Sunday, March 9, 2008

20 Articles

1. “Manage Your Energy, Not Your Time
By Tony Schwartz and Catherine McCarthy

Tony Schwarz and Catherine McCarthy state that since time is a finite resource, it makes more sense to focus on building one's energy; this is done by working to the natural rhythms of expending and renewing your energy throughout the day. Staff must adopt rituals that tap into four different sources of energy: body, emotions, mind and spirit.

This article is relevant and valuable to individuals and employers alike. An experiment at Wachovia bank reportedly improved performance dramatically. But they question whether companies are brave enough to institute such working patterns


2. Talent Management: Nurturing the Egg

By Jean-Michel Caye and Ivan Martin


This article states how firms can find, keep and promote the best staff in emerging markets. The firs identifies three converging trends: “Ego” (staff who know their value); “Globalization” (the importance of emerging markets as a pool of talent); and “Generation” (the impending shortage of managers in the West when baby-boomers retire). Using the acronym "EGG", the author’s advice: "If companies fail to adjust to the trends, the egg will break…nurture the egg properly, however, [and] it will hatch and produce a thriving organism". This can be done through sustainable development programs like trainings and field trips. They also stress on making staff feel the sense of belonging to ensure that the “nurturing” process flows smoothly and naturally.


3. Aligning Talent for Global Advantage

By Daniel Friedman, Jim Hemerling and Jacqueline Chapman

Boston Consulting Group, 2007


“Aligning Talent for Global Advantage” central claim is that global staffing is now a strategic issue, no longer just the remit of the human resources department. The article gives useful, practical recommendations. Its main virtue lies in its numerous real-life examples: for example, how SAP situates its plants according to the available talent pool; how Philips and Unilever outsource routine human-resources tasks so the division is free to think more strategically; how Schlumberger operates tactical talent-planning teams and makes annual forecasts of its global staffing needs so that further trainings will bring the best results.


4. Defending the indefensible?

Stanford Social Innovation Review

Fall 2007

15 Minutes with Hannah Jones

Hannah Jones, Nike's vice-president of corporate social responsibility since 2004, argues the case for a company that has been a whipping-boy for anti-globalization activists. Some 80% of Nike's workforces, says Ms Jones, are contract workers, many of them women aged 18 to 24 who are working away from home for the first time. “These women have to be our primary concern,” she says, although Ms Jones doesn't specify how Nike polices its contractors.

Nike's other concerns are the environment and “excluded youth”—Ms Jones says the company promotes sports activities for the latter. She gives the impression that Nike's main achievements have been to find opportunities for improving conditions within its supply chain: encouraging designers to turn designs in on time, for example, so that workers are less likely to be pressured into working excessive overtime.


5. ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY
by John Williams

DECEMBER 20, 2000

John Williams writes an article which corporations can adopt if they want their workers to work at optimum level. He suggests that companies should invest a little bit more in their work tables and chairs and also furniture which give better support and comfort because it reduces aches and pains as well as increases their productivity. He also encourages companies to buy new technology tools and train their staff to use them and encourage them to experiment with these programs because it saves their time and reduces fatigue. He also states that there is always room for improvement so companies should not stick to only one old type of technology but combine both new and old technology to innovate new ideas and finally get optimum results


6. CSR: Ask, Don't Tell

By Kurt Ronn

President and founder of HRworks

This article states that you can bring cohesion to your workforce by giving employees a say in your company's charitable contributions. Most corporations have a corporate social responsibility (CSR) statement, many have a charitable foundation, and nearly all encourage their employees to be a positive presence in the community, both on and off the job. But traditionally, CSR is a top-down proposition. The leaders of the organization select a worthy cause, back it with charitable funding, and direct their employees to support it. To be successful, though, that concept needs to be reconsidered. He states that the charity events done should reflect the employee’s interest’s and that they should let the employees decide which charity event would be most suitable for the company as they also have rights as workers in the company.


