Inside and Out Essay Example for Free

Inside and Out Essay We all like to have a good time. Whether it is with our friends, significant others, or our families, we all need to relax. Being a young adult myself I have learned to make wiser decisions about my party time based on prior experiences. After having gone to the clubs, the bars, the pool halls, and the raves I now know that where the real party is at is inside the comfort of your own home where you are the one in control and are not subject to some of the expenses that going out can bring. I think the biggest two aspects that I have to decide between now in my life is going out to dinner and a movie versus hanging out with the same people at the house. Being in control means not getting yourself into predicaments that you normally wouldnt put yourself in. The first predicament I can think of putting myself in when going out is my money situation. Being the young person that I am I have not been given the opportunity yet in my life to be making the mega bucks. Thirty to Forty dollars a night to go to dinner and a movie may not seem like much to some, but for someone who makes on average two-hundred dollars a week and has some hefty bills to pay, thats a big deal. Why would someone want to go out, spend twenty dollars on dinner then $8.50 per person on a movie when they could just as easily stay home rent a movie for about $4.00 for everyone to watch, and cook a meal that cost twenty dollars to feed everyone? On the other hand, when you do go out, although you do spend a little more, it is also a less time-consuming process and easier on the host or hostess. Instead of having to go to the store to get the ingredients for dinner, going to rent a movie then coming home and preparing dinner, you instead just scout from place to place and do what you have to do. Also, going to a restaurant can be a little relaxing from time to time because you have someone to serve you and you have nothing to worry about but basking in good conversation. There is no mess to pick up or dishes to do once the dinner is over. Another advantage would be that at the theater there is a bigger screen. Im not too sure if bigger is better to everyone, but I do enjoy a good theater flick from time to time on those oversized screens. Also, when in the theater you get to savor the rich buttery popcorn that only the theater can provide, although it costs another pretty penny. Another great advantage to staying in is the people. Its such a good time when you have people who are appreciative of you as their host or hostess. Renting a good film and serving a fabulous meal is the epitome of a good night for me and my family and friends. Be it a nice southern barbeque dinner or fancy chicken cordon bleu that I prepare, it seems as though my guests always feel satisfied. It makes a person feel good and is often times relaxing to realize that something theyre doing brings joy to others. To know that you are the one that put the smile on their face or the one who made sure they had a good day is an awesome feeling. Not many other feelings top that one for me. Whether you stay in or go out be sure to relax and have a good time. Thats really what being with the ones you love and care about is all about. Make sure to mix things up a bit so that it doesnt get too monogamous staying in. Also when going out make sure to take just enough money that you can afford to spend or youll wind up broke until pay day. Whatever it is that you do, make sure it is not stressful. Remember, having fun means relaxing, no matter how you do it.

Chagnon Debate Essay -- essays papers

Chagnon Debate In Patrick Tierney’s article â€Å"The Fierce Anthropologist,† he discussed the faults that are, or may be, present in Napoleon Chagnon’s anthropological research of the Yanamamo, or â€Å"The Fierce People,† as Chagnon has referred to them in his best-selling book on the people. Due to Chagnon’s unparalleled body of work in terms of quantity and, as many argue, quality, Marvin Harris draws heavily on his research to support his point, which is that the origin of war is ecological and reproductive pressure. One should question Harris’s theories (and all theories), especially in the light of the aforementioned article, but I do not believe his arguments are, or should be, adversely affected by the information presented in this article. The claim that the Yanamamo are an extremely militant people is pervasive in Chagnon’s work, and Harris uses this as the basis for his arguments. However, Tierney claims that â€Å"Chagnon’s account of Yanamami warfare seemed greatly exaggerated.† (Pg. 54). Another integral part of Chagnon’s research, which Harris cites, was that the Yamamamo wage war because of women. John Peters, in Tierney’s article, presented a differing opinion stating that, â€Å"these raids [referring to the four raids carried out in half a century by a group that Chagnon said ‘demonstrated the most extreme form of Yanamami â€Å"treachery.†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (Pg. 54).] †¦had been provoked not by competition for women, as Chagnon had written, but by the spread of new diseases, which prompted angry accusations of witchcraft.† These, among a slew of other discrepancies, cast an especially doubtful light on Chagnon’s research, and thus Harris’s conclusions. Harris reasons that if Yanamamo warfare is indeed caused by fights over women that this is caused not only by lack of females due to female infanticide which is legitimized through male supremacy which is legitimized through warfare, but also the males’ failure to bring home meat. In Cannibals and Kings Harris writes, â€Å"From the account of Helena Valero, a Brazilian captured by the Yanomamo, we know that wives make a point of taunting their husbands when the supply of game falters†¦ The men themselves, after returning empty-handed, become touchy about real or imagined insubordination on the part of their wives and younger brothers. At the same time, the failure of the men emboldens wives and unmarried junior males to ... ...logists to verify his data,† and that, â€Å"(pg. 54) he [the German ethnologist Irenaus Eibl-Eibesfeldt] and another Yanomami researcher at the institute wrote a letter to the American Human behavior and Evolution Society, which claimed that Chagnon had got important mortality rate statistics wrong.