Decarts and existence of evil Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Decarts and existence of evil - Essay Example His argument hinges on the fact that knowledge of God is anchored on a distinct idea on the existence of a supreme being (Marion, 2008). There must be the existence of an idea first before a given claim can be verified. For Descartes, this distinct idea resided in his mind. It is this idea that gave him the essence of God as a devine. It is an idea that could not be verified through empirical methods. The existence of an Evil Demon, in line with the thinking of Descartes, can only obtain if it is backed by a distinct idea.   There must first exist the essence of the Evil Demon that is crystallized into Descartes mind in order for him to make a claim about the existence of such a being. One of the arguments upheld by Descartes is that essence implies existence. It would follow logically that the absence of essence effectively negates all possibilities of existence. Without the essence of the Evil Demon in distinct form it would be pointless to assert any claim of such an existence. Therefore, this would mean that Descartes could claim the existence of God but refrain from making any suggestions on whether or not some Evil Demon actually exists (Marion, 2008).. Proof of such existence could be gained from other arguments, or by using some logical claims outside the boundaries established by Descartes methods.   Descartes knowledge of God was based on the theory of natural/extant ideas. He believed that it is possible for things to exist without their very nature of existence being verified by a form of proof. According to Descartes, the mind can generate knowledge of its own through the power of logic. The practice of intuition basically demands aligning the mind to the essence of ideas without establishing the evidence of experience or other methods that would be preferred by logicians to prove such facts. The existence of God, according to Descartes, is a â€Å"gift†Ã‚   In this way, the knowledge of such must be based on distinct

Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other Essay Example for Free

Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other Essay Nowadays, the use of social media has increased enormously, making us more connected either in public or privet communication in the region. It has tremendous effects on challenging many countries that have sought freedom. In fact, the so-called Arab spring has been titled as â€Å"social media revolution†, starting from Tunisia and spreading over to Egypt, Libya, and other countries. The Arab Spring got worldwide social, political and media attention due to its characteristics and connectedness with local, regional, and international interests. There is no doubt that social media had an impact on events that had happened in Arab spring, but it is not in the way that many researchers might think. These are confirmed by two individuals whose articles are going to be discussed, namely Malcom Gladwell and Richard Dawkins. Each one of them supports this in a different view. The article â€Å"Small Change† by Malcom Gladwell is about social media and its effect. The article aims to convince the reader that social media does not lead to any social and political changes as one would think. Although the popularity of social media has been increasing tremendously, social media fails when it comes to actual changes. While many researchers might think that social media played an important part in the Arab spring, it was supportive but not exclusively responsible for the events of the Arab spring. Malcom Gladwell offers a very effective argument to clarify why social media is not a sufficiently effective tool used in organizing social or political activism. Based on historical events Gladwell states that in the absence of social media protestors from different events tend to be stronger, more organized, and people have stronger emotional feelings. To make his argument strong, he starts with the Greensboro sit-ins as a solid example. Despite the fact that the protestors were only four college students, it ended up involving a large number of students across the South. This happened despite the fact that there was no social media such as Facebook or Twitter during that time. Then he illustrated the weak-ties that are related to social media and how it leads to high risk of activism. Social media establishes a large network based upon consensus beside a hierarchy, and then he disputes that many activist movements have not succeeded on the large scale when lacking a central author ity and hierarchy. These historical examples not only support his thesis with solid logic, but they draw an intense proof that Civil Rights Movement came without the use of social media. Gladwell shows extensive knowledge and research on the topic as well as the use of countless examples, making his article rhetorically effective and persuasive. He addresses counter-arguments in both the beginning and end of his article, making his article tremendously strong. However, throughout his article, Malcolm Gladwell could have built an indisputable rhetorical argument if he gave more evidence about the Arab Spring. For those countries that had been seeking freedom, especially the Arab spring, social media such as Facebook and Twitter played a major role to bring the news since the majority were not connected due to the lack of access to instruments that they could use to access information. During this time, even the social media in general was suspended. They therefore relied on radio and TV for news and information. Richard Dawkins on the other hand declares in his article that what lies at the heart of every living thing is not a fire, warm breath, not ‘a spark of life’ but information, words and instructions. He says that the cells of an organism comprise of nodes that