Level of Stress in Final Year Students | Research

Level of Stress in Final Year Students | Research Level of stress in Final year MBBS students at Rural Medical College: A Cross-sectional Study. Shelke Umesh S1, Kunkulol Rahul R2, Narwane Sandeep P3 Abstract: Introduction: Stress, defined as an imbalance between environmental conditions necessary for survival and the ability of individuals to adapt to those conditions, has a high prevalence in MBBS students. A variety of stressors play a significant role in developing stress. Objective:  To study the level of stress and stressors responsible in Final MBBS students of Rural Medical College, Loni. Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study was carried out in 100 students (50 of either sex) willing to participate in the study. They were subjected to fill the Medical Student Stressor Questionnaire, which consists of 40 questions for evaluating the stressors and severity of stress perceived by the subjects.  Results: 71% subjects’ perceived moderate stress, while 13% and 16% perceived high and mild stress respectively. Academic stressor counted for moderate stress in 63% and high stress in 24 % of subjects, which was higher than other stressors. Conclusion: Academic stressors bein g the major stressor perceived,Strategies are required to decrease the burden of academic stress in the students. Introduction Stress is defined as an imbalance between environmental conditions necessary for survival and the ability of individuals to adapt to those conditions1.Studies have revealed a high prevalence of stress in medical students, ranging from 30% to 50%2-7. Learning a lot of new information in relatively short time, with pressure of exams,cause development of stress in medical students 8. A stressor is defined as a personal or environmental event that causes stress9, 10. Stressors of medical students can be grouped into academic related, intrapersonal and interpersonal related, teaching and learning-related, social related, drive and desire related and group activities related stressors3. One or more of such stressors might act at the same time and contribute in development of stress among students. Excessive amount of stress in medical training predisposes students to have difficulties in solving interpersonal conflicts,sleeping disorder, decreased attention, reduced concentration, temptation to cheat on exams, depression, loss of objectivity, increased incidence of errors, and improper behavior, such as negligence. Stress may also manifest in the form of headaches, gastrointestinal disorders, coronary heart disease, impaired judgments, absenteeism, self-medication, suicidal ideation, depression and the consumption of drugs and alcohol11,12. A few studies in India have studied the prevalence of stress and stressors responsible in medical students. The present study (references from folder Indian references) was planned to study of stress in last year medical students at Rural Medical College. Methods A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted with a study population of 100 medical students (50 of either sex) in III MBBS from Rural Medical College, Loni, Ahmednagar. Duration of the study conducted form 1stFebruary 2014 to 1st March 2014. IEC approval was taken before the commencement of study. Students who were ready to give consent were enrolled in the study and inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied. III MBBS students of either sex consenting to participate were included in the study. Students not ready to participate or of other year were excluded from the study. The participants were subjected toMedical Student Stressor Questionnaire (MSSQ)3 The MSSQ consists of 40 items representing the six stressor domains.Each item were answered in the form of score as The 40 items were divide into sections A(20 items) and B(20 items) respectively. Total score of A and B of each domain were divided by following value and results were interpreted. 1. Academic related stressors (ARS) =13 2. Intrapersonal and interpersonal related stressors (IRS) =7 3. Teaching and learning-related stressors (TLRS) =7 4. Social related stressors (SRS) =6 5. Drive and desire related stressors (DRS) =3 6. Group activities related stressors (GARS) =4 Interpretation: 0.00-1.00 causes mild stress 1.01-2-00 causes moderate stress 2.01-3.00 causes high stress. 3.01-4.00 causes Severe stress. The mild type of stress means it does not cause any or mild stress. The moderate type indicated that it caused reasonable but manageable stress. The high type of stress indicated lot of stress and causes emotional disturbances and mildly compromises daily activities. The severe stress indicates severe emotional disturbances and compromise of daily activities. Statistical Analysis: Data were analyzed by Chi- square test. Results: Moderate type of stress due to academic related stressors was commonly seen in final year MBBS students in both genders. 33% females and 30% malesshowed Moderate type of stress. 15% femalesshowed high type of stress as compared to 9% in males.Severe type of stress was seen in one male. 80% of males and 96% of females suffered from moderate, high or severe type of stress due to academic related stressors. (Table 1) Table: 1Distribution between Academic related stressors (ARS) and Gender Value of χ ² =7.976, d.f. = 3, significant, p By applying g Chi-square test there is a significant association between ARS and gender (p Table: 2 Distribution between Intrapersonal and interpersonal related stressors (IRS) Table 2 showsfrequency of stress due to IRS. Moderate type of stress due to intrapersonal and interpersonal related stressors in final year MBBS students was high in both gender. 29% females and 25% males showed moderate type of stress. 10% malesand 8% femalesshowedhigh type of stress due to intrapersonal and interpersonal related stressors. 70% of males and 74% of females suffered from moderate to high type of stress in this category. Table: 3 Distribution between Teaching and learning-related stressors (TLRS) and Gender. Value of χ ² =3.226, d.f.=2, significant, p By applying g Chi-square test there is a significant association between Teaching and learning-related stressors (TLRS) and sex (p Table 3 showed more number of moderate type of stress due to teaching and learning-related stressors (TLRS) in final year MBBS students in both gender. 