7. PROTON's Commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility

http://www.proton.com/community/csr/csr_index.php

This article shows how the company shows its concern towards the community, environment and also to its workers by encouraging continuous sustainable development. A new and comprehensive employee communication framework was developed to ensure that all employees are aligned with the organization’s direction and goals. To take this effort one step further, strategic human capital capability-building initiatives were executed. In addition to facilitating assessment, these initiatives sought to develop leadership competencies, develop talent pool and put into motion a succession planning programme to better equip the workforce with skills to compete globally. Continuous development of workforce is vital for them to ensure that they measure up as a key player in the automotive industry.

This year PROTON continues to provide opportunities for students through Yayasan PROTON, where the Group explored viable opportunities for human capital development through programmes with secondary school students and university graduates. Their role is to be a catalyst of success through educational programmes to underprivileged yet smart students who can eventually be a part of the PROTON family.

PROTON also developed and launched Declaration of Assets and ‘Whistleblower’ policies to clearly underline the seriousness to establish integrity as one of their key values.

8.

The Star Business News

Securities Commission chairman Datuk Zarinah Anwar thinks many companies do subscribe to the principles of good business practices, a lot more can be done. She shares her thoughts with StarBiz on why companies should move from corporate social responsibility (CSR) to corporate responsibility (CR). CR is about integrating responsible and ethical practices in all aspects of a company’s operations. CR is wider than CSR because it deals with issues of ethics, governance and the environment as well as the social issues that are the primary concern of CSR. She states that companies should focus more on capacity building and companies should invest time and effort in transferring their skills to help develop their staff. She also states the choice between profits and CR go hand-in-hand so CR responsible companies still earn a lot, if not more revenue than non CR friendly companies.


9. Strengthen Your Business by Developing Your Employees

By Leslie Levine

http://www.allbusiness.com/human-resources/employee-development/1240-1.html

Companies that want to attract and retain valuable people on staff need to actively participate in their employees' growth and development. It's rewarding for employees to expand their knowledge base and take on new challenges, as it makes coming to work about more than just a paycheck. To maintain a work environment that fosters learning and a desire to constantly improve, companies should implement mentoring programs to provide job coaching, advice on career development, and introductions to other professionals in the industry. Mentors often help their charges to see the "bigger picture" when it comes to their working life. And, at the same time, mentors themselves can gain valuable insight from their protégés and become better managers.

Launching employee-training programs also demonstrates that the company values its people and wants them to grow. Reimbursing tuition costs also help employees finance their education and is a tangible way to demonstrate a company's commitment to fostering a workforce full of skilled and talented people. This form of employee development also benefits the company as a whole, better educated employees increase the firm's chances for success in a competitive marketplace. Adding tuition reimbursement to the benefits package also makes the company a much more desirable place to work, and can help attract top talent.

Employees appreciate job security, but in order to grow professionally, people want and need new responsibilities. Giving employees opportunities to grow within the company lets them know that you value their past contributions and have faith in their abilities to take on greater challenges. Star performers should also be rewarded because disregarding their hard work can be demoralizing. A simple pat on the back or acknowledgement will make them strive to work harder.

Often, employees want to make suggestions about the way things are done but don't have a way to voice their ideas. Fostering creative learning processes makes it easier for staffers to share their creative ideas or suggestions with top management.


10. The Benefits of Skill-Based Training

http://www.allbusiness.com/human-resources/careers-job-training/1151-1.html

Skill-based training can positively affect employees and the company. Training increases employee productivity. In addition to learning how to complete new tasks and take on more responsibility, employees can learn advanced techniques to help them complete everyday tasks more efficiently.

Training also reduces turnover which reduces costs as well as increases job satisfaction and it challenges them to learn more and get more involved in their jobs



11. CSR Training Styles

http://www.oww-consulting.com/csr-training/types.html

Different companies use different styles to train their workers because company culture differs in each organization. Amongst these styles, three types of training are most popular which are the Board of Directors Training, Executive Level Training and the Communications Training. In the Board of Directors training, Directors are trained to familiarize themselves with issues and opportunities regarding non-financial, environmental, social and governance risks to help them manage them well to increase the business value in the market.