are richly interwoven communication networks that transmit and receive information. They also codes and decodes the received information. Evolution in itself also embodies on an ongoing change of information between an organism and his or her environment. He says that whenever a person wants to understand life and all the aspect which surround it, one needs to think about information and technology. Human beings have been surrounded by information which is coming from all quarters. The skills of human beings now include Googling and texting. To some extent, it can be agreed that what is being proposed by Dawkins is true to some extent. He says that the rise in technology has led to the change in which people view life. People nowadays view their lives in a very different way. It is true that when technology was invented, its aim as to help improve the lives of the human being. Human beings are now using the technology not to benefit themselves to the extent that they forget their friends. People are more concerned nowadays with what they post in social sites like Facebook and Twitter than the conversation which they carry out with their friends. The overreliance on technology is affecting the society is quite a number of negative ways. When Googling and texting for example which Dawkins is proposing that people are now engaging themselves into, has led to a number of negative results. The students who should be engaging themselves in serious research are no longer doing that. They google whatever information that they are looking for and then present whatever they find as the result. This has led to production of professionals who are themselves amateurs. Copy pasting has been the order of the day (Turkle, 2011: 34). The society is also the social skills which used to be embraced in the olden days. When people meet, they rarely shake hands and this reduces the bond between people. Shaking hands make people share their deepest sentiments with each other. These are activities which are now not being done. They are considered as being outdated. Technology is truly isolating people. Sometimes during the break time, you realize that each and every student in school is attached to their phone. They have no time for the physical friends. They only appreciate the virtual friends whom they have on the social sites. When a person sees the number of followers they have on Twitter and Instagram, they tend to believe that they have the world with them. This might not be the case (Turkle, 2011: 34). Dawkins states that the way in which an idea is spread is not very important. The idea can either thrive in the meme pool or it can dwindle depending on the way in which the idea is perceived at first. An example that he uses is the belief in God. He says the belief has been replicating for now a long time. It has been spread through the use music and art. This is the reason to date, many people believe in the existence of God. This cannot be used to justify the fact that the meme pool is effective. The idea of the meme can only be applied to some elements. There are some people who are also just alive and they do not have the improved technology at their fingertips. They will still get access to the information but at later stages. It can therefore be agreed that even though the technology improves the way in which people interact with one another, it has also affected the manner in which people are interacting. References Log In The New York Times. Log In The New York Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Nov. 2014. Turkle, Sherry. Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other. New York: Cambridge, 2011. Print. Source document

Childhood Education

Childhood Education (a) Addition of two key concepts to the writers vocabulary The showing of schooling as ‘monocultural and ‘taken-for-granted practices in schools and centres do not easily support or match those of the children and their families. In universalist truth and monocultural perspective, the culture of one group/class is clearly privileged above the other where human agency may be frail, especially among those with little power, but it happens daily therefore it deserves our attention. In such circumstances what is often silenced is the known socio-historical and cultural world of concerned families, the familiar signs and symbols, and established social and cultural practices and beliefs. Until we appreciate the physical existence, experiences, and knowledges of the traditionally marginalized, our concern for child will never be realized. (Nicola Yelland, Critical issues in early childhood education, p 26-32) The Mosaic Approach, involving a process both the gathering of materials and dialogue, reflection an interpretation of these documents facets of the preschool. It recognizes that children are experts in their own lives and uses range of different ways of documenting childrens views and everyday experiences. It is multi-method recognizing the multiple languages of childhood and adopt the participatory approach by involving children. The UN Child Rights convention also recognized the children participation and importance of their views in matters relating to them. (Gunilla Dahlberg Peter Moss, Ethics and politics in early childhood education: p 158-161) b) Concept needs more study Yelland, in â€Å"critical issues in early childhood education† states that childrens experiences and expectations are determined by their local communities, particular political and economic strata, and specific ethnic and cultural groups. The mono-cultural approach is ethnocentric and that it ignores the range of life contexts and knowledges experienced by children from diverse cultural, ethnic, linguistic and value contexts. Therefore I want to investigate that the current mono-cultural practices prevailing in the preschools and child care centres, is how much detrimental