Non-financial rewards present a smorgasbord of desirable extras for the organizations. These do not directly increase the employee’s financial position but rather add attraction to life on the job. We will identify a few of the more general possibilities but creation of these rewards is limited only by HRM’s ingenuity and ability to use them to motivate desirable behavior.

The saying, “one person’s food is another person poison”, applies to the entire subject of rewards but specifically to non-financial rewards. One employee can find something extremely useful but the other may find it totally useless. Therefore, HRM must take great care in providing the ‘right’ non financial reward for each person. With proper selection, organizational benefits, by way of increased performance, should be significant.

Some workers, for example, are status conscious. A plush office, a carpeted floor, a large, solid –wood desk or signed artwork may be just what stimulates them towards top performance. Similar, status-oriented employees may value an impressive job title, their own business cards, their own administrative assistant, or a well-located parking space with their name clearly painted underneath the “Reserved” sign. Other employees may value opportunities to dress casually while at work or even work in the part at home. Such incentives are within the organization’s discretion and carefully used, may enhance performance.

Considering the Example of a Store Chain:

Two researchers studied the impact of financial and non-financial incentives on business performance in 21 stores of a fast food franchise in the Midwest. In this study the researchers carefully compared performance over time in stores that did and did not use financial and non-financial employee incentives. Each store had about 25 subordinates and two managers. The managers were trained to identify critical, observable measurable employee behavior that were currently deficient but that could impact store performance. Example behaviors included keeping both hands moving at the drive through window working during idle time and repeating the customer’s order back to him or her. The researchers measured store performance in terms of three things, gross profitability (revenue minus expenses) drive through time and employee turnover.

Financial Incentives:

Some employees in some of the stores received financial incentives for exhibiting the desired behaviors. The financial incentives consisted of lump sum bonuses in the worker’s paychecks. For example if the managers observed a work team exhibiting up to 50 behaviors during the observation period, he or she added $25 to the paychecks of all store employees that period ; 50 to 100 behaviors added $50 per paycheck And over 100 behaviors added $75 per paycheck. Payouts rose over time as the employees learned more about the behaviors they were to exhibit. Specifically payouts rose from about $33 average per employee per month during the three months just after training. To about $54 per employee per month during the next three months, to about $70 per employee per month during the final three months of the study.

Non-financial Incentives:

The researchers also trained the managers to deliver non-financial incentives in the form of performance feedback and social recognition, for example, for performance feedback managers maintained charts showing the drive through times at the end of each day. They placed the charts by the time clocks, so all the store employees could keep track of their store’s performance on things like drive through times. The researchers also trained managers to administer recognition to employees such as the drive through times were really good. That is great since that is what we’re really focusing on these days.

Results:

The results of this study indicated that both financial and non-financial incentives improved employee and store performance and that these improvements were sustained over time. For example store profits rose 30% for those units where managers used financial rewards. Store profits rose 36% for those units where managers used non-financial rewards. During the same nine month period, drive through times decreased 19% for the financial incentives group and 25% for the non-financial incentives groups turnover improved 13% for the financial incentives group, and 10% for the non-financial incentives group. Initially financial incentives had a greater impact than non-financial incentives on profits and customer service, but their effects became equally effective over time. (Financial incentives had a more significant impact on employee turnover than did non-financial incentives over time however).

So in the end, Financial and non-financial rewards are necessary to consider while rewarding any employees. It’s the HRM Department concern what sort of a reward is more beneficial to the employees.

Sources:

1. Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, 8^th Edition, written by David A DeCenzo and Stephen P. Robbins
2. http://www.citeman.com/10404-financial-and-non-financial-incentives.html

Now, this article would focus on the medical perspective because reference is easily available. Although Alchemy part is much more tempting but the reference to access the information is a bit out of the way. Rest assured to my readers that an eye would be kept for the information of alchemy version of Homunculus as soon as the reference is available in the general public view.

The Word Homunculus:

The word is from Latin origin and its specific word was used in 1650-60 and in Latin it means “little man”. The word is equivalent to homun- (variant of homin-, stem of homō man) culus. Singular form is culi or homunculi.

