Meeting at Night and Parting at Morning Commentary Essay

In the two poems, â€Å"Meeting at Night† and â€Å"Parting at Morning†, Robert Browning tells about the meeting of two lovers at night who are in love with each other. In order to meet the woman, the man undergoes a long journey through the sea and land. However, even after all this trouble, he must be secretive because they are not allowed to see each other. The second poem, however, tells of the very next day, when the man leaves the woman and seems to move on. Browning structures these two poems in order to give the reader a better understanding of the meaning of the poem. At the beginning of the poem, the man seemingly recounts his journey, briefly describing his surroundings as he passes them, noting any possible significance they may have to him. Browning incorporates alliteration at the end of each line in this poem, as he passed through â€Å"the long black land† and saw the moon â€Å"large and low,† creating the image of the environment which the man passes through. The use of the word â€Å"long† describes his lengthy trip on land, while the moon lying â€Å"large and low† in the sky tells of the time of his travel, the moon is low because he is traveling late into the night. Browning employs the ensuing alliteration serves the purpose of describing the journey through the senses. The â€Å"pushing prow† of his movement and â€Å"the slushy sand,† which absorbed each step describes the purpose the man walked with as he walked across the â€Å"sea-scented beach. † Browning is able to paint the man’s expedition through these alliterations. An interesting note of structure I found in this poem is that each stanza could be read from the last line up to the middle line (as opposed to the regular way of reading). By doing so, the reader can understand the poem better as the man reaches his ultimate destination of love in the center of each poem. In the first stanza, the woman is described with a synecdoche through her hair as â€Å"fiery ringlets from their sleep† and â€Å"startled little waves that leap. † This could mean that her hair was her most defining feature, according to her lover (the man). In the second stanza, the woman is described as a â€Å"voice less loud† and a â€Å"quick sharp scratch† coming from within the house. This can be inferred through Browning’s use of soft, feminine words. The use of the words â€Å"less loud† could possibly allude to the fact that the two lovers are not allowed to see each other, making this meeting a secret one. The â€Å"quick sharp scratch† resembles that of a small, peephole in the door which the woman looks through in order to ensure the identity of the man. When reading â€Å"Meeting at Night† the reader must also consider the poem â€Å"Parting at Morning† as they relate to one another. Although they can both be read separately, reading them together leaves the reader with a different understanding, as â€Å"Parting at Morning† provides a different ending, a different resolution to the two lover’s secret meeting. The use of anaphora in this short, one stanza poem indicates excitement in the man as he looks on to â€Å"a path of gold† leading to â€Å"a world of men† as â€Å"the sun looked over the mountain’s rim. This could indicate that the man was moving forward from his time with the woman and looking forward to setting sail onto lands unknown, with the promise of gold. This is due to the fact that it was general sailor’s belief that women were bad luck on ships, and therefore was generally unwelcome. The words â€Å"cape,† â€Å"sea,† and â€Å"strait† evoke images of the sea, as they are all bodies of water, and therefore allude to the man being a sailor (which wasn’t as specified in â€Å"Meeting at Night†).

Micro Manufacturing

ME 686: Micro-manufacturing Assignment 1 Study the effects of process parameters (speed, feed, depth of cut etc. ) associated with SPDT for manufacturing of micro lens let arrays. Also find out the ranges of these process parameters and values of optimal process parameters. Submitted by: Marmeek Kishor Kumar Kosambia (09010332) Submitted to : Dr. S. N. Joshi Date of Submission: 17/01/13 Introduction A microlens array is composed of a series of micro lens distributed in a regular pattern and has been usedin a wide range of photonic products.A  micro lens  is a small  lens, generally with a  diameter  less than a  millimetre  (mm) and often as small as 10 micrometers ( µm). The small sizes of the lenses means that a simple design can give good optical quality but sometimes unwanted effects arise due to optical  diffraction  at the small features. A typical micro lens may be a single element with one plane surface and one spherical convex surface to  refract  the light. Because micro lenses are so small, the substrate that supports them is usually thicker than the lens and this has to be taken into account in the design.More sophisticated lenses may use  aspherical  surfaces and others may use several layers of optical material to achieve their design performance. Since surface roughness affects the performance of the lens, one needs to generate finely machined surface with minimum roughness Single Point Diamond Turning machining is a technique which removes materials from a few microns to sub-micron level to achieve ductile mode machining on hard-to-machine materials such as electro less nickel plating, silicon, quartz, glass and ceramics with no subsurface defects.Such a machining process is able to achieve mirror surface finish of less than 10 nm and form error of less than 1um easily. If properly applied to a specific range of diamond turnable materials, the process is far superior to grinding and polishing where shape control is mo re difficult and processing time is longer. The selecting and optimization of machining parameters is one of the main factors that could influence the machining accuracy. The main machining parameters are tool feed rates, spindle speed and depth of cut.The tool feed rate is normally expressed in terms of either distance travelled by the tool per unit time (mm/min) or distance travelled per unit rotation (mm/revolution). It is most common to see the distance per revolution as it is directly related to the anticipated theoretical surface finish. For a given tool feed rate, larger the tool nose radius, lower the roughness and the better the optical surface finish. The surface quality depends to great extents on the material characteristics like: grain size, micro structure or crystal boundary, crystal uniformity and annealing procedures adopted. Casual selection of combination of machining parameters may affect the surface quality, so it is required to optimize the machining parameters before final SPDT process. Machining of aspheric surface is more complicated than spherical and flat surfaces because of complicated tool path and uneven material removal. To achieve required profile tool path should be optimized. Surface roughness with respect to variable Feed rate Feed rate is most important parameter and variation of this havea great impact on the surface finish. Theoretical surface finishdepends on feed rate and tool radius.Depth of cut 2 ? m andRPM 1000 kept constant and tool feed rate is varied from 0. 5? m/rev to 5. 0 ? m/rev. the results of the experiments are asfollows. From the above experiments, it is observed that the surface finish is going down as we reduce feed. The surface roughness is 54. 8 nm at feed 0. 5 ? m where the depth of cut is 2 ? m and 1000 RPM was maintained. It is investigated that although look of the surface was good but it is not of optical quality at these parameters. We have varied the depth of cut at feed rate of 0. 5. Surface rou ghness with respect to variable depth of cutFrom the above experiments, it is observed that the surface finish is depending on the depth of cut but its behavior is different. As we increase the doc from 1? m to 2 ? m the roughness decrease from 117 nm to 54 nm and again increase the roughness on of doc. Same is again repeated on 8 ? m doc. The surface roughness is 54. 8 nm at feed 0. 5 ? m/rev where the depth of cut is 2 ? m and 1000 RPM. But it is investigated that surface is not optical at these parameters, the surface quality was dull after 10 ? m doc and there no use of increasing the doc more than 10 ? m.From the above experiments, it is observed that the surface finish is depending on the depth of cut but its behavior is different. As we increase the doc from 1? m to 2 ? m the roughness decrease from 117 nm to 54 nm and again increase the roughness on of doc. Same is again repeated on 8 ? m doc. The surface roughness is 54. 8 nm at feed 0. 5 ? m/rev where the depth of cut is 2 ? m and 1000 RPM. But it is investigated that surface is not optical at these parameters, the surface quality was dull after 10 ? m doc and there no use of increasing the doc more than 10 ? m.Surface roughness with respect to variable RPM From the last experiment we have seen that the depth of cut 2 ? m giving the better surface. During this experiment feed rate 0. 5 ? m/rev and depth of cut remained unchanged and RPM varied from 800 to 4000, to get the further better surface on the work piece. Analysis of turned work piece at different RPM is carried out. Output result is shown in above table. By experiments we have seen that polycarbonate surface turned to the surface finish of below 25 nm, which is achieved at RPM 3000. A good surface finish is achieved at 800 RPM also but it is not economical.At RPM 1500 we have observed the star pattern on surface of PC. So, RPM 3000, Feed 0. 5 ? m/rev and depth of cut 2 ? m are the optimum parameters where optical surface is achieved. An empi rical formula is developed for predicting surface roughness of diamond turned polycarbonate at different turning parameters (feed rate, depth of cut and RPM). Empirical formula is derived as follows. Optimum turning parameter are suggested where the optical surface finish in obtained. Tool feed rate : 0. 5 ? m/revolution Depth of cut : 2 ? m RPM : 3000 Tool Path CompensationAnother study shows the greatest challenge lies in selecting the optimum combination of the process parameters to get the best surface quality. The parameters chosen for optimization are as: Spindle speed (SS), Feed rate (TFR), Depth of cut (DoC). Another parameter to optimize the machining is the tool path. The tool path compensation cycle starts with the definition of desired aspheric surface by the conic equation: It is observed that by modifying the tool path, profile error ofaspheric surface is significantly reduced. The comparison between aspheric figure error, before and after tool path compensation is giv en in Table-4.Conclusions: 1) Tool feed is the dominant parameter for surface roughness followed by the spindle rotational speed. Depth of cut shows minimal effect on surface roughness compared to other parameters. 2) Depth of cut is the leading parameter for peak to valley error, followed by spindle rotational speed. Feed rate does not have considerable effect on Pt. 3) Effect of depth of cut on Pt varies with spindle speed. However, for achieving good optical surface on the polycarbonate work piece, lower depth of cut is preferred. 4) Spindle rotational speed of 2000rpm, tool feed rate of1? m/rev and depth of cut of 2? are selected for precisemachining of polycarbonate. 5) The process of the optimization of tool path helps to optimize the machining process further. References: 1. V. SainiD. SharmaS. KallaT. Chouhan, ‘Optimization of Process Parameters to Achieve Nano LevelSurface Quality on Polycarbonate’, Proceedings of the International Conference on Manufacturing E xcellence, 2012 2. N. KhatriV. MishraR. G. V. Sarepaka, ‘Optimisation of process parameter in ultra-precisiondiamond turning of polycarbonate material’, International Journal of Computer Applications (0975 – 888) Volume 48– No. 13, June 2012

