Global HR – Fish to Go
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Author Archives: Zoila Cedeno
Ethics Assignment
Personally, I was happy to be on the pro-side of returning to in-person learning. I have never been a big fan of remote learning. For me traveling to and from school breaks up the monotony of everyday living. It provides me with an opportunity to make new friends. I enjoy those few minutes before class starts, which give you the opportunity to strike up random conversation with the person next to you. Every semester I always end up meeting someone who needs help with classwork, and we usually end up creating a study group which meets before or after class to go over any points which need further clarification, or helping a classmate by proofreading their work, exchanging ideas and opinions to help take the project we’re working on to the next level. I miss all that and I can’t wait to go back.
It was great to have an educator like Mrs. Buckley present during the debate. It gave us an opportunity to hear an educator’s point of view and hear first-hand how remote learning has affected her as an educator. It only reaffirmed my desire to go back to in-person learning. One of the points my team members made is the fact that vaccines are more readily available in more places and without appointment. This means we can take the necessary measures to make returning to in-person learning as safe as possible. As was pointed out by Talisha, not everyone learns at the same pace. Some people are more self-disciplined and work well independently. Some have a better support system. Perhaps, a parent or a sibling who can supplement the remote learning experience. Others do not. There is also the fact that prolonged school closures are likely to have a negative impact on children’s learning which may put them behind academically and may take years to get them back on track.
Remote learning has been challenging for me as an adult so I can only imagine how much more challenging it must be for kids in elementary, intermediate, and high school levels. Even more so for children who have learning and emotional impairments. Schools provide kids with more than just the tools to learn reading, writing and math. They are a place where children can learn social and emotional skills, get physical activity, access to medical assistance and coping resources. Children dealing with toxic and abusive home environments lose the ability to escape these situations. As pointed out by Professor Buckler, it’s difficult to determine whether there is a clinical neglect situation when you’re looking at these children via a camera. When children are in school, educators can pull them aside, ask questions, build trust so that eventually, that child may feel comfortable enough to let them know that something is wrong.
I understand that there are risks with in-person learning and I don’t take those lightly. However, many people have been infected with Covid-19 while working from home and participating in remote learning. Most of us go out to the supermarket, laundromats, hairdressers, barbers, department stores, etc. The risk of exposure isn’t eliminated just because we’re doing remote learning. You can be infected with the virus anywhere. During the holidays, my entire family was exposed and infected with Covid-19 because my sister got Covid. She doesn’t know where or how she was infected. She was working from home. The only places she was visiting were the supermarket and the laundromat. We can only assume either one of those places was where she became infected. Interestingly enough, everyone, my parents, my brother, his wife, my sister’s husband, her daughter, they all tested positive and developed manageable symptoms. Yet, I tested negative and had no symptoms.
I traveled to South America during Thanksgiving. I had surgery during the pandemic. I visited restaurants and family members during the pandemic. I also tested regularly and always came back negative. What I have made sure to do is to limit the circle of people that I visit. I always wear a mask. I carry hand sanitizer, and anti-bacterial wipes in my handbag always and use them regularly. So far that’s worked for me.
As was repeatedly stated by Professor Buckley and fellow classmates, there is no right or wrong answer. In the end, it’s a personal choice. You can choose to do everything you need to do to minimize the risk of infection and return to in-person learning or continue to do so remotely. Since the vaccine is not yet available for children under 16, and it is not expected to become available for them until next year, I suspect that schools will continue to offer remote and/or hybrid learning options to accommodate those of us who prefer to wait a little longer before returning to in-person learning.
Risk Management
There are several new risks that companies are facing in 2021 that were not as obvious in the last decade. With companies relying more and more on digital technology to attract new customers, increase efficiency, and remain competitive, cyber security has become increasingly more important. Many companies have had to restructure the way they do business and allow employees to work remotely post-Covid which has made this threat even more significant. As companies slowly transition to commuting back to office work, the presence of a comprehensive return to work guide and the appropriate execution of safety protocols and guidelines will be extremely important. Another issue many companies will have to deal with is how to deal with the economic slowdown and recovery due to Covid-19. Lastly, companies must also worry about protecting their brand and reputation in an environment where the increasing presence and use of digital platforms and applications gives people the ability and freedom to post negative information about companies’ work culture and practices that can negatively impact their bottom line.