to the children mental and physical development and effects of parents resistance in following such practices. c) Linkage of ideas (a) (b) to child in surrounding As the world becomes a global village, few countries can lay claim to a truly homogeneous population. Today, multicultural diversity characterizes most countries, a factor that has enormous implications in early childhood education. Childrens experiences and expectations are determined by their local communities and particular ethnic or cultural grouping. Muslim origin Australians living in neighbouring environment have specific cultural sensitivity predominantly female and can not be merged into mono-cultural setup. Therefore they need education services that take into account their diverse cultural, economic and ethnic background. Community Reflection a) Central idea a reading: critical issues in early childhood education (Nicola Yelland) Yelland, in â€Å"† portrays that many early childhood educators, researchers and theorists throughout the world are focusing attention on the ecology of childhood. Numerous researchers, as part of an ecological approach to understanding childrens development, have explored family characteristics and how they interact with the community at large. In order to truly children, however, we must select a broader orientation. Development can only be fully understood when it is viewed in the larger cultural context. A child culture may be the mainstream or dominant culture, or it may be one of many subcultures that can found in almost any country. Therefore there is a need for dialogue among early childhood educators, both within their own communities and with colleagues from other countries. This collegial communication deepens early childhood educators understanding of childrens similarities and differences. Therefore, Yelland emphasised that reconceptualists and developmentalists should join together to generate new discourses and to construct actions that actually challenge the power that has been created over children which has led to their being constructed and labeled as ignorant, innocent, and without agency beyond their own developmental explorations. b) Other proposed reading The â€Å"critical issues in early childhood education† examines research across a range of settings on professional development and school readiness and provides a solid foundation of knowledge the early childhood education field needs by viewing childrens native culture in the larger context. In agreement to the above study I would refer to the study â€Å"Multiple literacies in early childhood† of Jones Diaz, Arthur Beecher arguing that early childhood educators need to go beyond developmentalist and constructivist models of literacy which categorise cultural and social difference within fixed boundaries as add on inclusions to mainstream views of language and literacy learning. It explored frameworks of poststructural and critical theories, providing contextually effective starting points to maximize childrens social and cultural capital. The study identified the significance of popular culture and childrens divers literacy practices. It further describes that challenge for early childhood educators is to find out about childrens multiple literacies and integrate these into the program. Reference ___________________ Jones Diaz, Arthur Beecher, Multiple literacies in early childhood. Paper presented at AARE, Sydney University, Dec 4-7, 2000 on line: http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-66494206/multiple-literacies-early-childhood.html

Positive Quotes :: essays research papers

You can have anything you want ..if you want it badly enough. You can be anything you want to be, do anything you set out to accomplish if you hold to that desire with singleness of purpose. - Abraham Lincoln Learn to self-conquest, persevere thus for a time, and you will perceive very clearly the advantage which you gain from it. - St. Teresa of Avila No one is in control of your happiness but you; therefore, you have the power to change anything about yourself or your life that you want to change. - Barbara De Angelis June 5, 2004 Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul; the blue prints of your ultimate accomplishments. - Napoleon Hill In every person who comes near you look for what is good and strong, honor that; try to imitate it, and your faults will drop off like dead leaves when their time comes. - John Ruskin There are two educations. One should teach us how to make a living and the other how to live. - John Adams May 29, 2004 None will improve your lot if you yourself do not. - Bertolt Brecht, 1933 "When meditation is mastered, the mind is unwavering like the flame of a lamp in a windless place." - Bhagavad Gita I can give you a six-word formula for success: Think things through ..then follow through. - Captain Edward V. Rickenbacker May 22, 2004 You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. - Eleanor Roosevelt The more people have studied different methods of bringing up children the more they have come to the conclusion that what good mothers and fathers instinctively feel like doing is best after all. - Benjamin Spock People are eternally divided into two classes, the believer, builder, and praiser, and the unbeliever, destroyer and critic. - John Ruskin May 15, 2004 To be capable of steady friendship or lasting love, are the two greatest proofs, not only of goodness of heart, but of strength of mind. - William Hazlitt There is in every true woman’s heart a spark of heavenly fire, which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity, but which kindles up, and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity. - Elisabeth Guizot Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It's not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it's when you've had everything to do, and you've done it.

