Pride and Prejudice Essay Example for Free

Pride and Prejudice Essay The novel Pride and Prejudice was written during the middle of the Romantic period in western literature, but it is itself rather uncharacteristic of other fictional works of the period. Unlike the great Romantic novels and poems of the period, which usually praised youthful passions, Austens work minimizes them. Austens works are models of restraint. Instead of the wild force of nature, Austen concentrates on family life in small English towns. Instead of rampant emotionalism Austen emphasizes a balance between reason and emotion. Instead of suicide and unrequited love, Austen offers elopement and marriage. â€Å"Austen’s prime theme of marriage is far from trivial† (Walder 1996, p. 52) as it is considered today as marriage was an important issue in Austen’s time and it was the only time when a woman had the freedom to get upward socio-economic mobility [though some critics thinks that she considers that considering money as the criterion for marriage is highly terrible. (Collins p. 161)] This extract explains this correlation between socio-economic status and marriage. Irony or the contrast between the expected and the actual is the chief literary device Austen uses to comment on the manners of English gentry in Pride and Prejudice. Her irony takes different forms for different. Another stylistic feature that one can observe in this extract in general and throughout novel in particular is her formal style. Perhaps the first thing about Jane Austens style that strikes the reader is its formality by modern standards. This is a characteristic of her time, and of the outlook she shared. The decorum of her prose represents a disciplined habit of mind and a disciplined attitude towards life. But the formality has about it nothing of the pomp us or verbose. On the contrary one of the chief qualities of her narrative style is precision, lucidity, and economy. With these is combined a habitual tone of irony. The irony is the cutting edge, as it was an instrument of moral perception which was Jane Austens sensibility. Mr. Collins speaks about his conception of a true marriage. He takes the conventional notions about marriage of true minds where partners have similar dispositions and ideas about life in general. Mr. Collins philosophy of marriage reminds Charlotte’s reminds Charlotte’s matrimonial ideology as she also consider the harmony of characters and minds as the ultimate source of matrimonial bliss and place no importance to money or fortune. She says in Chapter 6; â€Å"Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance. If the dispositions of the parties are ever so well known to each other, or ever so similar before-hand, it does not advance their felicity in the least. They always contrive to grow sufficiently unlike afterwards to have their share of vexation; and it is better to know as little as possible of the defects of the person with whom you are to pass your life. Mr. Collins also suffers from the same fictitious idealism like Charlotte. That’s the reason he says; â€Å"My dear Charlotte and I have but one mind and one way of thinking. There is in everything a most remarkable resemblance of character and ideas between us. We seem to have been designed for each other. † (Chapter XXXV) Furthermore, he longs for same matrimonial felicity for Elizabeth in her married life without knowing what is her ideals of marriage and what she wants to be come out of marriage. Jane Austin has beautifully employed irony as Mr. Collins wishes something for Elizabeth that she does not like. Furthermore, Jane Austin juxtaposes this conception of matrimonial bliss with his own conception of marriage and its preconditions that prevail throughout the novel. Jane Austin has Marxian conception of marriage and she considers wealth and socio-economic well-being as the foremost pre-condition of marriage. For the author, in the persona of Mr. Bennets daughter Elizabeth, however, irony is potent toy and a defensive weapon in the war against stupidity. The author uses Elizabeth to skewer self-important characters such as Mr. Collins and Mrs. Bennet. Yet Elizabeth is also blind to her own character faults, and her very blindness is another example of Austens use of irony. In her misunderstandings with Darcy, she (who is blind to her own pride in her ability to read character) accuses him false and excessive pride, while he (who is prejudiced against people with less money than he has) accuses her of prejudice. The rest of the episode shows the haughtiness and pomposity of Mr. Collins. Mr. Collins is a type of character that Jane Austin uses