attacks has been present ever since the creation of the world wide web and when civilians began to store data on the internet; but they were not considered as high risk as they do now due to the availability and ease to which these attacks carried out. This new/increased risk has never been more important than it is now to focus on because of how interconnected today’s society is. Social media, company data systems, email, electronic/web-based control systems are examples of sensitive information areas that are commonplace now. Just about everything we do or save is being stored somewhere on the web or on a server connected to the internet. A hacker with malicious intent, the right target, and toolset could launch a cyber attack that could cost a company or perhaps an employee of a company personally irreparable damage. We never have had as much to lose to cyber attacks as we do now.

When it comes to cyber security risks, companies have a high standard to meet and unfortunate for us, it is a constantly ever evolving threat. While the risks are numerous and require vigilance from all sides of the company chain of command; I will list a few that I discovered during my research. Per an article from Forbes titled “10 Data Security Risks that could impact your Company in 2020” the following risks and preventive measures must be monitored and implemented: Accidental sharing – when a company’s employees accidently share, misplace, or mishandle sensitive data. This data could then make its way outside of company control and into the public eye or perhaps someone who could use it for financial gain. This accounts for high percentage of security incidents at companies. Training and control measures for sensitive information should take place to ensure all employees know their responsibility when it comes to this risk. Overworked Cybersecurity teams – per the article more than two-thirds of cybersecurity professionals have considered quitting their jobs/leaving the industry. I witnessed this firsthand at my previous employer, IT employees are often on call at all times even off shift, are constantly putting out fires (resolving issues) left and right and are expected to still look out for the long-term IT management of the company. IT departments need to be properly resourced and cared for. The IT Director/Manager is a critical asset to the company, losing such an employee can have grave consequences due to how long it takes to fully get a replacement up to speed on all of the nooks and crannies of a company’s IT systems. It should not take a serious cyber-attack/incident for a company to realize this is a department that should not be taken any less seriously then perhaps its sales force. The last risk I will list is ransomware – these types of attacks are usually initiated when someone opens a file/program from an email or some sort of download from an unauthorized source. This program then may take control of the user’s computer or IT system and demand that a financial payment (ransom) is paid for release of that control on the system. These types of attacks are launched often with impunity on small to midsize businesses because they do not have the budget for high end IT defense and staffing. These types of attacks can be very expensive and just because you paid them once does not mean it will not happen again. Vigilance and IT training across all levels of the company need to take place to fight back against ransomware. It only takes one employee opening an email attachment or download for this to take place.

I would say that the ever-evolving cyber threat is something that we all must live with in the modern-day workforce. Instead of allowing it to cause us to be uncomfortable, unwilling, or uninterested to work in certain industry sectors; we should all exercise our part in cyber defense. While the skill level of people using computers and IT will vary, we should all learn at least the basic measures in which to protect ourselves. Recognizing phishing/scam emails, proper file handling, having strong computer passwords and not sharing that information are just some of the easy steps we can take. But like all change, it must first start with a company culture of cyber security.

 

Resources

Council, Young Entrepreneur. “Council Post: 10 Data Security Risks That Could Impact Your Company In 2020.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 1 Oct. 2019, www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2019/10/01/10-data-security-risks-that-could-impact-your-company-in-2020/?sh=21baa8eaa0c0.

Guardian Computer. “Top 10 Computer Security Threats to Business IT in 2020.” Guardian Computer, Guardian Computer Https://Www.gcit.net/Wp-Content/Uploads/2018/03/GC-Logotransparent-300×127.Png, 20 July 2020, www.gcit.net/blog/computer-security-threats-business-it.

Link to word doc

Benefits Assignment

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Benefits Writing Assignment

 