Use of Acetazolamide in conjunction with Pilocarpine for the treatment of acute closed angle glaucoma in the elderly patient

Glaucoma has been reported as one of the main reasons for causing blindness all over the world. There are different types of glaucoma that is known. Fifty percent of Glaucoma cases are closed-angle glaucoma which usually affects Asians (â€Å"Glaucoma†, 2007).Many treatment methods are utilized in treating glaucoma. One method is the use of drugs. Different drugs have different effect and each have their own unique benefits. There are also known side effects brought about by use of prescribed drugs. However, combination of drugs has been also prescribed to patients but this should be done with regular consultation with the patient’s physician.Two commonly prescribed drugs used in treating closed-angle glaucoma are Acetazolamide and Pilocarpine. Normally they are used singly and separately. This paper intends to show the effect of these two drugs when used in combination during the treatment process.Since the elderly comprises a large percentage of glaucoma patients, thi s paper intends to show the effects of the combined use of these drugs specifically on the elderly patients.Acute Closed Angle GlaucomaGlaucoma is a type of an eye disease which is caused by the increasing intraocular pressure or fluid pressure that may end into the malfunctioning of the drainage system or structures of the eye and lesser visual acuity. Glaucoma has different types. The first and most common is the open angle glaucoma (â€Å"Glaucoma†, 2007). Another type which is very rare is the congenital glaucoma (â€Å"Glaucoma†, 2007). It is mostly seen in newborns and this type requires surgery.Another one is the acute angle closure or the acute closed angle glaucoma (â€Å"Glaucoma†, 2007). This type of eye disease occurs abruptly and also to those people that have an eye condition called farsightedness (â€Å"Glaucoma†, 2007). This eye condition is also irreversible. In some cases, closed angle glaucoma manifests some symptoms like: a) headache; b) glare and light sensitivity; c) sudden decrease of vision; d) nausea and vomiting; and e) extreme eye pain.The following symptoms are also used to categorize the closed angle glaucoma from the other types of glaucoma. The prevalence is more on females than in males. Other possible cause of closed angle glaucoma includes intake of specific anti seizure medicines, antihistamines, asthma medications, and antidepressants; darkness and emotional stress.AcetazolamideThere are several methods use to treat closed angle glaucoma. Physicians usually use acetazolamide for the initial interference(Darkeh & Silverberg, 2006). Acetazolamide is a carbonic anhydrase inhibitor. Their brand names are Diamox and Sequels.   The chemical content of acetazolamide which is the carbonic anhydrase works for the breakdown and production of carbon acid and also for the inhibition of the production of bicarbonate (â€Å"Acetazolamide†, 2004). Bicarbonate is an important substance needed for the pro duction of fluids in the eye (â€Å"Acetazolamide†, 2004).Therefore, intake of acetazolamide will lessen the bicarbonate production which also reflects with the decrease in the amount of fluid in the back of the eye. When it happens, the intraocular pressure in the eye will be lessened.The drug will take effect within an hour and last for 12 hours but the peak of this drug is on its 4th hour (Darkeh & Silverberg, 2006). This drug is not prescribed for long term medication because if acetazolamide is taken for a long time, it will manifest more side effects.