The word has also appeared in many novels such as:

“Then came a yelling, a crashing among the branches, and a little pink homunculus rushed by us shrieking.” The Island of Doctor Moreau by Wells, H.G.

“Wounds of an arrow — of introducing this pudgy homunculus into art”, The Devil’s Dictionary by Bierce, Ambrose

Definition:

“An artificially made dwarf supposedly produced in a flask by an alchemist.”

Or

“A fully formed, miniature human body believed, according to some medical theories of the 16th and 17th centuries, to be contained in the spermatozoon.”

There are different concept related to the Homunculus, some are related to the medical profession and other is related to alchemy. Alchemy is believed to be practiced in the middle ages and was a mixture of philosophy and chemistry; in short it was more focused in magical aspect. Some even say that alchemy could be used to convert lead into gold. The definition which is mentioned above, pertaining to both of medical and alchemy line of work and therefore the reader can choose which one does it suits best for him.

Let’s discuss about it in the medical perspective view. It basically is a sensory map of the body with respect to the brain and the different senses it provide from the external environment. If you have seen the diagram shows, some of the body part is disproportionate to the other parts the reason for this are due to the major or minor connection with the brain parts allocated with the body parts. Scientist can find the appropriate connection of parts associated with the brain to the parts associated with the body by simply provide a lower level electrical impulse.

Humans put great emphasis on speech and manipulation of objects by the hands, so humans have large amounts of cortex devoted to mouth, tongue and hands. Different species have different patterns. Rats get a lot of information from their whiskers, so they have large amounts of sensory cortex devoted to their whiskers.

The following diagram represents a slice of cortex near the fissure of Rolando, running from the top of the head down toward the ear. The diagram indicates the location and amount of cortex devoted to each part of the body. At location #22, for example (just above the lateral fissure by the ear), stimulation produces a swallowing reflex. A location #3, at the top of the head, stimulation results in toe movement. Altogether, the map of brain connections to the body in this particular strip of cortex looks like this, with the amount of cortical tissue represented by the size of the body part in the diagram:

The diagram looks a bit like a grotesque little man, so it is called the homunculus (ho-MUN-q-lus). The first homunculus diagram was drawn by Wilder Penfield in the 1940s and looks similar to the one above. Notice that the hands, lips, and tongue are large, because of the large areas of cortex devoted to these areas of the body in humans.

One of the interesting facts related to these sensory receptors and the brain parts is that few people whose hand was partially paralyzed due to brain damage have regained fully by immobilizing the other arm. It is a way to cure a partial paralysis, please refrain from practicing such medical concepts in the absence of a medical professional.

In Medical context homunculi is just a way to represent a part of the body which is affected by the part of the brain with different sensory nerves involved in it.

Sources:

1. The Free Dictionary.com by Farlex
2. dictionary.reference.com/browse/homunculus
3. Discovery Channel (http://curiosity.discovery.com/question/what-is-homunculus)
4. http://www.intropsych.com/ch02_human_nervous_system/homunculus.html

Meanwhile, Sony’s new Play Station 4 will be targeting the social based games as well in order to increase its size and market, in the gaming market share. Now you can play the games before they can be downloaded. That is something extraordinary currently seen.

This also means faster downloading times, video clip share buttons, and the ability to take over a friend’s controller when they are in need of assistance, the company highlighted at its event in New York.

Sony’s Play Station 4 Console is expected to be released in the holidays of 2013. Some say, November would be the time that it is more expected to be released.

Hardware

The PlayStation 4, as you’d expect for a seven-years-later follow-up, has impressively bumped specs:

• An eight-core X86 AMD Jaguar CPU
• 1.84-teraflop AMD Radeon graphics engine (with “18 compute units”)
• 8GB of GDDR5 memory
• Hard-drive storage (not SSD)
• Blu-ray drive
• Three USB 3.0 ports
• 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi
• Ethernet, HDMI, Bluetooth 2.1, optical audio and analog AV out

The specification is not out of this world and any modern day gaming PC may be possessed with these features but it does out shine in any console that we have seen or heard from with these high specs.