Regulations for the Licensure of Hospitals in Virginia Essay

Regulations for the Licensure of Hospitals in Virginia - Essay Example Also, the hospital must declare if it intends to be a General, Special, Nursing home, Outpatient, or surgical hospital, or combination of as defined by the regulations. Next, according to 12 VAC 5-410-140, a hospital must undergo an inspection, unless previously accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and certified for participation in Title XVIII of the Social Security Act. If the hospital has already been approved by these two organizations, it can be assumed that it will fulfill all requirements of the Department of Health. Thus, it is easier if the accreditation and certification process is completed before applying for a license, but not mandatory. If the hospital has not already been accredited and certified, before obtaining a license then the hospital must undergo a rigorous inspection according to Part II of the Regulations for Licensure of Hospitals. Part II covers Organization and Management, Patient Care Services, Special Services, Environmental and Maintenance Services, and Physical Plant Requirements for existing Buildings. The differing parts of the inspection are not listed in detail, but it d oes list that the hospital has an opportunity to submit a plan of correction. (12 VAC 5-410-150) According to Part II of the Virginia State Board of Health's "Rules and

TN Sex Offender Registration Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

TN Sex Offender Registration - Research Paper Example Offender’s certain categories of lifetime registration authorization were implemented from the Pam Lychner Sexual Offender Tracking and Identification Act  (PL 104-236)  in 1996 (Strutin).   In 1998, Section 115 enclosed the requirements of the Title I, the General Provisions of the Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (CJSA) to alter the Wetterling Act requirements. The requirements include sex, federal military offender’s catalog  of workers and students who are nonresident and National Sex Offender Registry (NSOR) participants (BJA).   In 2000, the Wetterling Act was amended by the Campus Sex Crimes Prevention Act. It required offenders to report their wanted information regarding the employment or enrollment in any higher education institution to the law enforcement agencies that covered the institution jurisdiction (History of the JWA). Sex offenders must register themselves before or after the release from detention or punishment to the supervision of the community. It’s better from Sentencing Court or the Department of Corrections to alert the offenders regarding their local registration and requirements after their probation sentence or release. Registration agency is normally the county police department or sheriff’s office in the area where an offender resides. Multiple agencies’ involvement is not exceptional for the registration of an offender’s progress throughout the stages of the criminal justice procedure (Sex Offender Registration).   Registration laws in many states apply the same rules to offenders from one place to another. Offenders working, movements, enrollment in an education department in other the cascade in the Wetterling Act that registers them in the new states law enforcement agencies, normally within ten days (Sex Offender Registration).  Ã‚  

Recommendation Letter for College Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Recommendation Letter for College - Essay Example She is not only talented but also hardworking. Her good academic performance does not affect her other activities as she has been dancing professionally and participates in dance competitions. She has served her town of Southington and has been competing in the Miss Southington Competitions since 2002. She is a much focused young lady, which is proved by her ability to compete and upholding the excellent academic results. For her academic career she plans to study Forensic science/Criminal Justice. Lynze Khan is determined, obedient and prudent. She has never given her parents any trouble at all. She is responsible and able to manage different roles effectively at the same time. This can be recognized by the fact that, from an early age, she has been involved with her community as a volunteer. Volunteer work is one of the constant passions of hers. She's donated her time in many of the Non-Profit organizations such as the local soup kitchens, "Relay For Life", "Crowns for the Cure" t o help towards finding a cure for Cancer, "Crop Walk" and many more. She is never short on energy and devotion to help better her community and the lives of others. By profession of Registered Nurse myself, I have never met anyone as committed as she is at such a young age. My life has been blessed just knowing such a person. I am honored to show my support and camaraderie toward her. She was definitely born for greatness.

Illegal immigrants receiving social services, for example, food Essay

Illegal immigrants receiving social services, for example, food stamps, welfare, and medical care - Essay Example Most these people come from the South America and Southeast Asia. Majority of these undocumented immigrants head to California, Texas and Florida. The large number of immigrants, whether legal or illegal significantly impacts the economical state of the country. The Federation for American Immigration Reform estimates about $45 billion worth of expenses for providing social services, education, roads, prisons and other services to these unauthorized immigrants (Glicken, p.375). In contrast, studies that focus on illegal immigrants such as a paper published by the American Immigration Law Foundation indicate that unauthorized immigrants does not use public services as much as the legal immigrants (Wepman, p.339). The paper specifically states that a 1987 study as an example that just 2% of illegal Mexican immigrants received welfare and just 3% accepted food stamps (Wepman, p.339). This suggests that unauthorized immigrants are not significantly impacting the social welfare system of the United States. One of the major concerns relating to undocumented immigrants is their use of the social welfare system. Because these illegal immigrants come to the United States without resources or employment, they use the services and public support provided by the United States. ... ill humans and they have the right to live, thus, the Welfare Reform Act of 1996 was provisioned to restrict them from any grants and retirement, welfare, health, disability, food assistance and unemployment benefits but still receive emergency medical services. Undocumented immigrants have clearly impacted the economical and social state of the country. Conservatives believe that these people drain the social welfare as they go about using the legal taxpayers’ money for their social needs, such as medical and food assistance. On the other side of the fence, opposing views believe these people do not so much take a part of the social welfare system as the legal citizens and immigrants do. Because undocumented immigrants know and understand that they are unauthorized immigrants, they do not come forth claiming benefits for fear of being identified, thus risking deportation. That is also the main reason these people are underpaid, overworked and unfairly treated in labor, housin g and education. It is important to understand that illegal immigrants do not actually have the same federal rights as the legal immigrants. Thus, they have a lower chance of using the social welfare system to cover their needs. Yes, they impact the social welfare system in terms of medical services but it doesn’t mean they aim to spend billions of dollars claiming medical benefits. What is important for them is to live and not to die. That’s actually the main reason they come to the hospital, even if they know they are undocumented immigrants, and not to extort money from the state. Yes, there are some groups calling for increased benefits for the illegal immigrants but the state is still in control of who they provide the services for and who they restrict. That’s the reason for the

Steamboal Bill, Jr Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Steamboal Bill, Jr - Essay Example An analysis of the film will address themes, sound tracts, and effectiveness to the audience. The plot of the movie begins with the arrival of a new steamer in the river junction. The owner of the new steamer is J.J. King (Wickstrà ¶m). He is shown being happy with other captains of the ship waiting for its arrival. On the other hand, Steam Boat Bill is shown with his mate Tom Lewis in the old steamer (Wickstrà ¶m). Bill is shown annoyed because of the new steamer, as he perceives it as a business rivalry. King is depicted as a wealthy business with some few banks and hotels under his name (Wickstrà ¶m). King notes of the old steamer as a floating ‘thing’ (Wickstrà ¶m). Bill also receives a telegram of his impending son visit. They go with his mate to get the son at the railway station. They both expect a well-built man. However, the contrary happens, as the son appears small and dressed in a funny way. This makes his father begin a journey of his transformation in a new life. At the same time, King Daughter (Marion Byron) arrives from school (Wickstrà ¶m). Both Bill and King get annoyed as they realize that both Willie and Byron were lovers. They engage in a journey of ensuring that the relationship does not exist. On the other hand, Stonewall Jackson is condemned from public safety committee from carrying out transactions (Wickstrà ¶m). This annoys Bill who confronts J.J. King. The confrontation lands Bill to jail. The son tries to rescue him without any success. In the end, Willie is shown saving father, Marion Byron, and King from ravaging weather (Wickstrà ¶m). He ends up being a hero in the film despite his initial weaknesses. The theme of the film appears as that of transformation. This has been well articulated and developed by the main characters in the play. For example, Willie is shown as a weak character in the railway station. The father and his mate Tom Lewis are ashamed of Willie as he

TECHNOLOGY IN THE NEWS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

TECHNOLOGY IN THE NEWS - Essay Example There are rumors that some executives of HP may have tried to halt the appointment of the CEO by hiding Autonomy’s negative information. The reports are suggestive of lack of transparency at HP, if things are not more serious. The impact of the latest revelations on HP cannot be predicted with utmost surety at this time, but if HP is found guilty in the future, thus would lead to a big black eye with respect to the public relations. HP might have to face litigation accordingly. Contrary to the perception that there is no more place of new mobile phones in the world, a range of next-generation models will be introduced at the Mobile World Congress (MWS) 2014 (Cutlack). Samsung and Sony have made exceptions by demonstrating their new mobile models at separate events in 2013. This year’s MWC will display new tech such as bendable screens. Companies like Samsung have advertised their new models that will be displayed in MWS