30% females and 29% malesshowed moderate type of stress. 17% males showed mild type of stress and 9% femalesshowed high type of stress due to teaching and learning-related stressors (TLRS). 66% of males and 78% of females suffered from moderate to high type of stress. Table: 4 Distribution between Social related stressors (SRS) and Gender Table 4 displays more moderate type of stress due to social related stressors (SRS) in final year MBBS students in both genders. 28% females and 26% males showed moderate type of stress. 20% malesshowed mild type of stress and 8% femalesshowed high type of stress due to social related stressors (SRS). 60% of males and 80% of females showed moderate to high type of stress. Table: 5Association between Drive and desire related stressors (DRS) and Gender Value of χ ² =3.648, d.f.=3, significant, p By applying g Chi-square test there is a significant association between Drive and desire related stressors (DRS) and sex (p Table 5 shows more subjects showing mild type of stress due to drive and desire related stressors (DRS) in final year MBBS students in both genders. 31 % males and 24% femalesshowed moderate type of stress. 19% femalesshowed mild type of stress, 5% femalesshowed high type of stress and 2% femalesshowedsevere type of stress due to drive and desire related stressors (DRS). 38% of males and 52% of females showed moderate to severe type of stress. Table: 6Association between Group activities related stressors (GARS) and Gender Table 6 showed more moderate type of stress due to group activities related stressors (GARS) in final year MBBS students in both gender. 22 % males and 23% femalesshowed moderate type of stress. 21% malesshowed mild type of stress, 8% femalesshowed high type of stress and 1% malesfemalesshowedSevere type of stress due to group activities related stressors (GARS). Table 7 Stressors according to rank of mean degree of stress perceived by medical students. Test and examinations was the only item that caused moderate to high stress among students. All other items fell under the category of mild to moderate stress except working with computers and talking to patients about personal problems. Table 7. Stressors according to rank of mean degree of stress perceived by medical students (by MSSQ) Degree of stress classification: 0 1.00 is ‘causing nil to mild stress’, 1.01 – 2.00 is ‘causing mild to moderate stress’, 2.01 – 3.00 is ‘causing moderate to high stress’ and 3.01 – 4.00 is ‘causing high to severe stress’ Discussion MSSQ having a high score in a particular stressor group generally indicates that the subjects perceive events, conditions or situations from that particular group as causing the subjects stress. The scores, however, do require frank and honest response in order for it to be of any use. The scores are also affected by factors which can falsely increase or lower the scores, but generally the validity and reliability studies have indicated that the scores from the questionnaire are highly trustworthy.8 Personal and environmental events that cause stress are known as stressors9,10. Stressors of medical students are grouped into six categories. Academic related stressors refer to any event related to the academics of the students.Interpersonal and intrapersonal related stressors refer to any form of relationships between and within individuals that cause stress. Teaching and learning related stressors refer to any events related to teaching or learning that causes stress. Social related stressors refer to any form of community and societal relationships that cause stress. Drive and desire related stressors refer to any form of internal or external forces that influence one’s attitude, emotion, thought and behavior which subsequently cause stress.Group activities related stressors refer to any group events and interactions that cause stress13. In present study moderate type of stress caused due all the 6 stressors was commonly seen in both genders of final year MBBS students. Statistically significant difference was seen in males and females with respect to academic related, teaching related and drive and desire related stressors. This difference was also noted in a study by Waghachavare et.al.14 Our study showed 58% of males and 64% of females perceiving moderate to high type of stress. This was high as compared to studies conducted in Malaysia which were 29.1 % to 41.9% in government institutes2,5,6 and 46.2% in a private school6, as measured by GHQ-12.In a study on medical student conducted in GS medical college, it was observed that 73% of students perceived stress15. Zung’sself rating scale for depression was used for the study. In the study by Waghachavareet.al.14,which used DASS-21 and GAD scales, stress was perceived by 34 % of medical students. There was a significant difference between males and females perceiving stress. The academic related stressor had 63% of population in the moderate type of stress, while it became 88% when moderate to severe type of stress added together. Academic related stressor was followed by intra and interpersonal related, teaching and learning related, social related, group related and drive and desire related stressors. The academic factor was higher stressor as compared to physical, emotional and social factors in the study conducted in GS medical college. Studies have revealed that the stressors affecting medical students’ well-being seem to be related to the medical training, especially academic matters3, 6, 14-19. On ranking the items depending upon the mean level of stress that the students perceived, it was found that the stress related to the academics was highest (Table 7). This finding supports the findings of the study done by Yusoff et al.2 To conclude, the study showed high prevalence of stress among students with respect to different stressors. Academic stressors have significant association with stress among students. Females show more stress as compared to males. Strategies are required to decrease the burden of academic stress in the students. Acknowledgement: Final MBBS students (Batch 2011 and 2012) and Mr. Hemant Pawar (Statistician), Department of Pharmacology Research cell, Rural Medical College (PIMS- DU), Loni. References Rosenham D L, Seligman M E. Abnormal psychology. 