The Webster dictionary describes a manager as ‘someone who handles or directs with a degree of skill’. But this definition is not rigid as are the responsibilities. Alternatively, you can think of a manager as someone who controls resources and expenditures. A manager has 4 basic roles to play in such areas as planning, organizing, directing or leading and supervising. Is this all that it takes to become a manager? Unfortunately not; you have to be answerable for failures while credit may not be given to you for successes (unless you are the owner). To understand how to prepare for management responsibilities, let’s look first at desirable managerial characteristics:
Attributes Of An Outstanding Manager
An outstanding manager is respected by both his peers and upper management. He is respected because he possesses qualities which others wish to have.
1. Manager Is A Task Maker: A manager sets realistic targets achievable through hard work and breaks them up to share them among the team members.
2. Industrious In Nature: Typically characterized by a hard working nature and perseverance to work meticulously to promote goals.
3. Approachable: He is a vivid listener and is easily comprehendible. Available for discussions and is eager to help solve matters.
4. Respectful: It is perhaps for this character that he inspires respect from teammates. He never disrespects an individual nor does he demand the impossible. He has a perfect judgment of individual capabilities, so he acknowledges difficulties and frustrations.
5. He Is Charismatic And Cheerful: Positive in outlook and bubbly in nature.
6. Never-Say-Die Attitude: Above all else, this character self-motivates the manager. It keeps him spontaneous and resourceful.
How To Prepare For Management Responsibilities
At the core, a manager has two responsibilities. Overseeing the day-to-day activities and leading the team or organization to next level. Preparing for both of these necessitates certain carefully cultivated habits.
Dealing With Day-To-Day Activities:
The first thing to understand is that, come what may, daily activities can’t be ignored. Even if there are bigger and better plans, what makes the wheel run is daily activities. Cultivate habits like following routines; ask about problems being faced by workers, don’t be impatient and lose your temper, ask how you can help them finish their tasks, etc. Unless you master the daily grind, a manager can quickly find himself behind.
Leading The Team:
Taking Things With A Grain Of Salt: It might feel like you are being weighed down by the workload. But you can’t just wish it away. Learn to be judicious and willing to take calculated risks. You should not differentiate workers on personal levels but must be aware of the abilities of each one. Solving problems and disputes instantaneously, not only saves the day for you but wins confidence from everyone.
Putting Your Experience To Use: Develop analytical abilities. This helps you to both envision plans and put them into concrete steps. Draw from past experiences, wherever necessary. Don’t hesitate to ask questions and accept suggestions. Generate ideas by brainstorming with colleagues.
Goal Setting: Although you are managing daily activities, your main goal is organizational growth and with it, your own personal growth. You should dream big, but also set realistic goals based on assessments of scalability, need and cost factors etc.
By: Tony Jacowski
Posts Tagged ‘Management Responsibilities’
A Career In Health And Safety Management
September 28th, 2009Responsibilities
It is the responsibility of the Health and Safety Manager to ensure the safety of everyone who enters the company’s premises. They are solely responsible for the implementation and ensuring that all the safety regulations are followed. For example, if a plant manufactures a hazardous material, then as a health and safety manager, they are responsible to ensure the safety of the workers by asking them to wear facemasks, goggles and protective clothing. If it is an office, then they are required to maintain safety by assuring that all desk drawers and file cabinets are closed, spills cleaned up and signs posted.
One of the major roles of the Health and Safety Manager is to schedule routine fire drills and also assure that each department designates a person to act as a monitor. They may also have to walk the floor regularly, to check for any violations and also to rectify any problems. The Health and Safety Manager is designated to handle the issues related to illness that may result due to unsafe working conditions. They are basically responsible for the implementation, application and maintenance of value, decision and risk management tools, procedures and techniques.
Qualifications
To undertake the role of a Health and Safety Manager, you have to acquire a college or university degree and gain several years of experience. Education is an ongoing process and must be upgraded, as new safety products enter the market regularly.
