MEMO

DATE:

October 22, 2016

TO:

Erin Ellsworth, Ph.D.

Professor

FROM:

Maggie Kenny
Student

SUBJECT:

Corporate Research Project

As requested, I have research a position in a potential career field for myself following
graduation. My work presented is a product of my research on a basic manager position. To
further my research and education on the position, I conducted an interview with a manager at
the retail store Bath and Body Works.
Entering Job Market
In todays day and age the job market is constantly changing in a variety of ways. As an
American citizen we search for the fulfillment of the American dream. The American dream
according to Dictonary.com the ideal that every United States citizen should have an equal
opportunity to achieve success and prospect through hard work, determination, and initiative. A
big part of the American dream is having job security for the people of our nation. In todays job
market a big fear a lot of Americans have is the chance of losing their jobs. According to a Sage
journal called The Persistence of Working Poor Families in a Changing U.S. Job Market: An
Integrative Review of the Literature written by Richard J. Torraco Jobs are an important source
of self-esteem and self-worth, yet job security is increasingly tenuous. The potential of layoffs
and unemployment is increasing and even many who are working are concerned that their jobs
may be at risk (Mishel, Bivens, Gould, & Shierholz, 2012). For a lot of people their jobs
consume their life, but with the risk of potentially not having a job it makes them worried for not
only their career, but taking care of themselves, family, and surviving in todays world. These
changes are important to be aware of if you are currently entering into the job market, thinking
about changing careers, or specifically applies to your job field. Along with knowing about these
changes it is also important to be prepared for situations where you would be participating in the
change. In todays generation, for example, one thing that has drastically changed is the process
taken in order to get a job. A narrative found inside of The New York Times newspaper article is
an example of how it use to be getting a job, I took my first-ever resume to customer service
and politely asked for the manager. I called him sir and stood up straight. Fifteen minutes and a
nervous handshake later, I was hired. This narrative shows that in past years getting a job
required physically going in and asking for one. As time has gone on, and especially in this
generation getting a job is a way bigger process than how it used to be. The article continues on
to say Today, that teenage rite of passage is hard to come by. Ask for an application at the
grocery store, and theyll tell you everything is done online. From your living room, theres no
need to use good manners or shake anyones hand. Instead of walking into a place, asking to
talk to higher positioned employee, and going about trying to set up an interview a lot more of
the process involves the internet. Many businesses are now moving towards putting applications

online, contacting possible future employees, and looking into who they are online. Companies
are continually moving towards this method of hiring employees using online resources, for
example Linkden is a well-known networking website used to find jobs and potential employees.
In an article from Star Times a Los Angeles newspaper talked about how some businesses are
finding it is easier to use online sources to find new employees than using the old methods, and
vice versa on attempting to find a job. One of the Companies Hoover Online : The Business
Network is starting to use something called Wanted Technologies, the articles states this Wanted
Technologies will provide Hoovers Online with career management applications that offer job
meta-search capabilities, which will allow Hoovers Online visitors to search over 35 career sites
simultaneously and gain access to 3 million of job offers. With this new technology it can
make finding, and getting a job easier for a lot more people with just access to the internet.
Picking a career
One of the hardest parts I find in the job search process is picking a job, or career field that you
are actually interested in and will be successful in. According to an article on theguardian by
Abigail Lane, 2013 titled Young people are having to take career decisions too early says
Young people are making hurried career decisions too early, and it's detrimental for them as
well as employers. In America a lot of pressure is put on teenagers to pick a career that they
want to continue to do for a majority of their life. While although we are not forced to go onto
continue our education at a university, it is very encouraged by many and almost becoming a
necessity in order to get a good, well-paying job. In the last few years students with college
degrees are finding it more beneficial to have a college degree. In the more recent years a lot
more women are entering into college in order to be more successful in their career. An article in
bostonglobe written by Matt Rochelaue, March 2016 says Women accounted for 55 percent of
undergraduates enrolled at four-year colleges in the United States as of fall 2014, according to
the most recent data available from the federal education department. By doing so they are
investing in their human capital, which can be defined as the skills, knowledge, and experience
possessed by an individual or popular viewed in terms of their value or cost to an organization or
country by furthering on to a university they are advancing their education and work
experience.
Manager Position
A manager position can be a job that requires a lot of attention and commitment from the person
preforming the tasks. Some of the responsibilities held by someone in a manager position include
background work, supervising team members, and implement administrative systems for
employees. Depending on where you are a manager at can depend on the different duties you
will be required to do at the workplace. Primary goals for a manager position are making sure
that everything runs smoothly. As a manager it is important to oversee all activity by employees,
as well as managing company priorities. Depending on the company you would like to manage
determines the different qualifications one needs in order to get the job. A lot of the time people
have to work their way up to get promoted to a managerial position, unless the company wants to
hire from an outside source to train them a certain way. A reason a lot of companies will hire a
manager who is already a current employee is due to the fact that they have knowledge of the
company. Companies find it easier to promote employees to higher positions because they
already have knowledge and a routine of how the company works. An important skill that
employers look for when hiring new employees as managers is leadership skills. A manager is
not only in charge of themselves but they are the head of all other employees as well. A manager