Executive Level Training trains executives to realize current CSSR issues in their area and to guide them how to make the best CSR friendly decisions. The communications training trains the communications staff with CSR issues. This usually involves departments like the Public Affairs Department, the Investor Relations Department, the Marketing Department and the Customer Relations Unit



12. Career Opportunities

http://www.mcdonalds.ca/en/careers/restOpp.aspx

McDonalds practices its Five People Principles which are:

i) Respect and Recognition - where managers treat workers the way they want to be treated. Employees are respected, valued and empowered. Employees are recognized and rewarded in a variety of different ways. This includes once in a Lifetime Opportunities.

ii) Values & Behaviors- where the company works in the best interest of the company, community and also workers. They communicate openly, listen for understanding and value diverse opinions. They accept personal accountability as well as they coach and learn.

iii) Competitive Pay & Benefits – Where Pay is at or above local quick service restaurant levels. Compensation packages include benefits that employees value and they receive regular performance and wage reviews

iv) Training, Learning, Development and Personal Growth - Employees receive work experience that teaches skills and values that last a lifetime. They are also provided the tools they need to develop personally and professionally.

v) Resources To Get The Job Done - Employees have the tools they need to get the job done.


13. Training

http://www.inc.com/guides/hr/training.html

In Merkle's in-house educational center, known as MIT ("Merkle Institute of Technology"), employees can take and teach classes on a variety of topics, from statistics to yoga. Besides earning credit hours, which qualify them for annual salary increases, employees gain much more such as the opportunity to investigate anything they are curious about and a more interactive and close-knit working environment. Even classes like pumpkin carving are valuable to the company, as employees become better overall learners, which dramatically boost the company's intellectual capital.

One of the basic training strategies used is Cross Training because the better everyone knows everyone else's job, the better the company runs. They also stress that increasing learning opportunities can lower turnover and the most valuable employee training usually comes from on-the-job experience, not from a formal training session because this empowers employees to learn for themselves.

Training non-English speaking workers by sending them to English classes and honing sales skills through fun and games raises work satisfaction and also productivity. Leadership training sessions also adds value to workers and empathizing with their problems helps reduce work stress. Training also is important as it helps avoid discrimination where employers would learn what training strategies they should use to avoid harassment and discrimination in the workplace.


14. Ten Employee Training Tips

http://www.allbusiness.com/human-resources/careers-job-training/1465-1.html

i) Stress training as investment.

ii) Determine your needs

iii) Promote a culture of learning

iv) Get management on board

v) Start out small

vi) Choose quality instructors and materials.

vii) Find the right space – location & size

viii) Clarify connections – training & job

ix) Make it ongoing.

x) Measure results.


15. New Employee Training – Is it Worth the Investment?

http://management.about.com/cs/people/a/NEO112597.htm

From F. John Reh

This writer of this article tells readers why employers should and should not train new workers. He says that workers that workers that bring revenues that are lower than their salaries should take initiative to learn themselves the skills needed to reach their target goals. However, he also says that training new workers will make them more productive. They will feel better about themselves and the job. They will stick around longer. He also states that skills needed for the job is usually not learnt in the classroom but at the workplace.

He states that Government regulation, insurance coverage’s, and common sense dictate some training that MUST be given to every new employee. Dr. Edward Gordon recommends companies make training a stand-alone function, separate from HR. He suggests Training Managers use Return on Investment (ROI) to demonstrate that the training function is a profit center, not just a cost center.


16. Productivity Improvement

http://www.accel-team.com/techniques/articlesSum.html

There are many dynamics to consider, both internally and externally, before changes are made. We must then review these dynamics both during the change process, and then evaluate them again when the changes have been accepted as standard practice.

Companies should use the force field analysis which looks at the variables involved in planning and implementing a change program and will undoubtedly be of use in projects such as team building and productivity improvement, when attempting to overcome resistance to change.

Goal Congruence is also important. The extent that individuals and groups perceive their own goals as being satisfied by the accomplishment of organizational goals is the degree of integration of goals. When organizational goals are shared by all, the term goal congruence can be used.

