TRAINING, DEVELOPMENT AND CAREERS In order for companies and employees to be able to have an edge in the business, they

must continually seek to improve their results. Continuous improvement is necessary to make sure that the company does not lose its edge over its competition. These three terms: training, development and career, are closely related but they are not the same at all. They have differing scopes. Career, by definition, is the path chosen. It is certain field, occupation, or profession that one chooses. It shows the persons journey through his life of learning and work. In order for someone or for a company to move positively towards its career goals, it must undergo improvement to meet the needs of the ever-changing world. That is where training and development comes in. Both terms may seem highly synonymous, but they are different and have differing scopes. In the context of work, training is a process of undergoing improvement on more focused learning. For example, you undergo training for calculating or measuring certain data. You can also be trained to be better at using certain software. Development, on the other hand, has a wider and more general scope. Development deals with a person or a companys ability to handle more complex problems. This prepares individuals to handle higher level of reasoning. Experience is one great example of development. Development allows an individual to easily handle change and various responsibilities. Training and development must go hand in hand in order for career management to be successfully done. Training can lead to development which may eventually lead to a better career. They must be linked together and must be coordinated to achieve a future career goal.

INVOLUNTARYAND VOLUNTARY TURNOVER Because of the differing advantages that can exist between companies, it cant be avoided that some employees decide to transfer to other companies. Some employees also need to retire. Turnover, is the term used to define the rate at which an employer loses or lets go of an employee. Companies must ensure that they have a great pool of workers. Having a high turnover would actually be bad. This means that employees are not encouraged to stay in the company. A very high turnover could ruin a company especially if the good performers leave. But turnover also gives companies a chance to look for younger and newer people. There are two types of turnover in general: involuntary turnover and voluntary turnover. Involuntary turnover happens when it is the employer that decides to take the employers off the company. The company tends to do this because of certain factors like profit decrease or automation. Also, another example would be when an employee disobeys or breaches certain parts of the contract, the company may be forced to remove the employee. Voluntary turnover, on the other hand, is when the employee decides to voluntarily leave the company. An example of a voluntary turnover would be retirement. This is highly unavoidable and doesnt imply a negative thing on the company. But some voluntary turnovers are from employees leaving the company. This could imply a bad thing because this means that the company does not have the capability to encourage its employers to stay in the company. Both voluntary and involuntary turnovers could mean positive or negative impacts on the company, depending on what kind or what the reasons for the turnovers are. If voluntary turnovers due to company transfer are high, this could be a bad sign for the company. Nevertheless, turnovers provide a chance for a company to improve itself.

3 MAJOR PROVISIONS OF THEFAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 was established to set out regulations and rules for employment. It had several provisions that make it able to cater more to the needs of common people. Here are three of them: Setting of Minimum Wage In the past, employees had no minimum wage to follow for their employees. This was clearly unfair because this resulted to unfair wage for many employees. Some employees were only given with enough to live by. Effective since July 24, 2009, the employees must receive a minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Covered and non-exempt employees should receive not less than the set minimum wage. Overtime Pay Requirements Some employees dont give extra pay for their employees who do overtime but with this provision, the employees are required to pay covered employees 150% the regular pay for hours that exceed 40 hours per week. This is a really good thing for employees. Child Labor With the increasing concern over child labor, FLSA was amended to address the issue. This was enacted to make sure that if children work, the working area must be safe. It must not also compromise their health, education and other opportunities. There is also a limitation for the number of hours that they are allowed to work. Also, the kind of equipment is also limited. It must be ensured that they are safe. Some exemptions are given to agricultural sectors though. Certain penalties will be given to employees who fail to follow this.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF PAY FOR REWARDING EMPLOYEES Just like a child, employees need rewards too when they excel or do something good. This is an important way for a company in order to encourage employees to perform better. Here are the various types of pay for rewarding individual performances: Merit Pay This is when the company instantly links pay increase to an individuals pay roll because of good performance. In order to make merit pays fair, there are two factors that must be considered. First, the company must take note of the individual rating of the employee. Second, the company must note the pay increase relative to the average pay. Some companies use a merit increase grid which incorporates these two factors to determine how much should be the merit pay. Performance Bonuses Bonuses reward individual performance too. Unlike merit pay, bonuses are not incorporate to the base pay. This means that in order for an employee to get another bonus, he must be able to provide another good performance. Bonuses are really effective and boost the team spirit and the companys flexibility. Sales Commission Sales commission is a really good way to encourage employees. This mostly happens in real estate companies. The employer who sells a product also receives a certain percentage of the item sold. For example, if you can sell 1500-dollar furniture, you can receive 150 dollars depending on the agreed percentage.

