7 Signs Your Coworkers Don’t Like You

7 Signs Your Coworkers Don’t Like You Many people spend half their waking weekday hours with their co-workers. So, if you figure you’re asleep a majority of your home hours, you’re getting to know what’s going on in the lives of your cubicle mates more than your family and friends most weeks. Such intimacy does not mean  everyone always get along. In fact, the opposite is sometimes true. And, sorry to say, the problem isn’t always with the other guy. It’s hard to accept it, but there may be times when your coworkers don’t like you. Being able to recognize the warning signs may help you to change the things that have made you an outsider. Here comes the tough love- the signs the issue is you, not them.1. You’re invisible.Probably the clearest sign that you’re not well liked is that people don’t want to talk to you. If you try to engage your coworkers in conversation or simply make eye contact and they breeze by like you don’t exist, it’s likely that they are not thrilled with you.2. You’re the talk of the office- not in a good way.Are your coworkers whispering about you? Well, people usually don’t whisper when they have something nice to say. If you find yourself the source of hushed talk or nasty gossip, you might have a serious workplace problem.3. You’re getting bad body language vibes.Coworkers don’t express displeasure through words alone. Sometimes they speak with their movements. Have you noticed your coworkers rolling their eyes or even sneering when you speak? Maybe they move away from you in the break room or speed in the other direction when you come down the hall. None of these are positive signs.4. You’re always in trouble.There may be a workplace conspiracy against you brewing if you constantly find yourself in the doghouse. Coworkers who don’t like you may rat you out to the boss for the smallest infraction. Things can get even more dire when its management that has a problem with you.5. People don’t seem to trust you.Are your ideas constantly being questioned? Is management constantly looking over your shoulder? Then there may be trust issues at play. When people deem you untrustworthy, personal fondness tends to fly out the window.6. Everyone talks down to you.Do coworkers sometimes speak to you as if you’re a child or you might have trouble understanding the simplest direction? Do they speak to you veeeery sloooowly through a nasty smirk? Then they are condescending to you, and few things feel more demeaning than that. No one condescends to someone they like.7. You’re unwelcome.Because they are forced to spend so much time together, coworkers tend to build bonds and friendships. After eight hours on the job, they may decide to spend their after-work hours grabbing dinner at a restaurant or drinks at a bar together. But is everyone invited to the party except for you? Then your coworkers might not want to spend their tim e in or out of work with you.Sometimes your coworkers may have a genuine gripe against you. However, people are often ostracized at work for foolish reasons–their coworkers are bored and decide to fill their time by picking on someone for no reason at all. It’s mean and unfair. In such cases, they’re the ones with the problem, but it still feels lousy to be on the receiving end of such cruelty. Maybe you can try asking someone you find relatively trustworthy for feedback on why you see to be on the outs with everyone. If that person can’t give you any constructive criticism, then it may be time to get out of that toxic environment.

Total Quality Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Total Quality Management - Essay Example This approach to quality helps in sustenance of success and business profits in the long run. Moreover, adopting TQM approach is also a long-term commitment and cannot be achieved through simple practices. TQM is more of a philosophy and a culture that infuses focus on quality, improvement, as well as innovation. Hence, this approach uses a combination of different practices, tools and techniques. The present discourse explains application of one such technique at the accounting section of Al Faisaliah, in Saudi Arabia, which resulted in an overall improvement and sustenance of their performance in terms of key results; further this approach helped in identifying non-performing areas and in stabilizing new practices that replaced conventional methods of working in order to sustain high performance. Basically, application of TQM happens in two phases namely the human resources phase and application of tools and techniques phase. The process of TQM requires commitment from employees an d effective coordination and communication along with new methods of working. Both phases are closely linked to each other in the process of TQM application because achieving total quality is possible only through strong commitment, teamwork and application of various tools, techniques and practices produce high-quality and/or sustainable results. One such comprehensive approach, or tool, to achieving continuous improvement in all business areas is the Six Sigma methodology. About Six-Sigma, Tennant (2001) suggests that Six Sigma, as an approach to TQM, can be viewed as a vision and philosophy that can direct an organization, department, and team or function towards highest quality standards; as a metric, a symbol, a goal and a methodology to help an organization maintain highest quality standards. However, this approach cannot be considered as the end solution or guarantee of success; and is a complex mix of different tools and techniques. This methodology can be applied to manufac turing as well as service industries. Just as TQM is a measure of continuous improvement, Six Sigma methodology is most suitably applicable to achieve continuous improvement in quality, productivity, customer satisfaction, timeliness, and any other measurable business attribute; however, six sigma cannot be applied to situations or processes that lack historical data and tangible metrics. Intangible objectives such as employee motivation, commitment etc can also be improved by using Six Sigma methodology only if these subjective attributes can be converted to measurable objectives and can be measured to derive a quantifiable number that can describe the present status. Despite presence of proven and efficient quality tools and techniques in the market, some companies have embraced Six-Sigma methodology as their guiding force towards TQM. The pioneers of this technique are Motorola and General Electric (GE), both adopted this technique to improve their manufacturing quality and waste reduction. General Electric embraced Six Sigma much more rampantly than any other firm in their manufacturing as well as service sectors. They attribute cost reduction, customer satisfaction improvement, Wall Street recognition and corporate synergies to application of Six Sigma methodologies. Six Sigma is embedded into GE’s culture. This company employs over 4000 Black Belts and 10000 Green Belts across its businesses, and has set a benchmark for Six