In the modern-day workplace, Fortune 500 companies (especially those in big tech) are consistently looking for ways to compete for top talent. Besides the ever-competing salary contest, benefits and most of them nontraditional; are actually becoming the big thing that sets companies apart. Employees in the top of their field are actively seeking these benefits. According to career site Glassdoor “more than half (57%) of all workers say perks and benefits are among the top things they consider when deciding whether to accept a job, and almost 80% of employees say they would prefer new benefits over a pay raise.” Organizations are changing their operations to incorporate these new benefits by hiring personnel who specialize in managing their employee’s experience. These are roles outside of the traditional HR jobs every company has. An example would be “Sr. VP People Operations” at Google that was showed in the Unit 9 Lecture. This may be a job title that other large companies have and at Google it may also function in an HR capacity. But what I believe makes it different is the focus on the employee experience communicated in the video and the analytics they use to measure the effect on productivity and employee happiness that all of these benefits the company gives actually has. The lecture video gives an example where the VP tells the news reporter that a purple wall in their workplace has garnered a negative response and will probably not see it popping up in other work environments. Usually one would think that besides a general color theme set up in a work space, that feedback on a single purple wall would not be something a company would even spend time on. This shows the strategic investment nature of this type of modern management; and their employees notice. Some of these “nontraditional” benefits include: one paid year of maternity and paternity leave to new parents (Netflix), six days of paid volunteer time off a year + $1,000 a year to donate to a charity of the employees choice (Salesforce), covering of costs for egg freezing and fertility assistance (Spotify), an annual stipend of $2,000 to travel and stay in an Airbnb listing anywhere in the world (Airbnb), death benefits – the surviving spouse or partner of a deceased employee receives 50% of their salary for the next 10 years (Google), free intern housing with shuttle service to and from work with a monthly housing stipend of $1,000 (Facebook), $4,000 in “baby cash” to employees with a new born (Facebook), on-site health and dental centers + laundry services (Facebook). This is only a few of the nontraditional benefits that are popping up in the modern economy, I listed many of Facebook’s benefits because they are the company I chose to research.

I’d have to say the benefits that appeal to me personally are the shuttle service to and from work with monthly housing stipend of $1,000, the $4,000 in baby cash and the on-site health, dental, and laundry services. To me they seem like benefits I could easily see myself using and having a real value add to my experience as an employee. Not worrying about transportation to work is absolutely awesome and having health and dental at work allows me to save taking time off from work because these services are immediately available. Plus who wouldn’t love getting $4k in cash to help with a new baby? I presume you will want all the money you can get in that situation! I would seriously consider taking a lower pay rate to gain the benefits I prefer because there is value that to me is worth perhaps the difference in paycheck. Not every career decision is made for money; long term happiness is key as well.

In my limited research on Facebook, the nontraditional benefits provided by Facebook in addition to the working environment, management transparency, and community; earned Facebook No.1 on Glassdoor’s 2018 best places to work list. This annual ranking is achieved using employee reviews which show how satisfied employees are with their employer, CEO, and other key work environment attributes. Facebook as a big tech company is in a highly competitive recruiting space as they compete against the likes of Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and other Silicon Valley giants to recruit the best and brightest. Nontraditional benefits allow them to set themselves apart from the pack and bring people onboard for the long term. I believe these perks are sustainable by these companies due to their high net profits and global reach. These perks I presume must add a high dollar cost to the companies benefits cost per employee. But in the big tech industry, innovation, creativity and getting to the next big thing before everyone else is key to your firms’ success. All of those stem from your workforce and their ingenuity. This makes the perks an underlying strategic investment by the company in creating the best work environment possible to recruit, retain, and foster the next generation in products and services.

References

  • Author: Arthur Wilson Marketing Manager at Workstars. With a background in digital strategy, et al. “20 Companies Leading the Way When It Comes to Employee Perks and Benefits: Workstars.” Employee Recognition and Engagement Blog, www.workstars.com/recognition-and-engagement-blog/2019/11/13/20-companies-leading-the-way-when-it-comes-to-employee-perks-and-benefits/.

 

 

  • Gillett, Rachel. “Free Food May Become a Thing of the Past in Silicon Valley – but There Are Plenty of Other Incredible Perks Companies like Facebook and Google Offer Their Employees.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 29 July 2018, www.businessinsider.com/incredible-perks-companies-like-airbnb-facebook-and-google-offer-their-employees-2016-2#counseling-and-consultations-for-employees-and-their-dependents-at-southwest-30.

 Attached in word doc form too.

Benefits Writing Assignment

Harper Jones – Retention Assignment

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Q. What do you think is the most demotivating part of Harper’s job?