† (Pg. 54) Even if these claims of deceiving information and others of plain false information (â€Å"In ‘The Fierce People,’ Chagnon wrote that the Yanomami were ‘one of the best nourished populations thus far described in the anthropological/biomedical literature.’ Unlike Chagnon’s ‘burly’ men, the villagers I encountered were – as Rice had observed in 1924 – tiny and scrawny.† [Pg. 54]) Are all true I don’t believe the vast majority of Chagnon’s research was falsified or misleading – nearly 40 years of false, purposefully misleading information would be an absurd, pointless task of monumental proportions. Overall, I do not believe Harris’s theories are, or should be, damaged significantly even in a worst case scenario (described by Tierney). His theory could stand alone without the evidence provided by the Yanomamo and in all probability the conclusions drawn from them were, indeed, valid.

Presenter Notes

Slide#1Good morning! My name is and I’m happy to be here today for this presentation. We will be discussing ways to maximize the use of our Human Resources department and I will concentrate on the ways our Human Resources department can be used for individual performance appraisals, ways of assessing our teams and succession planning.Slide#2What are performance appraisals? Simply put, they are the evaluation of goals that are pre-determined and set by both the employee and organization (Harvard Business Press, 2009). They are used to measure an employee’s performance and team performance.Why are performance appraisals needed? A performance appraisal can be used to provide documentation for any needed disciplinary or termination issues. It can also be utilized to identify the best employees. This will help management identify employee’s individual strengths and weaknesses. This will help employees reach their highest potential. Management is then able to take the information to identify proper training and feedback for every employee. We would cease to exist without our patients. Patient satisfaction is a major factor within the organization. Thus, patient satisfaction comments provide an important source of documentation when using performance appraisal.The performance appraisal can provide an objective evaluation. The goals should be consistent among all employees within each job description. Evaluation then would be conducted using the equal benchmarking. Utilization of the same goals and expectation within the job description helps management avoid discrimination complaints.The management team must take ownership of the performance appraisal system and emphasize its importance and usefulness to our employees. Our employees must realize the value of our appraisal system and be actively involved with  his or her own appraisal to take ownership of his or her own successes.A performance appraisal can provide clarification of expectations, management communication, increased consistency, and expand accountability. Our company will benefit through boosted productivity, retaining experienced employees, and the fostering of culture that allows employees and management to communicate and share ownership in the evaluation process.Slide#3Plan—A date and time should be decided upon in advance to minimize potential conflicts and allow for proper preparation. The appraisal should take place in a location that will provide privacy and limit interruptions.Document—Positive and negative documentation should be collected from the employee hire date. This allows for an accurate, solid performance appraisal to be delivered. Collection of this documentation can happen in many ways, but most often occurs through e-mails, feedback from team members, disciplinary paperwork, current job description and scope of practice, attendance, patient satisfaction surveys and management’s own notes. This information will allow the necessary information that will be needed to deliver an accurate and well-founded performance appraisal.Review Past Appraisals—Has the employee reached his/her goals from the last performance appraisal? Determine what actions need to take place for this employee to improve current performance, what management can do to help the employee reach these goals and provide praise for actions the employee has done well.There are potential drawbacks when using performance appraisals. It is often a hard task to differentiate between organizational performance and individual performance (Towney & Harris, 2000). A performance appraisal may be ineffective if it does not correspond with the culture within the organization (Schraeder, Becton, & Portis, 2007). Also, if not used correctly, a performance appraisal can be detrimental to a company. Complications arising:impede improvement: Soltani (2005) believes that performance appraisals will  adversely affect quality improvement within an organization due to negative perceptions. Negative perceptions: Performance appraisals can be stressful and uncomfortable for both the employee and management. This often is true if the employee being appraised does not trust management or they believe the appraisal is an exercise to be endured and executed. Erroneous information: Accurate information should be provided within the performance appraisal. It should be used to compare current performance to pre-established criteria and the employee should be rated honestly.Often, this is not the case and the employee will receive inflated ratings to please the employee to avoid conflict. Legal issues: When not conducted appropriately, performance appraisals can cause legal issues for the organization. Thus, the performance appraisal must be free from