Globalisation , the World Economy and MNE's mini essay - 2

Globalisation , the World Economy and MNE's mini - Essay Example ges the expansion into the foreign markets, the following options have to be analyzed closely and critically: doing more, growth and expansion, increasing acquisitions and going global. Following the extensive research and the number of case studies done in RIM, this essay aims at understanding the effects with RIM decides to do more. Research and development play great role in ensuring that the needs of consumers are met in terms of consumer tastes, preferences, technological changes, and market trends as well as maintaining healthy competitions. RIM like any other organization has to have a team that carries out research to know what is new and to develop new enhancement to meet the requirements. RIM had already gained the success in its recruitment strategies, such as the local drive and the nationwide campus recruitment drives (Smith, 2005; Pg. 184). It majorly relies on professional networks and personal initiatives of employees who keep an ear on the ground in the name of finding new talents. Another option is to expand corporate programs to the many universities and colleges by maintaining frequent and intense graduate recruitment drives. RIM is a global renowned organization and it can use this advantage to form a scouting group that would move across all the continental markets recruiting the best talents. Canada being one of the most attractive countries to live in terms of standards of living and good economy among other benefits could attract the emerging developers from the RIM markets (Cavusgil, Knight, and Riesenberger, 2008; Pg. 122). Alternatively, RIM has posted many of its available job opportunities online in order to source for potential employees. The applications were received for positions advertised; this provided an opportunity to choose the best talents from over 800 applicants worldwide. RIM also has creative websites that do structured recruitment. The Research in Motion Company is still controlling everything at Waterloo (the

Homebuilding Industry Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Homebuilding Industry - Case Study Example This finding however is hinged on the condition that the company will endeavor to intensify measures to control cost of sales, which is actually one of the pillars of the company's business model. 1. Scope - The industry addresses the demand for housing in U.K. and the U.S. The homebuilding business process entails land banking, site development and sales, which are mostly attained thru financing. A. Cause - According to Home Builders Federation chairman, i.e., Stewart Baseley, the slump is "unique" since it is due to the lower number of approved mortgage applications, attributable to global tightening in the credit market, rather than high unemployment or inflated borrowing interest rates. In fact, in March 2008, the volume of approved mortgage applications marked the lowest since 1997 (Bloomberg). B. Effect - With the contraction of demand, house prices fell year on year in April 2008, homebuilders are compelled to cut down on overhead. As of July 2008, Bloomberg reports that about 60,000 employed in the industry are likely to lose their jobs in the process. III. THE BUSINESS MODEL - George Wimpey plc's business model encompasses activities like acquisition of land, home and community design, urban regeneration and the development of supporting infrastructures (TaylorWimpey plc). Specifically, George Wimpey plc is engaged in the construction of apartments, 2-3 bedroom houses and 4-5 bedroom houses among others and is anchored to the business' four pillars (Wimpey Annual 2006) namely: 1. Land - Reduction of the real cost of land is essential and this can be achieved thru various strategies like the addition of medium and long term value added plots and close monitoring of land prices in the U.S. to resume timely and market driven land acquisition activities . 2. Costs - To become competitive in this industry, all projects must be cost driven and this can be done by establishing a framework that will measure and challenge every cost in the area. 3. Sales - Efficiency and effectiveness of the company's sales process are the key objectives reinforced by an excellent customer service. This plays a very vital role in realizing the company's revenue targets and desired profit margin. 4. People - Being a key element in the success, periodic and timely updating of the company's employee compensation package is vital in staying competitive in terms of retaining and procuring the best human resource in the industry. It also goes without saying that manpower training is a crucial in order to develop the future leaders of the organization that will bring the company into the future. IV. HISTORY OF THE COMPANY (Finding Universe) 1. Humble Beginnings - The original owners were Walter Tomes and George Wimpey who initially worked as contractors for residential projects that required structural and decorative masonry. In 1893, Walter Tomes sold his

