IELTS Essays,
Letters, Graphs, Diagrams & Maps
111 29- Some employers reward members of the staff or their exceptional contributions to the company by giving them extra money. This practice can act as an incentive for some but may also have a negative impact on others. To what extent is this style of management effective? Are there better ways of encouraging employees to work hard? In times of high unemployment, employers need to do very little to encourage
their staff to work hard, but when job vacancies are galore, they have to find
effective ways of rewarding their staff in order to stop them from going
elsewhere.
One obvious way of doing this is to offer extra money to employees who are
seen to be working exceptionally hard and this is done in companies with a
product to sell. For example, real estate agencies or department stores can
offer a simple commission on all sales. This style of management favours the
ones who can demonstrate their contributions through sales figures, but does
not take into account the work done by people behind the scenes who have
little contact with the public.
A better approach is for management to offer a bonus to all the staff at the
end of the year if the profits are healthy, this however does not allow
management to target individuals who have genuinely worked harder than
others. Another possibility is to identify excellent staff through incentive
schemes such as ‘Employee of the month’ or ‘worker of the week’ to make
people feel recognized. Such people are usually singled out with the help of
clients. Hotels, restaurants and tour operators may also allow staff to accept
tips offered by clients who are pleased with the service. However, tipping is a
highly unreliable source of money and does not favour everyone.
Basically, employees want to be recognized for their contribution – whether
through receiving more money or simply some encouraging words. They also
need to feel that their contribution to the whole organization is worthwhile.
Good management recognizes this need and responds appropriately.
(280 words)
Essay Practice Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? People should sometimes do
things that they do not enjoy doing. Use specific reasons and examples to support
your answer.
