Business and Admin free essay sample

Principles of personal responsibilities and working in a business environment Assessment You should use this file to complete your Assessment. †¢ The first thing you need to do is save a copy of this document, either onto your computer or a disk †¢ Then work through your Assessment, remembering to save your work regularly †¢ When you’ve finished, print out a copy to keep for reference †¢ Then, go to www. vision2learn. com and send your completed Assessment to your tutor via your My Study area – make sure it is clearly marked with your name, the course title and the Unit and Assessment number. Please note that this Assessment document has 8 pages and is made up of 7 Sections. Name: Damian Payne Section 1 – Know the employment rights and responsibilities of the employee and employer 1. Identify four main points that would be included in a contract of employment. If possible, use an example contract to support your answer (feel free to obscure any confidential information). We will write a custom essay sample on Business and Admin or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Place of work Contracted hours Date employment commenced Holiday entitlement a) List three key points of legislation that affect employers in a business environment. Data protection Employment rights and responsibilities Health and safety 2b) List three key points of legislation that affect employees in a business environment. Data protection Health and safety Food safety 3. Identify a range of places where a person can find information on employment rights and responsibilities. You should identify at least two internal and two external sources of information. Internal source Line manager HR manager External source Citizen’s advice Business link 4. Describe how representative bodies can support employees. A trade union rep can help employees in the work place with regards to problems with management, if there’s a problem in the work place you can seek help from a union rep to if management don’t take notice of the employee they can also be present at an employee tribunal problem. 5. Briefly describe employer and employee responsibilities for equality and diversity in a business environment. You should give at least two employer responsibilities and two employee responsibilities. The Responsibilities of Employers to work towards a culture of fairness for all employees and to have a workforce which is representative of the diversity within our local community which would ensure employment opportunities are open to all. The responsibilities of an employee are to treat people fairly, not to bully other members of staff or to victimise other staff members and to adhere to the companies rules for equality and diversity. . Briefly explain the benefits of making sure equality and diversity procedures are followed in a business environment. Your answer should include one benefit for the employer, one benefit for the employee and one benefit for the overall organisation. If equality and diversity are followed then the employer would benefit from competent staff with different perspectives and insight to which could produce more sales and there are laws in place for this so the co mpany could be fined if they don’t follow these. The staff would be more positive in their work place and motivated to do the work they are paid to do which would benefit the company as they would have a pleasant and enjoyable workplace Section 2 – Understand the purpose of health, safety and security procedures in a business environment 1. Identify employer and employee responsibilities for health, safety and security. If possible, provide relevant health, safety and security policies / documents from your workplace (or place of study) to support your answer. These documents should be annotated to highlight the relevant sections. Employers have a legal obligation to provide a safe and secure place of work I. E any machinery or equipment should be fit for purpose and any risk to health should be outlined for the employees to be able to look at and adhere to for security this could be something like the employees personal details these should be store in a safe and secure place and not distributed around the work place. Employees have a responsibility to be aware of the companies’ health and safety at work protocol to be able to use machinery and equipment for its proper use and not to misuse said items in compliance with the act 2. Explain the purpose of following health, safety and security procedures in a business environment. If health, safety and security procedures are followed in a work place then to start with all classified information would be in a secure place and not left lying around for everyone to read this is important as it could be something like an employee’s bank details. The safety aspect of the legislation covers things like machinery and equipment and other items meaning that everybody at that place of work if adhering to the legislation would not misuse said items and the items would last longer and not get damaged. The health side covers things like manual handling and could help a business reduce their amount of staff of sick on a yearly basis. 3. Describe three different ways of maintaining a safe and secure business environment. Keep confidential information on one computer that can only be log into by the correct person. Give your employee’s proper scheduled breaks so they are comfortable and rested throughout the day. Make sure staffs are trained properly for machinery they use. Section 3 – Understand how to communicate effectively with others 1. Complete the table below with descriptions of different methods of communication. You should include two verbal, two non-verbal and two written methods of communication. Methods of communication |Description | |Verbal communication |1. Telephone call to arrange a meeting | | | | | | | | |2. Face to face in a meeting environment two members may talk face | | |to face to deal with a problem | | | | | | | |Non-verbal communication |1. Eye contact/ Body movement you eye movement and body movement | | |give of a communication maybe you look unhappy this could be your | | |not happy with what that person maybe saying | | | | | | | | |2. Facial expression i. e. ngry or happy face give of vital | | |communications | | | | | | | |Written communication |1. Email you can use email letter to detail and order or invoice | | | | | | | | |2. Memo can be used to let a manager know of a meeting time and | | |place | | | | | | | 2. Using two specific examples, explain how to choose the most appropriate method of communication to meet your needs and the needs of others. If you had to explain something important to a colleague in another area the best way to do this would be a telephone conversation as it would save time back and forward like emails