An Introduction To Sleep Disorders And Somnambulism Psychology Essay

An Introduction To Sleep Disorders And Somnambulism Psychology Essay Sleep disorder can be defined as sleep difficulty or disruption of sleep. Sleep disorder that have reached a very serious level can cause emotionally or psychologically disturbance to that person. Furthermore, sleep disorder can even cause murder for such as sleepwalking murder. Examples of common sleep disorders are insomnia, sleepwalking (somnambulism), and teeth grinding (bruxism) and so on. Basically, sleep disorder can be divided into four types: Dyssomnias, Parasomnias, Medical or psychiatric disorders and sleeping sickness. Dyssomnias is a sleep disorder that causes a particular person to feel sleepy during day time due to sleep deprivation from insomnia during the night. Parasomnias are categorized as abnormal limbic movement, emotions, perception and so on that link to sleep deprivation. Teeth grinding, snoring and so on may also occur due to effects from Parasomnias. Medical or psychiatric disorder causes panic, anxiety depression and so one. Last but not least, sleeping sickness can also be transmitted by Tsetse fly. Sleep disorder is actually much more common during childhood. This is because children tend to sleep more deeply than adult because their body will go through growth during the third and forth stage of Non-REM sleep which is known as deep sleep. In fact, it is far more common in boys than in girl because boys tend to sleep more deeply than girls due the presence of a higher level of the testosterone hormone. There are 4 types of treatment for sleep disorder, they are behavioral treatment, medication treatment, alternative therapy and also supplements. Behavioral treatment includes sleep relaxation, sleep hygiene and so on. Medication treatment is by getting medication which is prescribed by the doctor. The common drugs which are prescribed for medications for sleep disorders are Benzodiazepines, Anticonvulsants and so on. Moving on, alternative therapy is a therapy that includes everything from changing your diet, lifestyle, exercising, doing yoga, hypnosis and meditation. Supplements for sleep disorders are include herbs, melatonin, relaxation and exercises. People who have the characteristics listed below are more likely to suffer from sleep disorder. First, people who are overweight or are suffering from obesity. Secondly, people who are alcoholics and drug addicts. Thirdly, people who are inflicted with a huge amount of stress which leads to depression. Lastly, people who do not sleep on time or do not have sufficient amount of sleep. If you realize you fall under any of these categories, dont worry. This is because it is easy to overcome it. The first thing you have to do is to make sure you exercise every day, for at least 30 minutes per day to reduce the stress level in your body and balance the amount of hormones in your body. Then, try to avoid food that contains caffeine that will affect your quality of sleep. In addition, do not take any alcoholic drinks, as it will worsen your sleep problems. Try not to do anything stressful 3 hours before going to bed. Follow the steps here, and you will find it easier to fall asleep and sleep disorders can be reduced. Sleep Disorder Somnambulism Have you ever come across this situation where you see a kid walking around few hours later after their sleep? Or even may be one of your family members or your friends told you that you urinated on their bed last night but you dont remember a thing? Have you ever heard of murder while sleepwalking? Actually these situations only occur to those who are suffering from a sleep disorder called Somnambulism, also known as sleepwalking. According to a study by Dr. Christina A. Gurnett, of the Washington University School of Medicines Department of Neurology, sleepwalking was inherited as an autosomal dominant disorder with reduced penetrance in this family. Genome-wide multipoint parametric linkage analysis for sleepwalking revealed a maximum logarithm of the odds score of 3.44 at chromosome 20q12-q13.12 between 55.6 and 61.4 cM. Have you ever wonder what somnambulism is (or commonly called sleepwalking)? Have you ever wondered why will people walk around while they are sleeping and the next day they claim that they do not remember such a thing had happened? Have you ever wonder what is happening inside the sleepwalkers brain? Actually there are 5 stages of sleep while we are sleeping. They are REM, Non-REM stage one (Light Sleep), Non-REM stage two (Sleep Spindles), Non-REM stage three and 4 (Deep Sleep). Sleepwalking will only occur in our deep sleep, which is third and forth stage of Non-REM sleep. Here are some facts about sleepwalking. Firstly, sleepwalkers normally do not remember what they did because they were not in a conscious state. Secondly, they will look dazed; their expressions are dimmed and they tend not to respond to you when you talk to them. Thirdly, sleepwalking usually happens once a night only. Fourthly, sleepwalking can usually last for a few seconds to 30 minutes. Fifthly, its more common in childhood and more common in male than female. Moreover, while they are sleepwalking, their eyes are open but they are unable to see the same way when they are awake. For example, they will think that they are walking in a shopping mall but in fact they are wandering around their house or even their garden. What causes sleepwalking in children or adult? Experts believe that it is due to the immaturity in the brains regulation of sleep wake cycles in the child. Most children outgrow the symptoms as their nervous systems develop. Sleepwalking that happens during adulthood is most likely due to extreme stress, drug abuse or alcohol abuse, certain medication, insufficient amount of sleep and also irregular sleep schedule. Heredity is also one of the causes