SUPPLEMENTAL ESSAY PROMPT
" How shameless are you to distribute the most difficult work to me and then give to her the easy one" or "I will not work for you anymore because you are very strict in checking quality" - said some weaving team leaders of mine.
Those are what I heard the most when commencing The Hyacinth Craft.
I co-founded The Hyacinth Craft - a company trading handcrafted interior pieces made from water-hyacinth. My main motive besides gaining profit is to uplift many unlucky people by providing them job opportunities.
Our team managed around 100 part-time and full- time weavers from different backgrounds including disabilities -a half-amputated foot and a transplanted hand- as well as orphaned juvenile workers.
Due to the weaving job's characteristics, the quality of the product deeply depends on the worker's craftsmanship and working attitude. There are workers who are skilled and responsible but there are some who are irresponsible and strive to make as many products as they can. The latter always results in products not up to quality since the standard for exported products is very high.
Once, when I rejected unqualified products, which are displayed clearly in contract, some of them behaved aggressively with swearing and threatened not to work with us again. I was touched because this was a business partnership in which they gained a significant amount and my goodwill seemed to go nowhere. As I am passionate about seeking stimulants behind each person's action to provide efficient solutions and love communicating with others, I talked to each person who negatively reacted to their rejected products.
After minutes of sharing, I figured out that they required respect from a gracious voice; then I adjusted my tone and simply explained that if our products are qualified, customers could sell their products and they will come back to us to repurchase and we will have income. After detailed explanation, I turned to the solutions. Sticking to the core spirit - supporting as much as possible, I offered 75% sponsor for this first and very last time. If this happens the second time, they should be fully responsible.
During the process of seeking solutions to specific difficulties while commencing the company, I realized that people are the core component making one organization successful. AI needs humans to be created. Line production is made, repaired and developed by humans. Excellent data managing systems are made by people and only people can interpret and realize the data. Since then, strategies focusing on training humans, changing workers' attitudes in organization, sharing profits, knowledge and responsibility and enhancing unity within the company are my main concerns.
Besides, I didn't want to squeeze the price, for their weaving efforts should be paid appropriately. For that reason, during the procedure of evaluating the product price and contract negotiating, I stumbled across many difficulties. There are some people who abuse my kindness and push up the price which is unacceptable. How should I bargain to have a win-win deal ? Understanding human psychology and each worker's position of thinking could help me with sơvling human resources related problems. Comprehending labor relations could also help me with employee engagement, satisfaction and retention besides financial issues. I believe that ILR school could give me the greatest opportunity to develop my management strategies and accelerate workers' welfare via Collective Bargaining and Psychology courses.
Growing up in a dynamic with people coming from various backgrounds with distinctive characteristics , I realized that the more I cared about their life, fostered their strengths and secured their wealth, the more they could contribute to the wealth of the organization. Several steps have been made as indicated above to serve my main concerns but those are not enough. I believe that ILR school could give me the perfect tool to uplift many lives in my homeland via human related developments within business giving them job opportunities.