2nd ed. New York: Norton; 1989. Muhamad SBY, Ahmad FAR, Yaacob MJ. Prevalence and sources of stress among medical students in UniversitiSains Malaysia [Thesis]. Medical Education: UniversitiSains Malaysia (USM), Mei; 2009. Muhamad SBY, Ahmad FAR, Yaacob MJ. The development and validity of the Medical Student Stressor Questionnaire (MSSQ). ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry. 2010; 11 (1). Zaid ZA, Chan SC, Ho, JJ.). Emotional disorders among medical students in a Malaysian private medical school. Singapore Med J. 2007;48(10), 895-899. Sherina MS, Lekhraj R, Nadarajan K. Prevalence of emotional disorder among medical students in a Malaysian university. Asia Pacific Family Medicine. 2003; 2, 213-217. Saipanish, R. Stress among medical students in a Thai medical school. Med Teach. 2003; 25(5); 502-506. Miller, PM, Surtees, PG. (1991). Psychological symptoms and their course in first-year medical students as assessed by the Interval General Health Questionnaire (I-GHQ). Br J Psychiatry.1991; 159, 199-207. Yussof M, Baba A. Prevalence and associated factors of stress, anxiety and depression among prospective medical students. Asian Journal of Psychiatry.2013;59 (2),128–133. Lazarus RS. Theory-Based Stress Measurement. Psychology Inquiry. 1990; 1 (1), 3-13. Lazarus RS, Folkman S. Stress, appraisal, and coping. New York: Springer; 1984. O’Rourke M, Hammond S. The Medical Student Stress Proà ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ le: a tool for stress audit in medical training. Medical Education. 2010; 27 (44): 1027–1037. Dahlin M, Nilsson C, Stotzer E, Runeson B. Mental distress, alcohol use and help-seeking among medical and business students: A cross-sectional comparative study. BMC Med Educ. 2011;11:92. Muhamad SBY, Ahmad FAR. The Medical Student Stressor Questionnaire (MSSQ) Manual . 1st edi. Malaysia: KKMED Publications; 2010. Waghachavare VB, Dhumale GB, Kadam YR, Gore AD. A Study of Stress among Students of Professional Colleges from an Urban area in India. Sultan Qaboos University Med J.2013;13(3):429-436. Supe A N. A study of stress in medical students at Seth G.S. Medical College. J Postgrad Med.1998; 44:1-6 Aktekin M, Karaman T, Senol YY, Erdem S, Erengin H, Akaydin M. Anxiety, depression and stressful life events among medical students: a prospective study in Antalya,Turkey. Medical Education. 2001; 35(1): 12-17. Guthrie EA., Black D, Shaw CM, Hamilton J, Creed FH, Tomenson B. Embarking upon a medical career: psychological morbidity in first year medical students. Med Educ. 1995; 29(5): 337-341. Kaufman DM, Day V, Mensink D. Stressors in 1st-year medical school: comparison of a conventional and problem-based curriculum. Teaching and Learning in Medicine. 1996; 8(4), 188-194. Kaufman DM, Day V, Mensink D. Stressors in Medical School: Relation to curriculum format and year of study. Teaching and Learning in Medicine. 1998; 10(3), 188-194.

Use of Real Options Theory in Financial Management/Modeling

At a previous employment environment, the president of the corporation acted on a whim, rather than, conducting a series of testing for his expansion to go into other businesses ventures. Within a few short months, the plan was abandoned for lack of profitability. As an employee, I thought of this as a failure on the owner’s part. However, the Real Options Theory is basically, weighing the outcome for expansion or acquisition utilizing capital investments for future ventures. Consider Real Option theory as a method to remove some of the risk in capital investments. Helpful assistance and decision making can be derived using such charts as the Decision Tree. The decision can be extremely tiresome. Use of Real Options Theory in Financial Management/Modeling Long past are the days, where a company can sit idling waiting for an idea, because while waiting someone else is making the move. The benefits that an older company may experience through experience may not fit into today’s society of technological changes. However, the risk of a company that has existed over 50 years, can they lose to new companies that evolve because of revolutionary changes in the ability to change the course of history. Creating valuable service for consumers and bringing a product or service to market, must be planned to meet the expectations of stockholder profits. Consider the comparison of social networking sites, Myspace and Facebook. Both are considered to be rapidly growing and competitive to increasing in membership. However, rapidly increase the popularity of Facebook and exceeded the expectations within the social network environment. The billion dollar corporation enters the market with more appeal to younger consumer, as well as a variety of other industries. Facebook provided more appeal by allowing the markets to meet the consumer where they were located, rather than wait on the consumer to come to them. As financial managers in the corporate environment decide which project is beneficial to stock holders’, returns on investment, and which should be abandoned or expanded, risk can become a certainty in the outcome. The risk of capital investment in the attempt to take on future debts just because they have a hunch that the business will be a success. The amount of time to construct a business model would save enormous amounts of money before taking on the future project. Gathering data of the competitive market and using past financial accounting statements will be useful, however, with new projects, there will be limitations, but estimation of the percentage values can be constructed. Strategic budgeting and capital investment planning decisions to expand into the future profitability of a company can be agonizing if not properly planned by financial managers. The assets, in addition to capital and distribution, change over long periods of time according to the supply and demand of the consumer markets. The net present value (NPV) of what is available, as far as Return on Assets and the Return on Investment (ROI). Cost projection into buying new equipment, inventory over the long run rather than a short period. Capital resources and budgets are the topics as it relates to using the Real Options Theory in Financial Management Modeling. Financial managers can utilize the Real Options Theory as a series of practical solutions to foresee into the future over several years. New products and the amount of capital to invest as well as the funding needed to make an expansion or either