BENEFITS: AN INTEGRAL PART OF EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION Many companies offer not just monetary compensation to their employees. Some employees are even more encouraged with benefits. Benefits may include tangible stuff like monthly supplies, free clothing and free house. There are also other benefits like insurance, medical assistance. This is really good for employees because most medical assistance benefits can be applied to family members. Benefits are very important to employees and have advantages for the company too. First, the employees are satisfied with their jobs. They would be happier to work because of the benefits too. Benefits are a source of motivation too. Aside from that, you can also expect that your employees will not be absent frequently. Employees who experience benefits would not want to miss any day in the office. They value the job more and thus, desire to offer a better performance for their company. Benefits also reduce the turnover ratio. If an employee sees that one company has better benefits, he is most likely to choose that company. Providing benefits to employees is like pampering them to do better and stay with the company. For the employee, benefits tend to give them peace of mind. People always worry about getting sick or someone dying in the family. With benefits like medical assistances and insurance, the employees can focus more on their work instead of worrying all the time. Aside from that, the benefits increase their self-confidence. How employees feel about themselves greatly affect their performance in the company. A company that makes them feel pampered and cared for is a company that they would gladly serve. This is one of the main reasons why benefits is a very integral part for compensation methods for employees.

STEADY DECLINE IN UNION MEMBERSHIP IN UNITED STATES Union membership has continued to decline. Now, only 11.3 percent of the workers were actually represented by certain unions. In 1950, a third of the workers were members of unions. According to some political assaults, ideological conflicts, weak laws, including the economy itself led to this inevitable decline. Union Free Businesses The existence of these companies is one of the reasons why union membership is declining. Companies tend to do this because dealing with unions is quite expensive for companies and may harm the relationship between the employer and the staff. Moreover, workers tend to have more strikes when they are supported by unions. Decreasing Loyalty In order for a union to be successful, loyalty must be present within the group so that organized labor can be established. But, with the addition of new members in the work field, the traditional loyalty is disappearing and thus is the inevitable failure of the union. Less Profit This is probably one of the main reasons why union membership has declined. Because union members have higher wages, products made by unions tend to be more expensive. Because of this, they tend to lose sales over to competitors offering products at lower prices. This, in turn, resulted to the loss of jobs of some members. Also, the shift of the use of technology also had a great impact on union membership. Also, workers nowadays are more educated and want to become professionals.

INTERNATIONAL, MULTINATIONAL AND GLOBAL ORGANIZATIONS Businesses and companies nowadays have become so varied because of the extent of their reach. They can be classified depending on their scope. With their varying scope, there are issues that they have to handle as well. International Companies International companies are those who export and import. They can cater to various countries but does not invest to places outside of their countries. International companies are basically important and provide much growth for their country. Since they do not have investments outside their country, they do not intend to branch out. This makes it easier for them to maintain their standards. Also, they do not have much problem in management. Multinational Companies These are companies that invest outside their countries but do not necessarily coordinate product offerings. They mainly focus in making their products adapt to local market. They build various facilities so that costs will be lessened. One of the major problems with multinational companies is handling multicultural workforce. Multicultural workforce poses problems in management because of language barriers and other cultural issues. Global Companies Global companies are present and have invested in many countries. They sell their products using a coordinated image or brand. Communication is also one of the issues in this kind of company as international communication must be done to coordinate with various parts of the globe.

RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION PRACTICES The quality of your work force will determine the failure and success of your company. If you have the right employees, you will be successful. If you dont, youre doomed to fail. That is why, having the right recruitment and selection method is a very crucial part of a companys success. Recruitment is the process of having interested people to apply for the job. Some use scholarships, while other companies do school visits. Recruitment is successful if a company manages to make itself highly visible and credible. Also, having good feedback from employees is a good way too. Selection, on the other hand, is the second half. This is the part where the company decides who should be selected for the positions. Some companies base it on academic performance, especially for fresh graduate. Others base it in experience. Exams and interviews are also conducted to be able to judge which would be the perfect employees. Having the right recruitment and selection practices gives the company a higher chance of producing better results. Efficient recruitment policies give the company a bigger chance to have many applicants to choose from. If the recruitment policy is ineffective, few are the interested applicants. Basically, recruitment will determine how big the sea would be where the employers can go fishing. Selection policies will determine if you get the quality employees. Companies must look not just at the academic background but on the ability of the applicants to handle pressure. The workforce of a company determines its future. Recruitment and selection is vital to a company.

REFERENCES Allen, Jane. (2008). UMKC Human Resources. The Fair Labor Standards Act. Retrieved December 20, 2013, from http://www.umkc.edu/hr/compensation/FLSA-Part-I.pdf

Career. (n.d). The Free Dictionary. Retrieved http://www.thefreedictionary.com/career

December

20,

2013,

from

Nazir, Numan. (2010). Compensation and Benefits: Definition and Importance. Retrieved December 20, 2013, from http://www.hr.com/en/app/blog/2010/02/compensation-andbenefits-definition-and-importanc_g5kiosxm.html

Reh, J.F. (n.d.). Management. Employee Turnover. Retrieved December 20, 2013, from http://management.about.com/od/employeemotivation/a/Employee-Turnover.htm

The Social Studies Help Center. (n.d.). The Labor Union Movement in America. Retrieved December 20, 2013, from http://www.socialstudieshelp.com/eco_unionization.htm

VCHRSPACE. (2013). Training & Development and Career Management. Retrieved December 20, 2013, from http://vchrspace.wikispaces.com/8.+Training,+Development+%26+Career+Management

VOA News. (2013). Report: US Unions Continue Steady Decline. Retrieved December 20, 2013, from http://www.voanews.com/content/federal-data-indicates-further-decline-in-us-laborunion-membership/1589747.html