Advantages and Disadvantages of Vertical and Horizontal Integration Essay

Advantages and Disadvantages of Vertical and Horizontal Integration - Essay Example One of the most important elements of businesses is survival. For a business to thrive through different timelines and periods, there is the need for businesses to find ways and means of remaining profitable (Kotler, 1994). This implies that businesses will need to modify their ways of production and find ways and means of keeping their customers satisfied. Aside customer satisfaction, businesses also need to stay ahead of other players in the industry by remaining competitive. Survival of a business is strongly linked with its ability to grow. There is a popular saying that one needs to evolve or become extinct. This implies that businesses need to find ways and means of growing and expanding to meet these evolutional needs. Due to the complex nature of businesses and the complications that can come up when a business is expanding, there are numerous approaches through which a business can expand by way of acquiring other businesses. The use of acquisition and mergers comes with so many business and managerial requirements that must be examined closely at each and every point to ensure that optimum results are attained. The paper attempts an in-depth application of the concept of mergers and acquisitions to businesses in the technological sector. It examines the advantages and disadvantages of vertical integration and horizontal integration in the technological sector.... Hill & Jones (2010) identify that there are four main reasons why a business might choose to ‘reposition’ itself. In other words, a business might want to change its structures and systems through various means of acquisitions or control of other ventures that are closely related to it. According to Hill & Jones (2010), the first reason why a business might want to reposition itself is for the purposes of improving the company’s competitive position. In other words, the business might want to become much more formidable in maintaining its share in the control of valuable resources like the markets and/or the inputs that are used for production in the industry. Secondly, a business might want to improve its profitability situation. In other words, businesses might want to increase their earning powers and control more income or revenue streams through some expansion or re-positioning exercise. Thirdly, a business might want to enhance production. In other words, a business might want to find efficient and effective ways of producing the same thing. In this wise, they might seek to produce more from a given volume of inputs or increase the volume of production they undertake. Finally, a business might want to diversify so that they reduce risks and enhance returns. This might be done through the controlling of different income generation sources rather than a single or fewer income generation streams. This is done through various techniques like the creation of new business units or new products which can provide value to consumers and in effect provide some more revenue for the company. In this wise, the business will not have to rely excessively on a single income generation unit which

Essay questions for history Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Questions for history - Essay Example Since the earliest humans lived a nomadic lifestyle, mainly foraging, or hunting, and they no doubt used wooden spears and wood for shelter there is very little lasting evidence of where they lived. Some groups appear to have become isolated and this turned out to be a risk factor, since they did not develop so many new adaptive techniques for survival. It appears that humans wandered out from the central African Savannah, reaching north and east into Asia and from there travelled to Europe and the rest of the world. Tracing their flints and axes is a way of showing how they communicated with each other through trade. [2] There are different theories why people might have stopped being hunter gatherers and started early forms of agriculture. The climate is one reason, since hunter gathering was the only option available in the colder parts of the world during the ice age, and agriculture just was not possible then. As the world’s climate warmed up, however, growing plants became more of an option. Another reason for agricultural lifestyles may be that the food sources became scarce when people began to increase in number. Once a herd of animals is hunted to extinction it is very difficult for that area to recover and become able to host human inhabitants again. The most convincing reason, however, is that certain locations such as river deltas, provided such a rich soil that plants grew readily in the wild, and people naturally settled there for longer and longer periods to take advantage of the crops. Eventually people would have learned to maximise the return from crops, use irrigation and plowing and sowing techniques, so that they could produce a very large excess of food. This in turn enabled them to live in larger groups, which was good for safety, and learn new arts and skills, which made them better able to

Government Regulatory Agencies Essay Example for Free

Government Regulatory Agencies Essay Government Regulatory Agencies and Impact on Consumer Choices By Trisha Robinson, Chastity Hafer, George Ward, Quagina Jackson Serphy HCS 490 Health care Consumer- Trends and Marketing For: Cindy Perkins, DC, MBA 05/01/2011 The Food Drug Administration (FDA) The Food Drug Administration is in charge of promoting and the protection of public health safety by the supervision and regulation of food safety, dietary supplements, tobacco products, prescription and over the counter drugs you get from the pharmacy. The FDA also regulates vaccines, blood transfusions, biopharmaceuticals, medical devices, veterinary products, and cosmetics (fda. gov). The FDA is in charge of advancing the public health by the speed of new ideas or methods that make medicines and food affordable and by the producing of strong or desired effect, more safer, and by given the public a more accountable scientific information that the public can use when using medication and foods and to lessen the use of tobacco to improve the quality of life. The FDA makes sure that laws are enforced by monitoring companies of claims that the company makes about their products. If the FDA thinks the company has violated the law a warning letter will be sent to the company. The letter states that the company is in violation and the company has 15 working days to respond and say how this will be fixed. Companies that do not respond will be fined or their product will be seized. The health care product or service category selected Service of choice:Â  Regulatory Information Regulatory Information is a service, which The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) offers an array of information on rules and regulations, which allows consumers, industries, and health care professionals to know the safety, availability, and effectiveness of drugs, biological, medical, and electronic products, and cosmetics. In addition, the service provides information on non-regulated categories such as advertising, consumer products (household goods), alcohol, drug abuse, meat and poultry, health insurance, drugs of abuse, pesticides, restaurants and grocery stores, and water. It offers information on areas such as safety, labeling, product licensing, product approval, manufacturing and performance standards on medical devices and radioactive products, and animal drugs, livestock feeds, and food. Rationale for choosing FDA A. Familiar with the regulations of the FDA. 1. Protecting the public’s health B. Interested in the operations of the FDA and how they develop their regulations. C. The services FDA protects. 1. Responsible for advancing the public health by helping to speed innovations that make medicines more effective.