to highlight the posing and pretensions of English society of the time and the vain self-importance of an individual. His acquisition of fortune by chance to get an approval of Lady Catherine de Bourgh has made him to think of himself in higher terms and opinion. All his haughtiness and snobbery in the extract is a manifestation of this high opinion of his own self. His high opinion of Charlotte is also a product of this imagined high placement in society. He earns a handsome income and owns a house, so he requires a wife at this stage that can enrich his own fortune. Here Jane Austin elaborates the interrelation of marriage and money. If Mr. Collins would not have owned a house and would not have made a good fortune by chance, he would never think of having marriage. So he imagined conception of marriage as a bond between tow souls that are alike in their dispositions and character, seems only a caprice of imagination only. Establishing a correlation between marriage and social status is an important theme of Austen in this extract. Jane Austen also makes her reader see the correlation in the light of her contemporary social conventions. Earlier in the novel, when Elizabeth refuses the proposal of Mr Collins, he is unwilling to accept it. It was highly improbable that a woman of Elizabeth’ social status would reject the proposal of a well-off person. His self-importance is another factor that contributes toward his un-acceptance if her refusal. He disapprove of Elizabeth’s social status in these words that Elizabeth’s portion is unhappily so small that it will in all likelihood undo the effects of [her] loveliness and amiable qualifications†. His social status reassures himself by saying that; â€Å"you are not serious in your rejection of me, I shall chuse to attribute it to your wish of increasing my love by suspense, according to the usual practice of elegant females. There is a dichotomy of Elizabeth’s refusal to Mr. Collin and her manifestation as an ideal woman of Austen who thinks marriage in terms of money. Walder (1996) has rightly pointed out; â€Å"In a social world where only possibility of movement in a women’s life was through marriage, choice of partner was as serious a business as choice of career was for a man. † Seen in this light, Elizabeth’s refusal of Mr. Collins is as brave an act as that of a young man who refuses to enter the family firm. † (Walder, 52) Jane Austen used Elizabeth as her mouth-piece to ridicule the fictitious idealism of various characters throughout the novel. In this case, Elizabeth does not directly say any word about Mr. Collins viewpoints but only show her contempt by feeling sorry for â€Å"Poor Charlotte† but she revisits her thought about her and says that she is not innocent as she herself has decided to marry Collins and choose a pretentious society. Jane Austen reflects here that if someone is placed in this situation, then it is tragic but someone has consciously decided to go for a vain marriage proposal, he ore she should be fully responsible for it. So it was Charlotte own disposition rather than chance that her placed her in that situation. But when Elizabeth herself refuses the proposal of Mr. Collins, she was also caught in fictitious idealism. She is of the view that as her father is a gentleman; she is on equal terms with Darcy and Bingleys. (Brooke, 1999. p. 158) Jane Austen beautifully shows her fictitious idealism as well. Jane Elizabeth also shows, through the character of Maria, the vainglory of English gentry. Unlike Elizabeth, Maria is amazed and amused by the social decorum. She was still startled at the nine dinners at Rosings and several teas. This extract further another aspect of Jane Austens art i. e. handling of dialogue. She had a remarkable ear, and must have been a shrewd observer of mannerism in speech. The speech of her characters is always consonant with their personalities yet it never approaches caricature. In the extract, Mr. Collins dialogues are true reflection of his personality yet it does not portray him as a caricature. Maria’s dialogues are equally expressive of her self and her tender age. So this extract and other textual examples from Pride and Prejudice clearly manifest that Jane Austen has skillfully conveyed her basic theme of money and marriage through her subtle style. She does not waste her words and there is uncommon clarity with economy in her art. References Austen, Hane. (2006). Pride and Orejudice. New York: Poenguin Classic. Brooke, C. (1999). Jane Austen: Illusion and reality. Rochester, NY: D. S. Brewer. Walder, D. (1996). The realist novel. Approaching literature. London: Routledge.

Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory Essay -- Sigmund Freud

Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory I.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Overview of Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Freud’s psychoanalysis is the best known of all personality theories because it (1) postulated the primacy of sex and aggression—two universally popular themes; (2) attracted a group of followers who were dedicated to spreading psychoanalytic doctrine; and (3) advanced the notion of unconscious motives, which permit varying explanations for the same observations. II.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Biography of Sigmund Freud   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although he was born in the Czech Republic in 1856 and died in London in 1939, Sigmund Freud spent nearly 80 years of his life in Vienna. A physician who never intended to practice general medicine, Freud was intensely curious about human nature, and in his practice of psychiatry he was perhaps more interested in learning about the unconscious motives of his patients than in curing neuroses. Early in his professional career, Freud believed that hysteria was a result of being seduced during childhood by a sexually mature person, often a parent or other relative. However, in 1897, he abandoned his seduction theory and replaced it with his notion of the Oedipus complex. Some recent scholars have contended that Freud’s decision to abandon the seduction theory in favor of the Oedipus complex was a major error and influenced a generation of psychotherapists to interpret patients’ reports of early sexual abuse as merely childhood fantasies. III.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Levels of Mental Life   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Freud saw mental functioning as operating on three levels: the unconscious, the preconscious, and the conscious.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Unconscious   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The unconscious consists of drives and instincts that are beyond awareness but that motivate many of our behaviors. Unconscious drives can become conscious only in disguised or distorted form, such as dream images, slips of the tongue, or neurotic symptoms. Unconscious processes originate from two sources: (1) repression, or the blocking out of anxiety-filled experiences and (2) phylogenetic endowment, or inherited experiences that lie beyond an individual’s personal experience.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  B.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Preconscious   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The preconscious contains images that are not in awareness but that can become conscious either quite easily or with some level of difficulty.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  C.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Conscious   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Consciousness is the only level of mental life directly available to us... ...pecially in women. Other research found that people who are orally fixated tend to see their parents more negatively than do people who are less orally fixated. X.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Critique of Freud   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Freud regarded himself as a scientist, but many present-day critics consider his methods to be outdated, unscientific, and permeated with sexual bias. On the six criteria of a useful theory, we rated psychoanalysis high on its ability to generate research, very low on its falsifiability, and average on organizing knowledge, guiding action, and being parsimonious. Because it lacks operational definitions, we rated psychoanalysis low on internal consistency. XI.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Concept of Humanity   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Freud’s view of humanity was deterministic and pessimistic. He also emphasized causality over teleology, unconscious determinants over conscious processes, and biology over culture, but he took a middle position on the dimension of uniqueness versus similarities among people. BIBLIOGRAPHY PsychCrawler (American Psychological Association)Online. Psychological Online Documents (Psychologisches Institut der Univ. Bonn)Online. PSYCline Links to Psychological Journals (Armin Gà ¼nther)Online.

Physics Chapter 2 Notes

I noticed that I have not described the rule of F=ma in either the last email or this one. Where would you suggest it be described? Somehow the details of adding forces and balanced forces were missed in the last email and also it did not make perfect sense for me to note. As far as I am concerned the khan academy does not lecture it so I am not too sure in what to do about this. I am assuming finding velocity is the sole purpose of applying the law of conservation of momentum. Is this true? I also would like to note that a graph could not be drawn in some situations again due to me lacking the technology to send photos of handwritten notes.Hence there is sadly no examples of a problem for translational equilibrium and for the force-time graph in which impulse can be identified. I also have referred to explosions as divisions. Is this appropriate? Newton's First Law of Motion: A body will remain at rest or moving with constant velocity unless acted on by an unbalanced force. Example: †¢ Q: while traveling in train if one throws a ball up it lands on his palm though the train is moving. my doubt is that though the ball is detached from motion how does it manage to land on his palm though he is moving along with the train? A: he ball lands on your hand because the ball is, in reality, traveling at the same velocity as the train, you, and everything else on, or part of the train. The ball is not at rest, because assume while the train was accelerating, you were holding the ball. Since you were moving with the train, then the ball is moving at the same velocity you are, and therefore, the same speed the train is moving. Translational Equilibrium: The condition for translational equilibrium is for all the forces acting on a body to be balanced Newtons Second Law of Motion: Momentum is the product of mass and velocity (p = mv).It is measured in kg m /s and is a vector quantity. Impulse is the change in momentum when an object reacts to clashing with an external force (momentum after – momentum before) The rate of change of momentum of a