I was surprised to find that a lot of the jobs that my skills search resulted in were technical jobs. I assume that this could be for two reasons: the first being that a lot of my work experience is from being a server, which is a very hands on job; the second being that I am of the newer working generation that has grown up with the demands of increasingly fast paced work environments and technological changes. 

Positions that I think could be good matches include: marketing or sales manager, nutritionist, marriage & family therapist, training & development specialist, human resources manager, career education, or elementary school/childcare administrator. These are all occupations that I have considered. What I think the site does well for career management is detail how certain strengths in skill can match up with certain position qualifications, thus, as Noe explains, career insight. It is supportive of the development of a career plan and eventual recycling since the user is able to compare the knowledge, skills, activities, technology and context from one job and apply them to the possible transition to another. 

My first association with diversity, is the composition of a group where each individual has something different to bring to the table. It is obvious that people have their unique experiences that are not shared by any two individuals. So, in consideration of my definition for diversity, I have to expand upon my initial association of diversity being a group of people with a range of experiences. I think this definition of diversity can be complemented by adding that these differences are associated with cultures, traditions, history, and identities. The DiversityInc app article “Connecting Employers & People With Disabilities” by Sam Ali makes a good point on diversity being inclusive of people with disabilities, an aspect of diversity that I did not consider. I liked Pagnotta’s example of summing a successful workplace up as a rubiks cube – with millions of possible trait combinations that make up each individual, each person is bound to act according to a unique set of beliefs, expectations, and values.

I recognize that my definitions of culture and diversity are a product of my studies in international relations and history more so than the way that the term is used for culture in the workplace. However, culture and diversity are crucial aspects of an organizational culture. Just like experience should be considered when developing successful adult learning programs, it is also an important aspect in developing an effective work environment. Diversity allows for a variety of opinions when it comes to work content, as well as allowing employees to learn from one another on a daily basis at the workplace.

Noe details the difficult implications of cultural diversity when it comes to differing social norms and expectations (2010, 404). Different cultures have differing expectations when it comes to workplace interactions, which may lead to misunderstandings or miscommunication at best. I still think that these differences are conducive of the organizational environment despite the challenges that they potentially pose.

Managing diversity in the workplace means that the establishment recognizes that there are challenges when it comes to people of different opinions, experiences, and backgrounds working together, and promoting successful communication in order to capitalize on the opportunities provided by a diverse workforce.

The DiversityInc app “Why Companies Rise and Fall on the Diversity Inc. Top 50” made the point that commitment to diversity in the workforce is specifically just as important to include in management. Thus, when creating a diversity training program it is important to include all levels of the organization. One of the Pagnotta’s videos in the DiversityDNA application explains some of the differences of different cultural mindsets. The ‘I’ background of individualist cultures such as Australia, U.S., UK focus on individual achievements, and are strictly business in mindset. Meaning that employees may easily move to work for competitors and may also easily be let go by a company that is unsatisfied with their performance.
In other cultures, such as Japan for example, the group is of paramount importance. This means that the individual should be loyal and not advance or operate outside the interests of the group and that employees with poor skills will not be released but possibly moved to a different department. These differing expectations often impair communications and understandings among employees. Thus, I think it is important to have the entire workforce engage in a culture and diversity training program.

Knowles (1968) coined the term andragogy in contrast with the practice of pedagogy to highlight the importance of facilitating participatory learning rather than unilateral teaching methods. Similarly, Noe contends that development is most likely to occur when employees are “forced to learn new skills, apply their skills and knowledge in a new way, and master new experiences” (2010, 364). In order to properly facilitate this type of experiential learning, adult learners must be provided with the opportunity to share prior experiences and knowledge in order to apply them to the content being learned as well as allow fellow learners to reflect on multiple perspectives. I argue that to produce successful adult learning programs, professionals must create an inviting learning environment that is engaging, and tailored with the purpose of producing new experiences that can be applied outside of the program period.
Finally, why is experience the critical piece in considering the development of adult learning? Well, when taking a look at the other andragogical assumptions: self-concept, readiness, orientation, and motivation, I believe that experience has a part in facilitating each of these. By being able to draw on previous experiences and gaining insights from others’ experiences adult learners are motivated to apply the learning for their development. Such involvement engages the aspect of self-directed learning rather than dependency, which covers the self-concept assumption. Self-directed learning ties into the readiness of adult learners to gain knowledge and skill sets (orientation) that allow the application of these new experiences in the assumption of new social roles.