A Health and Safety professional’s responsibility is to ensure that all the fire extinguishers are in safe and working condition and that everyone knows how to find and use them. In many companies, the manager recruits new employees and also guides them with the instructions on conduct and about existing safety measures.
Job Prospects
You can also work as an Environmental Health and Safety manager in a manufacturing unit, where selection is based on education or internal promotion. The candidate would ideally need to have a degree in Industrial technology or a Business degree. But nowadays, as Environmental Degree programs have increased, candidates can find a job immediately after they complete their college education.
Protecting people, equipment and the environment is the primary motive of an Occupational Health and Safety Specialist. They are called Ergonomists, Occupational Health and Safety Inspectors, Industrial Hygienists and Environmental Protection Officers. They assist the company in creating safer and unpolluted processes. These Health and Safety Specialists scrutinize the data collected by the technicians and then improve them to protect the workers and the equipment.
The primary duty of the Health and Safety professional is to safeguard the workers and the company against the common workplace hazards. Such as:
- Injury caused from biological and chemical agents
- Protection from accidents caused by heavy metals
- Electricity hazards
In the United States, the Occupational and Health Safety Administration has been regulating the operational health and safety since 1971.
By: Tony Jacowski
Records Management and End of Life Electronics, a Happy Ending?
September 6th, 2009It weighs less than a pound and can fit in the palm of an adult hand. It’s made up of aluminum, stainless steel, plastic, and a host of other things. It can hold many secrets. What is it? A hard drive.
Most records managers know that the control and management of the information contained on a hard drive is one of their primary concerns. In every profession, it’s what you don’t know that can hurt
you. In the case of obsolete computer equipment, which is generally loaded with data, ignorance is not bliss.
Records management responsibilities traverse along many avenues: corporate, moral, historical and of course the practical day to day needs of simply locating proper information for internal clients and others in a secure fashion. But external forces are always hovering over every decision and every action a good Records Manager makes. Those external forces include the dynamic and ever changing trio of compliance, legal and regulatory issues.
Managing data includes managing media containing devices, i.e., all the electronics involved in your organization, from their birth till their death. Dealing with end of life electronics should not be the ugly stepchild of records management. It should be a premier part of the whole life cycle. Why? Because the trio of compliance, legal and regulatory issues can hit a brick wall when old electronics are kept too long and for the wrong reasons.
Here are 10 questions that should convey the collision that can occur when improper disposal and spotty data destruction are employed:
What happens if opposing counsel requests discovery material that should have been eliminated?
Does storing more than 4 computers or over 220 pounds of old electronics for more than a month mean you’re holding on to toxic waste?
Who in your company established the required e-waste conformance procedures so you comply with federal requirements such as HIPAA, SOX, GLB, FACTA and RCRA?
Is it a good idea to let your IT department handle hard drive destruction?
Will driving a nail through a platter, reformatting or up chopping the hard drive with an axe solve your privacy law obligations?
Which legal regulations govern your industry regarding the proper disposal of electronic media?
Do you have management support and a line item in your budget that enables your organization to comply with disposal and environmental regulations?
Do you really know what your company does with the computers that are replaced with new units—outside of, “Gee, I think our property management or IT folks handle it?”
Are you familiar with the ‘Disposal Rule’ of 2005?
Lastly, are you aware that board members, directors, owners, or CEOs can be held personally responsible for a failure to protect private information (especially on old electronics), which could result in civil penalties of up to $10,000?
“End of Life” electronics are security and compliance hotspots. Sixty-five of all organizations today have no practical approach to handling the proper disposal and destruction of confidential electronic data. So let’s explore some facts and then look at a couple of proactive steps you can take towards establishing a judicious, planned approach that eliminates risk.
e-Waste is simply electronics that are obsolete, broken, or unwanted, and present an environmental hazard if not handled properly. When it comes to e-waste, probably the biggest danger for records management professionals is doing nothing. Hoarding old computers is a rampant practice and a dangerous one. What can be dangerous about letting old computers sit? Outside of the R.M. standard of trying to maintain “fresh and live” information so it can be accessed at a later time, there are two types of dangers inherent in keeping old media containing devices. The first failure is not recognizing you have an environmental hazard on your hands. The second is much more onerous, the failure to eradicate improper data handling can cause embarrassing incidents and exposure to data leaks.
