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[englishstudentc1]

Proposal for the teamleader Business English at the CHE

My name is Mieke van Beek, I am a fourth year HR student at the CHE. So I have almost participated in the whole business English program. I would like to tell you how I experienced the program and what areas for improvement I see that will motivate students to invest in this program.

I am grateful that I have learned (and still learn) English at university level. Especially the technical terms of business and HR are extremely useful in my future job. I have two improvements for the program. Firstly I think it will help students when the It’s Learning environment is more clearly arranged. In the second place I know students often say ‘no’ when the teacher asks for some practice, while it is necessary to practice. So I think it is better when the teacher takes the lead.

One suggestion on how to stimulate students to invest in this program: to make it more cherish and convince the students that it is useful to have a broad English vocabulary. Most of the students are not very skilled in speaking and writing English so I think it is extremely important that students are motivated in the right way. Can we discuss about this further on Thursday at 11am?

Thank you for your consideration of my proposal and if you have any questions: just contact me.

Sincerely,

Mieke van Beek

[englishstudentc1]

3 words that are not familiar to me

The last time I have learned a few new words which were not familiar to me while studying for a school project. Namely: plumber, verdict, sinus infection.

A plumber is a professional who focuses on the construction and maintenance of sanitary facilities, heating installations, water pipes and/or sewage.

A plumber came to fix my toilet.

Verdict means a motivated, binding decision of a judge.

The judge pronounced a verdict at the court.

Sinus infection means an infection in the area behind nose till forehead.

Last month I was in bed because I had sinus infection.

The source in which I found the translation is Google Translate. The words plumber and sinus infection I found while I was talking with an American friend of mine. The word verdict I found while watching a movie.

[englishstudentc1]

My most important personal learning experiences

During my time as a student I have learned a lot. My most important personal learning experience is that I now know that I need a safe, familiar environment to work in. An environment in which I feel respected and seen by my direct colleagues or classmates. Only when I work in an environment like that, my talents will be expressed. The second thing that I have learned, is that I like to have a lot of incentives while working. Compliments motivate me to continue and to work even harder than I did before.  And last, but not least I like to be of value. For me to be of value means: to contribute to a better world and to build Gods kingdom here on earth and to make the (people in the) organization excellent. So the company I work for has to have a mission and vision I also want to stand for - to keep me motivated. For example, I am now in contact with IJM, an organization that is fighting against modern slavery in third world countries, to have an internship there.

At the CHE, and specifically at my study HRM, I learned to reflect. When I was not happy with my job, internship or study, I reflected by myself why I wasn’t happy or feeling motivated and alive while working. This helped me a lot to see the things I am struggling with and how I have to solve those problems. Throughout that process I have learned the things I have named above.

[englishstudentc1]

A letter to the director of Berg Toys

Dear Henk van den Berg,

I would like to thank you for the opportunity to offer the internship at Berg Toys one and a half year ago. It was a meaningful time for me, because I have learned a lot about an organization which carries out the production, sales even up to and including delivery to the customer completely independently. You have a beautiful company with great products with good quality. Since my internship at your company my parents bought a Berg trampoline. ;)

I have also learned a lot about myself, namely what I do not like in HR and in my work placement. The working environment was not pleasant, because employees were not open and accessible to other employees outside their division. I think you can improve that, so that all employees become one team. Maybe some teambuilding activities or doing something outside of the office and working time can help. The advantage of this is that I have also learned what I do want in my work and which aspects of HR I still have to discover. I am grateful Berg gave me this opportunity.

Finally I want to thank you for the internship compensation and many incentives, they made me feel really appreciated. I think all employees feel that way too.

Kind regards,

Mieke van Beek

[englishstudentc1]

‘Furlough´

In one the business articles I’ve read, I saw the word ‘furlough’. This means that someone has to take free time involuntary, due to economical reasons of a company. It’s an American expression that’s been taken from the Dutch vocabulary. It looks a lot like the Dutch word for it, namely: verlof. In British English it is ‘leave’. 