A Human Resources Management System Essay

A Human Resources Management System (HRMS) or Human Resources Information System (HRIS), refers to the systems and processes at the intersection between human resource management (HRM) and information technology. It merges HRM as a discipline and in particular its basic HR activities and processes with the information technology field, whereas the programming of data processing systems evolved into standardized routines and packages of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. On the whole, these ERP systems have their origin from software that integrates information from different applications into one universal database. The linkage of its financial and human resource modules through one database is the most important distinction to the individually and proprietary developed predecessors, which makes this software application both rigid and flexible. A Human Capital Management Solution, Human Resources Management System (HRMS) or Human Resources Information System (HRIS), as it is commonly called is the crossing of HR systems and processes with information technology. The wave of technological advancement has revolutionized each and every space of life today, and HR in its entirety was not left untouched by it. What started off with a simple software to help improve the payroll processing of an organization, or a software to track the employee work timings has grown to become the Human Resources systems that helps improve the process efficiency, reduces the cost and time spent on mundane tasks and at the same time improved the overall experience of the employees and the HR professionals. In short, as the role of Human Resources function evolved, HR technology systems also changed the role they were playing. The function of human resources (HR) departments is administrative and common to all organizations. Organizations may have formalized selection, evaluation, and payroll processes. Management of â€Å"human capital† progressed to an imperative and complex process. The HR function consists of tracking existing employee data, which traditionally includes personal histories, skills, capabilities, accomplishments and salary. To reduce the manual workload of these administrative activities, organizations began to electronically automate many of these processes by introducing specialized human resource management systems. HR executives rely on internal or external IT professionals to develop and maintain an integrated HRMS. Before client–server architectures evolved in the late 1980s, many HR automation processes were relegated to  mainframe computers that could handle large amounts of data transactions. In consequence of the high capital investment necessary to buy or program proprietary software, these internally developed HRMS were limited to organizations that possessed a large amount of capital. The advent of client–server, application service provider, and software as a service (SaaS) or human resource management systems enabled higher administrative control of such systems. Currently human resource management systems encompass: 1. Payroll 2. Time and attendance 3. Performance appraisal 4. Benefits administration 5. HR management information system 6. Recruiting/Learning management 7. Performance record 8. Employee self-service 9. Scheduling 10. Absence management 11. Analytics The payroll module automates the pay process by gathering data on employee time and attendance, calculating various deductions and taxes, and generating periodic pay cheques and employee tax reports. Data is generally fed from the human resources and time keeping modules to calculate automatic deposit and manual cheque writing capabilities. This module can encompass all employee-related transactions as well as integrate with existing financial management systems. The time and attendance module gathers standardized time and work related efforts. The most advanced modules provide broad flexibility in data collection methods, labor distribution capabilities and data analysis features. Cost analysis and efficiency metrics are the primary functions. The benefits administration module provides a system for organizations to administer and track employee participation in benefits programs. These typically encompass insurance, compensation, profit sharing and retirement. The HR management module is a component covering many other HR aspects from application to retirement. The system records basic demographic and address data, selection, training and  development, capabilities and skills management, compensation planning records and other related activities. Leading edge systems provide the ability to â€Å"read† applications and enter relevant data to applicable database fields, notify employers and provide position management and position control. Human resource management function involves the recruitment, placement, evaluation, compensation and development of the employees of an organization. Initially, businesses used computer based information systems to: produce pay checks and payroll reports; maintain personnel records; pursue talent management. Online recruiting has become one of the primary methods employed by HR departments to garner potential candidates for available positions within an organization. Talent management systems typically encompass: analyzing personnel usage within an organization; identifying potential applicants; recruiting through company-facing listings; recruiting through online recruiting sites or publications that market to both recruiters and applicants. The significant cost incurred in maintaining an organized recruitment effort, cross-posting within and across general or industry-specific job boards and maintaining a competitive exposure of availabilities has given rise to the development of a dedicated applicant tracking system, or ‘ATS’, module. The training module provides a system for organizations to administer and track employee training and development efforts. The system, normally called a â€Å"learning management system† (LMS) if a standalone product, allows HR to track education, qualifications and skills of the employees, as well as outlining what training courses, books, CDs, web based learning or materials are available to develop which skills. Courses can then be offered in date specific sessions, with delegates and training resources being mapped and managed within the same system. Sophisticated LMS allow managers to approve training, budgets and