Some of the top data security risks companies must concern themselves with today are the installation of malware, phishing scams, and password theft. When employees are working physically in the office, the IT Administrator makes sure to remain vigilant, maintain anti-malware programs up to date, and run tests to make sure the company’s system is always protected. However, with employees working from home, there is now an increased security risk. What employers can do to prevent this from happening is to provide trusted anti-malware programs for all employees to download to their personal computers and set it to automatically scan the computer system daily to prevent any type of malware from infiltrating the system. The cost of paying for licenses for all employees will be a lot less than the potential damage and financial loss that any of these issues can present. Employees should also receive training to recognize fraudulent emails to prevent phishing scams and change their passwords regularly to avoid password theft.
According to the New York Times, there have been, “At least 29 new coronavirus deaths and 2,589 new cases were reported in New York City on April 18. “. The total number of reported cases to date in New York City is 904,199 with total deaths are listed at 32,114. While we expect that these numbers will hopefully decrease as people are vaccinated, we know that we have not seen the end of the Coronavirus yet. The presence of a comprehensive return to work guide and the appropriate execution of safety protocols and guidelines is essential to the prevention of transmission among employees. Some of the protocols and procedures employers can implement are the taking of body temperature for each employee as they enter the building, closing off kitchens and lunchrooms, installation of cameras at all employee desks so that everyone can continue to communicate digitally and reduce traffic inside the office, placing directional signs on the floors and elevators to instruct workers of the direction that they are required to travel in, limiting the amount of persons allowed in elevators, providing contactless dispensers with hand sanitizer gel, soaps and paper products, placing sanitizing sprays and disinfectants near all shared equipment with signs instructing employees to use before and after each use, placing plastic separators/protectors at all desks and conference rooms. In addition, increased cleaning and wiping down of all public areas to reduce the possibility of transmittal and contamination should be performed every couple of hours as added protection.
Covid-19 has caused a severe economic slowdown and recovery worldwide will be slow. Many companies have been forced to close their doors for good and others are struggling to stay open. Those companies that have been fortunate to weather the financial losses caused by Covid-19 should use any capital they have on hand to prepay overhead expenses to try and bring down their monthly expenses so that income generated month to month can be used to cover salaries and future expenses. Many companies are taking advantage of the protections offered by Chapter 13 filings to assist them with financial restructuring while they wait for business to pick up and things to get back to normal.
One of the issues that companies are dealing with today that was not present before is the use of social media platforms by consumers and the public that allows them to post both positive and negative information about your company. This is especially problematic when you have a disgruntled customer or employee who posts harmful content about your company’s practices and/or work culture. This can be detrimental to a company’s image. For example, a disgruntled customer can go online and complain that they did not receive good customer service or that the quality of the product they ordered was of inferior quality than what was offered. This could cause a decrease in sales or drive away new business. Another example would be when a disgruntled employee posts negative comments about practices within your company on Indeed or Glassdoor. Applicants may be hesitant to apply for a job at a company where employees are not happy. This can cause a company to have a difficult time recruiting new talent. Companies need to be vigilant and constantly monitor feedback online that could affect their reputation. They should address all customer complaints head on and in an expeditious manner to try and change the public’s perception and turn the negative feedback around. With regards to disgruntled employees, this is why it is important for companies to have fair practices and HR managers who do their best to promote a positive work culture and keep employees engaged so that negative feedback can be avoided.
References
Bown, Jessica. “How Social Media Could Ruin Your Business.” BBC News, BBC, 8 July 2019, www.bbc.com/news/business-48871456 | Accessed 18 April, 2021.
Pandise, Emily. “One Year into Pandemic, Main Street Bankruptcies Continue.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 9 Mar. 2021, www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/which-major-retail-companies-have-filed-bankruptcy-coronavirus-pandemic-hit-n1207866 | Accessed 18 April, 2021.
The New York Times. “New York City Coronavirus Map and Case Count.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 9 May 2020, www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/nyregion/new-york-city-coronavirus-cases.html | Accessed 18 April, 2021.