[englishstudentc1]

Curaçao

Hopefully next year I can tell you something about an international journey which I went on for school. Till now I have never been on an international journey. That’s why I will tell you something about one of my holidays now. I went on holiday to Curaçao. That is an island of South America. What I liked the best about the culture in Curaçao, is that the people there were very relaxed. For example people almost everyday go to the beach, go for diner and have at least every week a party on the beach. Almost everybody from above the age of 18 years goes to the parties.

There weren’t misunderstandings to cultural differences. The first reason because of this, is that I went on holiday, for just two weeks, so it wasn’t a long time to come across misunderstandings. The second reason is because Curaçao is a member state of the Netherlands, causing the culture is in a lot of things the same.

[englishstudentc1]

Why to study finance?

Summary:

In this Yale lecture the question: ‘Why to study finance?’, and the mechanics of the course will be answered. The answer is: because it’s to understand the financial system, which is really part of the economic system. It’s to make informed choices and answer questions like: Is privatizing Social Security a good or a bad thing? Is regulation of financial markets a good thing? 

In the past there was a theory and the implication of that theory is that there’s an extraordinarily clever way of computing the value of most investment assets and about deciding when a financial decision is a good thing to do or not. That was the heart of what they taught in business schools, these algorithms for valuing assets and making optimal financial decisions. Instead of Yale, Yale was very different. There was no divide between economists and finance people. The best economists were also interested in finance. Finance and economic went hand-in-hand. ‘Would you say that the Yale manager is better than the hedge fund manager?’ This is a kind of thing in finance you taught to think about.

There are also some languages in this Yale lecture by which economic and financial questions can be answered. This is too big to summarise briefly within 250 words in total. 

Why was this lecture relevant to me?

This lecture was relevant to me, because I’m a HR-student and I am interested in finance and the economic system. In Human Resource Management you are also working on finance. I think people are the key to earn to a company, because they can help to earn money and grow as a company. So when I look at employees, I also think: how can we get these employees on a good way to earn much money and grow as a company in a good way? That is also finance. 

The languages which has been discussed in this lecture can help me later to answer financial questions. 

YaleCourses. (2011, 1 april). Why Finance? Accessed on 20 december 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTs2IQ8OefQ

[englishstudentc1]

From actor to successful entrepreneur

Summary:

The article is about Dan Aykroyd and how he went from battling spirits to selling them. The article tells a lot about Dan’s life. Dan attended a Catholic school, hence the initial plan to become a priest, but he changed his mind at the age of seventeen. He then studied criminology and sociology at Carleton University in Ottawa, only to drop out before completing his degree. Instead of studying, he started out as a comedian and helped to run a bar. Dan worked hard and managed to get himself a starring role. He has also directed one movie which, he says, helped his management skills. 

"The first thing [as a director] is that you have to respect what others are doing for you, respect that they have skills and abilities that you may think you know something about, but you don't, because you don't do that particular function with an organisation," he says. "Let them do their job." In 2005 Dan set up a company to import Patron tequila into Canada. Two years later he launched his pride and joy - Crystal Head vodka. The now more than 45 years of being an actor has made him well prepared to also become an entrepreneur. 

Personal opinion:

When I read this article about Dan Aykroyd who went from being an actor to become an entrepreneur I have some questions. Dan says namely that the experience he had gained of being an actor has made him well prepared to also become an entrepreneur. How does that experience made him well prepared? Is he a good salesman, because of his acting skills? 

I can imagine the experience he had as a director can help him with being an entrepreneur, because he had to work with a lot of people, take the lead and, no matter what people say, just draw your own plan. That is also what entrepreneurs do.

Author of BBC. (2020, 20 january). How Dan Aykroyd went from battling spirits to selling them. Accessed at 20 january 2020, of https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51113460

[englishstudentc1]

The golden circle

Personal response:

I found it super inspiring what Simon Sinek says in this TED-talk. He shows the golden circle with ‘why’ in the middle, next ‘how’ and then ‘what’. He tells us: “100% of the world population know what they do. Most of the people know how they do it. But a little people know why they do it.” …  “But the inspired leaders and the inspired organisations, regardless of their size, regardless of their industry, all think, act and communicate from the inside out.”