In any case, having completed the Keirsey Temperament Sorter, I am a guardian. I am a server and preserver of current social institutions (how boring! They just sucked all the creativity out of my “temperament.”) I did find it interesting that in both this and the learning styles test, I tested into the majority grouping – visual learner and guardian temperament. The last part of the Keirsey evaluation was interesting to me since I am going into the workforce. It described me as someone who prefers structure, routine, and a chain of command. I definitely agree that I do well in structure however, I don’t doubt that the personality traits of the guardian as dependable, practical, down-to-earth etc. would lead me to success in very different work environments.

As a result of the test, I learned to be able to distinguish and specify certain preferences that I have as well as situations where I tend to succeed. Having a test emphasize these has also provided me the opportunity to pin point such traits that I have that do not fit into the organized model guidelines that I have fallen into.  

Since I wrote a lot about the disadvantages I experienced in taking the Keirsey Temperament Sorter, I will highlight some of the ways it can be supportive of management development. Personality tests may encourage managers to change their behaviors to benefit their work environment and responsibilities in a highly interactive position. Motivations for this can be both improved interpersonal relationships as well as increasing the likelihood of a promotion. 

I suggest the implementation of lecture-styled training as an initial modeling of behaviors, possibly using audiovisual technologies, as well as a concluding platform for employee interaction and a means of group innovation and discussion of application. The lecture and audiovisuals can successfully illustrate the tasks that are necessary to the bank teller position. However, since BB&T has been successful as a company, it is most likely that the turn over rate is a result of employee dissatisfaction. In this case, BB&T might want to employ a guest speaker for motivational benefits, as well as offer other training methods that involve greater empowerment and ability to control and effectively engage in the learning.

The engagement of learning can be acquired via hands on training methods such as simulations, self-directed learning, and role-plays. Each of these can successfully support differing tasks that are required of bank tellers. Simulations may assist bank tellers in measuring their successful management of computer systems, entering data, and functions. To attack communication skills, role-plays can be supportive in conveying the meaningfulness of interpersonal relationships and manners of conducting communications professionally. These can allow the employee to repetitively role-play and strategically administer answers in differing scenarios that apply to the work of a bank teller. Further allowing employee control over their learning is exemplified in the self-directed training model. In this case, the bank tellers have the opportunity to master content at their own pace and review lectures and videos multiple times in hopes of applying their knowledge to the work environment. In addition to these hands-on training approaches, bank tellers can benefit from stimulating training courses that require strategizing and coordination among employees of their branch.

These group based training models such as adventure and team training allow for the bank tellers to practice their communications skills, strengthen interpersonal relationships within the branch, as well as work together to achieve work goals and solve problems while being trained in work related skills. Thus, in conclusion, if BB&T values their success rate and wants to reduce the percentage of bank teller turnover, they need to invest in a blended training model that fits into their budget yet targets each of the major skills necessary tasks in a bank teller’s daily work experience.

My third interviewee is a Career Development Consultant at UR. In hindsight, I would have liked to conduct another UR interview, and may still do so. I say this because I would like to compare the training experiences of the university employees versus the training experiences and expectations I outlined previously. This interviewee felt less prepared prior to the training to be expected to apply the learning later. She also indicated that training is self-selected and sporadic. In this situation, training is rarely conducted with the group of people that she interacts with most. Thus, there is less of an opportunity to interact and motivate one another as employees to extend the learning to the workplace and organizational goals collaboratively.

I have formed a few conclusions from the interview process.  These include importance of training to support innovation, and collaboration among employees, the importance of communication, feedback, and involvement of management in the training process, and the productivity of training providing concrete work examples that can be both applied and helpful in organizing a plan for training application.

