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SHURMAN Third Blog Entry

Do you agree or disagree with your test results? Why?

I agree with the test results because it accurately describes who I am as a person, what I value and what I do. For example, according to test I am someone who values “honesty and straightforwardness so highly, people with the ESTJ personality type are likely to be clear about who they are, what they’re like and what their goals are from the start, and to stick to those statements long-term.” Personally, I consider myself a very self-aware person in terms of what I like, what I don’t like, what I value in life and what I think about life. The quoted phrase from the test only confirmed that because I consider myself as someone self-aware, I value honesty and straightforwardness that I give feedback without sugarcoating it, making sure that I get straight to the point so that people would also become aware about themselves better.

Do the recommended careers (based on the infographics) appeal to you? Why/why not? 

Only one recommended career appealed to me — Insurance Sales Agent. The rest were professions that I believe I will never excel at simply because I am lacking the skills required in those professions (these include being a lawyer, judge, and pharmacist). To be a good lawyer or judge requires me to speak about my principles and beliefs, no matter how unpopular it is. However even though I consider myself a principled person, I am not necessarily good at speaking my mind about certain controversial issues, as pressure tends to change how I view things. As for being a pharmacist, I don’t have the discipline and patience to memorize all the medicines and drugs, which is a lot to remember in my opinion.

How will the knowledge of your personality type help you to become a successful business leader?

By looking at my weaknesses, I am able to get to know which areas I mostly need to improve on. The test will help me become a successful leader if I am able to use my strengths to address my weaknesses. Furthermore, I believe that the most important thing that this test gives me is self-awareness, which I believe will lead to internal growth and eventually translate to improved decisions and actions as a leader.

Is the definition of each characteristic in the R-I-A-S-E-C profile consistent with what you know about yourself? Why or why not?

The definition of each characteristic was consistent with what I want to be, but not entirely with who I am today. For example, my highest score was being artistic. However personally I consider myself as someone who is not yet creative yet. But because I am aware that one critical feature to succeed in this era is to be creative or to think outside the box, I assert myself in certain situations to be as creative as possible.

Do any of the suggested jobs fitting your R-I-A-S-E-C profile interest you? Why or why not? Which of the suggested jobs do you think you are capable of doing, based on the level of preparation prescribed in the O*Net profiler?

They do interest me particularly because the jobs are completely in line with what I want to be, however I lack the skills for those suggested jobs. Out of all the jobs suggested, I believe I can be a model, actor, or film/video editor. However as aforementioned, I do not have the level of confidence required to be a model, the acting skills required to be an actor, nor the necessary background on motion film in order to be a good editor.

Do you think you will have a fulfilling career if you take one of the suggested jobs for your profile? Why or why not? 

I believe I will simply because ever since I was a kid, I have been wanting to become either a model, actor or film editor. Until now, even though I have an entirely different career path with my current degree, I sometimes still think about those careers and what it was like to be working in those professions.

Do you agree with the comparison between your level of introversion/extroversion to your R-I-A-S-E-C profile? Why or why not?

I agree, my extroversion result from my RIASEC profile was consistent with the 16 personalities results. I believe that this is because personally I believe that in order to succeed in life, good social skills are of the utmost importance in achieving anything. Whether a work is done by group or individually, talking to other people, consulting with them is something I believe is underrated especially in this generation.

What did you learn about yourself by doing the SelfStir assessment? Although I didn’t learning anything new, the selfstir assessment only confirmed the things that I know about myself (being adaptable, empathetic, committed and vision-oriented).

What is your greatest strength and your greatest weakness? Did these traits surprise you? Or are you already aware of them? My greatest strength would be my ability to relate to other people’s emotions in such a way that I respond depending on the person I am talking to, whereas my greatest weakness is my social anxiety which I believe serves as a communication barrier most of the time when I talk to other people. These traits did not surprise me as I mentioned before, I am very much aware of myself, I consider this as a strenghth about my personality too.

What do you think about other people’s rating of you? Are you surprised to learn about their impression of you? Or are you already aware of the image you project to the world?

Part of being self-aware is to know what you bring to the table. Because I know the certain effects of what I do or say, I tend to have control over the image I want to develop, which I believe is also a good and bad thing in itself. Good because it gives me control over my own life, bad because sometimes I feel as if I am not as authentic as people think me to be.

How important is a 360 assessment in the workplace?

I believe that the importance of the 360 assessment comes by giving individuals a starting point for the development of current strengths and new skills. This process gives individuals control over their own development through the creation of customized development plans. This encourages individual accountability and gives employees control over their career paths.

How can this assessment help you become an effective leader? The bottom line is, I believe that this assessment gives me a balanced view about myself because the assessment gave me feedback not only from my superiors but also from a variety of peers that I have.

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2nd Blog Entry

SHURMAN Second Blog Entry.

5 education and work issues

One issue I can see happening in the workplace, which sometimes happen in school today, is that Gen Zs can be being overly competitive to the point that there is no room for cooperation and learning.