Simon had an example about Apple and why Apple is one of the biggest companies in the world. He says that people buy why you do it. And Apple is a company who promotes the ‘why’, instead of ‘what’ like the most companies do.

Quotes:

“We go from the clearest thing to the foggiest thing. But the inspired leaders and the inspired organisations, regardless of their size, regardless of their industry, all think, act and communicate from the inside out.”

This quote tells us how most of the people think/act.

“There is an inextricable link between leadership and communication. Those who lead are the ones that can clearly communicate what they believe and those who can clearly communicate what they believe are the ones who lead.”

This quote tells us the link between leadership and communication. This consistent with my previous blog, about leadership.

“You are about what you believe.”

This quote tells us that we can be what we believe. We have to express what we believe. I think this is inspiring and motivate us, even when we believe we did much things wrong.

Sinek, S. (2020, 20 februari). Why you should start with why. Accessed at 30 december 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0GmcwVi7jo

[englishstudentc1]

Good leadership

Personal response:

I think this TED-talk is a good one for me as a HR-professional in training. Most of the HR-professionals are going to hold a leadership position, but a question to ask yourself is: am I a real leader or do I just have the authority to be a leader? Before I watched this TED-talk, I thought there are many leader-persons on lower positions and there are just authority’s, instead of leaders, on top. When I lead people nowadays, but also when I will do it in the future, I want to be a good leader. I want to be there for the people I lead, so they can rely on me, so I can trust on them and they will cooperate. 

That is why I choose the quotes below. The first quote tells us what a good leader is and the second one tells us how you need to be a good leader.

Quotes:

“The closest analogy to what a leader is, is like being a parent. … We want to give our child opportunities, education, discipline them when necessary, all so that they can grow up and achieve more than we could for ourselves.” 

“When a leader makes the choice to put the safety and lifes of the people inside the organization first, to sacrifice their comforts and sacrifice the tangible results, so that the people remain and feel safe and feel like they belong, remarkable things happen.” 

Sinek, S. (2014, 19 mei). Why good leaders make you feel safe. Accessed at 17 december 2019, of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmyZMtPVodo

[englishstudentc1]

How do you motivate employees?

Summary

This is an article about ‘How do you motivate employees?’ written by Frederick Herzberg. In short Herzberg says: “Forget praise. Forget punishment. Forget cash. You need to make their jobs more interesting.”. The reason you want your workforce so motivated is that employees relish more hours of work, not fewer, initiate increased responsibility themselves, and boast about their challenging work, not their paychecks or bonuses. 

Noted from research extrinsic incentives may stimulate people to put their noses to the grindstone - but they’ll likely perform only as long as it takes to get that next raise or promotion. The real key to motivating your employees is namely enabling them to activate their own internal generators. Most of us are motivated by intrinsic rewards like: challenging work, the opportunity to achieve and grow into greater responsibility and interesting.

My opinion

In my gained experience I think Frederick Herzberg is right about the way you can motivate employees. For example my own life, namely I wasn’t motivated for my first study, nurse, because it wasn’t interesting for me. I was extrinsic motivated, because I was motivated for good grades and not for the nursing field. Nowaday I’m studying HRM and I want to do everything from my study, because I know why I’m doing it. The study is challenging and interesting for me and in my internship I can grow into greater responsibility, exactly like Herzberg says. I want to become a good HR-professional, because I am intrinsic motivated. So this example shows one of the reasons why I think Herzberg is right.

Herzberg, F. (Januari, 2003). How Do You Motivate Employees? Geraadpleegd op 8 januari 2020, van https://subscribe.hbr.org/pubs/H0/HBR/newbusiness_int_GBB4.jsp?cds_page_id=238075&cds_mag_code=HBR&id=1578904526973&lsid=30130235269024312&vid=1&cds_response_key=I91NWEB3

[englishstudentc1]

What about the gender gap?

Summary

The World Economic Forum (WEF) says that the gender gap, measured in terms of political influence, economic gain and health and education, has narrowed over the last year. Nevertheless it will take a while till the gap has disappeared. While women taking high roles in government, the economic gap between men and women has increased. The WEF predicted it would take 99.5 years for women to be on an equal foot with men, because of the slow progress in the political sphere.