you could make sure when explaining it over the phone that they understand it and if they don’t they can ask you to explain more. If you wanted to let a customer know that there order has been dispatched the best way would be to email them this would be easy for you to do and most people that have ordered something would expect a dispatch email so they know when they might receive it 3. Describe at least two ways of actively listening. When you are Actively listening to someone you should be focused on them and not be distracted by thing that may be going on around you should also take notes during the conversation and ask questions if you feel you have missed something. Section 4 – Understand how to work with and support colleagues 1. Explain the purpose of agreeing standards for your own work. Give at least two reasons. If an employee doesn’t have standards of work or are unclear then it is difficult for them to know or how or when they should be doing it. The absence of standards makes it impossible for an employee to effectively monitor their own performance, if work standards don’t exist then things are open to personal interpretation and this can lead to conflicting views. If a colleague works to a lower standard than others this can affect the work of others. 2. Explain the purpose of taking on new challenges and being able to adapt to change at work. There are many reasons for a company to change this could be a new manager or adviser, requirements of staff or guests etc. For employees it is important to take on new challenges and adapt to changes because a company will never stay the same, Employees who can adapt and are willing to change are more valuable to a company the employees that resist change. An employee that wants to change will advance and build a better career those employees that don’t will more than likely be redundant in the future. 3. Explain the purpose of treating others with honesty and consideration. Been honest and considerate with other earns trust from them they can become more supportive to you which could help in the workplace and most workplaces can be busy if colleagues trust each other they are more likely to ask each other for help they are more likely to help you in your hour of need. If there was no trust and you was not considerate to other’s things could get delayed in the work place because people are less likely to offer help to you if you are dishonest and inconsiderate If everybody in a workplace was considerate and honest then there would fewer complaints and grievances in the work place the company would run smoother. Section 5 – Know how to plan own work and be accountable to others 1. Explain the purpose of meeting work standards and deadlines when completing tasks in a business environment. By meeting standards in a company clients would get their order on time production in the company would be optimal. Staff would be able to understand what is required of them on a daily basis. If a company is supplying another company with certain parts and work standards were to kept on track then these parts could be delayed which could mean the company losing the contract to supply which then would result in letting staff go and the company losing trade. A company is more efficient and staffs are happier if work standards are set correctly resulting in deadlines been meet and more work been offered. 2. Describe two different methods that you can use to plan your own work in a business environment. The most simple way to plan your work would be to do a simple to do list or if you need a more detailed method to complete your daily tasks you could use the S. M. A. R. T method which is a more in depth look at what you want to do. With S. M. A. R. T it is a more detailed resource and can be used for all kinds of projects you can set out specific goals for each task. By doing this if there are others they can see where you goals are heading and can see the tasks laid out. With the simple to do list this is a speedy less informative approach and you could end up missing something important. 3. Describe ways of keeping other people informed about progress and compare their effectiveness. What are the benefits and drawbacks of each approach? Conference calls – Benefits are more of a face to face approach, chance to get immediate feedback, can be done with relative speed, and can get the point across quicker. Drawbacks are everybody in call have to take time out to receive call, important data cannot be relayed, less informative approach. Emails – Benefits are relative speed, can be received at any time, can attach important info, and can be copied to others. Drawbacks are not always get an immediate response, time consuming for getting points across, Spreadsheet Benefits are more informative, diagrams can be shown, can be laid out for different departments. Drawbacks are very time consuming, no immediate response. While the above are examples you can compare between the three for speed and most effectiveness a conference call can be most helpful to other’s with a spread sheet this is the best for getting important information across but with a spreadsheet you would then possibly need to email to the other person. So it depends on relevance and time to advise others of progress and that is easy basic speed is done with a call in depth importance then it would be a spreadsheet Section 6 – Understand the purpose of improving own performance in a business environment and how to do so 1. Explain the purpose of continuously improving your performance in a business environment. The purpose of constantly improving my own performance at work is it can secure my job and prove to everyone around me that i am capable of more responsibilities. It is also to look towards the prospect of being promoted within the company 2. Describe at least two ways of improving your performance at work. Where relevant, illustrate your answer with specific examples from your own experience. Performance reviews also known as appraisals involve what you have done in the past and can give you an insight to improving yourself for the future. By applying your existing knowledge with learning you can improve yourself and thus learn from your mistakes. If you make a mistake this can help you improve in the future by listing these mistakes you can see where you went wrong you can then identify the problem and deal with this may mean learning yourself or contacting your manager for help. I personally am improving myself now I am unemployed and there not many jobs the I am capable of doing or maybe want do to so by improving myself with a new course it will open more doors in the employment market. 3. Briefly describe at least two different types of career pathways that may be available to you. By gaining an education in business and administration there are many career paths open to you.