The New England Colonial Period

The New England Colonial Period Tony Calloway Discussion Question 1. According to the article, With All the Grace of the Sex, were women active participants in colonial trade? How and why? Women had to be active participants in a colonial trade. I mean most of these women, displayed a matter of filling empty holes in their lives. There were widowed spouses or empty professions within the community. The With All The Grace of Sex article addresses of all practice of manual trade being performed by women because not all wanted to sew or cook. Some had no choice but to do the labor of a profession those others saw as a mans job. Those are jobs typically family responsibilities with everyone playing some duty within the trade. Many of the women did not need men to run the businesses. A lot of the women grew to be champions of these professions out of necessity. The only way there was clear evidence that women did work in these occupations, were the occasional discovery of documentation that has been maintained showing these evidence. Furthermore, within this literature, we would notice how frequently women were becoming apprentices and masters of trades alongside their male counterparts. Granted; the manual labor associated with various occupations, it was a wonder the existence of women apprentice and masters that were in questioned. Men that use forges, hammers and leather working tools had put some the best men to the test. To have the stamina and physical courage these women needed to prove themselves was very impressive. Like my dad use to say do not put tomorrow what can be done today. After reading the article, it would seem that women had to do what they had to do. However, that is the binary of the way women have been for a since the beginning of time. Lesson 3 1. The article, Deaths Head, Cherub, Urn and Willow and the images of the early American grave art give us insight to life during the New England colonial period. How had the views of religion and death changed over the time period, 1720 to 1820? How were these changes reflected on the gravestones? What specifically can historians learn about the Puritan from these stones Jim Deetz Edwin Dethlefsen (1960s-70s) Are two archeologicalist that studied on New England gravestones Identification of 3 main motifs in period 1680-1820. These were the Winged Deaths Head 1680-1780, the Winged Cherub 1760-1800, and Urn Willow 1770-1820. In the 17th and 18th century gravestones in Massachusetts were decorated with a traditional set of designs that have distinctive spatial and temporal limits. The pioneering gravestones in Bostons burying grounds were simple, roughly cut greenstone markers. Individual headstones bared short or no beautifying carving and often had little inscriptions, which ordinarily had a person name, and theyre the date of death. The writings interruptive punctuation, were like a encrypted carving style with a characterized raised period separating the word. Treating them as if they were archaeological phenomena, one can demonstrate and test methods of inferring diffusion, dedication and the culture that carved it. The Early popularity of Death s head design displayed the Puritans attitudes, and Urn Motifs indicated the breakdown of these values. While cherubs appear most premature among an urban innovation society in Cambridge, They remain a nearly insignificant type in this central area but are rapidly being embraced in outer districts further removed from the center of influence. Imperfect reproduction of distinct design gives rise to distinctive local styles of other districts. The delivery of these local forms in time and space presents further insights regarding the religious difference in the Colonial period, including a clear indication of how this change progressed in different geographical areas at different times. The appearance that draws archeologists the most when it comes to Puritan headstones is the uniform appearance of the three types (Deaths Head, Cherub, Urn, and Willow). The Deaths Head representation was very common early on through the 17th century. It was a type that Puritans used to emphasize the mortality of man moreover. However, after the Great Awakening and the spread of the belief in an immortal soul, the Cherub became the more popular type. The Cherub image symbolized resurrection. During the 18th and 19th centuries, right after the revival of the Greek in America, the Urn and Willow grew to be a regularly used motif on tombstones. The quality of the monument was dependent upon two factors, the skill of the stonecutter and the budget of the family. In Boston, stonecutters were also masons, woodcarvers, bricklayers and even farmers carved gravestones as another way of sustaining their families. On numerous occasions, to save money and to deliver a high-quality headstone with fine art and speed, many of the Stonecutters made prefabricated headstones. This way all they would do was insert the name and date of the deceased upon placement of order. It wouldnt take much to seek out this fantastic artwork that can be found in many places in New England to include Copps Hill in Boston the old Freedom Trail, and another favorite spot to Bostonians the Old Burying Point in Salem Massachusetts. Grave markers and the burial grounds in which they are found have become identified as having historical importance, and they have familiarized their topics for research. The traditional cultures, a grave marker serves partly a function of commemoration as well as an indicator of status. To an archeologist, these markers serve as original recordings linking to the departed individuals living as well as, a more comprehensive sense, to the society in which the individual lived and ultimately died. New Jersey can also provide some eighteenth-century grave markers like the ones in Monmouth County. These stones can give some insights into the developmental years of the colony. Although Monmouth County does share the timeline within many similarities of the colonial New England gravestone carving tradition, it also displays significant differences. Hereabouts, the choice of the gravestone in Monmouth County held related to personal inclinations within the broader trends before classified i n New England. However, with the more inquisitive minds; studying gravestones can easily part into disciplines like a historical archaeology, or even like this class art history, even a genealogist when the training is more focused on the individual family. Particular scientific archaeological studies of colonial gravestones were sparked into motion by the outstanding research by James Deetz and Edwin Dethlefsen as before mentioned, who studied within the Boston Massachusetts area. Their conclusions presented a temporally linear course of iconographic designs used in the local carving tradition; starting with stark mortality symbols such as deaths heads, with more hopeful cherubs in the early eighteenth century, and then forming the more profane, neoclassical urn and willow tree designs. Another type of style was the motif, which was used on Bostons seventeenth-century grave markers dubbed the deaths head. Deaths head, often including wings and crossed bones, is a stylized skull that is used by todays motorcycle gangs and gothic. Although folks were thinking that winged skulls been designed to symbolize physical death and spiritual regeneration this was not the case. It is essential to note that Boston-based Puritans were not advocates of using holy symbols, like cherubs, crosses in the place of meeting, of silver, or on their headstones. Puritans were adamantly opposed to connecting the human form to spiritual beings such as God, angels, or spirits. The deaths head, which in its right, is a non-religious symbol and was the first description applied to gravestone carving. Additional decorative motifs following the deaths head were the hourglass with wings symbolizing the concept time flies, elaborately carved on the side panels along with florets, finials, foliage, fruit, and imp-and-dragon figures. The seventeenth and eighteenth-century headstones had solemn inscriptions that inspired passers-by to contemplate mortality and the temporary nature of life on earth. There must have a broad range of the deaths head motif. The features and arrangement of the image depended uniquely on the preferred style of the carver. Those creating their style of carving like silversmiths, tanners, carpenters, and other artisans, gravestone carvers had specific techniques and skills. The style was almost like a calling card for some. Through inquiry research, newspaper and ads, announcements, signed or initialed stones, ledger books, and other original reference materials, twentieth-century historians were able to recognize many of these makers. As the immigrants began to reach a more stable lifestyle and acquire wealth, they were better able to afford more extravagant personal items whichever could serve as representations of their socioeconomic status. Individual belongings could have extended from a broader, more pretentious house; a cabinet full of silver plates imported from China to large lavishly engraved gravestones. Lesson 3 Discussion Question 1. How did the Northern demography differ from that of the Southern colonies? Compare and contrast the social, economic, gender, and racial hierarchy of the New England and Southern Colonies. During the mid-1700s, there was an influx of immigrants migrating to America. During this time there was an abundance of food to go around, and that allowed for a generally good health of the majority of the colonist. By which it would allow more women to reproduce and share a low mortality rate, with the help ladies having several or more children during their life. With this expansion became the love of social class and hierarchy. The North school system celebrated and embraced social mobility, and the entrance of newly prosperous planters, commercial farmers, and retailers into the upper ranks was not only likely but also common. (Faragher 2012) While there was a well-established upper class in the Northern Colonies, there was also the scant and poverty-stricken lower class as well. It was composed of slaves, bound servants, and the poor laborers. This group made little less than half of the Northern colonies population, and their standard of living was just above minimum subsiste nce. While both the Northern and the Southern colonies each had their hierarchy system, and they were similar in ways yet different in others. In Southern colonies, the standards needed for social status was racial purity. These ethnic pure Spanish colonists held the top of the social ladder. Spanish of mixed ancestry were in the middle and Indians, and African slaves were placed at the bottom. Though there was strife for nonwhites in the north, the separation of lines was obscured. The colonist had possibilities to move up or down the ladder at their will. Biracial Northern colonist experienced much more opportunity compared to their Southern counterparts. The Northern upper class was typically made up of landowners, merchants, and prosperous professionals. These upper class Northerners were living a much more lavish and extravagant life than the upper class Southern colonist. References Deetz, J., Dethlefsen, E. S. (2007). Deaths Head, Cherub, Urn and Willow. Retrieved from http://www.histarch.illinois.edu/plymouth/deathshead.html Faragher, J. M., Buhle, M. J., Czitrom, D., Armitage, S. H. (2012). Out Of Many A History of the American People (6th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson. Howe, J. (1998). Greek Revival. Retrieved from http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/fa267/greekrev.html Revolutionary Windsor. (n.d.). https://sites.google.com/a/windsorct.org/revolutionary_windsor/home/gravestones-puritanism Wooodard, D. D., Doody, D. (). With All the Grace of the Sex. Retrieved from http://www.history.org/Foundation/journal/Spring04/women.cfm