to realize that the project would not work. Theoretically, it is very simple and that many companies would utilize this theory. However, the recap or history of business failures is not seen in the futility of business success. The numbers may not lie. All systems may say go full steam ahead with the plans for expansion; however, there is a business cycle which will prove the business model incorrect. According to Rothbard, (2005), expectation in business fluctuations all the time. There is no need for any special â€Å"cycle theory† to account for them. It is simply the results of changes in economic data and is fully explained by economic theory. Many economists, however, attribute general business depression to â€Å"weaknesses† caused by a â€Å"depression in building† or a â€Å"farm depression. † But declines in specific industries can never ignite a general depression. Shifts in data will cause increases in activity in one field, declines in another. There is nothing here to account for a general business depression — a phenomenon of the true â€Å"business cycle. † It is pointless to say, as many people do, that a farm depression will ignite a general depression, because farmers will buy less goods, the people in industries selling to farmers will buy less, etc. This ignores the fact that people producing the other goods now favored by consumers will prosper; their demands will increase. (2005, pp. 6) Both the entrepreneur and large corporations have ideas to expand into new market. The main goal is company profits, either with or without expansion. Business expansion into other industries or international territories with current business. However great the idea may seem at the Real Options application of theory will conclude how fallible an idea with be in implementation. Payback period, cash flows and internal rate of return, as well as long term debt financing are the foundation of provision for utilizing the real options theory. Major growth will not derive from duplication of products that are already in the market place, but to begin with creating superior quality and improvements. Such as Facebook found a better way for people to communicate over the internet. Before Myspace, there were such things as electronic mail. Facebook, the ability to socialize as well as form groups, and fan pages begin with meager begins on a college campus. However, did the owner plan for this growth or was it happenstance. How does the work into the corporate structure for a welding company or maybe a warehouse which manufactures auto parts? Examining the stream of information within the forums, research and development addressed. According to Ketchen et al, (2007), â€Å"entrepreneurship refers to firms' pursuit of superior performance via simultaneous opportunity-seeking and advantage-seeking activities. Both small and large firms face impediments while pursuing strategic entrepreneurship† (2007, p. 71)In other words, rather an entrepreneur or fortune 500 company, Real Options Theory, should be the focus to starting a new business, taking on expansion or abandoning projects. The only difference will be in the amount of capital investments. Kretchen et al, continues to state, Ketchen, et al, (2007), While small firms' opportunity-seeking skills may be strong, their limited knowledge stocks and lack of market power inhibit their ability to enact the competitive advantages necessary to an appropriate value from opportunities the firms choose to pursue. In contrast, large firms are skilled at establishing ompetitive advantages, but their heavy emphasis on the efficiency of their existing businesses often undermines their ability to continuously explore for additional opportunities. (2007, p. 371) There are many three components in which company financial manager should be interested in the expected return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE) and debt ratio. Finally, another method of expansion can be with the acquisition of new business that is in operation. As stated by Stefano, Reality is that buyers must have capital available to be competitive in acqu isition negotiations. Accumulating capital may be as simple as retaining earnings in the agency instead of distributing those earnings, which is the equivalent of creating a war chest. The other option is to have a line of credit available from a financial institution. Banks are much more willing to offer financing for acquisitions than in years past. Today many banks are in the insurance business and got there through acquisitions. Insurers are also very supportive of the acquisition process and will uncover acquisition prospects because they like to see their successful agencies growing. Stefano, 2005) As explained by Childs et al, (Sep. , 1998), summarizes several calculation in deductive and calculated reasoning for financial managerial modeling and utilizing the Real Options Theory. They state, â€Å"consider a firm that has the opportunity to invest in two projects (a and b). Investment in each project takes place in two stages: The firm can invest in C1 R (I = a, b) to develop a project, which res olves uncertainty regarding the project’s future profitability; it can then make a further investment of K1, (i= a, b) to implement a project. 1998, p. 308). It is clearly mentions by Childs et al, the â€Å"NPV framework for making capital investment decisions has been extended to recognize the dynamic nature of investment decisions† (Childs, p. 305) According to Miller who goes into greater details of the formulation of providing computations to make a decision, it basically states if one project NPV is greater than 0, then it would be wise to invest in the project or product. Screenshot, (2005, p. 7) Summary Companies can no longer hesitate to make a business decision. However, ecisions that are not planned out utilizing capital assets can also cause undue hardship. It is no longer the large Fortune 500 companies designing the most innovative products and services, but also it can be the small entrepreneur with a grand idea. The markets no longer persuaded by familiar names, but can be mesmerized by new names such as Facebook. Methodology and theoretical planning and measurements can be experimenting with resourceful application s as Real Options Theory. By carefully measuring the logistics of one or more projects and committing or abandoning them all.