The reason why the economic gender gap has grown compared to last year is, because women are most of the time under-represented in the fastest-growing job sectors and more likely to be displaced by automation. Last year the WEF’s report suggested it would take 108 years to close the inequality gap. 

My opinion

I think the gender gap is worldwide and in my surroundings it seems to be narrowed. I see more women in high positions in business and when I look at myself I know it is possible to dream about a high career. Nobody says it is impossible for me to become a CEO. 

I know that men most of the time have a higher salary, but I think that is because they radiate authority. Also men negotiate their wage, while women just accept their established earnings. I think most of the people still find that men need to earn more and have a higher position than women, but isn’t it only because of what people think. My personal opinion is that you just need to do a job you’re passionate and motivated for.

Author of BBC. (2019, 17 december). The gender gap is on course to close... in 99 years. Accessed at 17 december 2019, of https://www.bbc.com/news/business-50814765

[englishstudentc1]

Think and grow rich

Greg Reid said in the Ted talk that there will always be challenges and the question is when they come (Reid, 2011). I agree with Reid, because everybody has challenges to deal with. Sometimes things in life are tough and hard, but I agree with the quote:

“It’s easy to quite, but it’s the people who persevere and go through the challenges that truly come out on top.” (Reid, 2011)  

In the 20 years that I’m alive, I have learned from my faults. In particular I’ve learned from challenges. So when Reid said that these people come out on top, I believed it directly. He also said that we don’t have to let our circumstances, mistakes or setbacks determine our value as a person. Because when we’re faced with challenges, we think our value changes. And I recognise that. When I quit my previous study, it felt like I had failed, but actually it was a very good decision. I thought I had to follow people around me and almost let people talk me out of my dream: to study HRM. Reid said that we have to face challenges, follow our dreams and believe in it. The quote below tells us that successful people believe in their dreams and seek counsel, most of the time from someone who is experienced. While a person who’s not successful seeks someone’s opinion, which is based on ignorance or lack of knowledge. (Reid, 2011)

“The difference between someone who’s successful and someone who’s not. Is successful people seek counsel and ignorant people seek opinion.” (Reid, 2011) 

Sometimes I seek opinions when I don’t necessarily need opinions. For example when I wanted to sell electric steps with my boyfriend. Even though we knew people would buy them and we believed in our business, we still asked opinions of the people around us. I think everybody seeks opinions and I think this quote reminds you of the unimportance of opinions in some situations of your life. John Schwarz said: “If more people had spent their daily lives only seeking that counsel and ignoring opinions, their lives would change accordingly.” (Reid, 2011) 

The conclusion of this Ted talk is the following: when you know in your heart you’re doing something right and you’re on the right path, don’t ever let other people talk you out of your dreams. And never quit when you’re just three feet from gold (Reid, 2011).

Reid, G. (2011, 13 december). Think and Grow Rich - Greg Reid TEDx [Youtube]. Geraadpleegd op 2 december 2019, van https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuKqP3ufNZs

[englishstudentc1]

My English history

I’ve grown up in a Dutch family with a my mom and dad who didn’t speak English fluently. Sometimes I heard them speak English for business, but that was all. In primary school I never learned English, because there was no English class. My school was small and we had only one English teacher. This teacher was burned-out, so I didn’t learn English in primary school. In high school I hated English because I thought I was pretty bad in it. I also wasn’t very concerned with the language. For example I never did my homework, I only learned words when I was required. I wasn’t confident about my English language and didn’t speak much English during the lessons. In my leisure I read books and watch  English movies. These have helped me to build up my English vocabulary. 

When I went on a holliday and I had to speak English, it would sound pretty good. Especially when I was in a bar or similar places and it didn’t matter what people thought of me. I would love to get back to those moments, when right or wrong does not matter.

Right now I really want to learn more about the language and speak English fluently and I really want to read books in English and understand them. I think English is an important language to learn and eventually be able to listen to, to speak, write and read. So I hope that, when I am finishing studying, I am able to use the English language for my professional career.