bias and discrimination. Professional goals: Performance appraisals are used to outline an employee’s performance goals. An overly challenging goal may affect the employeeâ€⠄¢s quality of work, knowledge and skills. This would not be beneficial for the organization or employee. New employees should focus on outcome goals rather than performance goals initially. Affect pay: A deficit in performance-based pay may be linked to the performance appraisal. This leads to tension among employees and management.Slide#4The employee should be informed of any performance pay increases after the appraisal. The rationale for not giving any increase in performance pay should be discussed with the employee and allow the employee any rebuttal if not in agreement with the appraisal.Goals must be communicated with the employee and must be in alignment with organizational culture. They must be specific, measurable, supported, and achievable. These goals will be motivators for the immediate time to come. Unobtainable goals are discouraging and provide no real way to achieve company goals. Documentation of the plan of action for the employee should be completed. This docume ntation will provide a record of what has been tried, lessons learned, and the direction in which the employee should take to meet goals.This will help the employee gain knowledge and experience prior to taking on additional responsibilities. Thus, providing the  employee with his/her strengths and weaknesses. Next the discussion for what the employee goals will be for the upcoming future should take place. New goals should be addressed. The employee should be willing to correct any performance issues.The performance appraisal process should include this step for an overall effective process. This allows management and the employee to be involved with the process.Slide#5The employee should know where he/she stands in obtaining performance goals. Thus, providing feedback is an integral part of the task. The feedback should be delivered to the employee to motivate the employee but also help him/her identify any weakness in his/her performance and to help contribute to growth. The em ployee should leave the appraisal with knowledge of what he/she specifically needs to improve on and the actions needed to improve. However, management may unknowingly make mistakes when delivering feedback. This may impede the employee’s performance. Some instances that may be counter-productive to providing feedback is not honestly providing accurate feedback because of a negative connotation, focusing on the individual rather than actions, generalizing the feedback given, and offering solutions with negative feedback only.Personality Appraisal: The employee’s personality may be appraised instead of his/her performance. This may leave the employee feeling attacked. Demoralizing: The appraisal may only provide feedback on what you are not doing well, instead of what you have done correctly. â€Å"I Talk, You Listen† Approach: The appraisal should allow for conversation to take place. The employee should be allowed to ask questions and not to have to sit quietly and listen to only what management wants to say. Surprises: The employer should not surprise the employee. The employer should provide feedback at times other than the performance appraisal, especially if the actions of the employee are negative.Performance appraisals are not often looked fondly upon. Management delivering the appraisals needs to use the appraisal as a way to provide  both positive and negative feedback. This will make the process more effective and beneficial to both the organization and employee.Slide#6The performance appraisal should be completed using simple language. Do not use jargon when speaking with the employee. The employee expects honesty, so don’t gloss over the appraisal if it is not as positive as the employee hoped. This isn’t the time to renegotiate the goals set at the beginning of the year, but to deliver the information on any deficits the employee had. The manager delivering the appraisal should not be afraid to praise the emplo yee for doing a good job. On the other hand, if the employee has not performed as expected, the manager should not feel the need to hide the bad news.The employee’s performance is not a reflection on that manager, but the employee. It is not ethical to inflate an employee’s performance detail to spare feelings. Doing so, actually will expose the organization to liability. Feedback should be given throughout the year so there is no surprise or likelihood for any confrontations during the appraisal review. The employee will respect the manager more when this takes place then waiting until the performance appraisal for all the information to be divulged.Slide#7Is the company concerned with employee successes? Yes! When the employee is able to succeed in attaining his/her goals, the organization succeeds as well. Increased efficiency and production are achieved when management and employees work together with a common goal. The organization will exist only when our company invests in our employees.Professional investing begins upon the employment of the new employee. The employee was hired for his/her individual set of skills and knowledge. The roles and responsibilities of the employee evolve and grow as the organization evolves. Thus, the organization continues to invest in the employee for both the organization and employee’s benefit.There is a benefit to helping an employee expand in professional development.  