essay-management
Jessie 1
example3.docxiguel Marcial
Professor Matthew Habich
MGMT 302-06
March 20, 2019
Final Reflection
When I first enrolled into this course, I thought it was going to be another class that consisted of a straight monotone lecture. Despite my initial thought of the course, it was the complete opposite. Throughout the winter quarter I listened and learned about concepts and theories that I have never heard of until the day they were discussed in class. It was my first time hearing some new words like Machiavellianism or Operant conditioning. Some concepts that were discussed struck me more than others such as Self-fulfilling prophesies, Emotional Labor, and Stress. As the class went on, I found that I had already experienced many of these concepts throughout personal aspects of my life.
When we first discussed self-fulfilling prophesies, I immediately related the concept to myself. The Pygmalion effect which I saw that directly tied to my current employer, UPS. In my primary job I work in a team of ten other hourly employees. During our morning PCM (Pre-work communication) meetings our supervisor always takes the time to remind us that we are the #1 crew at the Ontario Ramp who can unload/load aircraft faster than all other crews on our shift. “Crew 155 can do anything on the ramp no matter what anybody else thinks”, my supervisor always says. I’ve noticed since my supervisor first started pumping us up at the beginning of our shift our crew starts our day off positively and ends the day in a positive note as well. This has had an optimistic effect and has helped my crew accomplish all our assignments & tasks with speed, efficiency, as well as taking safety as our top priority under the extreme time constraints that we face at the airport. In the near future after I have settled in a manager’s position, I will incorporate self-fulfilling prophesies like the positive form of the Pygmalion effect and set high expectations to those that work under my leadership in order to encourage performance. I will also apply it to any group projects I might be part of in order to inspire teammates to perform excellent.
The second concept that struck my mind was emotional labor. The first job that I worked for was for a thrift store named Deseret Industries. During my time at Deseret Industries I was primarily on the sales floor working cashier. Every day was a tough one when working the sales floor. Having to hold back your emotions and keep a smile on my face while customers were being difficult was mentally exhausting, and left me wondering if the job was worth keeping. Deseret Industries did not have a database that contained all priced items available in the store, instead the production team located in the second floor would price each individual item manually with price tags. Before customers would make their way to the front to check out, many of the daily regular customers would swap higher price labels with lower ones in order to pay a cheaper price. Our store believed that the customer was always right, despite knowing an obvious switch such as a two-dollar tag on a new pair of pants, we had to hold back our emotions and not argue with the clients. Customers would always get offended when told that a supervisor would have to review the price to see if it matches the item. This would aggregate them and initiate an argument. When I wanted to yell, fight, and throw a big “I told you so” to the customer, I had to hold back my emotions and display the appropriate ones in order to do my work successfully. I did not know what emotional labor was until it was discussed in class. Now that I understand it, I will apply it more than ever it into my life in order to be successful at any future employments, classes, and my personal life. I will keep my emotions in check in order to be professional, successful, and express a satisfactory demeanor.
Lastly, the discussion over Stress stuck with me in the sense that I was not aware of its significant concerning factors. I work two jobs and attend two different schools. I feel like I am stressed out 24/7, yet I never understood what to do about it. When I would hear stress, I thought about it as a momentary thing. I would have never guessed that it can cause an array of health problems from medical, behavioral, and psychological if not properly managed. I normally sleep between 4-6 hours each day due to my hectic school & work schedule. I experience days where I feel physically exhausted with little to no energy, or tiredness all of the time with frequent headaches. During this discussion I learned that I experience burnout quite often. I also took from our discussions how to manage stress and incorporate it into our daily life. During stressful moments at work between coworkers I will do my part not to aggregate another employee who might be on the verge of losing their temper. While a chaotic episode might be happening at work, I will encourage everyone to stop and take a breather in order help calm ourselves so we can gather our thoughts to make efficient decisions. Also, if someone that I know might be having a bad day I will ask if there’s anything I can do to help alleviate any tension. I will manage my time by prioritizing my activities by making lists or keeping an agenda with my to do’s. By properly managing my time it will help me find an appropriate sleep schedule so I can fully rest and eliminate burnout as well as the symptoms that follow it. I will find time to eat well balanced meals and exercise more often than I normally do to help reduce the effects of stress.