In the end just like to leave a few of the list of the games that are going to be using Play Station 4 as a console, they are: Knack, a title being directed by Mark Cerny; Killzone: Shadow Fall by Guerrilla Games’; Driveclub; InFamous: Second Son from Sucker Punch; Media Molecule; Beyond: Two Souls; The Witness; Deep Down; Watch Dogs, publisher Ubisoft; Diablo III, Blizzard Entertainment; Destiny by Activision.

Well, that’s it folks for the day and all those fans are request to keep your fingers crossed for a great, sleek and stylish design for the PS4 and hope for the best.

Sources:

1. http://reviews.cnet.com/ps4/
2. http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-9020_7-57570372-222/sony-pushes-streaming-and-sharing-with-ps4/

“Provides information about jobs currently being done and the knowledge, skills and abilities that individuals need to perform the jobs adequately”.

Job Analysis Methods:

1. Observation Method
2. Individual Interview Method
3. Group Interview Method
4. Structured Questionnaire Method
5. Technical Conference Method
6. Diary Method

No matter what you use to get the data, the information amassed and written down from the conceptual, analytical job analysis process generates 3 tangible outcomes:

1. Job Description
2. Job Specification
3. Job Evaluation

Job Description:

It is a written statement of what the jobholder does, how it is done, under what conditions, and why. It should accurately portrait the job content, environment and condition of employment.

A common format for job description includes the following factors:-

1. Job title
2. Duties to be performed
3. Distinguishing characteristics of the job
4. Environmental Conditions
5. Authority and responsibilities of the jobholder

When we discuss employee recruitment, selection and performance appraisal we will find that the job description acts as an important resources for the following purposes:-

1. Describing the job to the potential candidates (either verbally by recruiter and interviewers or in written advertisements)
2. Guiding newly hired employees in what they are specifically expected to do
3. Providing a point of comparison in the appraising weather the actual activities of the job incumbent align with the stated duties.

Job Specification:

It states the minimum acceptable qualification that the incumbent must possess to perform the job successfully. Based on the information acquired through job analysis, the job specification identifies pertinent knowledge, skills, education, experience, certification and abilities. Individuals possessing the personal characteristics identified in the job specification should perform the job more efficiently than those lacking these personal characteristics.

Job Evaluation:

Job analysis also provides valuable information it helps in comparing the jobs. If an organization is to have an equitable compensation program, jobs that have similar demands in terms of skills, knowledge and abilities in common compensation groups. Job evaluation specifies the relative value of a job in an organization, which makes it an important part of compensation administration.

Source:

Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, 8^th Edition, David A. DeCenzo & Stephen P. Robbins,pg 130-131, 135-136

Since these numbers are usually assigned to internet service providers within region-based blocks, an IP address can often be used to identify the region or country from which a computer is connecting to the Internet. An IP address can sometimes be used to show the user’s general location because the numbers may be tedious to deal with, an IP address may also be assigned to a Host name, which is sometimes easier to remember. Host names may be looked up to find IP addresses, and vice versa. At one time ISPs issued one IP address to each user. These are called static IP addresses because there is a limited number of IP addresses and with increased usage of the internet ISPs now issue IP addresses in a dynamic fashion out of a pool of IP addresses (Using DHCP). These are referred to as dynamic IP addresses. This also limits the ability of the user to host websites, mail servers, ftp servers, etc. In addition to users connecting to the internet, with virtual hosting, a single machine can act like multiple machines (with multiple domain names and IP addresses).

Types of IP address:

There are two standards for IP addresses: IP Version 4 (IPv4) and IP Version 6 (IPv6). All computers with IP addresses have an IPv4 address, and many are starting to use the new IPv6 address system as well.

The designers of the Internet Protocol defined an IP address as a 32-bit number and this system, known as Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4), is still in use today. However, due to the enormous growth of the Internet and the predicted depletion of available addresses, a new version of IP (IPv6), using 128 bits for the address, was developed in 1995. IPv6 was standardized as RFC 2460 in 1998, and its deployment has been ongoing since the mid-2000s.

Sources:

1. http://www.findipinfo.com/
2. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia
3. How Stuff Works

It’s something a natural factor or governed purely by instincts that any organization would like to hire the best match for their money to be spend on, purely in terms of organizational point of view.