“Top 10 Global Business Risks of 2019 and How to Mitigate Them.” The One Brief, 1 Nov. 2019, https://theonebrief.com/2019s-top-10-risks-new-risks-emerge-established-risks-evolve/ | Accessed 18 April, 2021.
“Top 15 Types of Cybersecurity Risks & How To Prevent Them.” Executech, 30 Sept. 2019, www.executech.com/insight/top-15-types-of-cybersecurity-attacks-how-to-prevent-them/ | Accessed 18 April, 2021.
Benefits Assignment
For Unit 9’s assignment I chose to interview four individuals working at different companies and in different positions.
Maria Lopez
Maria is an Accounts Receivable and Billing Specialist. She works for the law firm Condon & Forsyth.
What type of benefits does your company offer?
We receive medical, dental, vision care coverage, FSA, HSA, 401k, life insurance, Commuter Benefits, workers’ compensation, short-term disability, long-term disability, free bottled water, soda and food. I am entitled to four weeks vacation. I can carry over up to five days into the following year or cash out it out in April of the following year. The company offers multiple types of health insurance plans that employees can choose from based on premium or types of coverage needed. Some of the plans offer 80/20 coverage and others 70/30 coverage but they all have high deductibles. They also give us a MetroCard Stipend of $100.00 per month which you can apply towards the purchase of your monthly MetroCard. Pre Covid, the company would order soups, sandwich, fruit and salad platters for partner meetings, conferences, and depositions. Most of the time the amount of food ordered exceeded what was needed and the employees were invited to partake in the consumption. This occurred at least two to three times per week. In addition, we would receive a birthday breakfast every first Monday of every month to celebrate the birthdays of all the staff members.
Which of the benefits that are offered by your employer is the most important for you?
As an asthmatic the most important benefit for me is my medical, especially now with Covid in the picture. It could mean life or death for me.
Are there any benefits that you would like your company to offer that they don’t offer now?
The firm’s benefit package is pretty competitive and is similar to that of other companies, but it would be nice if they gave tuition reimbursement or pay raises more often. Some of us have not received a raise in over four years. Also, it would be nice if we had plans with lower deductibles.
Gina Pacheco
Gina is a part-time Paralegal. She works for the law firm Pasternack, Tilker, Ziegler, Walsh, Stanton & Romano, LLP.
What type of benefits does your company offer?
I am a part-time employee who works less than 30 hours per week. As a result, I am not eligible for many of the benefits offered by the company. The only benefits that I can partake in are workers’ compensation, short-term disability, long-term disability, Profit Sharing and 401k. Fortunately, as a part-time employee I qualify for coverage under the Marketplace. I also do not get any PTO time and can only accrue 1 hour of sick time for every 30 hours worked, up to a maximum of 40 sick hours per year.
If you were a full-time employee, what benefits offered by your company would you participate in?
I would definitely participate in the medical insurance. I have several medical conditions that require consistent care and maintenance visits to the doctor.
Are there any benefits that you would like your company to offer that they don’t offer now?
I would like for the company to offer more incentives to employees like gift cards, free MetroCards, etc.
David Maldonado
David is a retired doorman and a former 32BJ Union member.
What type of benefits did your company offer?
The company offered workers’ compensation, short-term disability, long-term disability, and medical, dental, and vision coverage at no cost to employees. I had 5 weeks paid sick/vacation time. The company also gave us the option to enroll in 401k and I also get a pension from the union. I was also eligible to other perks and benefits through my union. I could enroll in any trainings offered at the union free of charge and received gym reimbursement. In addition, there would be an annual raffle for employees’ children to receive tuition grants provided they maintained the required average.
Which of the benefits that are offered by your employer is the most important for you?
The most important benefits were my medical and 401k. I have diabetes, hypertension and cholesterol problems so I need to have medical coverage and medications all the time.
Are there any benefits that you would have liked your company to offer that they didn’t offer when you were employed?
The company would contribute to your 401k but they only contributed less than 1% of your earnings which was approximately $360.00 per quarter. I wish they would have at least matched my contributions.