An organizational growth cycle examines the problems associated with organizational growth and the impact of change on employees.

The Open Systems Approach enables companies to better plan and coordinates the activities of teams, departments, organizations. It will enable creation of an internal and external vision of the strategically important factors that impact on the team, department and or organization, or are impacted by the 'system' under review.

Self-Assessment and thinking like the boss raises productivity because if they're performing to the satisfaction of those above them, their efforts are likely to lead to increased pay and responsibilities.

Time Management and Measuring the Office Staff Productivity improve performance achieves tangible results. Changes up and down can be detected allowing managerial action to be taken to ensure that improvement.


17. It’s Up to You (Stopping Sexual Harassment)

http://www.business-marketing.com/store/sexualharassment.html#3438

With recent legal changes, and the ever-increasing need to confront sexual harassment issues in the workplace, the challenges to comprehensive training have grown. This series uses real-world situations and a knowledgeable host to help your organization understand and stop sexual harassment behavior. Settings include office, healthcare, manufacturing, retail, education, and hospitality.

The program gives in-depth understanding of the key definitions of sexual harassment, the negative effects of sexual harassment on organizations and individuals, how to recognize and discourage illegal behavior, how to respond to sexual harassment from both the employee’s and manager’s perspectives, fostering a safe and comfortable work environment, judging behavior as a reasonable person, Proper procedures for reporting sexual harassment and prevention and response tools for unwelcome behavior.


18. On-The-Job Video Training

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_13/b3977062.htm

By Reena Jana

Corporate trainers are betting that games' interactivity and fun will hook young, media-savvy employees like Holshouser and help them grasp and retain sales, technical, and management skills. "Video games teach resource management, collaboration, critical thinking, and tolerance for failure," says Ben Sawyer, who runs Digitalmill Inc.

Companies like video games because they are cost-effective. Even better, employees often play the games at home on their own time. Besides, by industry standards, training games are cheap to make.

Games are also being developed to help teach customer service workers to be more empathetic. For instance, a game requires players to use the art of persuasion to sell products, and simulates a store, down to the carpet and point-of-purchase display details

Don Field, director of certifications at Cisco, says games won't entirely replace traditional training methods such as videos and classes. But he says they should be part of the toolbox. Our employees learn without realizing they are learning


19. Achieving Performance Excellence in University Administration: A Team

http://books.google.com.my/books?id=F17nUy2ww18C&dq=employee+training&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0

By Manuel London

Human resource strategies for organization development include team-building methods to improve communication and reduce interpersonal conflict among university administrators. London describes the formation of a team of top administrators who focus on how to resolve conflict, develop employees, and involve them in decision making. Performance problems are discussed such as marginal performance and abusive managers. It describes methods for enhancing attention to employee development through appraisal and feedback. New techniques such as the "ratingless" appraisal and 360 degree feedback are covered. Overall, it shows how to maintain and enhance organizational vitality in an environment of tight resources and external pressures.


20. Training Management

http://www.businessperform.com/html/training_management.html

More attention is being paid to the discipline of project management. “Projects” with unlimited budgets and never-ending timelines trying to satisfy fuzzy organizational objectives are becoming tolerated less and less in today’s business world. Hence, the demand for project management training has seen a dramatic rise in the last ten years. With this there is an increased interest in project management tools and methodologies. More training projects are now being run using an Instructional Systems Design (ISD) model. This way, the learning objectives that companies strive to achieve will be reached.

Donald Kirkpatrick’s traditional four-level model remains as the most used model for evaluating the effectiveness of training. This, however, has been supplemented by Jack Phillips with a new fifth level, Return on Investment (ROI). Using this approach, training is no longer a naïve single-point solution, but is perhaps just one component of the final package.

The Training Management Maturity Model features an evolutionary approach to achieving best practice. Coupled with an assessment tool, training managers are now able to take measured steps in improving the effectiveness of their training system.

