Throughout the work week I have been continuing with the HR assignments previously started, however I had the chance to meet with Christopher to review the majority of my work and have been making changes based on his feedback. On Tuesday I had the chance to attend a Breakfast/Press Conference event at the Melbourne Cricket Club as Chas E Ramson's is a major sponsor of the club and CPL league (tournament). At the event I was able to meet the players of the Jamaica Tallawa's, which is the official Jamaican team. I listened to Christopher and Kathryn (both directors at Chas. E. Ramsons) give their sponsors remarks while the team coach and management spoke about the league, team and how grateful and excited they are to receive the funding. I also had the chance to meet the Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, honourable Olivia Grange. Minister Grange spoke about the challenges surrounding the sport in Jamaica, the lack of funding and also praised the Foska brand and Youth Cricket Camp it funds during the summer at the club. It was nice to experience this caliber of an event and observe how things run in another culture and with an extremely small budget.
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wWhile continuing to finish up aspects of my Human Resource related work (performance appraisals etc.) and creating Standard Operating Procedures for the Merchandising & Promotions department, I ended my week by once again travelling around to evaluate promotional activities. Friday we travelled within Kingston to five different stores where sample tables of Milkana cheese and Walkers Wood fish spread (distributed products of Chas. E. Ramsons) were set up inside the supermarkets in an attempt to attract potential customers. Again part of my job was to ensure promotions started on time and were set up as instructed which was not the case while also developing a way to measure the success of the sampling promotion. While I utilized the Site Visit - Promo. Evaluation Form which I created, I will need to make a few adjustments to the document to allow for proper evaluation and add space for questions I believe must be asked or answered. One difference I am noticing about the culture and work environment is how they "perceive time." While promotions did not start on time and people are constantly showing up to work at a varied time each day, something as simple as "give me a minute," may actually be an hour or so in their minds, while I am expecting it to take merely a few minutes. While not to that extreme, an example of this is a simple meeting I had scheduled with a co-worker was to start at 11:00, so I had showed up to their office approximately 10 minutes early only to literally sit and wait until 11:00 sharp before they would engage in conversation. Another example is when I had a "photoshoot," in order to place my photo on an identification card for work which was scheduled for 2:30pm. Thinking of my last experience showing up early, I arrived a short 5 minutes prior to the shoot as I am accustomed to, only to be told I'm 5 minutes early and again wait the short time before the individual was ready for me. While this is not an issue, nor did I take offence to either situation this is not what I am used to in Canada. When someone schedules a meeting or something along those lines, it is almost expected that you would arrive early. After work Friday I opted to get a haircut as I could not stand longer hair in the heat down here which I am slowly adjusting to. Alan and I decided to relax Friday night however only to head to Turtle Beach in Ocho Rios on Saturday. We had thought we were just heading to the beach with a few friends only to find out during the drive that one of the girls was having a birthday party and several busloads of people were coming with beach tents, a Dj and speakers. Apparently where we were was basically a private beach as many of the locals are even unaware of the spot and we set up in an old abandoned hotel. We enjoyed the beautiful beach, some drinks for the day, soaked up some sun and made a few new friends as well! Last week I had started working on many HR related items for the Merchandising and Promotions Dept. at Chas. E. Ramsons which included creating Job Descriptions, Recruitment Processes and Performance Appraisals all of which I plan to finalize by this weeks end. Christopher had also asked me to do some research and meet with employees throughout the company to identify flaws in their marketing and promotion efforts. I quickly realized a major problem was simply the lack of communication between departments and very basic documents which were being used to pass information. I then set out to review and amend the companies current Promotion Request Form and any documents used to record the success of promotions. Last Friday I had the chance to travel around Kingston to Halfway Tree, the downtown area and even ventured out to Spanish Town to observe some in store promotions which were taking place. My job was to evaluate the promotion itself and also how the promoters performed on the job, utilizing the Site Visit - Promotion Evaluation Form which I