All three of the persons interviewed considered medical coverage the most important benefit. The only one who gave an equal amount of importance to his 401k benefits was David Maldonado who is a retired doorman. I also consider medical coverage to be essential. Medical visits, medications, and hospitalizations can be very expensive. Illness and accidents can happen at any moment and it is a relief when you know that you won’t have to spend your savings to cover these expenses. However, for me I also consider PTO and sick time to be essential benefits as well. This is a benefit that some people take for granted. I know there are places where PTO is limited to 1 or 2 weeks maximum per year regardless of the amount of time you work there.
Retention Assignment
• What do you think is the most demotivating part of Harper’s job?
Harper is having a hard time managing the additional work responsibilities she has had to pick up since her prior boss, Jose, left the company. It seems that Harper loves what she does and is a team player. She has been doing her best to try and meet her goals while the company and her co-workers adapted to this change. She is frustrated because she is constantly behind on her work and taking on some of Jose’s responsibilities has affected her ability to maintain an appropriate work/life balance. Her new supervisor has been unable to dedicate any time to her professional development or to make her feel valued and appreciated. Harper expected the company to eventually fill Jose’s role and for things to return to some level of normalcy. Yet, six months have passed, and Jose’s role has not been filled. In fact, the company has put a Team Leader in place, who like Harper is overworked and overburdened, since he is supervising a team of six, unlike Jose who only supervised a team of two.
• If you were an HR manager meeting with Harper’s supervisor, David, what advice would you give to help them re-engage Harper?
I would meet with David and advise him to have a sit down meeting with Harper. Perhaps, take her out to lunch, which would allow for a more casual setting, away from the office and distractions. While at lunch he should thank her for being a team player, taking on additional responsibilities, and discuss the possibility of her assuming Jose’s role or transitioning her to a junior management role, if he feels she is not yet ready to assume Jose’s prior position. David should schedule a follow up in office meeting where Harper should give him a detailed accounting of what additional duties she has taken on since Jose’s departure so that David can determine if there is anything in her process that can be streamlined to avoid duplicity of work and maximize efficiency. David may even ask her for suggestions on what she feels may alleviate her workload. David should also meet with the rest of the members on his team to ensure that the workload is being distributed evenly. There is an adage that says that often people will choose “the path of least resistance”. Sometimes certain people on a team are more burdened than others because they never say no and are always willing to help whereas other team members may be resistant or not as pleasant when others approach them with new tasks or problems.
• What would be the downside of losing Harper as an employee?
Losing Harper will create issues in lost productivity while the new employee learns the job, lost productivity of coworkers helping the new employee, decrease employee morale, cause customer service disruption, replacement and transition costs of hiring, and the burnout of other employees. Harper has been on the job for four years and has institutional knowledge which will not be easy to replace. In addition, it is not often that you find an employee who is as invested in their position because they love what they do. Harper’s replacement may not be as enthusiastic about the work and may leave just as quickly as they came. The time and money invested in the new employee would be an additional turnover expense.
The strategies that would assist David in reengaging Harper as indicated in the article “Eight Effective Retention Strategies” would be:
1. INVEST IN EMPLOYEES’ PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
2. ESTABLISH CLEAR-CUT EXPECTATIONS AND POLICIES
4. CREATE A CULTURE OF OPEN COMMUNICATION
5. MAKE IT A PRIORITY TO HELP EMPLOYEES FEEL VALUED
6. DON’T OVERBURDEN EMPLOYEES
8. UNDERSTAND WHY EMPLOYEES STAY
Zoila Cedeno – Personality Assessment
According to the website 16Personalities.com, I was assessed to have the personality traits belonging to the Protagonist group. Apparently, only two percent of the population belongs to this group. Most of the people who are found to have this type of personality are frequently politicians, coaches, and teachers. People who are identified as Protagonists are often confident, charismatic, and good communicators. Some well-known Protagonists are former President Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, John Cusack, and Ben Affleck.