            I hesitate to use myself as an example, since I fall into the grouping of the milleniums, those who have been expected to be technology literate as we grow up. However, in comparison to my peers and colleagues, I am much less involved with social media on the social level. I have newly been introduced to Twitter via requirements for my Human Resource Development class. I can attest that while I was previously familiar with social media as a resource to keep in touch, and informed about people’s personal lives and shared events, I had only viewed it as a tool that abolished the nuances of distance, unilateral communication, and induced globalization and interconnectedness. Especially because the milleniums apply these resources mainly in personal contexts, never did I think Twitter could be so conducive for educational purposes. Personally, I am finding it to be a great resource for my political science courses. I have been following a number of news resources, and the hash system has opened my world up to a variety of opinions on specific topics of my interest. Furthermore, Twitter has been beneficial in exposure to the personal experiences of people which in many times provide a completely different vantage point than those found in the media or textbooks. From a work perspective, I am amazed at how easy it is to share information among professionals. Between my professor and colleagues I have seen how Twitter is used as a means to channel relevant information and support one another with resources that pertain to their field. Thus, I have learned first hand that Twitter is an interactive site that maintains the circulation of personal originality while implementing hands on learning and feedback.

While there may be technologies that are simpler to navigate, I argue that Twitter is unique in aptitude, and user-friendly with practice. People who are just taking the step into the world of social media, and the opportunities that new technologies have introduced, are generally taking a leap out of their element in the first place. There may be social media technologies that are easier in terms of transition for such newbies. For example, blogging entails cohesive writing presented in a structured and orderly fashion. This media is more similar to previous dominant forms of communication such as the presentation of e-mails where one person contributes at a time.  However, generalizations such as milleniums, Gen Xers or traditionalists are just categories of preferred learning style based on age. I argue that once these people have accepted the contribution of information at a faster and multilateral pace, Twitter can in fact be a productive and unique tool for a wide variety of needs and age groups. To say that Twitter is not a tool for people that are not technologically savvy or familiar with social media only limits their opportunity to relate a useful resource.

            In conclusion, while Twitter may be the most foreign type of social media to those less familiar with technology, I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to enhance their networks for both personal development and work related learning. Once the concept and navigation of the site are grasped, the user will only feel like he/she is missing out when not keeping track of the constant flow of twitter feed.

1. Job Title: Server
2. Organizational Relationships:
   1. Reports to: Manager, Owner
   2. Supervises: Back Servers
   3. Coordinates with: Host, Server Team, Food Runner, Kitchen Staff
3. Summary of Primary Tasks:
   1. Setting the dining room tables for the appropriate meal
   2. Making sure that the dining room is clean and presentable
   3.  Retrieving clean dishes from the kitchen and putting them away.
   4. Shining glasses and silverware.
   5. Folding napkins.
   6. Making
   7.  coffee
   8. Making sure sugar caddies are full
   9. Cutting lemons and any other appropriate garnishes
   10. Making sure there is a substantial amount of drinks such as Milk or Iced Tea
   11. Reviewing what is not available on the menu for that day
   12. Memorizing the specials
   13. Making sure your hair is tied back
   14. Making sure your nail polish is not chipped
   15. Reviewing your section or position for the shift
4. Job Requirements – Knowledge Needed:
   1. Memorization of menu items, their ingredients, and cooking methods
   2. How to make cappuccino, espresso, and other specialty drinks
   3. What garnishes go on which food items or drinks (most of the time just to make sure you are not delivering something that is incomplete)
   4. How to greet the table politely
   5. How to offer information or “upsell” without seeming pushy
   6. How to read the guest and what they are seeking from their dining experience
   7. How to step back when guests need more time
   8. How to make sincere recommendations (people can tell!)
   9. How to communicate with the rest of the staff on what you need: the hostess if you want to be sat more or less covers, bussers or back servers if you need assistance with drinks, the chef if your guests have allergies or special requests, the food runner to confirm timing, order of seats, or any special requests.
   10. Use of technology: seating chart (i.e. Open Table) or the input of dining orders (i.e. Micros)
   11. Common understanding of the kitchen’s timing – necessary to know whether to put the entire order in together, space it out by dividing course lines and ‘firing’ appropriately, or entering courses as they come up
   12. Keeping up with guest needs (i.e. filling drinks, asking whether they would like to order another round, ‘marking’ tables with appropriate silverware such as steak knives our soup spoons)
   13. Making your guest feel like they are your priority
5. Developmental Features:
   1. To develop social and analytical skills in customer service and a teamwork orientated work environment

* I think that this job requires a job analysis model more so than the competency model. I believe that anyone has the capability to be a successful server if they display confidence and dedication to the job. A competency model might be used for a job that may require the development of skills over a longer period of time, such as proficiency with computer software, innovation, etc.