In present times, the organization criteria has become complicated and improved to select the ideal candidates for the job position in there organization. So if, you are one of those lucky one to be called for an interview, following are few tips to help you achieve maximum output in that scenario:-

Basic Need or Expectation of Any Organization:

The 3 most basic things that an organization would consider for their existing position for any particular interview are:

• Are you capable enough to handle the work?
• Do you plan to stay for a long term in our organization?
• What additional benefits can you provide as compared to the pool of applicants gathered for the same position?

Dress Code: (It’s all about how you represent yourself)

Dress code is the essential part for any interviewee. Going in your pajamas, does prove that you are not in the serious mood or not from a professional background.

Dress Code: (Professional Tone)

Dress code provides you with a professional tone. It automatically makes you feel like that you can do anything, in any perspective. It provides you with the confidence that you require in any interview or any daily life activity.

Detective Aspect:

Doing a background research is the one of the trends that is on the rise for any organization. So, it’s advised to glance through its history and know the current hot shots in the company. Acquiring from existing employees is something that could provide an inside about what would be required in a particular position and then you can expect the question to be asked.

Expectation: (Sky is the Limit)

Having an expectation is a good thing but in professional manner it should be contained in a black box. Meaning, when you expect something you are highly motivated but if that expectation is shattered then your moral and motivation is drained. According to a professional HR manager, high expectation is a factor that is the cause of high stress and failure for an interviewee. So, it is advised by the writer to keep that expectation at the back of the mind when appearing for an interview or in a neutrally aligned with market expectation and your personal emotions.

Better Prepare yourself for the No-Void:

Keep practicing for your interview and revise the basic concept for that specific position. It can be practiced with a friend, a family member or anyone who you can be comfortable with. Some like to practice in front of the mirror to improve their expression. Regardless the method of the practice, you must be prepared for any unexpected conditions.

Tick Tock:

Waiting for the interview is sometimes an exhausting experience. It is advised to carry some sweets or a mint to refresh yourself and in some cases to rid yourself from that nasty mouth odor. Providing a smelly impression is no way to give your first impression. Chocolates are discouraged to be carried in pockets. You can never know when it can melt and thus ruin your cloths or the place your you left it.

In the end smile, stay happy and try to relax. The worst case scenario would be that the interviewer would shoot you at the spot, which is highly unlikely to happen.

“To choose to act in recognition of a need, with an attitude of social responsibility and without concern for monetary profit, going beyond one’s basic obligations.”

In UK there are many firms that provide opportunities which leads to contribution in community efforts to a particular cause. Some of the Organization in UK that provides Volunteer work and support the youth: UKyouth, London Youth, National Youth Agency (NYC) etc.

Associating yourself with a recognized and well reputed organization will provide a better opportunity to your social and work life.

Benefits of Volunteer:

• It provides an opportunity to communicate, socialize and create a pool of network with other professionals.
• It provides a learning opportunity to the individual to enhance its skills and abilities.
• Voluntary work may provide a job opportunity in a certain organization. It can be part time or full time.
• It helps to positively build your C.V. and provide a competitive edge.
• Provides different environment to work in.
• It helps to recognize its strengths and weaknesses which can be improved or minimized.
• It helps to provide an insight of a particular organization or a sector.
• It provides a self-satisfaction i.e. to have provided a service for the society or a community

Volunteer earns a self-motivation, self-satisfaction and a grace in this social network out of which, some of them cannot be even measured. Choosing what type of voluntary work can be useful as not everything might suit your personality. Preferring to select the volunteer work closer to your filed is much advisable by the experts as well; it can build your credential to the respective field.

The volunteering for work does not mean that you won’t be accounted for the responsibility or it is optional. It’s something that you are expected without the monitory pay and people are dependent on you and your opinion. Being realistic about the decision you make can help someone in need directly or indirectly.

Volunteering for work is a good way to spend time while establishing your self in the market as a concern citizen and therefore establishing a rapport in the market with developing your C.V.

Our genes consist of sequences of DNA which are responsible for our hereditary characteristics. It can be defined as:-

“A hereditary unit consisting of a sequence of DNA that occupies a specific location on a chromosome and determines a particular characteristic in an organism.”

