Since I was born until today, my life has been full of decision-making and problem-solving as I attempt to come out with the best solutions. However, sometimes, I realize that most decisions I made are affecting me in one way or the other because making the right decision is often a challenge (Whimbey, Lochhead & Narode, 2013). I found myself in a big problem as I found myself in two choices; one choice was for me to continue working for my original company and pursue a Bachelor’s degree and another choice was to stop working for my original company and stop pursuing the bachelor’s degree as well. Therefore, for me to solve this problem amicably, I decided to the six-step problem-solving model. This model requires me to define the problem, analyze it, generate the options, evaluate the options, make a decision, and finally present the decision ( Hicks, 2013) . In this regard, I had to use this model to choose whether to continue with my original job and pursue the bachelor’s degree I already started or to abandon the two and shift to my new employment offer. I believe that the use of the six-step model will help me to solve this problem and emerge triumphantly.
Defining the Problem
The problem I found myself in was whether to continue with my original job and continue pursuing my bachelor’s degree or to stop the two and shift to the new employment offer. In order to define this problem appropriately, I had several strategy options to have a successful definition of this problem, and they include remaining committed to finding the solution for the problem, pronouncing the reasons why I should make the decision and identifying other problems which might arise from this problem (Gdrc.org, 2016). Indeed utilizing these strategies will enable me to understand, successfully address it and emerge victories. This problem encompasses deciding whether to abandon my current job and take another job offering me the role of a supervisor in return with a salary increase or deciding to ignore all those offers and continue with my current job as I proceed with my bachelor’s degree. The general benefits of the new job are indeed overwhelming even if the job does not offer tuition reimbursement like the current employment.
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Analyzing the Problem
In analyzing the problem, my main aim will be to understand the situation that I currently experience and compare the new employment position I am offered with my current job. Consider this tight scenario; I have been offered the role of a supervisor in the new job, and this will come with higher pay. On the other hand, I am also certain that after completing the bachelor’s degree I am currently pursuing I might be given the supervisory role even though I am not sure. However, my current company has also agreed to refund all the money I used for bachelor’s degree after the competition, so this is where I found myself in a great dilemma because I do not know to abandon the current job or to stay and forgo all the benefits that the new job is coming with. Moreover, what makes me reluctant to proceed to the new employment is that when I finish my course, I am likely to get promotion in the current job place even though I am not sure. Indeed the salary increase, new location and the car allowance being offered by the new company are so attractive, but what can I do to find myself out of this dilemma as the current job rewards are also promising as well.
Generation of the Conceivable Solutions
Regardless of the tough condition, I found myself in, as a rational human being and a good decision-maker, I am obliged to devise the most appropriate solution and emerge triumphant at the end of the problem. Therefore, among the solutions that I have thought of include ignoring the new offer and sticking to my current status quo while the second option would mean accepting the new employment and forgoing both the bachelor’s degree course. On the other hand, the final option would be to accept the new employment, but negotiate with the company to allow me to continue with my bachelor’s degree education.
Evaluating the Options
It is always important to evaluate each option generated to help settle on the most appropriate one (Robbins, 2014). In this section, I also need to provide plan B and C in case things fail to go well as planned as well as how the solution settled on would be adjusted to achieve the most desired outcome (Watanabe, 2010). As mentioned above, option one for me was to ignore the new job offer and maintain the status quo. This option would present to me an advantage of finishing my bachelor’s degree without interruption and also enabling me to remain in my current company as one of the oldest employees who have served the company for over eleven years. This gives me a high possibility of being promoted in case an opportunity arises, whereas, the main disadvantage for this is that I might finish the course and have this long time experience but still fail to get a promotion. The other option was for me to accept the new employment offer and forgo pursuing a bachelor’s degree course. The third and final option was for me to accept the new employment offer and negotiate with the company to be an opportunity of finishing the bachelor’s course.
Based on the other option of accepting the new job offer and forgoing the bachelor’s degree course, I would get the advantage of having a higher chance of being promoted to the supervisor role in the new job even though that might also fail since it is not a guarantee. Therefore, comparing this option with the first one, it is apparent that the first one might be more promising as compared to the second one. On the other hand, the third options of accepting and new employment offer and negotiating with the company to allow me to proceed with the bachelor’s degree also present more advantages. However, this option would only work in case this new job can help improve my work ethics and experience. Also, this option would result in the advantage of having higher chances for me to become a supervisor, even though this is not guaranteed. This might fail to go as planned, but I would still enroll in another bachelor’s degree course immediately I start working in the new company, and that is why I might consider settling on this option three.
Selecting the Best Solution
The application of the six-step model has enabled me to critically analyze this problem bit by bit and settle on the most appropriate option. Therefore, comparing and contrasting the advantages and disadvantages of each option above, I have finally settled on option three since it had several advantages and little disadvantages in my view. This means that I have decided to accept the new employment offer, but negotiate with the company to allow me to finish my bachelor’s degree course without terminating the program for a later date. This choice would be important for me because apart form the allowances provided by the new company, the salary increase I will get in the new employment will fund both my bachelor’s and master’s degrees without experiencing any financial problems in future. I did not choose option one and two option the former option does not guarantee me an automatic salary increment while option two also does not guarantee me an automatic promotion to supervisory role thus leaving me with option three as the most appropriate one.
Implementation and Reflection
Implementing the appropriate option selected is also one of the most challenging circumstances that need more knowledge and skills of problem-solving as well (Watanabe, 2010). Even though I have decided to accept the new job offer, I will have to negotiate with the new company to give me an opportunity of continuing with my bachelor’s degree program without terminating it. I plan to proceed to the new employment and at the same time go on pursuing the bachelor’s degree course. The advantage of this will be that I will be able to join a new company that pays higher while continue pursuing a bachelor’s degree course without a hitch. However, the most outstanding disadvantage of this is that I would not get 100% transition into the new company and understand its terms and conditions better because interruptions from school which might deny my attention into my new job.
Conclusion
Based on the tough situation I found myself in, I came to realize that no matter how challenging the situation might be, we always have the ability to find the most appropriate solution to such problems and emerge triumphantly. Therefore, decision-making and problem-solving skills are the most important parameters that can help an individual to successfully face and counteract the hard situations they find themselves in. For me to successfully solve the problem I found myself into; I was obliged to use the six-step model which has enabled me to define the problem, analyze the problem, generate the options, evaluate the options, make a decision, present the decisions and finally implement the decision thus enabling me to emerge triumphant.
References
Gdrc.org. (2016). The Problem Solving Process . Retrieved 23 February 2016, from http://www.gdrc.org/decision/problem-solve.html
Hicks, M. J. (2013). Problem solving in business and management: Hard, soft and creative approaches . Springer.
Robbins, S. K. (2014). Problem Solving: Techniques, Strategies & Skills for Solving Problems . Createspace Independent Pub.
Watanabe, K. (2010). Problem Solving 101: A simple book for smart people . Ebury Publishing.
Whimbey, A., Lochhead, J. & Narode, R. (2013). Problem Solving & Comprehension . Routledge.