Having gray areas in specific job descriptions brings diversity to the workplace, but it sometimes causes an identity crises towards an individual. This phenomenon is called being a “jack of all trades”. More often than not, because there is an increasing popularity in job rotations, people tend to lose the skills necessary to specialize in a certain area or field. Personally, I have encountered this during my time being active in organizations that I found myself asking who I really am and what I am really good at.

One person describe the Generation Z as a people who “take information instantaneously, and loses interest just as fast.” This is a big problem especially in the workplace as it breeds a culture of being unloyal to an organization. With that being said, organizations must take this issue seriously by looking at their employee retention efforts to keep their employees satisfied and healthy while sustaining an effective and profitable business in the long-term,.

One thing that I have noticed with some of the Generation Zs is that more and more people are becoming culturally and socially “woke” online. Although I believe that this is a good thing, however it does not do its justice when people only take it as far as ranting or being “politically correct” online. What I mean by this is although their arguments or opinions are substantial, they must not stop there. I believe that words still speak louder than words and personally I would want to see more people acting on certain issues much more than being an advocate (which is again nothing wrong about being an advocate). Moreover, I notice that some people even appear online as if they have the best “solution” to the problem. But in reality, they only suggest and popularize “band-aid” solutions. This culture of “political correctness” creates an illusion of entitlement that it not only disables individuals from taking and learning from other point of views, but also reinforce the “band-aid” solutions these people have, which is a very big concern especially in the workplace.

A future problem I see, although it may seem as a ridiculous claim, that may substantially change the workplace is how the Generation Z, being true “digital natives”, may finally start an era where machines and information systems replace streamlined work processes. For example, the effects of automation on the insurance industry are already being felt by medical insurance claim representatives. Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance has replace 30 of its insurance claim reps with an AI that can “analyze, interpret all data including unstructured text, images, audio and video better and faster than a human. I am not saying that this change may be good or bad for the workplace, but one thing’s for sure — there is a rapid change or transition to a technological workplace that may or may not put some organizations out of business, it boils down to who is able to adjust quicker and better.

5 key takeaways

Personally, it never came into my mind about every generation has a different set of characteristics in life and in the workplace and that these need to be taken into account and even prepared for by companies.

The fact that social media is a major factor that shapes how Gen Zs perceive the world. Data shows that 17% of Gen Zers want to start a business, while 11% of millenials do. This implies that Generation Z are more entrepenurial simply because social media portrays start-up companies that are becoming a big-hit success, and kids are witnessing this through social media.

Personally, I can relate with the Generation Z for being a private person. This quote struck me the most “Unlike the more showy millennials, Gen Z is less interested in sharing their lives for the public record. Anonymous social media platforms like Secret and Snapchat are more appealing to Gen Z than Facebook and similar platforms that leave permanent records which can come back to haunt users later on.”

Gen Zers want to change the system rather than to work or be part of the system. Nowadays, Gen Zers want to establish a brand with a vision that is substantial, a vision that stands for something, which I agree with from reading the article.

The fear of missing out makes social media very popular, therefore initiatives like employee rotation programs are increasing popularity as well. However, this goes back to a point I mentioned awhile ago, about Generation Z not understanding the meaning of loyalty to a particular person, organization, or purpose.

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Strategic Human Resource Management: Ethics

The reality is that a business leader does not necessarily have to adhere to a code of ethics. In my opinion, a business leader can opt to violate business ethics if he wishes to. However legally speaking, it may be extremely dangerous for the person to do so, as there will be grave consequences when guilty. From a moral perspective, I believe it is only right and effective for a leader to use the code of ethics as a guidance in doing business. Moreover, there is a higher chance that constituents will be more inspired and respectful towards an effective business leader who have a good sense of ethics, making the organization practice good business ethics which will ultimately lead to a longer organizational lifespan.

It is necessary for a business leader to reflect on his or her purpose particularly on situations wherein one might be too caught up with the process of doing business. Oftentimes, businessmen get caught up in the pursuit of wealth, they leave behind and forget the purpose of what they were doing, which is why it is advisable and necessary for an organization to reflect and revisit their purpose every now and then in order to align and get everyone to go back and achieve their vision together.

The goal of every business leader should be to set the direction of an organization towards progress. The most important thing a leader can do is to set direction and communicate it in ways that connect and compel others. Only the right purpose and visions can command attention and commitment from everyone involved inside the organization. An organization without a direction is headed nowhere. Whereas if everybody pulls in the same direction, this will most likely lead to the success of any organizational purpose. The direction of the company determines how people inside the organization will behave.

Regardless of job description or title, every leader must act as a role model and be responsible to show integrity in the workplace. I believe that when followers believe that their leader has integrity, they associate this trait with kindness and having good intentions as opposed to selfish motives. Not only does this make employees more productive, it also hones future leaders to act with the right type of behavior towards their fellow workmates. In a nutshell, it serves the organization well in terms of their goals and sustainability.