body is directly proportional to the unbalanced force acting on that body and takes place in the same direction. Example: †¢ Q: There is a car with 500 KG mass and constant velocity 50 mph. As the car hits a wall what force will be applied on the wall? as the velocity is constant the acceleration would be zero and substituting in the second law F = 500 x 0 =0 †¢ A: In the first question, the acceleration is not zero.It is zero before the car hits the wall, but when it hits the wall, the car will go from a speed of 50 mph to 0 mph in a very short space of time, which is a big deceleration (acceleration in the other direction), until it's speed is zero. The wall will experience an acceleration away from the car. Hence there is a substantial force. Newtons Third Law of Motion: If body A exerts a force on body B, Body B will exert an equal and opposite force on Body A. Example: †¢ Q: I hav e a pen and I push it with an arbitrary amount of force. The pen will exert the same amount of force on me.So wouldn't the forces cancel? And wouldn't the pen not move at all? †¢ A: The forces are equal, but that does not mean this is no reaction. F=ma says that the reaction on each object (you and the pen) due to equal forces will be based on yours and the pens masses. If you and the pen are of equal mass, you and the pen will receive equal acceleration, just in the opposite directions. In space (no friction), the pen will start to move in one direction and you will start to move in the opposite direction, the speed of each based on the individuals or objects mass. The Law of Conservation of Momentum:Basically, this is just a combination of Newton's 3 laws but is useful when solving problems. For a system of isolated bodies, the total momentum is always the same. When solving problems for impulse and momentum; in a hypothetical situation (in order for this law to apply), where everything in space is isolated from the rest of the universe; momentum before and after are equal and therefore impulse is 0. Hence, pronumerals such as velocity is found by interpreting questions where different bodies may collide or where a body may divide. The area under a force (y-axis) – time (x-axis) graph is equal to the impulse.Work, Energy and Power: These are quantities which help explain what enables one body to push another. †¢ Work:  ° Work = force x distance moved in direction of the force. It is measured in newtonmetres (Nm), which is a joule (J). Work is a scalar quantity.  ° In the cases of the force being non-constant, the formula for work would only apply if the average force is used. Hence, by use of a graphical method, the area under force-distance graph is equal to the work done †¢ Energy:  ° Kinetic energy (KE) is the energy a body has due to its movement. For a body to gain this it has to have work done on it.The amount of work that i s done is equal to the increase in kinetic energy. A gain in this is expressed by the formula: mv^2/2  ° Gravitational potential energy (PE) is the energy a body has due to to its position above the Earth. A gain in this is expressed by the formula: mgh  ° loss of KE = gain in PE, gain in KE = loss in PE  ° The law of conservation of energy states that energy cannot be created or destroyed and it is only changed from one form to another.  ° KE and PE are the two most basic forms of energy. When more complicated systems are learnt, there is a whole variety of different forms of energy in which to do work.Exaples include petrol, gas, electricity, solar and nuclear.  ° Energy, collisions and division: * Elastic collisions are collisions in which both momentum and kinetic energy are conserved. * Inelastic collisions are collisions in which not all momentum and kinetic energy are conserved. Therefore, this has many outcomes. * Divisions are always inelastic because without any work and therefore increasing the KE, the segments that seperate after the division would not have any KE and would therefore not be moving. The energy to initiate a division often comes from the chemical energy contained within a body. Power:  ° Power is the work done per unit time. It is measured in J/s, which is a watt (W). Power is also a scalar quantity. †¢ Efficiency:  ° Efficiency = useful work out / work put in. It is not measured in any units and is a scalar quantity.  ° Due to the law of conservation of energy, efficiency can never be greater than 1.  ° The useful work out is found by the unbalanced force on the box.  ° The work put in is found by the work done by the pulling force. Uniform Circular Motion: When describing motion in a circle we often use quatities reffering to the angular rather than the linear quantities.Centripetal acceleration is where the change in velocity of a body is directed towards the centre of a circle in the frame of its motion b eing circular. This is expressed by the formula: a = v^2 /2 Centripetal Force is the force acting on the body towards the centre of the circle. This is expressed by F = mv^2 /r N = kg/m/s^2 F = ma. Force is mass times acceleration. Acceleration is change in velocity over time. Velocity is distance over time. So acceleration is change in distance over time over time, or distance over time squared.

People Management In Social Work Services Business Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 14 Words: 4186 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Business Essay Type Narrative essay Did you like this example? I intend to reflect critically upon my role in undertaking human resource management (HRM) within my own agency. Firstly, I will examine what HRM is and how it has developed within Social Work Service (SWS) and specifically within my own organisation. I will examine and reflect upon specific HRM tasks in which I have been involved relation to myself, the staff I supervise, the organisation and the profession. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "People Management In Social Work Services Business Essay" essay for you Create order In doing so I will consider to what extent the changes in the management of SWS have been positive. Human Resource Management Since the 1980s, there have been attempts to install a culture of management in local councils, which has continued to the current day. Previous practices were criticised for being inefficient, self-serving and failing to respond to the needs of clients. Some commentators suggested that social services were ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦a metaphor for all that was considered to be wrong with the welfare state (Harris and McDonald, 2000, p57). It was argued social work needed to adopt the practices and the priorities of commercial firms. HRM is the staffing function of the organisation. It includes the activities of human resources planning, recruitment, selection, orientation, training, performance appraisal and clear employment procedures. Previously many large organisations saw people management as the primary responsibility of the personnel secti on. Beaumont (1993, p10) states that, The concept and practice of human resource management are widely held to have evolved out of the prior area of personnel administration. He goes on to argue that HRM came into fashion due to the competitive market, the successes of the Japanese system and the high performance of individual companies which accord human resource management a relatively high priority, the declining union member numbers, the growth of white sector employment and the need for personnel departments to have more involvement with management thinking (p.11). To address these changes human resource techniques have been applied. Personnel  management  can be seen as administrative in nature, dealing with  payroll, employment law, and related tasks. Whereas HRM focuses on managing the workforce as a resources necessary to the success of the organisation. Torrington and Hall cited in Mullins see the nature and degree of difference between person nel management and HRM as remaining largely matters of opinion rather than fact and the similarities are much greater than the differences (1996, p18). What is important to me as a manager of people is that it stresses the role of line managers in regulating their own staff. Beaumont (1995, pp18-19) argues that it makes use of the techniques of strategic management for the operation of human resources. Within commercial firms, HRM policies strive to get the best out of the workforce by keeping morale high and fostering good working relationships with decent working conditions: The manager needs to understand how to make the best use of human resources of the organization. The promotion of good human relations is an integral part of the process of management and improved organizational performance (1996, p625). CHECK REF DATES HERE AND MATCH ON BIBL. Social Work Services are required to constantly respond and adapt to the changing social, economic and political influences pr evalent at any given time. In recent years, a number of important legislative and policy initiatives have resulted in increased demand on social work services. Within my agency, a package of measures to assist in the retention and recruitment of qualified fieldwork staff was approved. The Staffing Establishment: Review of Fieldwork Staff Report (GCC 2003) highlighted that; the organisational model prior to the review was thought to be outmoded. There was seen to be a need to change the model of frontline service delivery to reflect the changes in the external environment. In reviewing the current deployment of staff, a number of conclusions were reached. It was found that experienced and qualified staff were in a system, which did not appropriately recognise their core professionalism and capacity for decision-making. There was a lack of continuous professional development and limited career development opportunities for support staff. To address the above a new model of servi ce delivery was implemented. It was a radical shift from the status quo in recognition of the need for an effective solution to the long-standing and complex difficulties in recruiting and retaining a skilled motivated workforce able to provide quality social work service. This introduced a new framework for the management and delivery of core social work services. These changes have created significant opportunities for new professional development and leadership. Action was required to make staff feel valued, to improve internal communications, manage change better and to improve the involvement and support of staff. The agency has aimed to tackle the key issues of recruitment, basic pay, learning and development opportunities, internal communication and staff participation in decision-making. One example is that Team Leaders got the opportunity to undertake the Social Work Management Course to enable them to become better managers of people. Salaries were increased and ther e is more career progression. The organisation has bought into the commercial model that the most effective organisations make the best use of their human resources. An organizations employees are a major asset, not only in themselves, but also because the organizations whole reputation and future success depends on them Coulshed and Mullender (2006, p161) .Similarly Beaumont argues (1993) that HRM practices value employee participation, are founded on robust recruitment strategies and that should be considered as part of the business plan. There is now a further review-taking place aimed at saving several million pounds while protecting front-line services. This is ongoing. Recruitment Recruitment lays the groundwork for obtaining suitably qualified employees in order to contribute to achieving corporate goals in an efficient and cost-effective manner, (Foot Hook, 1999). The recruitment process has significantly improved in Glasgow. Glossy brochures, DVDs, CDs and recruit ment fairs are all strategies employed to attract the best candidates. Factors adversely affecting recruitment include the professions poor image, stressful and difficult work, poor pay and conditions. Salary scales were substantially increased, a commitment to continuous learning, and the opportunity to work more flexibly were introduced. It will be interesting to see if this can be sustained in the current financial climate and under a changed government. I am acutely aware of the increased pressures that can arise for the team managing the extra problems, which come because of staff shortages. I spent a period managing a team, which had a 60% vacancy rate. I was involved in gaining the appropriate authority for recruiting replacements to my team (evidence-see Arndale stuff-David McCrae or Liz Frew). Ward discusses how it is a key activity for managers to recruit the best people. He explains that how this is done is important to whether a new employee feels part of the team or not. According to Ward the management team have to be clear about the job specification so it is clear what tasks the potential employee requires to be able to complete (Ward in Seden and Reynolds 2003). However, staff recruited as part of a larger