DNA is found in each cell of living things and consists of factors which help anything of its species and in facts individual from another. It can be related to the personality factor, physical attributes and other related aspects.

DNA consists of all the things which are obtained from our parents or could be said that they are obtained from the mixture from mother and father. As discussed that we obtain physical and personality attributes in the same way some diseases are transmitted as well.

DNA: Home to Ancestral Memory

Now coming to our topic, genetic memory is term that states that our ancestral memory is locked in our DNA and therefore the experienced gained from our ancestors is utilized in our personal life. The concept is not very new as it was being worked from 1960’s and 1970’s and these scientist claim that unknown experience could be unlocked using and tapping into these DNA sequences.

If that was true, than the concept of reincarnation could have the back bone it needs. Although presently there are lots of hindrances that our current researches are facing and tremendous argument is surrounded by it and thus it remains a controversial topic.

Rupert Sheldrake’s work on Genetic Memory

One of the British Biologist known as Rupert Sheldrake gave the idea of how we maintain our DNA structure from our ancestors but he failed to prove it and yet it remains a topic. According to him, all living thing produced an invisible field around them which further incorporates our action into the further generation. This field was termed as ‘Morphic Field’ and this concept was more towards related with the supernatural explaining of thing and did not have scientific evidence to support it because this spear could not been seen with a naked eye or with a microscope. Later, many scientist conducted experiments to get the close results.

Genetic Memory theory was proved through Savant Syndrome patient (A condition in which individuals who are typically mentally impaired demonstrates remarkable skills). These people show remarkable skills which were embedded in them. They can also be called as a prodigy or genius.

These astonishing skills, abilities, knowledge and expertise, most often unexpectedly do not blow up at an early age, in areas which the savants have studied nor had any formal training. Hence prodigious savants innately and instinctively “know” things they have never learned. This was later coined as “collective unconscious” or genetic memory.

Example:

A music professor says, about Matt, the 14 year prodigious savant now known around the world as the Mozart of jazz, He was seemed to know things beyond his own existence. He told that he never composes any but simply wrote down that which was already inscribed on his soul.

He is now a musical genius in his teen years. On a 60 Minutes program in 2006 the parents describe Jay beginning to draw little cellos on paper at age two. Neither parent is musically inclined, nor there never were any musical instruments, including a cello, in the home. At age three Jay asked if he could have a cello of his own. The parents took him to a music store and to their astonishment; Jay picked up a miniature cello and began to play it! He had never seen a real cello before that day. After that experience he began to draw his miniature cellos placed on musical lines. By age 5 he had composed five symphonies. By age 15 he had written nine symphonies. His fifth symphony, which was 190 pages and 1328 bars in length, was professionally recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra for Sony records.

Well, Genetic memory is really something that intrigues the writer. This research according to the writer can be very helpful in unlocking the potential in human evolution. But further research and analysis is necessary to find a better solution for human to become ultra-human.

Sources:

1. The Free Dictionary
2. http://epages.wordpress.com/2008/10/13/deep-dna-memory-theories-can-we-remember-our-ancestors%E2%80%99-lives/
3. http://www.biotechnologyforums.com/thread-1473.html
4. Genetic Memory Theory
5. Popular Science (http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-02/when-brain-damage-unlocks-genius-within)

Fresh and recent graduates from various school and colleges increase the supply availability of human resources. This is a vast market and it includes schools, colleges, university and other training institutes that provide specific skill Training and Development.

Entrant to the workforce from the other sources may include:-

1. Men and women seeking part time or full time job
2. Students seeking work to pay their fees or support themselves in school life
3. Employees returning from military services
4. Job-seekers who have recently been laid off etc.

Migration into a community may also expand the human resource market in the particular community and thus may increase the supply chain for the organization in a particular region or community.

It should be noted that consideration of only these previously identified supply sources tends to understate the potential labor supply because many people can be retained through Formal or on-the-job training. Therefore, the potential supply can differ from one might conclude by looking at the obvious sources of supply. For example, with a minimal amount of training, a journalist can become qualified to perform the tasks of a book editor; thus, an organization having difficulty securing individuals with skills and experience in book editing should consider those candidates who have had recent journalism or similar experience and are interested in being editors. In similar manner, the potential supply for many other jobs can be expanded.