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Trend Discussion about 5 Case Studies

1. Mazda Newsletter- http://www.mazda.com/csr/

Since its establishment, Mazda has sought to establish its business operations firmly in the local community. They focus on Balance between Work and One's Personal Life. Fox example, the company provide super-flextime, nursing leave, and half-day Paid leave system. Mazda Mutual Aid Union organizes activities such as medical treatment, physical disability, education, childcare and nursing. Mazda also provide a comfortable work environment for employees with special needs, increases the number of female employees and positions for women and promotes employment of seniors, and passing on skills.


2. Nichicon Newsletter - http://www.nichicon.co.jp/english/eco/csr_staff.html

Nichicon is a Japanese company that focuses on:

■ Making of a Rewarding Office

■ Educational Training System that Supports the Employee's Ability Improvement

■ Respect for basic human rights and human rights education

■ Etiquette/Manners Training that Enhances Human Value

■ Reinforcement of Welfare

■ Prize-giving System

■ Employee's Health Care Support

■ Securing the Occupational Safety and Health

■ Safety and Health Education and Course


3. Konica Minolta Newsletter - http://www.konicaminolta.com/about/csr/vision/index.html

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): The Essence of Our Management

i. Beneficial and safe products

ii. Fair and transparent corporate activities

iii. Communications with society and information disclosure

iv. Environmental protection

v. Contribution to society

vi. Respect for employees

vii. Responsible actions


4. Nomura Holdings Newsletter

-http://www.nomuraholdings.com/csr/humanrights/development.html

CSR in Workplace and Training to Realize Full Potential

This new personnel system, which abolished employee categories based on scope of duties, aims to give all employees greater responsibility for their work and allow them to perform to their full potential. We believe this also adds vitality to the company as a whole.

Hiring

New graduates are hired as whole area employees, specific area employees, while mid-career employees are hired as needed by individual business areas, as whole area employees, specific area employees, or employees.

Retiree Rehiring System

Helping employees achieve a work-life balance following the end of their regular working lives, under this program the Group stands to benefit from the contributions these employees can make using their skills and experience. In addition to providing these employees with work and compensation packages that match their individual abilities and experience.

Training and Development

Provide effective education and training that aid employees' acquisition of knowledge and skills, e-learning and correspondence courses have been added to traditional group training programs. The aim of group-based training is to get employees to improve their ability to analyze on their own initiative.

Promoting Corporate Citizenship Activities

Activities in support of learning and academic, disaster relief activities, projects to preserve the environment, relief activities, projects to preserve the environment, and activities that support culture and the arts. Promoting internal communication will also play an important role in this process.


5. The Star Online > Business

CIMB sets new benchmark for CSR

THE CIMB group has set a new benchmark for corporate social responsibility (CSR). The initial RM100mil donation to CIMB Foundation represents the largest so far for CSR activities in the country.

The CIMB Foundation focuses on:

Community development via Community Link.

This is a programme that is already award winning. It was placed in the Top 3 in the Community and Social Welfare category of the recent Prime Minister's CSR Awards. CIMB was placed alongside Procter & Gamble and Intel as finalists. More information on Community Link can be found at www.cimb.com

Sports development.

This will be more focused on junior talent development and hopefully identify world champions early.

Education.

This will be executed by assisting needy students in all operating geographical coverage of the CIMB Group.

Relevant

As the mode of community empowerment is a fairly focused one. Community Link, for example, is executed by CIMB Bank branches.

Scalable

As the CIMB Foundation is one built to stand the test of time, and the infrastructure that will go towards the CIMB Foundation is to ensure that this effort has longevity and is empowered to promote the well being of its causes.

Complaints at mamak stall

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Digital Poster



From the poster, we can stress on the main factors that our Case Study company (Pelita Nasi Kandar) can improve on. this will cause further improvement hence, making the company more CSR friendly

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Case Study

We used Nasi Kandar as our Case Study because we felt that they practice some aspects of CSR but also show a lot of room for improvement. We also chose this company because we felt that our solution model would fit into this company.