calendars alongside performance management and appraisal metrics. The employee self-service module allows employees to query HR related data and perform some HR transactions over the system. Employees may query their attendance  record from the system without asking the information from HR personnel. The module also lets supervisors approve O.T. requests from their subordinates through the system without overloading the task on HR department. Many organizations have gone beyond the traditional functions and developed human resource management information systems, which support recruitment, selection, hiring, job placement, performance appraisals, employee benefit analysis, health, safety and security, while others integrate an outsourced applicant tracking system that encompasses a subset of the above. Assigning Responsibilities Communication between the Employees. The Analytics module enables organizations to extend the value of an HRMS implementation by extracting HR related data for use with other business intelligence platforms. For example, organizations combine HR metrics with other business data to identify trends and anomalies in headcount in order to better predict the impact of employee turnover on future output. Management of Employee Turnover and Employee Retention Employee retention refers to the ability of an organization to retain its employees. Employee retention can be represented by a simple statistic (for example, a retention rate of 80% usually indicates that an organization kept 80% of its employees in a given period). However, many consider employee retention as relating to the efforts by which employers attempt to retain employees in their workforce. In this sense, retention becomes the strategies rather than the outcome. A distinction should be drawn between low performing employees and top performers, and efforts to retain employees should be targeted at valuable, contributing employees. Employee turnover is a symptom of a deeper issue that has not been resolved. These deeper issues may include low employee morale, absence of a clear career path, lack of recognition, poor employee-manager relationships or many other issues. A lack of satisfaction and commitment to the organization can also cause an employee to withdraw and begin looking for other opportunities. Pay does not always play as large a role in inducing turnover as is typically believed. In a business setting, the goal of employers is usually to decrease employee turnover, thereby decreasing training costs, recruitment costs and loss of talent and organisational knowledge. By implementing lessons learned from  key organizational behavior concepts employers can improve retention rates and decrease the associated costs of high turnover. However, this isn’t always the case. Employers can seek â€Å"positive turnover† whereby they aim to maintain only those employees who they consider to be high performers. In human resources context, turnover or staff turnover or labour turnover is the rate at which an employer loses and gains employees. Simple ways to describe it are â€Å"how long employees tend to stay† or â€Å"the rate of traffic through the revolving door†. Turnover is measured for individual companies and for their industry as a whole. If an employer is said to have a high turnover relative to its competitors, it means that employees of that company have a shorter average tenure than those of other companies in the same industry. High turnover may be harmful to a company’s productivity if skilled workers are often leaving and the worker population contains a high percentage of novice workers. Companies also often track turnover internally across departments and divisions or other demographic groups such as turnover of women versus turnover of men. Retention Programs It is important to first pinpoint the root cause of the retention issue before implementing a program to address it. Once identified, a program can be tailored to meet the unique needs of the organization. A variety of programs exist to help increase employee retention. Career Development – It is important for employees to understand their career path within an organization to motivate them to remain in the organization to achieve their personal career goals. Through surveys, discussion and classroom instruction, employees can better understand their goals for personal development. With these developmental goals in mind, organizations can offer tailored career development opportunities to their employees. Executive Coaching – Executive coaching can be used to build competencies in leaders within an organization. Coaching can be useful in times of organizational change, to increase a leader’s effectiveness or to encourage managers to implement coaching techniques with peers and direct reports. The coaching process begins with an assessment of the individual’s strengths and opportunities for improvement. The issues are then prioritized and  interventions are delivered to target key weaknesses. Assistance is then provided to encourage repeated use of newly acquired skills. Motivating Across Generations – Today’s workforce includes a diverse population of employees from multiple generations. As each generation holds different expectations for the workplace, it is important to understand the differences between these generations regarding motivation and engagement. Managers, especially, must understand how to handle the differences among their direct re ports. Orientation and On Boarding – An employee’s perception of an organization takes shape during the first several days on the job. It is in the best interest of both the employee and the organization to impart knowledge about the company quickly and effectively to integrate the new employee into the workforce. By implementing an effective on boarding process, short-term turnover rates will decrease and productivity will increase. Women’s Retention Programs – Programs such as mentoring, leadership development and networking that are geared specifically toward women can help retain top talent and decrease turnover costs. By implementing programs to improve work/life balance, employees can be more engaged and productive while at work. Exit Interview and Separation Management Programs Retention tools and resources Employee Surveys – By surveying employees, organizations can gain insight into the motivation, engagement and satisfaction of their employees. It is important for organizations to understand the perspective of the employee