of sleepwalking. If one of the parents is a sleepwalker, chances of the child being a sleepwalker will increase to 45%; if both the parents are sleepwalker, the chance of the child sleepwalking will be increased to 60%. Is it dangerous to wake a sleepwalker up? We shouldnt wake a sleepwalker up as it will cause heart attack or shock! Well, those statements are not entirely true. Yeah, it is true that it is dangerous to wake the sleepwalkers up because they might injure themselves or the one who wake them up. This is mainly because by waking the sleepwalkers up, it might cause temporary distress or confusion to them. Hence, it may cause them to do something violent to protect themselves unconsciously. One of the most common question is, what should we do if the sleepwalker is doing something dangerous since we are not suppose to wake them up? The answer is simply just leading them back into their room and let them continue their sleep. Try not to wake them up, as you will startle them and you wouldnt want to get bruises right? There is a misconception that sleepwalking is actually a sign of psychological disorder of that person. This is not true because sleepwalking doesnt cause any emotional harm to that person. Sleepwalking itself is neither dangerous nor harmful. The dangerous part is only when that person is doing things that they unconsciously think is correct. For example trying to fight the intruders to protect themselves, but in reality they are hitting their family member or may be walking across the street and might get into a car accident. Dr Plazzi had done a research on sleepwalking in December 2005. According to him, sleepwalking is very common as 30% of the children experience at least one sleepwalking episode while sleepwalking only occurs to 2-3% of the adults. Sleepwalking can be caused by heredity. The main reason of sleepwalking is normally due to stress and some of the other reasons which are alcohol abuse, drug abuse and insufficient amount of sleep. Sexsomnia is when that person is involved in sexual activity when they are sleeping. Here is few of sleepwalking stories from different people from the world. Catherine moves in to live with her boy friend. One night, she saw her boyfriend woke up and walk to his wardrobe and start urinating there. She was so shocked and the next day when her boyfriend wakes up, he doesnt remember what had happen. There is another story here where it happened to John. John was drunk and sleeping one day. He sleepwalked to his friends house and he urinated on her bed. His friend was so angry that he scolded him. John punched her back and went back to his house. The next day, Johns friend told him what happened but he doesnt remember a thing. There is also a case where this boy, Mike, he is very sure that he sleeps on his bed every night but when he is awake, he tend to find himself at the garage. Luckily there no accident had happened before because his dad found him sleeping there and quickly solved the issue. There is also one issue where he causes his girl friend for not getting en ough sleep and they finally broke up. Here is another story of Mark. Mark is one of the sleepwalkers. He tend to wake his girl friend up everyday and sleep talk to her and then go back to sleep and he normally do not remember about the incident. His girlfriend could not bare being woken up by her every night that they eventually broke up. If something similar happens to you, please look for the psychiatrist or the doctor for treatments before it troubles or injures anyone else or you yourselves. Psychiatrist or doctors will give you advises or medication. To be honest, there is no way to prevent sleepwalking completely but we can minimize the chances of sleepwalking by getting enough sleep, releasing your stress by doing exercises or meditation and also try not to excite your brain too much one to two hours before your sleep. Medication may be necessary if the sleepwalkers have the tendency to hurt themselves or the people around them. Example of medications that used to treat the sleepwalkers are ProSom, Klonopin and Trazodone. Please be aware that there is a risk taking these medications which is the individuals sleepwalking habits might become worst if he or she stops consuming the necessary medications. In conclusion, sleep disorder is not very harmful but it can be very disturbing if you are suffering from a sleep disorder. Sleep disorder can be divided into 4 types which are Dyssomnias, Parasomnias, Medical or psychiatric disorders and sleeping sickness. Treatment for sleep disorder can also be divided into 4 categories which are behavioral treatment, medication treatment, alternative therapy and also supplements. People who are overweight, always not getting enough sleep, take in a lot of alcohol or drug and are always stressed up or depressed have a higher chance of having sleep disorders. One of the sleep disorder, sleepwalking, can be very harmful and harmless as well. It depends on what kind of behavior of that person when they are sleepwalking. Sleepwalking is said to be caused by immaturity in the brain stem of the children sleep-wake cycle. Sleepwalking in adult is caused by excessive alcohol or drug intake, stress and sleep deprivation. We can minimize the chances to slee pwalking by doing exercises, getting enough sleep or getting medications. For those who have a sleepwalker in their family or among their friend, please gently guide them back to their bed and try not to wake them up when they do sleepwalk. Waking them up might cause them to act violently on you. Sleepwalking also tends to occur more in childhood than adulthood. It usually happens more frequently in guys than girl. Last but not least, somnambulism is not a sign of psychological disorder which in other words means that a person who is suffering from somnambulism is not necessarily crazy or insane.