Causes of High Labour Turnover

Causes of High Labour Turnover Abstract â€Å"Employee turnover† is the term which is a big concern for many organisations in the UK and worldwide. Although there has been a lot of research and studies which were conducted on this topic, most of these studies and research focused on the causes of the labour turnover and little or no focus has been made on examining the effects and advising different strategies which can be used by the managers within their organisation to make sure that they dont loose their employee. The purpose of this research is to explore the possible reasons for the high level of labour turnover in the company X and to explore the perceptions of the managers of the company X on the strategic management of labour turnover within their organisation and also to suggest few recommendations to the managers and the organisation on how to handle this situation. Most of the theories and procedures discussed in this report will someway or the other suggests us on how to approach this situation of high labour turnover in the company X. Introduction Organisations need labour to function and these days organisations are quickly realizing that employees are their major source of competitive advantage to succeed in this highly competitive world. This notion applies equally to almost any organisation in the world. For an organisation to succeed it has to manage it resources effectively. When an employee leaves the organisation it not only has an impact on the organisation but also on the employee and wider society (Mobley, 1982). These impacts can be both positive and negative (Mobley, 1982; Hom and Griffeth, 1995), and a greater knowledge of the evolution of labour turnover can improve the extent to which organisations and employees within organisations can control these effects (Dalton et al., 1981). These days organisations invest a lot on their employees in terms of training and development, maintaining, and retaining them within their organisation. So, there is a need for the managers to lessen the employee turnover rates within their organisations. This research will look in to the company X, which is a part of the large retail outlet group. For the reasons of ethics the name of the company will not be revealed at any part of this report and will be referred throughout as company X. Company X is a part of large retail outlet with stores which are spread throughout the UK and worldwide. The business sector in which the company X is operating has a high level of competition and the company X is constantly thriving to maintain their competitive advantage in their sector and gain a huge amount of market share. The company X operates in a highly competitive environment, it has to continuously deal with the demands and expectations of the customers which is in turn very stressful for the employees in the company X. This high competition, high demands and high expectation creates a hard environment in the company X and which in turn will affect the employees. The North-East branches of the company X are being focused on this study. The company X has 6 branches in the North-East, each of the branches has a manager, 8 to 10 customer service employees (depending on the location of the branch), and 1 director. The director of the company was consulted regarding the research study and was asked whether there were any areas of concerns within the company which he wanted researching. As the director was working there for a quite long time, he was in a very good position to answer to this question. The director was aware of the reasons why his staff was leaving, but he wanted to know whether the present staff still had the same concerns. The director also wanted to know the possible ways in which these concerns could be resolved in order to retain his current staff. The director was fully aware that the turnover levels of the company had a negative impact on his present staff. The times of employee turnover resulted in longer hours for some staff members which affected the present staff both physically and psychologically because they have to now work for long hours. This was followed during the time when there was training for the new staff. The existing staff had to increase their workload during the times of training the new staff and this in turn affected the level of customer service provided by them. The director noticed that during this period some of their staff was demoralized and were asking for time offs which would further have more impact on the other staff. The hiring and training of new staff seem to have settled this problem. However there is some extent of discontent among the staff of company X regarding the company. Aims of the Study The main aim of this research is to assess the reasons for high labour turnover in UK and particularly in the organisation which I have chosen. Research Objectives: What are the reasons for high labour turnover in company X? How is this issue managed and addressed by the management of the company X? What does the staff and managers think about this problem of high labour turnover in their organisation? Try to suggest solutions in order to reduce the labour turn over in the company X. Literature Review Labour turnover According to Adams (1993) labour turnover is the rate at which staffs leave an organisation and are replaced by new employees. Too high a labour turnover rate may mean that there is something unsatisfactory about working for the organisation and that action therefore would need to be taken†. There are different kinds of methods in which we can measure the labour turnover. The term â€Å"turnover† is defined by Prince (1997) as: the ratio of number of organisational members who have left during the period being considered divided by the average number of people in that organisation during that period. The labour turnover index is the traditional method to measure the labour turnover. This method is a most common method because of the simplicity of usage and to understand. Causes of labour turnover There was a lot of research carried out by academics in the past to answer the question of what makes the employees to leave organisations (for ex, Beck, 2001; Kramer et al., 1995; Saks, 1996). There has been a lot of inconsistency in the findings of the academics which may be because of the variety of employed incorporated by the academics. There is no single or universal reason for why people leave the organisation. The reasons may be different from one organisation to other and from one person to another (Ongori, 2007), people may quit organisation because they might not be getting what they were expecting from the organisation or they might leave the organisation because of personal reasons such as family responsibilities or problems in personal relationships, nevertheless, all these factors have an impact on the employee and the organisation in which he is working. According to Firth et al., (2004), the strain associated with job, a variety of aspects that advance to job associated strain, absence of dedication with in the organisations; and job related frustrations make employee to quit the organisations. This apparently marks that these are particular decisions which makes an individual to leave the organisation. These days there are few jobs which are very stressful such as customer service jobs or a sales job which involves the employees to work both physically and mentally and this will have an adverse impact on the employee which might lead to turnover. Manu et al., (2004) argues that economic factors may be one of the reasons why employees leave organisations. They further argued that economic model can be used to predict the labour turnover in the market. One other reason for the labour turnover might be expectation of promotion or advancement of wages within the employee (Ongori, 2004). Employees working within an organisation might expect a promotion and might be demoralized if he couldnt manage to get a promotion and might lead to turnover, in the same way an employee working for a long time within an organisation might expect a pay rise and will be demoralized and downsized if he couldnt manage to get a pay rise and this might in turn lead to turnover. According to Feaster et al., (1990), to guarantee organisational commitment well-built organisations can provide employees with enhanced option of progression and higher wages. It is evident that huge organisations have many operations, job roles and are spread throughout the country, so there is high possibility that an employee might think about the chances of getting promoted and getting high pay. According to Tor et al., (1997), inadequate data on how to perform a specified job, obscure anticipation of managers, supervisors and peers, uncertainty of performance evaluation procedures, massive job related burdens, and absence of agreement on job duties may cause staff to feel less involved and less satisfied with their jobs, less committed to their organisation, and ultimately exhibit a tendency to quit the organisation. If the employees are not sure of their job role and responsibilities, and if these roles and responsibilities are not clearly mentioned by the management of the organisation, this in turn would lead to the high level of labour turnover within the organisation. Sometimes there arise some factors which are, in part, outside the jurisdiction of the management. These factors may include demise or inability of the employee (Ongori, 2004). Employees are normal human beings and they do grow, mature, and die. So, it is inevitable to control these natural factors. Sometimes due to some internal or external factors highly skilled employees do loose their ability and interest to work, these kind of factors are inevitable and out of control organisations. These factors fall under Voluntary turnover. Other factors have been classified as involuntary turnover factors by Ongori (2004) such as necessity to provide attention to offspring or elderly relatives. Employees do have family and children and often they tend to get deviated from work responsibilities because they are more concerned with their family and children. The employees might even have elderly parent and relatives whom they want to take care of and this might lead to shift of concentration from work and might lead to turnover. On the other hand Simon et al., (2007) argue that these days such factors should not be considered as involuntary turnover because both the regulations of the government and policies of the companies create the opportunities for such staff to return back to their work, or to continue their current work through flexible working or work at home concept. Many organisations these days do provide rehabilitation centers and counseling centers for their employees to take care of their employees. These counseling centers are responsible for handling the psychological aspects of the employee and make sure that they are in good state to work. These days many organisations in UK are providing return to work training for employees who went out for long leaves (for ex such as maternity leave or higher education). This training does help the employee to cope up with the current changes in the organisation and make them ready for work. Zuber (2001) argues that the level of instability of the organisations has an impact on the degree of high turnover. There is a high amount of probability that employees stay within an organisation when there is a foreseeable work environment and vice versa. In companies where there exists a high level of inefficiency there was also high level of labour turnover (Alexander et al., 1994). It is obvious as a human being when an employee suspects that his organisation is not stable anymore or if he suspects that there is going to redundancy within the organisation he might leave the job due to the feeling of insecurity on the other hand when the employee feels like that the organisation is stable he would not bother about quitting his present job. Therefore, in the cases of unstable organisations, employees are more likely to leave the organisation and try to join the more stable organisation, because people normally think that more stable organisations will provide them with more opportunity to advance in their career. According to Labov (1997), organisations with a good communication system have lower or less labour turnover because employees have a strong need to be informed. The employees are always eager to know whats going on within their organisation and a good communication system will keep them informed continuously so that they know whats going on in the organisation, so when an employee is not sure about whats going on within his organisation he might be in a panic state and might lead to turnover. Magner et al., (1996) observed that employees feel at ease to stay longer, in positions where they are involved in some level of decision making process that is employees should fully understand about the issues that affect their working atmosphere. When there is no level of empowerment involved in the organisation for an employee, if the employee has always nee to follow the written rules and never has given an opportunity to think beyond his job he might be demoralized and might lead to turnover. Costly et al. (1987) argues that a heavy labour turnover may mean down-and-out personnel policies, bad recruitment policies, unfavorable supervisory practices, fruitless grievance procedures, or lack of motivation. All these factors tend to heavy labour turnover in the sense that there is no acceptable management practices and policies on personnel matters hence employees are not recruited scientifically, promotions of employees are not based on spelled out policies, no grievance procedures in place and thus employees decides to quit. Griffeth et al. (2000) noted that pay and pay-related aspects have a decent effect on turnover. Their analysis also included studies that examined the relationship between pay, a persons performance and turnover. They concluded that when high performers are not handled and rewarded properly, they quit. If jobs provide sufficient financial incentives then employees are more likely to remain within the organisation and vice versa. There are also other factors which make employees to quit from organisations and these are poor hiring practices, managerial style, lack of recognition, lack of competitive compensation system in the organisation and toxic workplace environment (Abassi et al. 2000). When a person with less or no competencies is hired for a job which require a higher level of competency, knowledge and skill it is more likely that this person would quit or would be sacked from his job because of the inability and inefficiency, this is a result of poor recruitment strategy or poor hiring practices. In the same way people always compare what they get with other people of the same position and if they sense that they are not being paid well or under paid they might leave their current job for a better paid job, this is the result of lack of competitive compensation system within the organisation. The management style plays a crucial role in turnover; if the employee is not handled properly or not managed properly the employee may not give his best and in turn will be demoralized and might quit his job. According to CIPD (2007) the main reason why people leave their present job is that they look for high paying job or for a chance of promotion. The survey conducted by CIPD states that this was the reason for 68% of the employees leaving organisations. The survey also stated that 38% of employees quit their job for a change of career and other reasons included family commitments, health problems, amount of work load, timings, and difficulties with their colleagues at work place. It is evident from the survey findings that people continuously look for better opportunities, better pay and better position, so if an organisation fails to provide them then they might be attracted to the competition and lead to turnover. It is evident that a lot of people leave because of unsatisfactory pay levels, even though with the introduction of the minimum wage rule employees are still not satisfied with their wages because this minimum wage rule is only applicable for those jobs which are to paid hourly and not for the jobs which are paid annually. Taylor (2000) tried to explore whether there is a relationship between pension scheme and turnover. He states that the relationship between turnover and pension scheme is not high, however, he also stated that While pension schemes are frequently perceived to play a role both in the attraction of staff to an organisation and in reducing employee turnover, it is on the later that most attention has been focused in public research. Now-a-days people are not expecting a job for life unlike olden days. These days it is evident that people are mostly looking for transferable skills that they can apply in other jobs. However, some people prefer to stick to one job and one company many people try to move from one company to other in search of better jobs and opportunities. Labour turnover in UK The big issue the organisations within UK are facing these days is labour turnover. According to CIPD (2007) survey labour turnover rates and the cost of labour turnover are at an all time high. The surveys states that the labour turnover rate in 2006 was 18.3% and in 2007 was 18.1% which is almost the same, i.e., turnover is not under control and is affecting the organisations at the same pace, it is interesting to compare the findings of 2005 and 2007, where in 2005 the labour turnover rate was 15.7 and in 2007 it was 18.1%, so we can observe that there is a rapid growth in the labour turnover rates which is alarming to the UK organisations. The survey also reported that the private sector had a highest rate of labour turnover which was around 22.6%. The CIPD (2007) survey shows that change of career was deemed to be the most common reason for voluntary turnover. Around 52% of turnover was due to change of career. Other reasons included promotion outside the organisations (47%), level of pay (39%) and lack of career development opportunities (39%). These survey findings strongly support the views of the academics like Zuber (2001), Alexander et al (2004), Simon et al (2007), and Labov (1997) who continuously argued these reasons for the turnover of employees. So it is evident that the empirical studies and the views of academics do match when it comes to the reasons for why employees leave organisations. The survey conducted by CIPD in 2000 stated that the wholesale and retail trade has the highest turnover in the UK – at 56% the wholesale and retail trade lead the turnover table. The following is a graph which shows the turnover figures in the retail industry in UK during the year 1998-2000, which is broken down by the occupational class. Looking at the graph clearly states that there has been an increase in labour turnover of the administrative jobs during the year 2000. Even though the findings of sales jobs are encouraging it is observed that turnover rate of managers is the same during the year 1998 and 2000. This is alarming because it is hard and costly to find and replace a managerial position (IPD, 1997). The findings of routine, operative and sales jobs are very encouraging as it shows that the turnover rates are gradually decreasing year by year from 1998 to 2000. This is may be due to the reason that employees working in these positions are getting used to their work environment and are less likely to leave their present job, because these kinds of job roles have less or few opportunities to change careers and get promoted outside the organisation. However it is noticeable that replacing these types of jobs would be easy when compared to that of managerial position and administrative jobs, but it would cause some sort of disruptions and would also cost for the organisations to replace them. Costs for organisations The Charted institute of personnel management (CIPD) stated that it would cost around 3500 pounds per employee every time someone leaves the organisation; this was in the year 2004. In 2006 the costs of labour turnover was around 7,750 pounds per job leaver. The figure is almost doubled and it is alarming to the organisations. Organisations with high labour turnover rates not only suffer financially but also psychologically, because of the staff leaving the organisation there will a loss of customer service and this results in hiring new employees and training them who are having less experience. And during this period the organisation has to compromise on a lot of aspects of it functions. There might be also an increase in the level of risk of accidents in organisations where work is involved in risky areas. ACAS states that if labour turnover is excessive it can indicate management problems. These management problems have actually been identified as one of the reasons why employees were leaving the company X. The survey done by IPD (Institute of Personnel Development) in 1997 estimated that it takes an average of 10 weeks for an organisation to fill up a sales vacancy, and it costs around 3,640 pounds for the organisation to find and replace each sales person who left the organisation. The survey also mentioned that though people at managerial positions are less likely to quit an organisation, they cost much more to replace. The survey states that it would take around 13 weeks for an organisation to find and replace a managerial position and would cost around 5,008 pounds per person. However, ACAS does agree that high labour turnover can be expensive, and the actual costs are very difficult to estimate. They further stated that the costs also add up the expenses of advertising, recruiting and training, together with the cost of associated management and supervisory time. It also states that higher costs can be incurred through unnecessarily high staffing level and overtime payment, lost or delayed production, interruptions to flow of work, increased production costs, scrap levels and risk of accidents to inexperienced workers, long-term worker becoming unsettled and leaving, low morale resulting low productivity, damage to the organisations local reputation. However, some research findings oppose the statement that labour turnover has a negative impact for organisations. Some academics (for ex Jovanovic, 1979) states that employees who are less suitable for a particular job quit the job earlier and hence there is a notion that labour turnover does improve organisation performance as employees of poor worker job matches leaves and that vacancy can be filled by a employee with good worker job matches and this will in turn increase the organisations performance. This statement can further be supported by the survey which is done by CIPD in 2000 which states that around 55.5% of organisations experienced minor negative effects of labour turnover, around 26.9% of organisations experienced no effect at all and around 4.8% of organisations have experienced a positive effect due to the labour turnover. Different strategies and approaches to control and minimize turnover There is no one strategy or approach which when used by an organisation can reduce or control the turnover rate. This is because the reasons vary from person to person and organisation to organisation (Ongori, 2004). So it is evident that in order to reduce the turnover the organisations first need to understand turnover. Dalton et al., (1987) (Cited in Abelson, 1987) stated that for an organisation to completely understand the reasons for turnover it needs to differentiate avoidable and unavoidable turnover. Avoidable reasons might include employees leaving their current job to find a better job with better pay and working conditions else where. Unavoidable reasons are not under organisations control. These might include an employee moving from current location to another location, or leaving to fulfill family responsibilities. So it is evident that organisations need to identify voluntary turnover within their organisations and take necessary actions to manage turnover. Research does suggest that it is crucial for an organisation to look and analyze both the quantitative and qualitative information relating to turnover within their organisation (IDS, 2004). Quantitative information is required because it will help the organisation to record, measure and compare its turnover levels. Qualitative information is also important because with this the organisations can understand the reasons why the employees left the organisations and take measures to overcome them. According to CIPD (2004), it crucial that organisations have an understanding of their turnover rates and how it would affect its performance and effectiveness. Armstrong (2001) states that in order for organisations to improve their retention rates they need to analyze the number of employees who are leaving and the reasons why they leave. So it is crucial for an organisation to have established methods to investigate why people are leaving. The following is a graph which shows the various methods used by the organisations to investigate why people are leaving. It is evident from the graph that most of the organisations (90%) use exit interviews to investigate why people are leaving, but it is questionable whether these data collected is used to their full potential. Ongori (2004) suggest that in order to reduce turnover organisations need to provide empowerment to employees. This approach would motivate employee and the employee feels as a part of the organisation and would not quit his job because of the responsibilities. But on the other hand this approach is not applicable to all types of jobs. This approach might work in managerial and administrative jobs but may not hold good for routine and sales jobs. Causes of High Labour Turnover Causes of High Labour Turnover Abstract â€Å"Employee turnover† is the term which is a big concern for many organisations in the UK and worldwide. Although there has been a lot of research and studies which were conducted on this topic, most of these studies and research focused on the causes of the labour turnover and little or no focus has been made on examining the effects and advising different strategies which can be used by the managers within their organisation to make sure that they dont loose their employee. The purpose of this research is to explore the possible reasons for the high level of labour turnover in the company X and to explore the perceptions of the managers of the company X on the strategic management of labour turnover within their organisation and also to suggest few recommendations to the managers and the organisation on how to handle this situation. Most of the theories and procedures discussed in this report will someway or the other suggests us on how to approach this situation of high labour turnover in the company X. Introduction Organisations need labour to function and these days organisations are quickly realizing that employees are their major source of competitive advantage to succeed in this highly competitive world. This notion applies equally to almost any organisation in the world. For an organisation to succeed it has to manage it resources effectively. When an employee leaves the organisation it not only has an impact on the organisation but also on the employee and wider society (Mobley, 1982). These impacts can be both positive and negative (Mobley, 1982; Hom and Griffeth, 1995), and a greater knowledge of the evolution of labour turnover can improve the extent to which organisations and employees within organisations can control these effects (Dalton et al., 1981). These days organisations invest a lot on their employees in terms of training and development, maintaining, and retaining them within their organisation. So, there is a need for the managers to lessen the employee turnover rates within their organisations. This research will look in to the company X, which is a part of the large retail outlet group. For the reasons of ethics the name of the company will not be revealed at any part of this report and will be referred throughout as company X. Company X is a part of large retail outlet with stores which are spread throughout the UK and worldwide. The business sector in which the company X is operating has a high level of competition and the company X is constantly thriving to maintain their competitive advantage in their sector and gain a huge amount of market share. The company X operates in a highly competitive environment, it has to continuously deal with the demands and expectations of the customers which is in turn very stressful for the employees in the company X. This high competition, high demands and high expectation creates a hard environment in the company X and which in turn will affect the employees. The North-East branches of the company X are being focused on this study. The company X has 6 branches in the North-East, each of the branches has a manager, 8 to 10 customer service employees (depending on the location of the branch), and 1 director. The director of the company was consulted regarding the research study and was asked whether there were any areas of concerns within the company which he wanted researching. As the director was working there for a quite long time, he was in a very good position to answer to this question. The director was aware of the reasons why his staff was leaving, but he wanted to know whether the present staff still had the same concerns. The director also wanted to know the possible ways in which these concerns could be resolved in order to retain his current staff. The director was fully aware that the turnover levels of the company had a negative impact on his present staff. The times of employee turnover resulted in longer hours for some staff members which affected the present staff both physically and psychologically because they have to now work for long hours. This was followed during the time when there was training for the new staff. The existing staff had to increase their workload during the times of training the new staff and this in turn affected the level of customer service provided by them. The director noticed that during this period some of their staff was demoralized and were asking for time offs which would further have more impact on the other staff. The hiring and training of new staff seem to have settled this problem. However there is some extent of discontent among the staff of company X regarding the company. Aims of the Study The main aim of this research is to assess the reasons for high labour turnover in UK and particularly in the organisation which I have chosen. Research Objectives: What are the reasons for high labour turnover in company X? How is this issue managed and addressed by the management of the company X? What does the staff and managers think about this problem of high labour turnover in their organisation? Try to suggest solutions in order to reduce the labour turn over in the company X. Literature Review Labour turnover According to Adams (1993) labour turnover is the rate at which staffs leave an organisation and are replaced by new employees. Too high a labour turnover rate may mean that there is something unsatisfactory about working for the organisation and that action therefore would need to be taken†. There are different kinds of methods in which we can measure the labour turnover. The term â€Å"turnover† is defined by Prince (1997) as: the ratio of number of organisational members who have left during the period being considered divided by the average number of people in that organisation during that period. The labour turnover index is the traditional method to measure the labour turnover. This method is a most common method because of the simplicity of usage and to understand. Causes of labour turnover There was a lot of research carried out by academics in the past to answer the question of what makes the employees to leave organisations (for ex, Beck, 2001; Kramer et al., 1995; Saks, 1996). There has been a lot of inconsistency in the findings of the academics which may be because of the variety of employed incorporated by the academics. There is no single or universal reason for why people leave the organisation. The reasons may be different from one organisation to other and from one person to another (Ongori, 2007), people may quit organisation because they might not be getting what they were expecting from the organisation or they might leave the organisation because of personal reasons such as family responsibilities or problems in personal relationships, nevertheless, all these factors have an impact on the employee and the organisation in which he is working. According to Firth et al., (2004), the strain associated with job, a variety of aspects that advance to job associated strain, absence of dedication with in the organisations; and job related frustrations make employee to quit the organisations. This apparently marks that these are particular decisions which makes an individual to leave the organisation. These days there are few jobs which are very stressful such as customer service jobs or a sales job which involves the employees to work both physically and mentally and this will have an adverse impact on the employee which might lead to turnover. Manu et al., (2004) argues that economic factors may be one of the reasons why employees leave organisations. They further argued that economic model can be used to predict the labour turnover in the market. One other reason for the labour turnover might be expectation of promotion or advancement of wages within the employee (Ongori, 2004). Employees working within an organisation might expect a promotion and might be demoralized if he couldnt manage to get a promotion and might lead to turnover, in the same way an employee working for a long time within an organisation might expect a pay rise and will be demoralized and downsized if he couldnt manage to get a pay rise and this might in turn lead to turnover. According to Feaster et al., (1990), to guarantee organisational commitment well-built organisations can provide employees with enhanced option of progression and higher wages. It is evident that huge organisations have many operations, job roles and are spread throughout the country, so there is high possibility that an employee might think about the chances of getting promoted and getting high pay. According