Explain a situation where you have made an ethical decision. Discuss how you weighed up the values involved in that decision, the decision you made, and how you reflect on the decision now?
Situation:
In one of my last jobs, I worked in debt collection. I had a customer who wanted to pay back their arrears in a split payment. However, after going through their income and liabilities, it became apparent that they were overcommitting themselves financially. I proposed that they enter into a more sustainable arrangement over a longer period of time to allow them to catch up without the added stress. Although the aim is to “recover” the costs efficiently, sometimes it isn’t viable. It didn’t feel right to allow this person to overcommit themselves further. Unfortunately, as a team we had been advised to keep arrangements under a certain timeframe and to keep KPI’s in mind.
I weighed up the options:
1) Enter into the arrangement originally proposed and potentially end up having the same conversation next fortnight but have it look really good for my week's target.
2) Provide them the extended arrangement with understanding. But have that hinder my KPI’s.
As KPI’s weren’t a priority for me.
I went with option 2 because it made the most sense to me and what I valued was integrity.
To know & to not do, is to not know at all.
Describe how your culture and the people around you have influenced your values and identity.
I am Polynesian and am a proud Niuean/ Maori. I have always been aware of my ethnicities and was consistently immersed in cultural celebrations, traditions and protocols. However, growing up I had felt some disconnect due to not being able to speak my native tongue. I hadn’t realized that disconnect until I had to get up at a marae and do my Pepeha. I had no idea where to start. In recent years, I have started the journey to try to reconnect with my culture. With any culture, it really gives you a sense of belonging and who you are in terms of where you have come from, who you have come from and what kind of upbringing you may have had. That includes anything from beliefs, education, traits and interests. Community. I believe that it does take a village to raise a child, my village is my family. They have influenced me to always be kind, loyal, act with integrity and to be honest. Those were always drilled into everything we did and as result, I am a terrible liar and cannot play 2 truths, 1 lie.
Identify your strengths and how they will support you during your learning journey:
One of my main strengths is determination. I am to finish everything that I start. I try my best always, in all I attempt and complete.
I believe this will help as it goes hand and hand with persistance. I am determined to learn as much as I can and to continue my growth journey.
Evaluate your limitations in terms of your learning and career development. How might these affect your learning journey?
Unfortunately, one of my limitations is discipline. I get distracted easily or my mind has so many ideas it can be hard to narrow it down and fixate on a solid idea and stick to it. This will affect my time management, but thankful for toggl for keeping me on track lol.
Share an example of when you were trying to work productively with others, but there was resistance or tension. Discuss strategies you tried at the time, how effective they were, and your reflections on what other strategies you would try now and why.
When working with a group of a bunch of personalities, clashes are expected at some point.
There was a group presentation that we had to complete for a course at mahi. However, two members had personal issues and didn't get on well. This had an affect on the team as tensions were high but we had an group objective.
The main strategy, was just having a group discussion and outlining the goals and delegating roles but ensuring that the communication was clear and concise so everyone knew what had to be done and by who. It was helpful as we had to present our completed tasks and findings to eachother.
This was good because it allowed everyone to get it done, help eachother with the learning and not allowing the tension to ruin morale.
I feel that tension only becomes a big problem when morale in the team.