recruitment campaign and interviewed in another part of the city filled some of the teams vacancies. I have been involved in interviewing on several occasions, but this has never been directly to my own team. (Witness statement re interviewing?) I work in a large agency and the HRM department continues to coordinate most of the recruitment tasks. I feel it is vital that we have a system that allows managers to feed into the process. With regard to recruitment, it may be desirable to devolve HMR activities to a local fieldwork management level. Managers should be more involved with the recruitment process contributing directly to the selection of a prospective team employee/successful candidate. In order to encourage finding the right p erson I network at events. If someone has a good reputation, I am proactive in encouraging him or her to apply to us. Collins (2009, p181) states, Those who build great organizations make sure they have the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the key seats before they figure out where to drive the bus. Through networking, I have been able to influence this with regard to internal transfers. (EVIDENCE) However, I can also see the flaws in being so directly involved in recruiting for your own team. I was asked onto an interview panel for Health colleagues and it was clear that one of the candidates being a close relative of the service manager influenced the two Health managers, who were recruiting directly to their team. This type of practice can be risky: Selecting the wrong person for the post has implications for that individualÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦service usersÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦colleaguesÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å ¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦damaging to the organisationÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦.upsets valued staffÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦complaintsÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦even litigation, make improved selection procedures look cheap at the price. (Coulshed and Mullender 2006, p131). Induction Coulshed Mullender (2006, pp158-159) argue that the orienting of new members of staff is sometimes ignored in management literature. This lack of attention to staff induction has been evident in my setting. I have worked for my employers for about 15 years and have never received formal induction training. However, over recent years there has been a gradual process to improve this. Initially some personnel sections developed a brief induction package to explain issues like absence reporting, use of flexi leave and working hours. Whether you received this would depend on which geographic area you worked in. More recently, this has been formalised with a general induction package developed b y our training section and provided annually. This still focuses on conditions of service and is not routinely offered to new workers, but has to be applied for at appropriate times during its rolling programme. Induction to the actual post is dependent upon your line manager and there is no formal standard or monitoring of this. Before being a manager, I was a practice teacher. I used to give new students Learning Styles Questionnaires. I found that most students tended to fall somewhere between being pragmatists and activists. I have tried to keep using these and find it a useful tool for creating discussion with new workers. I recognise that this is still not adequate to help new employees develop their roles and I hope to expand on it. Not enough action is being taken by my team to improve the quality of new members and although I do contribute, there should be a more holistic, systematic approach. EVIDENCE. Consequently, I did not always arrange for students to visit differe nt resources and do the standard induction tour. Instead, I gave them casework, which involved contacting and visiting various agencies. I found that often students learned most successfully when actively participating in a defined task. I recognised the need for a pre task meeting to enable discussion the techniques and reasons for completing the task. After the task, we would use supervision to provide feedback and enable reflection. I have continued to use this method as a manager when supporting new workers. (EVIDENCE) Over the years, I have had opportunities to reflect on this during Effective Learning for Social Work Management Module of this course. This encouraged me to look at the work of Kolb (1984) and Honey and Mumford (1982). Much of this reflection and learning has reinforced my technique. However, it has also encouraged me to question if I am being negligent by not developing a formal induction package. I have raised this at management team meetings and ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢ €šÂ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦. Evidence? Following induction, it is important to provide continuous professional development opportunities including ongoing supervision and appraisal. Supervision The employment relationship plays a vital role in maintaining skilled and motivated workforces, (Clark, 2004). Hawkins and Shohet state, Supervision, like helping, is not a straightforward process and is even more complex than working with clients. (2005, p5) Good managers understand their people and work with them. They want to see a satisfied staff and support them in developing their roles. Humphries (1995, p38) states, A common myth is that everybody is motivated by money. He argues that the greatest motivator is recognition and respect. Clark (2004) also points out that the relationship between employees and management teams not only affects the performance of the corporation but also influences the retention of employees. Getting across to them that you are interested in them a s a person is important as is listening to them. Evaluation is essential to the agencys function, the individuals professional growth development while safeguarding clients and others. My agency has developed a Personal Action and Development Plan (PDP) tool that is used to provide staff appraisal and support continuous professional development. PDPS allow the organisation to get best value whilst investing in the individual, by developing their competence. This is a useful tool for ensuring that these tasks are completed although it can feel that the supervisor and the supervisee are trying to fit into a format. Coulshed and Mullender, (2006, pp 