Nasi Kandar Pelita, Sungai Dua

Seating Capacity: 212 pax on ground floor

Environment: Special cooling fan for outdoor sitting

Entertainment: Astro /
Music / Movies / Documentaries

Business Hours: 24 hours


Menu: 60 items plus a
Soup Counter & Mee Goreng Counter.


As for Employee Training with CSR in Perspective:

  1. CSR Based Training.

From our observation, we noticed that the cashiers there sold cigarettes to the public without asking for their identification cards. We feel that this practice is bad because it encourages smoking among the youngsters around the area. In addition to this, the shop is located beside a computer café so many youngsters meet up there and smoke with their friends because they think it is cool. We feel that the management should ban the sale of cigarettes to minors as it encourages bad habits which are bad for health. The people at the cashiers should make it a protocol to ask for identification before selling cigarettes.

We also noticed that many customers were often annoyed by other customers who smoke while eating in the restaurant. We feel that the management should create smoking and non-smoking sections and the workers should be taught to make sure that people sit in right sections to make sure that everyone stays happy. Those who sit at the wrong sections should be asked to go to their respective sections. This is also good for people who have health problems such as Asthma or allergies to dust because they would be able to enjoy their food without any breathing problems.

  1. Attitude Training

Some of the staff at the restaurant gave very bad service to their customers and some of them were very selective to whom they wanted to serve nicely. Most of the time they would treat ladies very nicely but later they would make them feel uneasy by staring at them. They were also rude to some people in the restaurant.

We feel that the workers should be trained or briefed to serve their customers equally and not harass some of the customers. They should attend a course to explain about customer rights and also rights as workers so that both parties are given proper treatment. In addition to this, workers should also be rewarded for their good behavior to encourage them to be nice. This would make the customers feel comfortable there and visit the place more often.

  1. Workforce Safety and Hygiene Training

In the kitchen, we saw that the floor was wet and had oil on it. It would be very unsafe for the staff to walk on that floor because they might slip and fall.

There should also be rules put up in the kitchen and wet places to make sure that the floor stays dry and clean to avoid accidents. The workers in the kitchen should also be given safety clothing like slip free shoes to wear to avoid them from falling.

From our observation, we noticed that the workers were very unhygienic when handling the food. They wore hats which stopped their hair from falling into the food which was good but there was no sanitization in the restaurant. They would use their bare hands to clean the tables and later handle food without washing their hands. They would also rub or scratch their body parts such as their noses and later handle straws and utensils without washing their hands. We feel that this practice is very unhygienic and can cause sickness to the public. The people preparing the food such as Roti Canai and the curries did so without wearing masks or gloves. In addition to that, the workers do not sanitize the tables when they clean them. They used the same cloth to wipe the tables and the chairs.

To resolve this problem, we suggest that the management come up with a sanitization method practiced in many places such as Mc Donald’s where workers have to sanitize their hands every hour and also every time they touch anything dirty or their own body. They should also be trained to cover their mouths with masks and wear gloves when preparing food. They should also be taught to hold the straws at the centre and not at the tip or only one person should be appointed to place the straws in the cups. This would reduce the chance of customers and workers themselves falling sick because of dirty food or hygiene. There should also be cleaning cloths meant for tables and separate ones for chairs to make sure that germs and dirt do not harm the workers and customers.

  1. Skills and Knowledge Training

We noticed that most of the workers spoke poor English and very little Malay. This causes a language barrier especially when they get the orders wrong; they do not understand what the customer says and both parties are frustrated because they can’t understand each other.

To overcome this problem, the restaurant management should give basic language classes to their workers because this helps them to converse better with the customers. This would make the workers feel good about themselves and they would strive harder to learn more and also work harder because they would learn to enjoy their work.

We also found out that only a few of the workers knew how to cook the food such as frying noodles or making the Roti Canai. They also did not know what ingredients were used in the food which is a bad thing because people with allergies would not know what they ate.

More workers should be trained to cook or prepare the food so that the restaurant would not have to rely on only one person and the restaurant would not face difficulties if he were to get into an accident as there would be more people able to cook the food. This makes the workers multi-skilled and they would be more marketable in the future. They should also be taught the basic nutritional values in the food to make sure that customers do not consume things that they are not supposed to eat. There should be an extra menu for the workers that show the basic ingredients in the various foods. This makes the customers trust the restaurant and they will frequently come back because they would feel more secure eating the food.