Burning Down The House By Neil Bernstein - 761 Words

Burning Down the House Review America’s answer for dealing with crime prevention is locking up adult offenders in correctional facilities with little rehabilitation for reentry into society. American response for crime prevention for juvenile’s offenders is the same strategy used against adult offenders taken juvenile offenders miles away from their environment and placed in adult like prisons. However the way juvenile our house and treated while in the care of state corrections officer is more detrimental mental and physical health of juvenile offenders as explained in Neil Bernstein (2014) Burning down the House. Neil Bernstein (2014) takes an in-depth look into juvenile prisons facilities practices and procedures that has a life altering effect on juveniles entering correctional facilities. Many juveniles who entered the juvenile justice system are victims themselves of parental mistreatment such as neglect, physical, and emotional abuse. Once children into the juvenile system and is labeled a ju venile similar to adults being labeled a felon. These young offenders are stigmatized as criminal with little distinction between adults and juvenile offenders entering the prison system for the first time. Bernstein (2014) paints a vivid picture of how incarcerated juveniles expose to a new set of challenges such as posttraumatic stress syndrome, curtailed education, gang affiliation, and a gladiator mentality. These challenges that can develop in juvenile facility hasShow MoreRelatedOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 Pagesthe exponential increase in human reliance on fossil fuel energy sources over the course of the long twentieth century has degraded the land, water, and air of the planetary environment. From multinational corporations to impoverished peasants burning away the rain forest for land to plant their crops or pasture their cattle, he seeks to identify the specific agents responsible for both pollution and ecological degradation. And he tracks underlying trends and factors—such as rapid population Read MoreMarketing Mistakes and Successes175322 Words   |  702 PagesRobert D. Nale, Coastal Carolina University; Robert H. Votaw, Amber University; Don Fagan, Daniel Webster University; Andrew J. Deile, Mercer University; Samuel Hazen, Tarleton State University; Michael B. McCormick, Jacksonville State University; Neil K. Friedman, Queens College; Lawrence Aronhime, John Hopkins University; Joseph Marrocco, Boston University; Morgan Milner, Eastern Michigan University; Souha Ezzedeen, Pennsylvania State University, Harrisburg; Regina Hughes, University of Texas;

Human Resources Management Processes Plan - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 17 Words: 5019 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Management Essay Type Narrative essay Did you like this example? The following article about Air Arabia discusses the HRM processes that are involved within an organization. As the organization is of a substantially big size, the process of job evaluation and design, hiring, training, performance evaluation and career planning becomes extremely important. We have seen the basis on which job evaluation has been done. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Human Resources Management Processes Plan" essay for you Create order This includes skills, efforts, responsibilities and working conditions. Many-a-times a recruiter does not focus on working conditions suitability for the employees in the future. This has also been mentioned in the article. We have also seen the processes that are included in hiring. They include recruitment, selection and socialization. It is notable to see the differences between recruitment and selection which have often been confused in the past. We have also seen the importance that socialization in the form of social networking sites have in the HRM processes in an organization. Following this are the performance evaluation criteria for the organization. The article shows the significance of goal setting and annual evaluation in this context. Finally we have also seen the advantages that career planning have in an organization. Much of the problems that can take place between an employer and an employee can easily be solved by making use of a regulated career planning. Much of the motivation for an employee comes from career planning. Moreover, it also sets the career opportunities in the organization. It becomes even more essential for an organization like Air Arabia, which cant afford de-motivated employees considering the degree of competition that exists these days. Introduction Air Arabia is the first and also the largest passenger carriers in the Middle East and North African countries. The company has been making incessant successes in the past with the ultimate theme of being a low-cost carrier. Air Arabia has spread across 57 destinations with its flight services that are now amongst the most reliable and comfortable in the region. It totally suits the idea of value for money. One can also consider Air Arabia to be one of the largest organizations in the country as far as flight services are concerned. The reason for the same is its widespread network which it has started to maintain. For a company that is so huge in its network, one would certainly require a suitable HR system to be in place. This is because; it would have to keep up with the reputation that it boasts of. The company has a mission of maintaining multi-functional teams which makes it even more important to have a well-selected crew. This is the place where HRM has a role to play. The entire design that is involved in selecting the employees has to be extremely organized so as to meet the expectations of an organization as huge as Air Arabia. (Know Us, 2010) Job Evaluation and Design Process For a large organization, especially when it gets distributed in different branches, one would have to perform a ranking of each of the jobs. The reason for the same is that once this is done, responsibilities can easily be assigned to the employees who are deemed to be eligible for a particular job. The job evaluation criterion is also reasonable from the perspective of defining the salaries and wages of the employees. This is because, once the companies can make an estimate the quality that exists in a person, they can very well map it to the salary they can offer. There are various factors on which job evaluation and design of a particular company are based. They have been mentioned as follows: Skill The first of these factors is the skill possessed by the individuals. It is very important for a company to recruit aspirants on the basis of the skill-set they possess. On numerous occasions, a company can manage with the employees of a lower skill category, but it is the specific skill-set that a person possesses which accounts for the work done during critical periods. Only once Air Arabia is well- acquainted of the skills of the employees it can make use of the right employees at the right time. The parameters for job evaluation through skills are education, experience and communication. The following discussion explains the utility of each one of them in the job evaluation and design process: Education: This is the foremost criterion that every company must see in order to fulfil the goals of selecting the best candidates. The amount of education that employees in Air Arabia have determines the strength of the company to a large degree. This includes those who are appointed as pilots to those who are appointed as managers in different sectors like marketing, finance and human resource. It is only through a sound education system that air-hostesses in the flights used by Air Arabia can make live up to customers expectation even when they know that the customer is not all that educated to understand. These are the times that ethical behaviour which is taught as an integral part of education comes into play. If one sees the marketing role played by the company, it is certainly a break-point to be recognized as a low-cost carrier in the market. This is where education counts. Experience: Another very important factor for the job evaluation process is to know the experience of a candidate. The reason is that based on experiences, one can rank a person to a particular job. The organization hierarchy is rather based on the experience of a candidate. Even the pay-scale for an experienced candidate is generally more as compared to that for a fresh entrant. Many-a-times, past results become extremely useful for decision analysis purposes. But it becomes very significant at that point in time if the experienced employees are the ones who were actually a part of those past projects. This is where paying more to such people actually makes more sense. Communication: The final criterion in the skill section is that of communication. This becomes important as education and experience would only be extremely y be meaningful if there is communication involved in it. The employees are required to know the native language of the region along with English as well so as to make the maximum out of their skills. It is generally better to be able to convey rather that just waiting for circumstances to become worse. Effort The second criterion for job evaluation and design is effort. Air Arabia, being a flight carrier requires a huge amount of mental labour to be involved in most of their work. This is because it is certainly not an easy job to be at such huge altitudes having the responsibility of so many on your shoulders. In spite of all taking all the precautionary measures, if something goes wrong, problem solving techniques also count for all the employees. As this is a very critical job, so this attribute is also a must for the employees. There are other characteristic like concentration and complexity which also form a major reason for the company to accept or reject candidates. Once again, for a job as difficult as this, a high deal of concentration and a capability to fight the complexities are of high value for the company. (An Overview of the Job Evaluation Process, 2010) Responsibility For a company as large as Air Arabia, there are many dimensions of responsibility. These are in the field of finance, supervision, act of liberty, decision making, liaison and operations. Every candidate selected should be able to possess at least one of these responsibilities so as to deserve a place in the company. It must also be mentioned that these responsibilities are a long way possible after a certain degree of experience and education in the field. This is the reason that the job recruitment process for a person who is experienced should consist of a test to note the extent that the candidate has gone in responsibility after such exposure to the industry. Working Conditions The final criterion for job evaluation and design is the working condition that the employee finds suitable for the person to have. This is attributed to the mental demand of the candidate. There are many candidates who in spite of having all the experiences and education in the industry, do not find it mentally suitable to work in flight. Many-a-times, the physical efforts and the visual demand also are areas of concern for the employees. So, job evaluation and design should be done in such a way that the companies are able to find the employees who can best suit the work environment that they can provide. Hiring Process Recruitment One must acknowledge the fact that a systematic process in the hiring procedure is a must for a company to accommodate people who can best serve to achieve the companys goals. So, as far as the first step is concerned, it starts with the process of recruitment. It is the phase where a company attracts candidates for a job and then follows it up by conducting a thorough screening. One can also say that recruitment is a process that is of an extremely harsh nature. The reason for the same is that candidates move into interviews, carrying the attraction that the advertisement for the recruitment process. But once they go on to get interviewed, they are tested for their lives. This is quiet essential even though it doesnt sound very convincing at least for the candidates. But just in order to test for all the qualities that have been mentioned already, one would have to undergo such a process. If it is about Air Arabia, it has to be a little harsher. The reason for the same is that whe rever a person is placed at Air Arabia, he would have to face the most critical of the conditions. So, the company has to ensure that only if a candidate has the capability to stand up to these tasks, he can be recruited in Air Arabia. For example, the company cant just pick up any candidate from an aeronautical branch for the post of a pilot. There have to be other qualities like handling critical situations etc. On a broad spectrum, there are basically five different types of agencies for recruitment. They have been mentioned as follows: Traditional Agency: Traditionally, recruitment agencies have been seen to be physically located where the candidates are asked to come in for short-interviews. Once this is done, the shortlisted candidates are further interviewed by certain potential employers. This process is still in use at a number of places. In most of the cases Air Arabia has been using this approach. Such places include institutes and other academic organizations. There a re three steps that Air Arabia follows in the processing. These three processes are a technical interview for short listing, followed by a management interview and then a HR interview. Head hunters: The second type of recruitment agency is a situation controller. This is generally applicable when the normal traditional approach to recruitment has failed and the company is in a dilemma in its efforts to recruit the people. Lets say that Air Arabia is finding solutions to recruit a new set of employees. If it cant distinguish on the fact whether an experienced employee would be more productive as compared to an employee who is a fresher but with better skills, then head- hunters can certainly be taken into use. In this case, the recruitment process can become even harsher as compared to the traditional way. This is because, the differences between the qualities of the candidates is not worth distinguishing. These type of agencies are also used for negotiating on salaries and genera lly able to draw a suitable result for the recruiting company. Niche Recruiters: The next form of recruitment agency is that of niche recruiters. These agencies generally function in a very narrow domain. If Air Arabia has to go for recruiting employees only for the post of pilots, they can take help of such companies. These agencies are also seen to come up with excellent results considering the fact that they can channel all their resources in order to test only a particular quality in a candidate. The specifications that such agencies choose can also include only a certain demographics. They have an aim to strengthen their relationships with the candidates so they are often engaged in recruiting the same employee again and again. This way the pilots of Air Arabia would be more and more experienced and also tested again and again so as to prove their skill. Hence, this recruitment agency is certainly responsible for drawing the best results. In-house Recruiters: These are ag encies who have taken the job of recruitment for masses. There are many companies which appreciate only a selected lot of candidates to appear for their interviews. This is possible by hiring such agencies which even go on campus recruitment to institutes short listing candidates so as to appear outsourcers of recruitment. Passive Candidate Research Recruiters: These are agencies which make a combination of research aspects with the recruitment process so as to find employees capable of doing a particular job. So, in case Air Arabia is looking for marketing professionals who could further strengthen its theme of being a low-cost carriers, it would have to consult such agencies so that it can put them on research of their airline sector. (Recruitment Process, 2010) Selection The second process involved in the job hiring process is that of selection. It is totally different from