171-172) discuss the negative aspects of appraisal schemes highlighting the top down approach taken. This may incur feelings of anxiety and mistrust making staff feel defensive. It is important to be clear whether PDPs are measuring behaviours, the performance of technical tasks, attitudes and interaction, practice knowledge and skil ls, quality of work, delivery of outcomes, meeting organisational requirements or a combination of these. However, I am concerned at the lack of autonomy now afforded to social work professionals. Central government and employers are now more able to prescribe the process and content of social work education and training (Orme, 2001). Tightly drawn legislation and guidance was also introduced. As a result, over the past decade social work has become a more accountable and procedurally regulated activity. I recognise that there are many forms of evaluation and that most contact I have with my supervisees contributes to the evaluation process. According to Kadushin Harkness, evaluations are as ubiquitous and necessary as they are inevitable. There is no way of not communicating an evaluative message. (2002, p329). The main tool I use to evaluate is formal supervision. Having been a practice teacher has helped me to do this in a structured manner. Richards and Payne (1991) de scribe four main functions of supervision: Management Education Support Mediation If we are to remove one element then the process becomes potentially less satisfying to both the immediate parties and less effective. This is similar to the functions highlighted in my agencies own supervision procedures. I have been given authority by the agency to oversee the work of the supervisee. This carries the responsibility: both to ensure that agency policy is implemented which implies a controlling function and a parallel responsibility to enable supervisees to work to the best of their ability. (Brown and Bourne 1995, p10) It is also crucial to remember the function of the agency to provide the best possible service to empower users. Initially I found conflict in this role. As a practice teacher I found it rewarding to assist, others develop their social work skills. This has continued to be a major role of supervision as a manager, but combined with this the re is more pressure to ensure workers are accountable and that we as an organisation are getting as much from workers as possible, which can create tension. (Witness statements re supervision) As Salaman (1995, p63) argues, managers must have a concern for both performance and learning: The essentially managerial aspects of managers work is their responsibility for monitoring and improving the work of others; their managerial effectiveness is determined by their capacity to improve the work of others. If managers are not able to make this contribution, then what value are they adding? The only ultimate justification of managers existence is the improvement of the work of their subordinates. If managers fail in this way, they fail as managers. However how does this fit with social work values? Disciplinaries As the HRM role of the manager has increased, I have been involved in taking on additional tasks. Over the past year, I have been asked to chair absence disciplinary hearings. As a social worker, you learn to empower people through building on their positive actions and minimising the response to negative behaviours. Increasingly as a manager, I am call ed into a punitive role. Although I have been involved in chairing these absence disciplinary hearings, there is no real chairing involved- the decision has already been made and is enshrined in procedures. (Witness statements etc re absence hearings). These situations can be difficult. Staff may have years of good service with no absence but then hit trigger points in the current year and have to go through disciplinary hearings and there is no discretion allowed. This can be irrespective of medical advice, unless you employee has an underlying health problem. In such circumstances, reasonable adjustments must be made but they are still subject to same procedures and if you continue to be off lack of capability procedures can be considered leading to employee losing job. Another potentially punitive task I have been involved in is Fact Finding and the subsequent disciplinary hearing of a staff member (witness statements etc re fact-finding and disciplinary). Coulshed and Mullend er (2006, p111) describe how early theorists such as Weber and Taylor viewed conflict as undesirable and believed it destroyed morale. Normally as a manager I am trying to encourage staff to work towards a common goal as a team, but then I find myself in the uncomfortable position of interviewing team members individually, encouraging them to reveal poor practice by a colleague and to search for inconsistencies. Diversity Social Workers professional training includes knowledge and skills in work with oppressed populations. The agency I am employed in declares itself Inclusive, Supportive, Protective. It advertises that it has a policy to provide equal opportunities in all areas of its employment.   However Coulshed and Mullender (2006, pp200-205) suggest there is still a long way to go. They add that it is all too easy for employers to boast that they have equal opportunitiesÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦ when in reality there may be no accompanying resources and only limited commitment On this course, a participant spoke openly about how the absence management procedures of her employer result in her taking annual leave rather than sick leave when her epilepsy affects her. Fundamentally, equal opportunity is a legislation that prevents discrimination on the grounds of race, sex, age, disability, religion etc. Yet, currently, discrimination can take more complex forms than can be simply identified by the groups covered in the equal opportunities legislation. Because of the shortcomings of the legislation, a more sophisticated and relatively new approach has been developed. The core theme of this approach is to recognise and appreciate the differences in the workforce and utilise those differences to achieve maximum outcome and profit. This new approach is known as managing diversity. One of the core differences between managing diversity and equal opportunity is associated with the force for change. Whereas external forces, such as government legislations, social fairness, ethical and human rights etc, tend to drive equal opportunities, managing diversity tends to be driven by