The Employees Involvement with CSR in Perspective:

1. Social Welfare

From our observation, Pelita Nasi Kandar collects charity for the blind, also called Tabung SAB (Society Advancement of the Blind). We felt that the restaurant did a good job in that because they placed a donation box at the cashier which is a very strategic location. This is because people would donate their loose change to charity.

To further better this act of charity, the restaurant should organize visits to the centre which they are donating too. They could also donate curries and rice to the centre so that the disabled get to enjoy the curry that the company made specially for them.

2. Environmental Welfare

The restaurant should be more active in environmentally friendly events because this raises the company’s status in the public eye and they would feel more confident to eat there. For a small start, they could change the Styrofoam boxes to paper boxes to reduce wastage and pollution. They should also not supply plastic utensils. They should also start using induction cookers rather than normal gas stoves. This not only saves money and cooking time but it also reduces air pollution. In the long run, customers would visit the restaurant because they know that the food is produced in a way that doesn’t pollute the environment.

3. Education

The restaurant should help the society by either giving loans to students or subsidizing the price of food for needy students. Doing this, students would be able to afford to buy books and materials used in their classes.

The restaurant should also give scholarships to the staff’s children who are back home in their hometowns. This would make sure that they have a good education because the staff would not be able to afford that kind of education for their companies.

4. Nourishing Employees

The restaurant gives its workers free meals and this shows that they care that their workers eat enough to make sure that they have enough energy. Unfortunately, the workers can only select from the selection of food sold in the restaurant. This means that they would not get the proper amount of vitamins and too much of Nasi Kandar and sweet drinks can cause obesity and also diabetes. This would later lead to even more health problems.

The company should show interest in the workers health by giving them vitamins or letting them choose healthier foods. This can be done by introducing healthier food in the company which still tastes good. This makes sure that the workers are eating balanced diets. Furthermore, the healthier dishes introduced into the company would encourage customers who are more health conscious to go to the restaurant to eat, thus increasing revenues.


CSR Solution Model


l

Roxy Solution Model


Model above is our group solution model for this Operation Management project. Roxy Solution Model is creating based on several resources. First we get the idea from the Mazda Community Contributions Tree, which is a very good reference for our group in creating this model. Second, is the “Fishbone Diagram” from the Operation Management text book. This “fishbone diagram” is one of the general –purpose quality analysis tools in operation management. We identified those problems in workforce and solve those problems through our solution model. Third, our group also using the benchmarking system to compare our case study company with others companies. Fourth, Poka –Yoke system also apply by us in our case study solution model. Fifth, in our weblog, we also apply Pareto analysis and scatter diagram concept in our solution model for case study and whole project. We create a vote system for visitors of our weblog to vote their opinions about the CSR perspective or component in our case study and help us identified the most important component that we need to focus. Those five operation management system are applied in our solution model, case study and whole project.

For this solution model, it is focus on two elements, which is employee training element and employees’ involvement in CSR perspective. On the left side of Roxy Solution Model is the training aspect and on the right side is employees’ involvement in CSR perspective. The others small component is about the problem that commonly occur and can solve by our solution model. Our solution model is including or insert CSR concept or perspective in those two element with others necessary or basic concept in training and employees involvement element.

The training element in our model is based on four categories,

1. CSR based Training
Nowadays CSR perspective become a hot global issue, and also in the business world and market place. There is more and more company or organization includes CSR perspective in its training programme. In this CSR training, those employees and also the top management people will educated about the CSR concept, what is their responsibility to the company, social, environmental and for themselves, how important CSR for them and better commitment to company CSR mission or objective. This step is necessary for a company to develop CSR perspective in the workforce, create CSR culture in company, and develop its CSR based identity. Effective CSR based training programme also effectively lead company to success creating CSR culture for itself.