to Tor et al., (1997), inadequate data on how to perform a specified job, obscure anticipation of managers, supervisors and peers, uncertainty of performance evaluation procedures, massive job related burdens, and absence of agreement on job duties may cause staff to feel less involved and less satisfied with their jobs, less committed to their organisation, and ultimately exhibit a tendency to quit the organisation. If the employees are not sure of their job role and responsibilities, and if these roles and responsibilities are not clearly mentioned by the management of the organisation, this in turn would lead to the high level of labour turnover within the organisation. Sometimes there arise some factors which are, in part, outside the jurisdiction of the management. These factors may include demise or inability of the employee (Ongori, 2004). Employees are normal human beings and they do grow, mature, and die. So, it is inevitable to control these natural factors. Sometimes due to some internal or external factors highly skilled employees do loose their ability and interest to work, these kind of factors are inevitable and out of control organisations. These factors fall under Voluntary turnover. Other factors have been classified as involuntary turnover factors by Ongori (2004) such as necessity to provide attention to offspring or elderly relatives. Employees do have family and children and often they tend to get deviated from work responsibilities because they are more concerned with their family and children. The employees might even have elderly parent and relatives whom they want to take care of and this might lead to shift of concentration from work and might lead to turnover. On the other hand Simon et al., (2007) argue that these days such factors should not be considered as involuntary turnover because both the regulations of the government and policies of the companies create the opportunities for such staff to return back to their work, or to continue their current work through flexible working or work at home concept. Many organisations these days do provide rehabilitation centers and counseling centers for their employees to take care of their employees. These counseling centers are responsible for handling the psychological aspects of the employee and make sure that they are in good state to work. These days many organisations in UK are providing return to work training for employees who went out for long leaves (for ex such as maternity leave or higher education). This training does help the employee to cope up with the current changes in the organisation and make them ready for work. Zuber (2001) argues that the level of instability of the organisations has an impact on the degree of high turnover. There is a high amount of probability that employees stay within an organisation when there is a foreseeable work environment and vice versa. In companies where there exists a high level of inefficiency there was also high level of labour turnover (Alexander et al., 1994). It is obvious as a human being when an employee suspects that his organisation is not stable anymore or if he suspects that there is going to redundancy within the organisation he might leave the job due to the feeling of insecurity on the other hand when the employee feels like that the organisation is stable he would not bother about quitting his present job. Therefore, in the cases of unstable organisations, employees are more likely to leave the organisation and try to join the more stable organisation, because people normally think that more stable organisations will provide them with more opportunity to advance in their career. According to Labov (1997), organisations with a good communication system have lower or less labour turnover because employees have a strong need to be informed. The employees are always eager to know whats going on within their organisation and a good communication system will keep them informed continuously so that they know whats going on in the organisation, so when an employee is not sure about whats going on within his organisation he might be in a panic state and might lead to turnover. Magner et al., (1996) observed that employees feel at ease to stay longer, in positions where they are involved in some level of decision making process that is employees should fully understand about the issues that affect their working atmosphere. When there is no level of empowerment involved in the organisation for an employee, if the employee has always nee to follow the written rules and never has given an opportunity to think beyond his job he might be demoralized and might lead to turnover. Costly et al. (1987) argues that a heavy labour turnover may mean down-and-out personnel policies, bad recruitment policies, unfavorable supervisory practices, fruitless grievance procedures, or lack of motivation. All these factors tend to heavy labour turnover in the sense that there is no acceptable management practices and policies on personnel matters hence employees are not recruited scientifically, promotions of employees are not based on spelled out policies, no grievance procedures in place and thus employees decides to quit. Griffeth et al. (2000) noted that pay and pay-related aspects have a decent effect on turnover. Their analysis also included studies that examined the relationship between pay, a persons performance and turnover. They concluded that when high performers are not handled and rewarded properly, they quit. If jobs provide sufficient financial incentives then employees are more likely to remain within the organisation and vice versa. There are also other factors which make employees to quit from organisations and these are poor hiring practices, managerial style, lack of recognition, lack of competitive compensation system in the organisation and toxic workplace environment (Abassi et al. 2000). When a person with less or no competencies is hired for a job which require a higher level of competency, knowledge and skill it is more likely that this person would quit or would be sacked from his job because of the inability and inefficiency, this is a result of poor recruitment strategy or poor hiring practices. In the same way people always compare what they get with other people of the same position and if they sense that they are not being paid well or under paid they might leave their current job for a better paid job, this is the result of lack of competitive compensation system within the organisation. The management style plays a crucial role in turnover; if the employee is not handled properly or not managed properly the employee may not give his best and in turn will be demoralized and might quit his job. According to CIPD (2007) the main reason why people leave their present job is that they look for high paying job or for a chance of promotion. The survey conducted by CIPD states that this was the reason for 68% of the employees leaving organisations. The survey also stated that 38% of employees quit their job for a change of career and other reasons included family commitments, health problems, amount of work load, timings, and difficulties with their colleagues at work place. It is evident from the survey findings that people continuously look for better opportunities, better pay and better position, so if an organisation fails to provide them then they might be attracted to the competition and lead to turnover. It is evident that a lot of people leave because of unsatisfactory pay levels, even though with the introduction of the minimum wage rule employees are still not satisfied with their wages because this minimum wage rule is only applicable for those jobs which are to paid hourly and not for the jobs which are paid annually. Taylor (2000) tried to explore whether there is a relationship between pension scheme and turnover. He states that the relationship between turnover and pension scheme is not high, however, he also stated that While pension schemes are frequently perceived to play a role both in the attraction of staff to an organisation and in reducing employee turnover, it is on the later that most attention has been focused in public research. Now-a-days people are not expecting a job for life unlike olden days. These days it is evident that people are mostly looking for transferable skills that they can apply in other jobs. However, some people prefer to stick to one job and one company many people try to move from one company to other in search of better jobs and opportunities. Labour turnover in UK The big issue the organisations within UK are facing these days is labour turnover. According to CIPD (2007) survey labour turnover rates and the cost of labour turnover are at an all time high. The surveys states that the labour turnover rate in 2006 was 18.3% and in 2007 was 18.1% which is almost the same, i.e., turnover is not under control and is affecting the organisations at the same pace, it is interesting to compare the findings of 2005 and 2007, where in 2005 the labour turnover rate was 15.7 and in 2007 it was 18.1%, so we can observe that there is a rapid growth in the labour turnover rates which is alarming to the UK organisations. The survey also reported that the private sector had a highest rate of labour turnover which was around 22.6%. The CIPD (2007) survey shows that change of career was deemed to be the most common reason for voluntary turnover. Around 52% of turnover was due to change of career. Other reasons included promotion outside the organisations (47%), level of pay (39%) and lack of career development opportunities (39%). These survey findings strongly support the views of the academics like Zuber (2001), Alexander et al (2004), Simon et al (2007), and Labov (1997) who continuously argued these reasons for the turnover of employees. So it is evident that the empirical studies and the views of academics do match when it comes to the reasons for why employees leave organisations. The survey conducted by CIPD in 2000 stated that the wholesale and retail trade has the highest turnover in the UK – at 56% the wholesale and retail trade lead the turnover table. The following is a graph which shows the turnover figures in the retail industry in UK during the year 1998-2000, which is broken down by the occupational class. Looking at the graph clearly states that there has been an increase in labour turnover of the administrative jobs during the year 2000. Even though the findings of sales jobs are encouraging it is observed that turnover rate of managers is the same during the year 1998 and 2000. This is alarming because it is hard and costly to find and replace a managerial position (IPD, 1997). The findings of routine, operative and sales jobs are very encouraging as it shows that the turnover rates are gradually decreasing year by year from 1998 to 2000. This is may be due to the reason that employees working in these positions are getting used to their work environment and are less likely to leave their present job, because these kinds of job roles have less or few opportunities to change careers and get promoted outside the organisation. However it is noticeable that replacing these types of jobs would be easy when compared to that of managerial position and administrative jobs, but it would cause some sort of disruptions and would also cost for the organisations to replace them. Costs for organisations The Charted institute of personnel management (CIPD) stated that it would cost around 3500 pounds per employee every time someone leaves the organisation; this was in the year 2004. In 2006 the costs of labour turnover was around 7,750 pounds per job leaver. The figure is almost doubled and it is alarming to the organisations. Organisations with high labour turnover rates not only suffer financially but also psychologically, because of the staff leaving the organisation there will a loss of customer service and this results in hiring new employees and training them who are having less experience. And during this period the organisation has to compromise on a lot of aspects of it functions. There might be also an increase in the level of risk of accidents in organisations where work is involved in risky areas. ACAS states that if labour turnover is excessive it can indicate management problems. These management problems have actually been identified as one of the reasons why employees were leaving the company X. The survey done by IPD (Institute of Personnel Development) in 1997 estimated that it takes an average of 10 weeks for an organisation to fill up a sales vacancy, and it costs around 3,640 pounds for the organisation to find and replace each sales person who left the organisation. The survey also mentioned that though people at managerial positions are less likely to quit an organisation, they cost much more to replace. The survey states that it would take around 13 weeks for an organisation to find and replace a managerial position and would cost around 5,008 pounds per person. However, ACAS does agree that high labour turnover can be expensive, and the actual costs are very difficult to estimate. They further stated that the costs also add up the expenses of advertising, recruiting and training, together with the cost of associated management and supervisory time. It also states that higher costs can be incurred through unnecessarily high staffing level and overtime payment, lost or delayed production, interruptions to flow of work, increased production costs, scrap levels and risk of accidents to inexperienced workers, long-term worker becoming unsettled and leaving, low morale resulting low productivity, damage to the organisations local reputation. However, some research findings oppose the statement that labour turnover has a negative impact for organisations. Some academics (for ex Jovanovic, 1979) states that employees who are less suitable for a particular job quit the job earlier and hence there is a notion that labour turnover does improve organisation performance as employees of poor worker job matches leaves and that vacancy can be filled by a employee with good worker job matches and this will in turn increase the organisations performance. This statement can further be supported by the survey which is done by CIPD in 2000 which states that around 55.5% of organisations experienced minor negative effects of labour turnover, around 26.9% of organisations experienced no effect at all and around 4.8% of organisations have experienced a positive effect due to the labour turnover. Different strategies and approaches to control and minimize turnover There is no one strategy or approach which when used by an organisation can reduce or control the turnover rate. This is because the reasons vary from person to person and organisation to organisation (Ongori, 2004). So it is evident that in order to reduce the turnover the organisations first need to understand turnover. Dalton et al., (1987) (Cited in Abelson, 1987) stated that for an organisation to completely understand the reasons for turnover it needs to differentiate avoidable and unavoidable turnover. Avoidable reasons might include employees leaving their current job to find a better job with better pay and working conditions else where. Unavoidable reasons are not under organisations control. These might include an employee moving from current location to another location, or leaving to fulfill family responsibilities. So it is evident that organisations need to identify voluntary turnover within their organisations and take necessary actions to manage turnover. Research does suggest that it is crucial for an organisation to look and analyze both the quantitative and qualitative information relating to turnover within their organisation (IDS, 2004). Quantitative information is required because it will help the organisation to record, measure and compare its turnover levels. Qualitative information is also important because with this the organisations can understand the reasons why the employees left the organisations and take measures to overcome them. According to CIPD (2004), it crucial that organisations have an understanding of their turnover rates and how it would affect its performance and effectiveness. Armstrong (2001) states that in order for organisations to improve their retention rates they need to analyze the number of employees who are leaving and the reasons why they leave. So it is crucial for an organisation to have established methods to investigate why people are leaving. The following is a graph which shows the various methods used by the organisations to investigate why people are leaving. It is evident from the graph that most of the organisations (90%) use exit interviews to investigate why people are leaving, but it is questionable whether these data collected is used to their full potential. Ongori (2004) suggest that in order to reduce turnover organisations need to provide empowerment to employees. This approach would motivate employee and the employee feels as a part of the organisation and would not quit his job because of the responsibilities. But on the other hand this approach is not applicable to all types of jobs. This approach might work in managerial and administrative jobs but may not hold good for routine and sales jobs.