The organization invests in that employee and hopes to promote the culture of the company. This allows the employee to adapt to changing demands in the work environment. When the employee is successful, then the organization appears more successful.A successful performance appraisal will benefit the organization by providing professional development of the employee. This will help the organization create a employee that follows the culture of the organization. This leads to increased employee satisfaction and results in decreased e mployee turnover.Slide#8Teams of individuals compose an organization. There are organizational expectations for a team’s performance. Four areas need to be considered when assessing a team’s performance. These areas are financial health, market wins, service quality and personal development (Smith, 2004). Financial viability—Financial viability is important in measuring team performance. This tells management how well the team utilizes employees and keeping the overall costs reduced.Market wins—The assessment of the team in marketing gives the organization a picture of how well the team is doing in comparison to company goals. Service Quality—The team is assessed on how important they make the consumer feel and attention paid to needs of the consumer. Was the care appropriate and did the team provide the consumer an opportunity for communication of his/her needs? Personal Development—The team is assessed on the investment of each team member ’s personal development. Did the team members achieve his/her goals and how does this compare to the overall team efforts? Specific evaluations can be good indicators in overall team satisfaction.Slide#9A multi-source feedback model is one that gathers information on an employee from members within the employee’s immediate peer group. This type of feedback model will include direct feedback from peers, supervisors, and  subordinates. This model also gives the employee a chance to evaluate his/her own performance. Feedback may also come from external sources, such as patients. Multisource feedback may be contrasted by upward feedback, where feedback is given from direct reports and traditional performance appraisals, where his/her direct supervisor only evaluates the employee.This combination of appraisals ensures accurate assessments of employees and teams. Supervisors would be able to utilize feedback from the employee’s peers, patients, and his/her own indiv idual performance review. The employees must separate individual assessments from team assessments to ensure accuracy. This type of evaluation also allows for praise to be given when it is due.The multi-source feedback model can also be utilized for team performance evaluations. The multi-source feedback model allows supervisors see the performance of a team from all points of view. This model would be able to identify if the team is meeting organizational goals.Slide#10 Managers must be consistent when evaluating team performance and employees. The manager must understand the importance of the assessment strategy. For example, the employee evaluation focuses upon the individual employee while the team evaluation focuses upon the team as a whole. Thus, it is important to have a system in place for evaluations. The nature of the team type of evaluation needs to be focused on discussions rather than endless form filing. This makes sense because the manager will need to gain an underst anding of the whole team and the successes attained in meeting designated objectives.The discussions need to focus on what can strengthen the team and what individual opportunities exist for individual team members. The team members must feel comfortable and be encouraged to be candid during the discussions. Employee evaluations focus on the individual employee and conducted with that employee only. There are many types of evaluations available to assess an individual employee in an ongoing performance assessment. Individual assessments are aimed at providing feedback to the employee and management for administrative decision-making and employee development. The primary purpose of an employee performance  appraisal is to improve the employee to achieve goals.Slide#11Individuals are not happy doing the same job over and over again without the prospect of something more interesting or challenging being offered to them. Employees who anticipate a long-term career path will look at op tions available to them. They will likely be more motivated and productive. They will want to understand what is expected from them and think about what they need to do to remain with the company.Succession planning helps the organization plan what it must do to provide professional development for our employees. A successful strategy provides cross-training and mentoring to employees and prepares them to be ready to step into other jobs and responsibilities should the opportunity present itself. This allows the organization to function effectively. To ensure growth and sustainability, an organization should implement a succession planning strategy. This will guarantee the organization continued successes and allows the organization to develop more leaders within (Beck, 2013).Slide#12The organization can use succession planning through the development of more leaders within the actual organization. This allows the organization to invest in employees, which provides positive reinforc ement and satisfaction. This also allows to place employees in different positions should the necessity arise to fill positions due to unforeseen circumstances. The actual candidates selected must be chosen carefully, since the candidates will be expanding their competencies and skills to ensure they will be able to lead others. The candidates must be familiar with as many departments as possible so they are able to foster a greater understanding of the organization and culture.Successional planning should be a benefit within the organization. This can be used to help recruit valuable employees. This will help aid the  organization attain the mission and goals set forth.Slide#13 Identification of key positions should be completed. Next, key employees should be identified for these positions. The employees should have adequate development and training to attain the organizational mission and goals. This would ensure the employees identified for these positions would be prepared to step-in to these key positions. This assures the organization