Author: rammieee

Having good communication skills both verbally and written in addition to effective time management, analytical skills and other people skills was strongly encouraged by large firms such as KPMG as a necessity in the accounting field, particularly when working with employees, clients and in teams. For example, an accountant will have to have good analytical skills to think through the information given and will then have to report back to their manager to tell them whether there are any gaps and everything is going as to plan. Clearly, having good analytical skills is not enough here, the ability to understand what the manager requires, the confidence to answer and ask questions, and to effectively communicate your results is vital in completing the task correctly and on time. In relation to written communication skills, accountants will have to document their work and processes that could be put into a file. This documentation of processes might be referred to later on and can include internal reviews on the documentation by other employees. As such, the accountant in charge of documentation has to ensure that it is written clearly and concisely.

With significant advancements in technology and greater competition, change management has become a vital element in enabling organisations to successfully manage their transformation process. Change management has been defined as “the process of continually renewing an organization’s direction, structure, and capabilities to serve the ever-changing needs of external and internal customers”(Parker, 2013). According to Lawler (2010), the steps required for successful change management, as proposed by John Kotter, include establishing a sense of urgency, forming a leadership team, creating and communicating a vision, empowering others to meet the vision, planning for and creating short-term wins, consolidating improvements and encouraging further change, and institutionalising the new approaches.

Total Quality Management refers to the efforts made by an organisation to create a culture that supports the idea of continuously improving every aspect of the organisation’s operations in order to enhance their ability to deliver products of high quality (Baird. K, Jia Hu. K, Reeve. R). As such, to achieve this goal of continuous improvement requires employee input, customer feedback and a clear direction for the business by top management, which has been successfully illustrated by companies who strive to become market leaders.

Arnold et al. (1988), Cherry and Gear (1987), Mortimer and Kumka (1982) have stressed how families are seen as an extremely influential factor by young people when it comes to making decisions or taking advice about their own careers. West and Newton (1983) asserted that the family appears to be one of the most important sources of information and guidance for young people in their transition from higher levels of education to work. However, children might not always find such guidance to be helpful when the interests of the parents and children are not aligned.

The social and economic conditions of a person can affect their career choice (Svoboda, 2014). For example, if a person came from a very poor family background then he or she may only be interested in the income and salary being offered by the company and prefer to obtain a high income earning job to shift from a low socioeconomic status to a high socioeconomic status. On the other hand, there are others who will only choose a career that best suits their values and interests instead of a very high paying job.

Learning Experience: I was able to develop my communication skills in relation to report writing and presentations. I aimed to clearly explain concepts in my work to others so that they could easily grasp what was being said. I was mindful of my audience whereby I tried to be very persuasive and enthusiastic to them, interesting points were included in my writing and presentation to make sure they were engaged and I answered the question from the audience as clearly as I could to make sure they got the complete picture. I will continue to follow this method of communication when encountering similar assignments in my future studies and similar tasks at work.

Learning Experience: I researched extensively about the chosen topic for my work whereby a lot of important evidence and theory was included while ensuring that the structure was appropriate and the work was well written because it was my intention to make sure that the reader of my work will obtain a thorough understanding of the topic and an answer to the question. This assisted in the overall presentation of my writing which was an important thing that I gained and is something that I will continue to apply in my studies and work.