INDOPCO :: essays research papers

The INDOPCO case in 1992 provided some guidelines concerning capitalization for the taxpayer. In the case, the Supreme Court ruled that expenses directly incurred in reorganizing or restructuring a corporate entity for the benefit of future operations are not deductible. The court also held that investment banker fees, legal fees, proxy costs, and SEC fees incurred by a target corporation in a friendly takeover must be capitalized if the takeover produces significant future benefits. The taxpayer would rather expense the costs as this would give them a deduction on their taxes. Capitalizing these costs also increases their income, increasing the amount of taxes they have to pay. Thus, the IRS encourages capitalizing costs whenever there is a question as to what method to use. Originally the taxpayer had more of an advantage because the ruling was left open to much interpretation and the IRS was rather lenient concerning the future benefits. The Supreme Court just said that determining future benefits is undeniably important in determining whether a future expense should be capitalized. There have now been rulings where the IRS has become more aggressive in dealing with future benefits. The IRS realizes that companies will expense anything they can to reduce their tax burden. Even costs that would be incurred while investigating the expansion of a company’s existing business should be expensed if they are connected to an event that produced a significant long-term benefit. The only way they can be expensed is if the acquisition proves to be an unsuccessful one. The INDOPCO ruling also leaves open the question as to what directly incurred means. Companies were left to decide whether to capitalize a cost that was incurred to secure a benefit that extended beyond the current year, even though the transaction was not one in which a specific, identifiable asset was acquired. If it was determined the cost provided a significant long term benefit, the cost was a capital cost, and if not the cost was a period expense. Now, with the additional rulings, the IRS is the ones â€Å"dancing in the street†, because companies are forced to capitalize more costs, bringing in more revenues for the government. I think the decision was a good one in the sense that there needed to be some clarification as to what costs should be capitalized and which ones need to be expensed.