has the power of being in control of other individuals within the company, but if that person does
not have confidence in their leadership skills then it can make a job like this somewhat difficult
to be successful in. A 2015 article named Transitioning from psychologist to psychologistmanager: Leadership and management skills for success suggests that Leading and managing
others in the workplace in order to accomplish organizational goals and commitments to
delivering work programs, services, and products involves similar approaches, but often the
work setting demands a faster rate of change than for an individual in a therapeutic setting. Part
of being a manager is allowing your employees to feel welcome in their environment, if
employees do not feel safe or comfortable in the workplace it is the managers job to do
something to fix that problem.
The Interview
When I think about my own life, sometimes it is hard for me to see myself doing one job for the
rest of the majority of my life, even throughout my years at a university it is still hard for me to
set my mind on one career. One career path I am interesting in pursuing after graduation is some
type of managerial job, or something that incorporates sales or attracting someone to get
involved in something specific. A managerial position at a larger scale company seems as if it
might be a good career fit for me. Recently I conducted an interview with Jill Bonebrake, the comanager and sales representative at the retail store Bath and Body Works. Jill is the co-manager
at the store located in Lawrence and Iowa Street. This interview took place Friday October 14,
2016 at 4:30pm. The reason for conducting the interview was to gain knowledge about her
position as a manager, as well as about the company itself. Bath and Body Works sells a variety
of products ranging from soaps to candles to body lotions. Jill manages with two other managers,
one is the head store manager, and the other holds the same position as Jill as being co-manager.
Jill has been working at Bath and Body Works for about six years. Before getting the job at Bath
and Body Works Jill was a manager at a restaurant. It is not always needed to have managerial
experience in your past work history like Jill had, but there are some companies that will require
you to have prior experience working as their manager. Some of the qualifications Jill and I
discussed during the interview to receive a managerial position in sort of a wide range. When Jill
got hired the qualifications they were looking for were good people skills, leadership skills, past
history working with sales, and at least a high school level education degree. When she was first
hired she started at an associate sale level and worked her way up to getting a promotion to
manager within the company. Jill could continue to work her way up in the brand, after being a
store manager, she could become a regional manager getting to work with the company more and
having greater responsibilities as she would then become in charge of overseeing multiple stores
at a time.
Responsibilities
Being a manager can be a lot of work, in the interview Jill said as the manager, I am basically
running the show over here. What she meant by that was that she has a lot of different
responsibilities to take care of on a daily basis in order for the store and company to continue to
thrive. During the interview Jill took me through what a normal day at her job looks like, and
what I concluded from the long list was being a manager can be a lot of work. The interview
process was pretty normal for Jill to be in, we just had role reversed. Part of being a manager Jill
is the one in charge of doing the hiring and firing for the company. Throughout the year,
especially now due to busy holiday season, Jill conducts a series of group interviews to hire new