created. It was interesting to see how the environment and scenery changed with every 20 minute drive in another direction. (NOTE: Driving in Jamaica is nothing like back home, there are virtually no rules when driving and it feels like an aggressive free for all. What I think is a close call or a potential accident is a normal driving experience for those who live here) While in Spanish Town we visited a very large department store, Bashco, where again we observed promotions for a product we distribute, Magic Malt. I was surprised to see the promotion was had not yet started (2 hours behind schedule) and was not set up as instructed, but this is why I was there to observe. While at Bashco with my driver Wayne we shopped around the store. I still have not become accustom to the money here. $1 CAN is equal to about $100 JD so even bottles of Gatorade are sold for $150 JD. I actually ended up buying a fairly nice pair of shoes for $1500 JD. Since arriving in Jamaica Alan and I have joined Express Fitness and have gone almost everyday after work and on the weekend. Over the weekend we did some exploring and found Usain Bolts house which is actually only a 5 minute walk from where we are staying in the Norbrook area. I took Alan to Sugar and Spice on Saturday to experience the famous Jamaican Patty and we later went out to a few bars drinking with some work friends. Regardless of the time of day, I'm noticing the average temperature here is about 30 degrees and is somewhat difficult to adjust to. (I also had a friendly lizard visit me in the shower the other day) One of the most surprising things thus far has been how well I'm treated by any employee at work. Everyone continues to be very friendly and speak very highly of all past interns. I have hardly had time to meet with Christopher throughout the week but am realising it is simply because he views me as a respectable professional and is fully confident in the work I am producing, trusting me to be independent on a day to day basis. I started my first day of work on June 13th as an Intern at Chas. E. Ramsons Ltd. With little expectations for my position and the company I was obviously nervous to start and was quite overwhelmed with information, meeting people and learning what my role would entail for the next eight weeks. I spent the majority of my first day with Christopher learning about standard operating procedures in the company as well as Human Resource practices, both of which were lacking. After settling in at my desk I began to read more into work completed by previous interns from NC. My first task is to review, create and amend all job descriptions, performance appraisals, job requirement matrix's and recruitment processes for all positions within the Merchandising and Promotions department. I was surprised to find out that although there are approx. 65-70 employees in this department almost all the materials mentioned above were missing for each position. I spent the remainder of my first day determining my schedule for the week, where to start and prioritizing my workload. I started my second day by familiarizing myself with the people I will need to meet in order to gather the required information and scheduling meetings with each of them throughout the week. I was able to successfully complete several documents for multiple positions and meet with the Trade Manager to further my knowledge of the MAP department. Although I have merely started my work week I felt much more comfortable entering my second and third day to come. I quickly realized how relaxed and friend/family orientated the company staff is as well as the working environment in the office. Everyone I have met thus far have been super friendly and are always asking if everything is good and if I need anything at all. The Ramson family have made my first adventure outside of North America an amazing experience so far and have welcomed me into their home and company making me feel like a part of the family. After arriving in Jamaica at 4:30am we were picked up by our driver Wayne and headed to our home for the next two months. Wayne asked us what our plans were for the day ... and expecting to rest and unpack after not sleeping all night he continued to let us know that it was "works fun day" and that we needed to grab our bathing suits and prepare to travel 3.5 hours across the island to Bluefield's beach for the day. After quickly changing our clothes and grabbing sunscreen we first stopped at Chas E Ramsons location to meet and pick up some employees.
At the work fun day I had a chance to meet lots of amazing employees who I will be working with in the next few months, indulge in some classic Jamaican food, enjoy the beach and experience driving through the countryside. Feeling very welcomed on my first day and looking forward to the weeks to come. Our flight leaves at 1:15 am Saturday morning and lands at 4:30 am.
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AuthorMatthew Cowell is a 23 year old who is completing his ICOM degree with Niagara College while working abroad at Chas E Ramsons Ltd. Archives
August 2016
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