Approximately 4 or more stored, obsolete computers can comprise a compliance issue. By ignoring any one of the environmental and data privacy regulations, a company can find itself at risk. According to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) used electronics are hazardous waste if: 1) the used electronic equipment is no longer useable and has been determined to be a waste; 2) the material exhibits the characteristic of toxicity; and 3) the used electronic equipment originated from non-residential sources such as businesses, academic institutions, or government agencies. (While in some states disposal of personal electronics is not governed by law, everyone should be aware of the true dangers of toxic waste resident in a computer, and dispose of their used electronic equipment responsibly.)
Conditionally Exempt Small Quantity Generators – those producing less than 220 pounds (100 kilograms) of hazardous waste per month may prefer to manage it as hazardous waste due to the minimal requirements associated with the smaller waste volumes. For specific RCRA generator requirements, refer to 40 CFR 261, 262 and 273. One computer system usually weighs about 28 pounds. Since most computers and monitors are full of toxic elements it’s best to conform to RCRA’s basic compliance requirements (and legally it may be best to manage even small amounts of waste as “universal waste” and recycle responsibly). To view the full Resource Conservation and Recovery Act you can go to: http://www.eendusa.com/industry_overview.htm#rcra . You can also find this same information in EPA circular EPA530-N-007. Other laws probably apply to your organization, you can find an easy to read chart for your industry at http://www.eendusa.com/compliancechart.pdf .
It’s sobering to realize that you cannot bury your old computers and media containing devices. You must plan for their retirement and eventually make sure that there are adequate funeral arrangements, especially in the case of data. Assuming that an internal IT staff is “handling it” is like asking the bookkeeper to perform an audit. Retiring information technology assets is a demanding and full time job. An inadvertent release of sensitive data can send a blaze of bad PR your company’s way!
Stockpiled e-waste increases risk. Big risks include compliance fines of up to $10,000 for senior officers. Need more reasons? Employees are the Number One cause of security breaches which could spell ruin for a company. A Ponemon Data Breach Study “contends that each company surveyed in the study sacrificed roughly $2.5 million in lost business, based on their incidents” (Cost of Data Breaches Rises Sharply by Matt Hines, eWeek.com, October 20, 2006). Additionally, sitting equipment encourages theft and a potential loss of data. There are many ways to handle data destruction including the what, when and how it needs to be done. You may determine that on site verifiable destruction is your best option. However, it’s best to work with an independent electronic recycling firm that can give you options and advice depending on your type of media and security levels you require. Another risk factor is not having a proper data destruction policy and using it. Proper destruction can prevent your company from needless and harmful legal discovery.
There are many concerns, issues and challenges surrounding electronic waste and data destruction, so acknowledge that computer obsolescence is here to stay and start taking steps. Establish a solid e-cycling program, do research, attend conferences, ask questions and work with a reputable, local electronic recycler and data destruction company, one that can, for your peace of mind, provide traceable, documented and responsible materials disposition. Still wondering about the answers to some of those 10 questions? You can test your knowledge by taking an e-cycling quiz at http://www.eendusa.com/ecycling_quiz.htm
Here are six simple reasons that should compel all Records Management professionals to e-cycle: 1) Safeguard your data, 2) Prevent legal problems, 3) Improve the environment, 4) Green your company’s image, 5) Free up costly office space, 6) Reduce landfill usage.
Ignoring your e-waste problem is like wishing your garbage would take itself out, after a while it stinks. According to a Gartner IT Asset Management Conference 2006 Survey, “Ultimately, the most expensive cost associated with PC disposal is the cost for failure to dispose of PCs (and the data residing on the drives) appropriately,” As Records Management executives, you must start handling your end of life electronics properly, because the consequences of doing nothing or it wrong are severe.
By: Laura Gabel