employees into the store. On the flip side of welcoming new employees, Jill is also in charge of
having to fire employees as well. If employees are not following the rules, or does something
against policy Jill is responsible for firing that employee. A big responsibility we talked about
throughout the interview was being responsible for not only oneself, but also all of the people
that you employee. On top of making sure she is fulfilling all manager responsibilities and
making sure the store is running smoothly, she is also in charge of making sure that every
employee is doing what they are supposed to be doing, when they are supposed to be doing it.
Another one of Jills responsibilities she has is daily preparations for the store. Some days are
more stressful than others. Depending on the season, and the day Jill is required to stay after
hours until one oclock in the morning until floor sets are finished. Floor sets is basically a
redesign of the entire store, putting out the new scents, new posters, and new products for the
next day at the store. This responsibility makes it seem as though Jill almost has two jobs, the
two different aspects of the store. One of these aspects involves running the floor sets. This is a
major responsibility due to the fact that it is what represents the store. If the floor set does not get
done correctly, or even done at all then there is no way for the store to make sales of new
products. As a manager Jill has to constantly be checking to see if the store is looking as what
she calls picture perfect. The other aspect of Jills job is everything that nobody sees. Not only
does she have a lot of paperwork to be filling out, sending in, and staying on top of but she also
has to take care of the stocking the store, doing the inventory, and making sure the store is
staying up-float. A final responsibility Jill touched based on quite a bit was keeping the stores
daily goals where they need to be. Each store has an individual daily goal of sales to be made,
which is dependent on the capacity of the store along with prior weekly total sales. Each team
member has a certain SPAH number they must meet at each shift, SPAH stands for sale per
associate hourly. This sale is dependent on last years previous sale which creates a certain
percentage of the sale for that day. Jill has to oversee her own SPAH, as well as watching those
of the other employees and associate team members. As a manager Jill is in charge of making
sure the store is running and stays running smoothly in all aspects.
Miscommunication
Being humans we all know that miscommunication happens more frequently than most of us
would like. There are many forms of miscommunication and it occurring within the workplace
can cause a lot of problems for that company. As a manager, Jill must oversee all things going on
within the store, as well as be aware of what is going on with the company. When talking about
problems that often arise for Jill at her work she said a lot of it comes from either a lack of
communicating or a miscommunication between employees. Jill finds that these problems occur
more than they often should because when they do occur nothing really comes from it, they fix
the problem and move on. A problem that occurs in the store is a lack of communication between
the different managers and their employees, since there are two different co-managers and one
head store manager not everything gets communicated properly. For example if one associate
team member has an issue with their schedule and cannot make it to their shift they only talk to
one manager about it. If that employee does not go tell the other managers, and that manager
then does not go tell all of the other managers it causes problems of lack of communication as
well as miscommunicating for that certain day. This problem of lack of communication then
creates a new problem for the store, being short employees. When the store is short employees
and gets busy this is a place where things get miscommunicated between employees. This
miscommunication occurs due to being understaffed, when there are less people working and
more customers coming in the store it makes it a bit more difficult to be on the same page with

each employee. Another problem in the communication area that happens at Bath and Body
Works is the miscommunication and lack of communication between the actual Bath and Body
Work brand to each regional store. When something is changing, or important information about
products Jill said that there seems to be a miscommunication to each store. Things get emailed or
sent over and can be interpreted different way by the managers. Sometimes each store will get
notified when they should be, but sometimes some stores do not get the information they need.
This problems does not fall under Jills job, but does fall under the job of the regional Bath and
Body Works manager.
L Brands
Bath and Body Works is a store inside a larger company. The name of this company is called L
Brands. L Brands is a combination of Bath and Body Works, Victoria Secret, La Senza, and
Henri Bendel. L Brands is a huge company that opened its first store in 1963 in Columbus, Ohio.
On September 1st, 1990 L Brands opened up its first store in Boston. In 2008 Bath and Body
Works stores started to become international and opened up six new stores throughout Canada. L
Brands headquarters is located where the company was originally founded, Columbus, Ohio.
Since Bath and Body Works is part of a much larger company, the organizational structure of the
company is dependent on which career choice you are positioned in within the company. To
name a few different areas of the company where one could find work include being a factory or
lab worker, a management position whether it is regional, store, or other, and a final area
includes being an associate team member at any of the local L Brand stores. The company looks
for individuals who are driven and passionate about their work. The L Brands website says We
believe in our associates, give back to our communities and put the customer first. Its been that
way since our beginning. And it continues today with more than 88,000 associates who are
taking our $12 billion company into a new era of growth in the U.S. and around the globe. L
Brands is a company that is passionately guided by their values, their website says We pursue
excellence because we are emotionally, intellectually and spiritually engaged in our work ... and
that makes our talents formidable and our results extraordinary. L Brands is a very large
thriving company which has been around for many and will continue to thrive as a company and
grow larger.
Communication
Communication plays a major role in not only our day to day lives but everything surrounding
and involving it. One of the most important places where communication occurs is within
the workplace. Where you work, and who you work with, your work culture will have a
major impact on how communication between others is going to be like. Depending on what
work you do will be dependent on the communication skills one will use in the work place.
Non-verbal communication and behavioral communication can place a big role in how to
communicate in the work place. An article called Black and White Communication:
Analyzing Work Place Encounters authors Molefi Asante and Alice Davis suggest that
Behavioral conditions are mainly verbal or physical expressions that are interpreted as
communication. A place where communication becomes important in the work place is
when companies are communicating with other companies. Being on top of your
communication and communicating correctly could be a make or breaking point for
employees at any type of work place. Communication is key.

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