Unit 1 - P1, P2, P3

 P1 Personal Attributes that are valued by employers

Technical Knowledge:

A potential employee needs to have the required technical knowledge that is required in the specific company or industry they’re working. For example, a Computer software developer needs to know how to write the required code and the language that is used. Without this knowledge they’re going to be less useful to the employers because they will need more help and are likely to not get employed.

Health and safety:

A very important attribute is that any potential employees need to know the health and safety risks that might occur during their time working for the company. So in a computer based career the main risks to personal safety are electric shocks, loose cables. Other risks include accidental spillage of liquids on to the computer or keyboard.

Work Attitudes:

An employee needs a good attitude to whatever work they’re asked to do. An employee without a good attitude is less likely to meet deadlines and to meet them with the quality of work required. Having a good attitude towards the work at hand is advantageous because they’re more likely to get their work done on time and to a good standard.

Good Time Management Skills

Being able to manage time efficiently and effectively is a very important thing when working for a company. For example, A chef will need to be able to make sure he or she are able to cook every part of a dish so that they’re all ready at the same time and not too soon before or after.  If an employee can’t manage their time properly  they might become unreliable and therefore undependable.

Organisational skills

Like having good time management, being able to organise yourself and work properly and effectively is very important for a company and it’s employees. This is because important documents and information that is meant to stay within the company can be lost and potentially find it’s way out to the outside world.

Planning Skills

Being able to plan projects or work out well is essential to being able to work effectively and efficiently. Without good planning skills the work could end up in a hopeless muddle and you wouldn’t have any idea of what area of the project you’re on or where to start. This goes hand in hand to good time management and organisational skills because they are dependent on being able to plan efficiently.

Independent

Being able to work on your own will make you easier to work with and is a valuable asset to an employer because you won’t be asking for help constantly on your projects and will be able to apply your own creative insights or techniques to doing a job. However, this shouldn’t be confused with never asking questions. An employee should be willing to ask questions if they’re unsure instead of doing what they think they need to do in case they get it wrong.

Dependable

If an employer can depend on the employee to turn up to work on time, get their work done quickly with no complaints and at a high standard they’ll be more likely to progress further in the company. However, if an employee is continuously late with both arriving to work on time and projects they’ll be undependable and are more likely to lose their job.

P2  Explain the principles of effective communication

Cultural Differences

In any sort of work that involves international customers means that the employees need to be aware of any cultural differences between their home country and their customers country. For example, any signs, or gestures might be acceptable in one country but be offensive in another. People who are presenting something or in general communicating with other people could have to choose different words then they would normally use.

Adapting to suit an audience

The age and gender of your audience could impact the way you speak towards them. You could be required to use a microphone or raise your voice to be heard. You might have to change the tone of your voice in order to keep the audience interested. You might have to use different forms of technology to make sure that everyone understands what you’re trying to convey to the audience. You might choose to change the words you use to communicate depending on the audience.

Active Engagement

By paying attention to what another person or reacting(a nod or a frown) you are letting the person who is talking to you know that you are listening to what they’re saying and that you’re taking note of what they’re trying to communicate. Sometimes after a person has finished speaking, they might ask you a question such as “Do you agree?” or “What is your opinion on this?” as a way of indicating it is time for you to contribute to the conversation.

Positive/Negative Language

Positive or Negative language can go hand in hand with Active Engagement. Responding with a word such as “yes” or just smiling can display a positive response. Nodding can send the message that you’re in agreement or being willing to listen to what the other person is saying. However, negative response such as cutting in or finishing sentences can be found irritating or a sign of your disagreement or that you’re not interested about what they have to say. However, not reacting can also send a message that you’re not interested.

Grammar and Spelling

In a letter, fax, report or email, the body adds substance to a key message. It can often contain an explanation(of any work) or an apology(for something that might not have gone well).

However, regardless of the purpose of such a written message, good grammar and spelling are very important. Loads of mistakes can suggest that the writer doesn’t care or can create an unprofessional image towards the writer.

Structure

Ordering your written message in a sensible structure such as using lists, and headings, will help the reader understand the information without any issues and without having to read the message more than. Having an insensible structure will mean that the reader has to try hard in order to understand what is trying to be said. There might be certain templates you have to conform to through your work place.

P3 Discuss potential barriers to effective communication

Cultural Differences

A lot of modern companies have employees from other nations and cultures. This means that they might not understand English as well so there are likely to be errors when trying to communicate something.  This might mean that they don’t understand certain mannerisms or terminology used by the company’s country of origin.

Diverse Audience

Having a diverse audience, culturally, by age or gender means that the presenter has to make sure what they’re saying is suitable for their audience.  This means they have to be careful of what they say in case they offend their audience, or it doesn’t have the same meaning in their culture of origin.

Distractions

Distractions in the background such as bright lights, or just people trying to get attention are likely to distract employees from the work they’re doing at that moment. This will mean that they’re likely to be less productive.

Background noise

Background noise is another distraction.  High amounts of background noise can mean that when two or more people are trying to talk together about something they’re working on, they’re less likely to be able to hear or understand what is trying to be said or got across.  

Proof Reading

Having a fellow employee proof read your work is a very important thing as they’ll be able to check for any grammatical errors, spelling errors, etc. Having spelling errors and grammatical errors could lead to the wrong message being sent across and having someone to check for errors means that they’ll find(hopefully) any problems and inform you of them before you release the paper or report.