recruitment as it is commonly confused with the term. The reason is that while recruitment deals with the harsh procedure of eliminating employees, this process once again excites the employees by making a selection out of the ones that had been shortlisted. So, the final entry into the company is made only through the selection process. As this is the case, it is essential that a thorough analysis of all the interviewees, their resumes, their references, their professional experiences, their knowledge in both technical as well as managerial fields and their literacy level (according to the demographics required by the company) should be done before moving further into training. Some of the companies use a number of business software solutions to help them out in the selection process. This form of automated technology is highly commonplace these days so as to make the work of s election faster and easier as well. Many filtering processes that are involved in the process of selection are done on the basis of applicant tracking system and the results have been absolutely fair and square. Air Arabia has also been used to conducting certain psychometric testing so as to test the mental status of an employee when the situation becomes highly critical. The company performs these measures when it is selecting employees who would be a part of the crew when the Air Arabia is on service. Situations that the company generally tests at this point in time are the sudden disturbances in weather or a tragic fault in the technical system of the flight. The company also tests employees for the intelligence they would use when urgent landing becomes a requirement. So, once the employees go through this entire trauma, they are finally adjudged as selected or rejected. So, for those candidates who finally appear victorious at the end of these selection procedures, are require d to go undergo a training phase as the company needs to make them suitable enough to carry the reputation of Air Arabia on their shoulders. It is often seen that selection process doesnt take as much time as the recruitment process. The reason for the same is that there are very few candidates who are shortlisted once the recruitment is over. Moreover, with the assistance of recruitment agencies which have been discussed already, it becomes even easier to select employees. So one can conclude that selection procedures these days especially in companies like Air Arabia have become much different from what it used to be initially. The attributes of todays selection process are advanced technology and trade agencies. Socialization There are many reasons where even the best of hiring processes adopted by a company cant get the best of candidates they desire. The reason for the same is that the companies have not been to the right place for their recruitment purposes. So, socialization becomes an extremely important option under the conditions. This is because; with the help of socialization a company can advance the network for their job selection. This is applicable in those areas where the previous employees serve as endorsements so as to draw the best employees in order to fulfil a particular vacancy in the company. Moreover, technology has advanced to a large extent these days. What happens these days is that a number of internship and placement options are open at social networking sites that include Facebook, Twitter, Orkut, LinkeIn etc. These are the sites where placement and internships can be easily advertised and that too at the least of expenses. Many companies in the recent past have started to do the same. As Air Arabia still feels that it can hire a better lot of employees, socialization is certainly a better way of doing the same. There are other advantages to use socialization process as well. This is that with the help of this process, a company can also estimate the amount of time that a particular employee would wish to work for it. Many-a-times, Air Arabia goes to some of the top institutions, but finally it turns out to be a failure. The reason for the same is that the employees who do join them also, do not do so for a considerable period of time. There are a number of disadvantages to the same. The first of these is that the company would have to waste a lot of effort, time and money just in order to compensate for the loss of a particular employee. This generally happens in the first year of recruitment. As it is so, it results into an even graver loss. This is because; the employees first undergo a period training where the company has to put in a lot of expendi ture. Followed by this, if an employee goes in a rival company, there are great chances of a number of confidential matters to be revealed. This would certainly not be tolerated by the company. So, one can see that socialization has a huge degree of importance in the hiring process of a particular company. There are even further advantages that are associated with socialization. When a company puts up its advertisement for selection done on social networking sites, even those people who are already employed at different companies have a look at it. Now, if the companys job profile suits such candidates, then the company holds a great chance of hiring those employees who also have a considerable degree of experience in the industry. (Recruitment process socialization, 2010) Training Process Once a candidate has been employed in the organization, the next factor that has to be taken into account for a proper functioning is the training part. Every employee requires a groom over the condition he has faced prior to joining the company. He needs to adopt the policies that are followed in the company which can only happen through a considerable degree of training. So, training is a process where an employee seeks knowledge sharpens his skills, clears his concepts about ideas and those pertaining to the company, making changes in his attitudes and finally enhancing his performance as well. Training has become a necessity because everyone wants to achieve something in life. This would certainly be incomplete without knowing how to reach it. Training provides the answer in such significant situations of life. Training might not as well lead one to the destination he was looking at, but it would certainly lead one to some destination which might even be better for him. If drea ms have to come true, training is something that can give one the knowledge of doing so. Now, the role of HR management is changing as time is moving by. The relationship between training and HRM is also strengthening as a result. Now, both HR management and training are given priorities unlike older days when they were simply considered to be a waste of money. The following section shows the association of HR professionals in the training process of a certain organization: Employee education requires an active participation of the HR professionals. This can take place through some vigorous training processes. At the end of the training process, the HR professionals are also required to give specific rewards to the employees who excel in the training period. This can be used to motivate the employees in order to function in the same manner as he had been doing in the training phase. (Exploring the training process, 2010) Training process also works a lot in lifting the s elf-esteem of the employees. The HR professionals have a major role to play in the same. Once training has been done, the trainees feel that they have adequate understanding of the company they are working for which in turn is a matter of self-esteem so as to be associated with such a name. HR professionals are also responsible for developing the skills of the employees that are related to the market they are aiming at. What also becomes of great concern here is that once these attributes come into the employees during their training period itself, they can further use it as an advanced education in order to provide training to the people who would work under them in the future. It is all about making the employees know about the importance that the training period has and all that can be learnt in the same period. HR