internal forces within the organisational structure and is immediately connected with the bottom line. Another difference between these two approaches is their goals. The goal of equal opportunity has been mentioned as social justice and rectifying errors that have been made previously in the past: to correct an imbalance, an injustice, a mistake (Thomas, 1990, p108). On the other hand the main goal of managing diversity is discussed in much broader terms; that is to treat employees as individuals, acknowledge that each of them has unique needs and therefore will need different sorts of assistance in order to succeed. The core motivation behind the equal opportunity framework at governmental level and the equal opportunity strategies and practices at organisational level has been identified as an attempt to establish equality. For example, the creation of such a community or organisation, where men and women are dealt with in the same manner and no advantage or disadvantage is given to them based on their sex. In contrast, the term managing diversity is there to point out the significance of difference and put forward a viewpoint where difference is welcomed and is considered as an advantage rather than a disadvantage to the organisation. Hence, a lot of ambiguity and conflict still surround the two contrasting ideals. Conclusion Torrington, Hall and Taylor (2005) suggest that human resource management is about getting the right people to work in the most productive way in the positions most suited to their abilities. A psychological perspective has become increasingly important in HRM literature as well as in organisational behavioural research. This is because of the correlation between someones psychological condition and his or her work performance, (Bradburn, 1969; David and Smeeding, 1985; Wright and Cropanzan o, 2004). Human resource is considered an important strategic resource and its performance directly influences organisational competitive capabilities. I believe my employers are using a variety of methods including this CSWM course, Ready to Lead course and e-Learning to assist managers to develop a strong leadership style in order to encourage an organisational culture, which will in turn ensure that employee motivation, can be raised during the current difficult transformational stages. Financial reward is not the only approach to motivate employees and consideration is given to the provision of comfortable working environments, increased job satisfaction through effective communication and a strong inclusive organisational culture. Staff retention needs to be a key part of organisational strategies as satisfied employees are more productive and contribute more to creative and innovatory processes, (Wright and Cropanzano, 2004). I would suggest that what is more important about s taff retention is continuity for clients. New systems of line management incorporating HRM have possibly reduced the risk of malpractice (Whipp et al., 2004). I suggest that trying to make social work fit into and compete with the commercial sector has perhaps come at a price. There is now mounting evidence (e.g. Green 2006) of rising levels of stress and demoralisation in the social care workforce with record levels of sickness and absenteeism. The LGA conference on Lord Lamings review heard: The morale, status and training of child social workers also need to be improved. The latest polling has reinforced the LGAs fear that the fallout from Baby P will lead to a decline in respect for frontline workers and difficulty in attracting new recruits (https://www.lga.gov.uk/lga/core/page.do?pageId=1742737). There also appears to be less team spirit and more scepticism between basic grade workers and management. In the long term, this state of affairs may have a damaging impact o n the nature and quality of services provided by social work services. I would argue that the increase in HRM has resulted in more discourse, which separates the role of manager and social worker rather than combines it. Power (1997) has warned of the dangers of the audit society. Assumptions of distrust sustaining audit processes may be self-fulfilling as auditees adapt their behaviour strategically in response to the audit process thereby becoming less trustworthy. He points out that the very quality of service or output, which the audit process is intended to enhance, is itself damaged even though goals of efficiency and cost effectiveness are achieved. Social Work has always been dependent on a sense of professional vocation and a willingness to work above and beyond your contracted hours. The risk today is that management reforms are undermining this ethos and will weaken still further the local and moral economy that still prevails and, arguably, still sustains the best social work practice (Langan 2000, p167). As Taylor-Gooby puts it, Trust takes time to establish, but it is easy to destroy. (1999, p.101) Reviewing the results of surveys conducted by economic psychologists, he notes that contrary to the predictions of rational choice theory, peoples decisions in welfare markets are strongly influenced by a normative framework in which trust plays a key role. It appears that markets in welfare depend more on trust because of the importance of professional decisions and because of the difficulty of assessing future risks. Taylor-Gooby wonders to what extent current welfare markets are sustained by the moral legacy of the welfare state and how the erosion of this legacy might compromise efficiency. Essentially, it can appear that this style of management is focussing on failings, which puts further pressure on staff and can prevent them from dealing with their main business to support service users. In December 2005, Seddon produced a paper entitled Adu lt Social Care: a systems analysis and a better way forward. In it, he argued that there was a significant amount of time and effort being wasted on performance measures, which did not actually provide what service users required. He argued that activity measures, budget management, people management and IT systems are shown to be part of the problem. In essence, waste is a man-made phenomenon and it comes as a shock when managers realise the unintended consequences of their actions and insistence upon performance indicators as a measure of how well a service is doing. Social workers and our clients are not machines. HRM does not recognise that social work relies on professional discretion and this needs reflected throughout all our processes for staff and clients.