Reward

Consider your own organisation or one with which you are familiar – how does it reward employees? Does it differ for different groups – how and why? How is ‘fairness’ or ‘equity’ ensured?

Tesco believes in rewarding and benefiting its staff where deserved. According to Tesco-Careers (2009), as well as competitive salaries at all levels, in every area of the business, they also offer a whole package of other ways to help staff make more of their money, safeguard their future and look after their health. These kinds of incentives motivate employees to work harder thus increasing productivity and maintaining competitiveness.

Tesco also provide employees with the opportunity to gain a share of the company’s profits which is a huge incentive for employees at all levels. The amount is determined in proportion to the individual’s salary meaning that the lower the salary, the less the amount of profit shared; the higher the person’s salary, the greater the amount gained. Although this implements fairness in this scheme, it also has an aspect of unfairness as certain individuals receive more reward then others. Alternatively, this could be justified by the fact that there is a much higher level of pressure and responsibility involved in doing a higher paid job.

Should chief executives still get their bonuses even if the organisation that they have led has underperformed?

Ever since we entered the global economic recession, opposition has been stronger than ever mainly, due mainly to the number of high-paying firms bailed out with taxpayer’s money during the crisis.

Arguments for:

· P People underestimate the responsibilities a Chief Executive has to take on and sometimes bonuses act as a form of compensation for the time, stress and commitment they have to put in to make the business successful. If they weren’t given these large financial incentives I am sure it would be very difficult to find anyone willing to stand up to the challenge and sacrifice so much of their existence for the sake of the company.

· If a chief executive can prove that he/she has taken all the measures they possibly could have to meet their targets then they should be awarded a bonus for their efforts as opposed to their actual outcome.

· Arguments against:

· By rewarding chief executives with absurdly large bonuses despite there being evidence of underperformance, the organisation sends out a wrong and immoral message to its staff. I believe that one should not be rewarded if they fail to achieve their own goals and or company objectives as by rewarding staff when it is not deserved, they feel as though there is no need to push them further. As a result their attitudes towards work become relaxed as regardless of whether or not they meet their obligations, they will still receive large cash bonuses. This relaxed attitude leads to a reduction in individual efforts which have adverse effects on performance and therefore a negative impact on productivity, profitability and many other aspects.

· According to the International Monetary fund (2010) large bonuses encourage bank executives to take excessive risks, something which has contributed greatly to the financial crises.

· Executives who receive large cash bonuses are usually overpaid to begin with. So in a time of economic recession where money is scarce and the ordinary working class people are struggling to make ends meet, it doesn’t seem morally fair to be rewarding executives with ridiculous bonuses when they are to blame for the mess.

·

Identify three financial and three non-financial ways of rewarding a teacher at a primary school

Financial rewards:

· Reward teachers with cash bonuses based on any improvements made on students performances over set periods of time.

· Providing teachers with more paid holidays measured against performance standards and attendance.

· Providing corporate vouchers for external/extracurricular activities and efforts aimed at benefiting students.

Non-financial rewards:

· A recognition award which acts as a motivational incentive to say thank you for their hard work such as a teacher of the month/teacher of the year award.

· Teachers who gain improved results within their class are given recognition by appointing them as mentors to less experienced teachers who could benefit from their expertise and personal experience, making them feel more valued therefore increasing motivation and acting as an incentive.

·

Of the rewards and incentives listed above, the one which would motivate me the most is the second bullet point under non-financial rewards which states that teachers receive a recognition award by making them mentors to teachers who could benefit from their expertise and personal experience. The reason that I feel this would motivate me the most is that I would gain a sense of leadership, responsibility and would feel more valued in my job as I would be looked up to by others as a role model. This is motivating as it encourages one to push their own boundaries, help others and be more responsible.

Conclusion

In my opinion reward is a vital tool in maintaining strong employee relationships and interest amongst employees, as well as keeping a workforce motivated and determined to push the boundaries of their potential. The form of reward can differ through many different ways, methods and approaches depending on a variety of factors. From my observations of this topic I have recognized that a successful reward scheme is more achievable through a combination of both financial and non-financial incentives, rather than just one.

References

International monetary fund (2010), Should Bankers get their Bonuses? [online] Available from: http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2010/03/kaplan.htm [Accessed 25 April 2010]