professionals cant just be harsh in their means as far as training is concerned. The reason for the same is that training involves candidates who are new to the company whose morale certainly needs to be lifted. So, what is required from the HR professionals is that they are as flexible as it is possible for them. The reason is that if the employees find the comfort to suit their mental condition, they would further work with a better zeal for the company. The degree of absenteeism in the company would also decrease to a substantial degree under the conditions. Flexibility is not just required from the time frame but it is also required from the place frame as well. If the trainee can manage his work at the resident itself, it would not be advisable for the HR professionals to call them to the work place all the time. As Air Arabia is such a huge organization, these sorts of allowances would only help it in its cause. Performance Evaluation Process Air Arabia operates in those countries where the level of competition in the airline sector is higher than almost all other sectors. The reason for the same is the amount of tourism that is ever-increasing in the region. So, such a situation leaves very little margin of error for the companies who have put in a lot of investment in the airline industry. It becomes even more vital for Air Arabia because, the company has a theme of being a low-cost carrier. Once this image of the company has been taken away by the competitors it would become very difficult for it to regain the same name and fame. So, performance evaluation becomes extremely necessary under the conditions. This is used to help the team leaders and managers at Air Arabia to consistently have meeting with regard to goals set by the organization, the performance of individual employees and the outcomes of the various projects that the company has undertaken. It may also include the training process. A suitable performanc e evaluation process would help the HR team to make better decisions for improvement of the job, development of career, recognition of the company and employees, compensation options and also corrective actions wherever necessary. It has become the need of the hour to use a proactive approach these days as compared to the reactive approach that was used previously for taking corrective actions. (Performance Evaluation System, 2010) In a broad sense, performance evaluation basically consists of goal setting followed by performance evaluation on an annual basis. Goal Setting Goals are generally set when the new evaluation period sets in. It becomes the responsibility of the supervisor that the employees follow the SMART principles in this context. SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Result-Oriented and Time-Bound. They have been explained as follows: Specific: The employees are supposed to create a manual, maintain a database of their performances, make it to special training in course of their work and also be equipped enough so as to be able to take a training session on all that they know. This varies from employee to employee as per as the log they maintain with respect to their performance in the company. Measurable: Based on the accolades that the employee can manage at the end of time period which includes a certificate of appreciation, one can measure the performance of the particular employee. Even the success of the training session that the employees conduct can measure the extent to which a particular employee ha s succeeded in his efforts. Achievable: It is also advisable for the employees to make sure that set only such goals that they can afford to achieve in a years time. Here the balance would depend on the amount of exaggeration that the employer does and the amount of constraints that the employee puts. At times, just to emerge as champions amongst at par quality employees within the organization, some employees tend to set huge targets which they are finally unable to finish in the stipulated time frame. This becomes highly negative in the long run. Result -Oriented: It must also be acknowledged at this point in time that the company focuses on what has been achieved rather than on the oath that the employee took in order to do so. For employees who are generally accustomed to giving excuses for not being able to achieve a target, it must be a pre-warning. The reason for the same is that employers are of the view that they would only set those targets that are achievable by the employees. So, an excuse in this respect can be highly harmful. For example, if Air Arabia sets a target of a certain number of passengers in a particular year, the sales and marketing people would be responsible for making it happen. Time-Bound: Every goal that is signed by an employee as achievable needs to be done in time for it to the effective. Only once this happens, a company can fight the competition. Required service if provided at the required time makes sense or else it goes in vain. Every employer needs to keep this in mind as performance evaluation is largely based on this fact. (Quinn, 2010) Annual Evaluation In order to measure the extent of growth at both professional and personal level, a company maintains a written documentation for each employer so as obtain a formal evaluation. The company ensures that it can check the progress, find the places of accomplishments, areas where there have been improvement or otherwise, also identify the goals that need to be set for the following year for the development of the company and the employee as well. The information that the employer gives about a particular employee should never be surprising for the employee as it is done in consent with the employee. An employee can make use of a self-assessment questionnaire so as to assess his performance over the last year or so. He can also maintain a form that would include annual goal setting. It should also be mutual in nature. So, every employee can also maintain the evaluation document of the employer for best results. Career Planning and Development Processes Every employee has knowledge and areas of interest in a particular field. Career planning is about mapping these potentials that employees have with the requirements of the organization they are working for. Lets say that an employee has an upper-edge in mechanics. He has the option of taking care of the cock-pit of air planes. Career planning is to ensure that the organizations can manage the right amount and type of people, at the right time and right place as well. The process of development in this direction can only come from the fact that the employees would always go looking for opportunities rather than staying stagnant, obsolete and dissatisfied. The following are the roles of career planning: It serves as a medium to motivation which is required for growth. It helps in providing motivation for training and development perspective. We have already seen that a huge amount of difference is there between employees who are actually motivated and those who are not. It has a direct impact on the efficiency of the employees. It also increases faith in organizations as employees feel that the organization is working in its favour. This makes them synchronize their goals with those of the company. Career planning also increases career opportunities in the organization. The employees would now think of what they can manage to attain as a designation in the organization. Career planning serves as a medium to provide direction to growth and development. This is because it would arouse interest in the employees to work. It improves the image of the organization as a market for better employment. This would mean that more worthy candidates would now be applying for the organization. This would also help in socialization process. Once a company has the brand image of good employment, networking sites like Facebook and Orkut would actively participate in making recruitment more efficient for the organization. It decreases negative parameters lik e absenteeism. If such parameters remain in the region, they are bound to stagnate the growth opportunities of the organization. (Career Planning, 2010)