2. Attitude Training
Attitude training is another crucial training programme for an organization, especially service-oriental organizations. Bad attitude of employees may detect company interest, customers dissatisfies with company service, company sales may decrease and also its profits. Even in product-oriental organization, attitude of the employees’ also important, bad working attitude of employees may affect company outcome quality, workforce environmental and company’s profits. Through this attitude, it may develop better working and service attitude, this will enhance outcome’s value, increase sales and profits of the organization.

3. Hygienic and Workforce Safety Training
As the title, this kind of training is necessary fro employees, especially those employees work in dangerous working environment. Main objective of this training is to increase the safety awareness in workforce, with this it can minimize the occurring of such safety related accident or incident. The workforce safety quality also increases by running this safety training among employees. Example, how to operate machine in safety and right way, what should employees do when accident happen and others. This training also part of the company CSR objective, provide safety workforce also necessary for a company to create a CSR based company. Cleanliness issues in the work environment also part of provide safety workforce.

4. Skills and knowledge Training
This is the most basic training in every organization and is necessary for organization to keeping survive in this high competition market. Employees is the human capital for organization, it may create valuable outcome for organization and bring revenues. Organization and employees should not satisfy with their current ability or knowledge, they should continuous learning and improving. Organization provide skills and knowledge training to enhance employees skills and knowledge, keeping its workers familiar with the latest technology and knowledge and enhance creativity and innovative.
Result from this training increase outcome value, create competitive advantage, increase sales and profits of company.

The employees’ involvement element also focus on four categories,

1. Social Welfare
In this aspect, employees is encourage to involve themselves in company social welfare activities and volunteer activities likes involve in company charity activities, visit to care center and orphan center, donation and other company CSR department organize activities. Employees’ involvement and support is important to success running such CSR activities. As an example, during natural disaster likes flood, tsunami, many company will helping those victims through donation and volunteer helper to help those victims. Employees are encouraged to take part in such activities.


2. Environmental Welfare
Environmental issues are another important element in CSR perspective. Besides contributed to community through social welfare activity, organization also needs to alert about the environmental issues, such as pollution and global warming. Some of the company may have clean-up activities to keep the environment clean, employees should involve in this kind of activities. For those product-oriental company which may bring negative impact to the environment likes pollution, employees should support the company afford to minimize the pollution effect and solve the problem.

3. Education
Most of the famous and big organization doing CSR through education aspect, such companies provide scholarship, education loan, school assistances, school excellent awards and sponsorship for some education fair. Employees may involve in promoting, preparing, processing, and manage those programme. As an example, Nestle R.O.C.K.s (Reaching Out to Community and Kids), volunteers are given 16 “time-off” for voluntary work in a year.

4. Nourishing Employees
“Wellness at Work” means that amid a safe and comfortable working environment for employees. Organization can held many activities for its employees, like annual family day, annual staff party, annual trip, encourage healthy lifestyles and others. Those activities also conclude as CSR based activities which focus on employees or workforce. Involvement from employees is key point to success those activities. Organization may provide many incentives to encourage participant of employees.

Above eight components will lead to accomplish our main objective, which is employees training and employees involvement in CSR perspective.




Monday, February 25, 2008

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a concept whereby organizations consider the interests of society by taking responsibility for the impact of their activities on customers, employees, shareholders, communities and the environment in all aspects of their operations. This obligation is seen to extend beyond the statutory obligation to comply with legislation and sees organizations voluntarily taking further steps to improve the quality of life for employees and their families as well as for the local community and society at large.

CSR can also help to improve the perception of a company among its staff, particularly when staff can become involved through payroll giving, fund raising activities or community volunteering.

Saying this, employee training with CSR in perspective consists of training of employees not only to maximize profits and efficiency but also training to make sure that employees are ethically trained about safety, cleanliness, human rights and much more. this gives them more skills which would make them more marketable in the future. Employee involvement means that companies engage their workers with their operations and when they give back to the society. This not only gives companies a better image in the society's eyes to buy their products, the workers there would also feel more appreciated in the company, causing them to work harder and the training sessions would flow smoothly.