A. Harper Jones started working as a Marketing Coordinator at Marketable, Inc since graduating college at the age of 22, the case study puts her at 26 meaning she has been in the role 4 years and is no newbie. She is well settled into the role’s responsibilities and workload. Since her prior boss Jose, left six months ago; there are two factors highlighted in the case study that contribute to Harper’s demotivation. The factors are the additional work impacting her work/life balance and the lack of communication/working relationship with her new boss David. I believe the most demotivating part of Harper’s job is the lack of communication/working relationship with David. She is used to forthcoming communication, awareness of what was going on, and development/management from her former boss who only managed two employees (including her). The new boss David has to manage the whole team and now Harper is one of many and is not receiving the attention or access she once had. She feels unrecognized for her efforts, not receiving help to manage her work/life balance stress and does not have a boss to turn to for advice. The absence of leadership for Harper is the most demotivating part of her job.

Q. If you were an HR manager meeting with Harper’s supervisor, David, what advice would you give to help them re-engage Harper?

A. In a meeting with Harper’s supervisor David, I would highlight Harper’s 4 years of service with the company, excellent track record of work (presumed due to lack of negative description in the case study), and describe the environment that Harper was successful in prior to David. I would explain that while people come and go in companies and the working environment/structure may change; company leadership has a responsibility to provide its employees the tools and conditions for success. Losing Harper would be a company failure to do so since the only implied reason she wants to leave now is because we are not providing her the proper leadership and engagement she needs. A meeting should be set with Harper, either formally or informally to allow her to voice her concerns, grievances, and recommendations for how to repair the situation and restore her morale. Harper has clearly shown dedication to her work and the company, she deserves an audience and input in her working conditions and future.

She is not asking for more money but may even be open to moving into Jose’s role since she thinks its been too long since Jose left that the company filled the role. This could provide an opportunity for the company to fill Jose’s position with an internal candidate, increase morale and motivation for Harper, and give her the recognition she deserves.

Q. What would be the downside of losing Harper as an employee?

A. The downside of losing Harper would have financial, productivity, and morale implications. Harper has been with the company 4 years, is well established and able to take on tasks her former boss Jose was responsible for. If Harper left the company, there would be financial costs to search, hire, retrain, and develop someone to that 4 year proficiency as a Marketing Coordinator. Productivity would suffer during that entire replacement process and would also be impacted on her co-workers that have to pick up her workload once she leaves. Creating a situation in which their workloads increase, morale decreases, causing a possible snowball effect where other employees may consider departing the company as well if they see a 4 year seasoned employee leave. Especially if that employee left because they needed help from leadership and leadership did not come through for her.

The following from Eight Effective Retention Strategies, would help Harper in this situation.

  1. Invest in employees professional development
  2. Create a culture of open communication
  3. Make it a priority to help employees feel valued
  4. Don’t overburden employees
  5. Understand why employees stay.

LinkedIn – Robert Calaf

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LinkedIn Profile Link: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-calaf-45a129147/

Hi Class,

I wanted to first state that I thoroughly enjoyed the expert session featuring Annie and Tiffany. I definitely got the vibe that they are experts in their respective fields who are looking to help others by sharing their knowledge, experiences and time. I know they must be busy so I wanted to thank them for the time they took to share those tips. I ended up taking 3 pages of notes!

My biggest takeaway from the live session was the time Tiffany spent on best practices and recommendations for conducting yourself in an interview. Not only were the tips great but she also spent time on the balance you want to strike in an interview. How you want to be well prepared yet leave room for your authentic self to show and not come off as a robot. Be Professional yet approachable. This is an interesting dichotomy that is not touched on as much as I would like in my previous education on this. But it really speaks to how the modern company these days operates. They want to know you can be successful at the job yet also fit into the company culture and team.

Two other tips that I definitely will notate for future possible interviews was that “First 4 bullets of job description are the most important requirements” and prepping myself to think of 3 situations I can fully explain and take my audience through should I be asked situational questions.

Robert Calaf

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Hi Class,

My name is Robert Calaf and I am a Business Management major here at BMCC. This will be my 3rd and final year at BMCC. It's been a bit of a slow crawl for me because I have always worked full time during my college enrollment and was only able to be a part time student. I should be finished with my associates by this summer so thats pretty exciting to look forward to.

I was born here in New York, moved to Florida when I was 10 due to my dad's company transferring his position out there and then I moved back to NY at the age of 17 after completing high school. I was eager to move back to NY and I don't see myself returning to Florida anytime soon. Maybe its the water.

My hobbies are Video Games, reading, Electronic Dance music parties and working out.