Source:

“Fundamentals of Human Resource Management”, By David A. DeCenzo and Stephen P. Robbins, 8^th Edition, Pg. 129.

The seven deadly sins were originally used to instruct the followers about the sin they are victim of and to avoid these sins. According to the Christians concept these were later miss took as the God’s most hated sins but to further clarify these concepts, it was referred that there was only one hated sin by God and that is ‘Not to believe’ (in particular to God and his religion). Some Christians emphasized that no man is purified and has at some point committed a sin for which he must atone for it, except for Jesus Christ (as mentioned by the Scholars). There is a need to purify and remove one self from sins by asking forgiveness.

Proverbs 6:16-19

“There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him:

haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.”

According to Pope Gregory the Great in the 6th century, the seven deadly sins are as follows:

1. Lust
2. Gluttony
3. Greed
4. Sloth
5. Wrath
6. Envy
7. Pride

Lust

Lust is usually thought of as involving obsessive or excessive thoughts or desires of a sexual and perverse nature. Lust can never be fulfilled and leads to sexual obsessions including sexual addiction, rape, and adultery.  Lust is the excessive desire for sexual release.

The spiritual opposite of lust is Chastity defined as sexual behavior of a man or woman acceptable to the ethical guidelines you create in your relationships.

Gluttony

Gluttony is over-indulgence of anything to the point of waste.  In today’s world, it is often associated with food, but over-consumption of anything too much, too soon, too expensive, or too eagerly, are all examples of gluttony.

The spiritual opposite of gluttony is abstinence and moderation.  Abstinence, borderline on greed, from things you don’t need in the first place, and moderation, and balance for those things you do need.

Greed

Greed is similar to lust and gluttony in that it is a lure of excess. Greed is selfish desire and implies excessive or obsessive acquisition of money, wealth, or anything of value that results in tangible personal property.

The spiritual opposite of greed is altruism, the sincere and selfless concern for the welfare of others, and charity, or love meaning an unlimited loving-kindness toward all others.  Spiritual charity should not be confused with financial giving.

Sloth

Sloth is an action defined as lazy, failure to make decisions, and indecisiveness. It can also mean apathy which means a lack of interest or concern, especially regarding matters of general importance.  Not realizing your full potential, by lack of investing energy, is an act of sloth.

The spiritual opposite of sloth is action, commitment, and diligence. Budgeting one’s time; putting forth full concentration in one’s work and relationships.

Wrath also known as Anger

Wrath is uncontrolled and intense feelings of hatred and anger. Anger lures you into a mental state where it is impossible for you to see the truth, or accept any theory of reason.  Anger is the most destructive sin because it often leads to obsessive acts of revenge and personal vigilantism without fair justice.

The spiritual opposite of Wrath is understanding, forgiveness, kindness,  acceptance of situation or person, and patience.

Envy

Envy is the excessive desire for something intangible that someone else has.  Beauty, charm, personality, and a sense of humor are examples.  Feelings of jealously is a clear warning sign that you are being tempted.

The spiritual opposite of envy is gratitude, appreciation, kindness, or thankfulness for what you have instead of investing energy in what you don’t have, and a sincere joy for the happiness of others.

Pride also known as Vanity, and Ego

Pride is excessive and unrealistic self-value, also known as ego. It is defined as perverted “self-love” which leads towards hateful attitudes towards others considered “lower” than you.  Pride is what caused Lucifer himself to fall from heaven and become Satan, as he believed he was better than man and God.

The spiritual opposite of pride is humility, or being humble, unpretentious and modesty.

Looking at these sins and introducing them was to just illuminate the readers of knowledge and wisdom. It is not necessary to be one of the believers, it is just shared to improve the spiritual order of things and there benefits.

Sources:

1. NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION BIBLE, THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV
2. http://www.free-spiritual-guidance.com/Seven-Sins.html
3. http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/what-are-the-seven-deadly-sins-and-their-meanings/