in order to create programs targeting any particular issues that may impact employee retention. Exit Interviews – By including exit interviews in the process of employee separation, organizations can gain valuable insight into the workplace experience. Exit interviews allow the organization to understand the triggers of the employee’s desire to leave as well as the aspects of their work that they enjoyed. The organization can then use this information to make necessary changes to their company to retain top talent. Exit interviews must, however, ask the right questions and elicit honest responses from separating employees to be effective. Employee Retention Consultants – An employee retention consultant can assist organizations in the process of retaining top employees. Consultants can provide expertise on  how to best identify the issues within an organization that are related to turnover. Once identified, a consultant can suggest programs or organizational changes to address these issues and may also assist in the implementation of these programs or changes. Employee retention best practices By focusing on the fundamentals, organizations can go a long way towards building a high-retention workplace. Organizations can start by defining their culture and identifying the types of individuals that would thrive in that environment. Organizations should adhere to the fundamental new hire orientation and on boarding plans. Attracting and recruiting top talent requires time, resources and capital. However, these are all wasted if employees are not positioned to succeed within the company. Research has shown that an employee’s first 10 days are critical because the employee is still adjusting and getting acclimated to the organization. Companies retain good employees by being employers of choice. Recruitment- Presenting applicants with realistic job previews during the recruitment process have a positive effect on retaining new hires. Employers that are transparent about the positive and negative aspects of the job, as well as the challenges and expectations are positionin g themselves to recruit and retain stronger candidates. Selection- There are plethora of selection tools that can help predict job performance and subsequently retention. These include both subjective and objective methods and while organizations are accustomed to using more subjective tools such as interviews, application and resume evaluations, objective methods are increasing in popularity. For example, utilizing biographical data during selection can be an effective technique. Biodata empirically identifies life experiences that differentiate those who stay with an organization and those who quit. Life experiences associated with employees may include tenure on previous jobs, education experiences, and involvement and leadership in related work experiences. Socialization- Socialization practices delivered via a strategic onboarding and assimilation program can help new employees become embedded in the company and thus more likely to stay. Research has shown that socialization practices can help new hires become embedded in the company and thus more likely to stay. These practices include shared and individualized learning  experiences, activities that allow people to get to know one another. Such practices may include providing employees with a role model, mentor or trainer or providing timely and adequate feedback. Training and development- Providing ample training and development opportunities can discourage turnover by keeping employees satisfied and well-positioned for future growth opportunities. In fact, dissatisfaction with potential career development is one of the top three reasons employees (35%) often feel inclined to look elsewhere. if employees are not given opportunities to continually update their skills, they are more likely to leave. Those who receive more training are less likely to quite than those who receive little or no training. Employers that fear providing training will make their employees more marketable and thus increase turnover can offer job specific training, which is less transferable to other contexts. Additi onally, employers can increase retention through development opportunities such as allowing employees to further their education and reimbursing tuition for employees who remain with the company for a specified amount of time. Compensation and rewards- Pay levels and satisfaction are only modest predictors of an employee’s decision to leave the organization; however organizations can lead the market with a strong compensation and reward package as 53% of employees often look elsewhere because of poor compensation and benefits. Organizations can explicitly link rewards to retention (i.e. vacation hours to seniority, offer retention Bonus payments or Employee stock options, or define benefit plan payouts to years of services). Research has shown that defined compensation and rewards as associated with longer tenure. Additionally, organizations can also look to intrinsic rewards such as increased decision-making autonomy. Though this is important, employers should not Effective Leaders- An employee’s relationship with his/her immediately ranking supervisor or manager is equally important to keeping to making an employee feel embedded and valued within the organization. Supervisors need to know how to motivate their employees and reduce cost while building loyalty in their key people. Managers need to reinforce employee productivity and open communication, to coach employees and provide meaningful feedback and inspire employees to work as an effective team. In order to achieve this, organizations need to prepare managers and supervisors to lead and develop effective relationships  with their subordinates. Executive Coaching can help increase an individual’s effectiveness as a leader as well as boast a climate of learning, trust and teamwork in an organization. To encourage supervisors to focus on retention among their teams, organizations can incorporate a retention metric into their organization’s evaluation. Employee Engagement- Employees who are satisfied with their jobs, enjoy their work and the organization, believe their job to be more important, take pride in the company and feel their contributions are impactful are five times less likely to quit than employees who were not engaged. Engaged employees give their companies crucial competitive advantages, including higher productivity and lower employee turnover.