As I read through the assessment I found myself agreeing with a large part of it. The characteristics that are used to describe a Protagonist are tolerant, reliable, altruistic, and natural-born leaders. I am someone who always values other people’s opinions. I don’t expect everyone to always agree with my perspective. I enjoy listening to other’s point of view and always see it as an opportunity to learn and, hopefully, gain a better understanding of whatever topic is being discussed. I also consider myself to be reliable. When I take on a project or task, I always make sure that I do whatever I need to do to complete it even if that means that I must put in extra hours or rearrange my schedule or plans. I feel that I am very instinctive, and this helps me to be able to read a person or a room and figure out a way to engage the people I am with. I also consider myself to be altruistic. I have mentored many people throughout my career. I have often provided employment opportunities to people without experience and helped them further their careers. Despite having a full schedule, I have often helped classmates with homework, projects, and test preparation. All these things were described as strengths.
I also agreed with the site’s analysis of what my weaknesses are perceived to be. I am overly idealistic. I always try to see the good in people. I always strive for perfection which means that I will edit and review a project more times than I should. I am a little indecisive and often second-guess or overanalyze my decisions. Always the peacemaker, always trying to get everyone on the same page to reach a consensus. I am always trying to fix something and often take on other people’s problems as if they were my own, especially in my personal life. My word is my bond. If I promise to do something, I will make sure that I make good on my word, no matter what.
The assessment also indicates that Protagonists choose careers that “…type cast their eyes towards anything that lets them do what they love most – helping other people!”. I feel this is absolutely true. One of the reasons why I love business management is that it provides you with the opportunity to create learning and growth opportunities for others. In my prior management position, I created an internship program that allowed students to join the organization and get hands-on work experience that they could use for school credit as well as list as work experience on their resume. I provided them with reference letters that they could use in their job searches. Some were offered full-time or part-time positions within the organization upon completing the internship. In my present role, I often find ways to streamline tasks or projects and then teach others within the organization to adopt them as new practices leading to the highest efficiency level possible.
While many of the personality traits of a Protagonist work well in a professional environment, I feel that might not be the same in my personal life. I have heard friends say that I can be perceived as intimidating and too professional, when in reality, I am extremely sensitive. Often this is something that goes unperceived because I always portray this image of confidence and strength. This means that when I am struggling with an issue, most times I am left to do it alone.
I feel that personality assessments can be a helpful tool and help simplify the hiring process. It can provide some insight into an individual’s personality traits, motivation, values, and work preferences. They can help an employer determine whether someone is the right fit for a specific job or role and eliminate any bias in the decision making process. However, it should not be the only measure by which a decision to hire a person should be made. Personality assessments are based on the responses that the person is selecting in the moment. Their responses can be influenced by their mood, nervousness, time constraints, cultural barriers, or a candidate can choose to tweak their responses to match whatever the organization or role requires. This can make the results of a personality assessment unreliable or inaccurate.
LinkedIn Profile – Zoila Cedeno
I enjoyed having Annie Stankevich and Tiffany Suarez join our live class session. I was fascinated by the input and knowledge they provided on how to use your LinkedIn profile as a marketing tool to get noticed and attract potential employers/recruiters. The tips and advice they provided on how to handle difficult interview questions was invaluable.
Of the many things they shared, one of the points that stood out to me was their advice to concentrate on stating what you are doing to be able to meet the requirements of the position you are applying for instead of saying I can’t, I haven’t or I’ve never. The other point that stood out to me was finding examples in your everyday life that would help highlight a requirement or ability needed for the role you wish to be hired for.
One of the suggestions that I used to improve my LinkedIn profile was to update my profile picture with an image that had a solid background and faced forward. I also updated my wallpaper. I changed jobs about a year and a half ago but had not updated my summary or job descriptions. I took advantage of this assignment and updated my summary, past job description and added my new role and duties. In addition, I also added a power point presentation for a recent Excel training workshop that I led at work. Lastly, I contacted some of my contacts and requested recommendations. I was stunned to read some of the things they had to say about me. It was a great confidence booster. I really enjoyed this assignment.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/zoila-c-0462b315b
Zoila Cedeno – SWOT Analysis
Equal Opportunity & The Law
Zoila Cedeno
Hi. My name is Zoila. I am a part-time Business Management major. I have been working in the legal industry for over 30 years. I have been attending BMCC for the past two and half years and I hope to be able to graduate this year.