Federal Employees and USERRA

Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) regularly fields inquiries regarding the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) from service members employed by the Federal Government and from the Federal Government about a service member employee. A vast majority of these questions relate to the application of certain USERRA requirements at the Federal workplace. To add to the complexity of USERRA’s application in the Federal workplace, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) regulation provides additional, non-USERRA required benefits to service member employees when performing certain types of military service. Discussion: Primarily six (concerns/issues) are regularly raised by service member employees and federal government employers regarding USERRA. ESGR does not have the full view associated with USERRA claims because service members have multiple redress avenues for their USERRA issues or concerns. However, ESGR believes that targeted education and training focused on the six areas below will greatly reduce USERRA cases in the federal government by service member employees. Mandatory USERRA training that specifically includes OPM’s military leave benefits, monitored and tracked similar to the Information Assurance or government Ethics, or Sexual Harassment training would reduce federal USERRA cases. Frequent Concerns of Service member employees and Federal employer: Issue 1: Service members feel that they are not properly reinstated to the appropriate position upon completion of military service * Federal agencies fail to reinstate returning service member due to position being filled or position being cut * Service members are not considered for promotional opportunities, miss interviews, face closed application periods upon return from military service * Recommended training focus: 20 CFR 1002. 191-199 and 5 CRF 353. 207 to understand reinstatement position requirements * 20 CFR 1002. 193 (b) and 5 CFR 353. 106 (c) regarding promotional opportunities Issue 2: Request for orders with service member’s name/documentation to prove attendance in advance of service or following service lasting less than 30 days * USERRA does not require documentation to perform service in a leave without pay status * This issue relates to OPM’s paid military leave benefit. In order to receive paid leave, the agency must have documentation of service and the service must be for the purpose of active duty or active duty training * Service members do not always receive documentation in advance, or have been advised that documentation cannot be required from an employer in advance of service by law * Employers assume that since documentation is required to receive paid military leave, it should be required at all times for consistency * Recommended training focus: * Highlight 20 CFR 1002. 85, 1002. 121-123 Coordinate with OPM regarding paid time off and requirements to take advantage of benefit * Understand LWOP and LWOP US requirements and that penalty cannot come to SM with advanced verbal/written notice in any format Issue 3: Service members feel discriminated against due to past, present or future military service * Service members report that with knowledge of upcoming service, they are harassed, denied opportunities (i. e. training, consideration for advancement), and treated differently from their peers * Federal agencies must instill in managers and supervisors that discrimination is unlawful * Recommended training focus: 20 CFR 1002. 18-23 and 353. 202 defining anti-discrimination under USERRA Issue 4: Both service members and federal employer have questions about what is / is not exempt from five year service limit * Most but not all orders will indicate exemptions from the five year service limit * Much of service performed in the last ten years in support of the Global War on Terror is considered exempt service * Service members are not aware that retirement from military service can disqualify service member from reinstatement due to â€Å"career status† with military * Recommended training focus: 20 CFR 1002. 99-103 and Secretary memos * Educate SM regarding â€Å"career service† retirements and the potential issues when returning to work Issue 5: Federal Employers misunderstand timelines to report back to work * Federal employers have stated confusion regarding ‘application’ for reemployment as defined by law. Since he service member was never separated, some agencies feel that the member does not need additional time to reapply * Concerned agencies wonder what status the service member should be held in during this time * Both Federal employers and the service m embers have confusion about the relation of their return to work date and the five days paid administrative leave for contingency operations. * Recommended training focus: * 20 CFR 1002. 115-1002. 119 and 5 CFR 353. 05 to understand the definitions of ‘application’ and ‘reemployment’ * Coordinate with OPM regarding status to determine if the service member maintain LWOP-US status until returned to work * Coordinate with OPM regarding five days of leave administrative leave and it’s coordination with return to work dates Issue 6: Health benefits are not properly stopped, restarted with military service absences * Federal employers will continue health benefits when performing certain contingency missions, but sometimes fail to terminate benefits without affirmative action from the service member * Reinstatement of benefits can be delayed Suspension of and reinstatement of vision / dental FEBH benefits must be done separately from health benefits, but are still covered by the law. * Recommended training focus: * 20 CFR 1002. 163-171 pertaining to stopping/starting benefits * Coordination with OPM regarding what type of orders are eligible for continuation of benefits