has created a group of highly competent employees to advance within the organizational framework.The employees selected must be willing to participate in succession training for the program to work. The organization must ensure the employees selected have the desired abilities and talents to follow the career paths set forth by the company. This is where professional development is key. The organization has created the opportunity for the employees and the organization must motivate the employee to grow. This will help the organization develop employee loyalty and reduce turnover.Senior leadership must be involved for succession planning to be effective and successful. This leadership must become integral in the training and development of the selected employees. The senior leaders must buy-in to the concept of succession planning and provide a positive attitude to the development and training.Slide#14The performance appr aisal system provides opportunities for professional development and training, encourages positive company attitudes, and provides the opportunity for a clear understanding of expectations to be seen. The actual appraisal provides the opportunity to reward, encourage, and clarify expectations for employees. Appraisals are meant to be as accurate as possible and be fairly administered.The appraisal system can be utilized in both individual and team evaluation  approaches. The appraisal system should always be given in a non-threatening manner and be a positive experience even when the appraised employee doesn’t meet expectations. The appraisal should provide a platform to help motivate and develop employees.The goals of employees and the organization should be aligned so both entities reap the rewards. Evaluation of both individual and team performance is beneficial in increasing productivity individually and organizationally. This leads to a more accurate evaluation.The mul ti-source feedback model can be utilized to evaluate team and individual performance. Peers, supervisors and the individual teal member is able to evaluate performance. This model can be used to identify strengths and weaknesses that can then be discussed and a plan of action be implemented to promote professional growth.Succession planning is the strategy utilized to fill vacant positions with qualified employees. The key positions are initially identified and then the employees are identified for these positions. Significant training and professional development will then take place for succession within the organization.The goal of this presentation is to foster the understanding of a successful performance appraisal process. Our organizational goal is to provide support to our employees by promoting professional development to attain our organization’s mission and goals.Slide#15 The Human Resources department is ready to help prepare performance appraisal forms, establish protocols, provide managerial training to improve communication skills to help deliver performance appraisals, and ensure the performance appraisal process complies with all laws.The attitude conveyed by the CEO and Board is a positive one that shows a commitment to our employees and has our employee’s best interests in mind.  They want employees to be vested in our organization and provide professional development to all involved.Our organization is taking a positive attitude to performance appraisals and is promoting them as a positive opportunity for constructive change. Performance appraisals are not to be used as a disciplinary measure.Our organization supports all employees and will continue to help our employees become engaged in a process that will retain them. Interventions will be implemented for those who need improvement. Positive reinforcement will be used at all times.

A New York Times Op Ed Article - 1443 Words

Introduction: A New York Times op-ed article on May 14, 2013 revealed that Angelina Jolie underwent a double mastectomy (Jolie). She did not have cancer. What would prompt a healthy individual to perform such drastic and disfiguring surgery if her life were not in danger? It turns out that she carries a breast cancer gene mutation, BRCA1, which increases the chances of developing breast and ovarian cancer. The availability of genetic testing has caused prophylactic double mastectomy rates to increase dramatically. Celebrities such as Angelina Jolie, Sharon Osborne and Christina Applegate have had double mastectomy due to their genetic predisposition for developing the disease. What is the BRCA gene mutation, what are the risks, and who is†¦show more content†¦Therefore, mutations lead to an increased risk of developing breast cancer among other malignancies in one’s lifetime (Hardy, Tarasewicz, Jeruss, 2013, p. 49). Women with a BRCA gene mutation have a considerable risk of developing breast cancer in their lifetime compared to those who do not carry the gene mutation. In the general population, the prevalence of BRCA genes is 1 in 300-500 people. In some populations, the frequency of carriers is much higher. Most notably, Ashkenazi Jewish descendants have a frequency as high as 1 in 40 (Hardy, Tarasewicz, Jeruss, 2013, pp. 49-50). Women who are BRCA carriers have a 76–84% chance of developing breast cancer before the age of 70, compared to 13% of non BRCA gene mutation carriers. Additionally, carriers are more likely to be diagnosed at a younger age, and their cancer is of a higher histologic grade. They are also more likely to develop cancer in the contralateral breast (Hardy, Tarasewicz, Jeruss, 2013, p. 50). This increased risk is great cause for concern, and currently genetic testing is available to those who might be gene mutation carriers. Who should get tested? According to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), primary care providers should screen women who have family members with breast, ovarian, tubal, or peritoneal cancer, to identify a family history that might be associated with an increased risk for BRCA gene