Dead Men Do Tell Tales Essay -- William R. Maples Forensic Anthropolog

Dead Men Do Tell Tales In the book, Dead Men Do Tell Tales, by William R. Maples, Ph.D. and Michael Browning, a story is told in how the dead, no matter how dead, still â€Å"talk† to us. The book is appropriately titled because, according to Dr. Maples, truth is discoverable, truth wants to be discovered (2). Dr. Maples tells us of what it is like to be a Forensic Anthropologist. Dr. Maples does not hold anything back in any of his descriptions, from the smell of corpses to the explanations of maggots. Dead Men Do Tell Tales is a complete engrossing journey into the world of Forensic Anthropology and the science of bones. The book is well organized and easy to follow. The story is not from some published medical work containing lengthy medical terminology. The book is best described as the story of Dr. Maples career and interesting encounters it entailed. The book is a total of 292 pages. The book is organized into 16 chapters, each appropriately titled for the subject and stories that it contains. One could only wish that all story tellers could be as good as Dr. Maples. The first chapter, â€Å"Every Day Is Halloween†, gives a preview of the book and talks about the nightmares that he seldom has. â€Å"They are usually flitting images of the everyday things I see on the job: crushed and perforated skulls, lopped-off limbs and severed heads, roasted and dissolving corpses, hanks of human hair and heaps of white bones – all in a day’s work at my office† (1). In this part of the book, we learn of Dr. Maples' life and how it came to include the fascinating world of anthropology. It is in this chapter that Dr. Maples proves his credibility that he knows what he is talking about. He tells of his upbringing with strict moral val... ...anything. I think that the book is so fasinating cause he doesn’t try to put a rated â€Å"R† subject into a â€Å"PG-13† book, after all we live in a rated â€Å"R† world, whether we like it or not. He helps to illustrate his world in all different varieties, I believe that is why the chapters were broken down the way there were. Dr. Maples includes so many fascinating experiences and resolutions to his investigations that even I was able to stay interested to the last page. The class helped out a lot in reading this book because I was able to easily follow his explanations of the skeleton, from differences between male and female skeletons, the different bones that were being talked about, the dental records, and a lot about the skull, like skull features, cranial sutures, and orbital features. I only wish all school books assigned could be as interesting as this one.

In this Strage Labyrinth :: Literary Analysis, Wroth

In her poem, â€Å"In this strange labyrinth,† Wroth compares falling in love to a puzzling maze in which there are two ways out, to run from the perplexing adventure or to give in and be captivated by the intense passion. She does not play it off as an easy feat, but instead shows the true struggles of a woman weighing her options between an easy decision and the hard, right one. She clearly shows her confusion and struggle to accept that she cannot flee from the love her suitor offers. The author sets the scene by alluding to King Mino’s maze. The speaker does not know whether to seek out the Minotaur, or her love, or to run from it, even though she realizes she must face the beast at some point. The opening line sets the tone for the first half: confused and uncertain. She sees all these different paths in this cold, dark, empty setting that she could take, but doesn’t know which to follow. The word â€Å"strange† here does not make it seem like she is scared of the feeling, but it is baffling her (1). Because the poem was written in the early 1600s, it is understandable that she doesn’t know what to think because it was rare that one was gifted with truly falling in love. The meter starts in iambic pentameter but fluctuates throughout the sonnet to show the deep vacillation the persona is experiencing. The second line shows the first irregular meter. â€Å"While the way I miss† is anapestic and spoken rapidly, accurately allow ing a peek into the persona’s head and seeing her anxiety about the choice she must make. Now she is at a fork in the maze. If she continues on she would accept the love for all its good and bad, but to turn around would be to run away. To the right is her suitor, whom she must face headlong and receive the love he offers. She thinks this love will â€Å"burn† her, or mark her (3). The speaker knows that you cannot come out of an experience with love without some change or alteration to the emotion of a person, but she is unsure if this is the safe path for her heart and emotions. If she goes forward, she would be to rush headlong into the inferno, where the â€Å"danger is† (4). Danger here not only means she will expose her heart to potential harm, but she will also be at the mercy of her lover and his wishes.