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6.Система оценки работы персонала, которая используется в нашей компании, очень эффективна.

7.Ему нравится его работа и зарплата, которую он получает.

8.Если вы не чувствуете признания ваших достижений, у вас нет стимулов работать более усердно.

9.Трудно мотивировать сотрудников к более эффективному труду, если компания предлагает незначительные возможности карьерного роста.

10.Большинство стимулов, предлагаемых нашим руководством, носят финансовый характер. В прошлом месяце руководство компанией предложило стимулирующие выплаты, чтобы повысить производительность.

Managing practice: Top Perks

Employees are the most important asset most companies have. Good employees should receive recognition, but not everyone can be promoted and salary increases are not always enough. So how can companies attract and keep the best employees? Here is what some of the best companies to work for in America are doing.

Read about some perks and benefits offered by companies in America and decide which perks can be the most preferable for employees.

Flexible working hours are popular everywhere and at the software company WRQ 95% of the staff have them. The company also has a nap room with futons and on-site massages.

At the insurance company AFLAC employees can have 12 weeks off with full pay if they need to take care of a sick husband, wife, child, or parent.

If you get married while you are working for the credit card company MBNA, you are entitled to an extra week of vacation.

You’ve got to pay a lot of money if you want to go to school in the United States. But it’s not so bad if you work for the US division of the Finnish company Nokia. Its tuition reimbursement can reach $5,000.

Employees at CDW Computer Centres get free ice-cream in the summer and fruit and bagels every Tuesday and Thursday.

Staff members don’t need ‘to perform work that offends their personal principles’ at the accounting firm Plante and Moran.

If you want to work for Microsoft, you should get to know someone who works there – 40% of recruits come from employee referrals.

You don’t have to worry about keeping up with your house work if you work for the printing company Valassis Communications. They provide employees with discounts on maid services and ready-to-heat meals.

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a bagel – a ring-shaped bread roll

to be entitled to – to have the right to do or have something a futon – a Japanese mattress used as a bed

a nap – a short sleep

to offend – to upset; to hurt

a perk – an advantage that you can get regularly and legally from your work in addition to your pay

recognition – appreciation or acknowledgement for an achievement or ability a referral – passing on a contact for someone else to deal with reimbursement – repayment of a cost

Answer the following questions:

1.Why do these companies provide such valuable perks?

2.What can tired workers at WRQ do?

3.What do employees have to do to get an extra week of vacation at MBNA?

4.Which company should you try to work for if you want to study and why?

5.Why shouldn’t you worry about house duties if you work for Valassis Communications? What don’t you have to do if you work for them?

Read the following guidelines for managers. Agree or disagree with them. Say why. Try to use the phrases given below.

While motivating people working under you:

1.Reward only that which you intend.

2.Be specific about the criteria the reward depends on.

3.Individualize rewards as far as possible – allow for people wanting different rewards.

4.Find out what people really want.

5.Make sure goals are attainable.

6.Ensure a clear link between performance and reward.

Skills: Giving your opinion

Personally, I think / feel …

In my opinion….

From my point of view ….

As I see it, ….

As far as I am concerned …..

Case study: Staff turnover

Task

You work for a large furniture retail organization and your staff turnover (текучесть кадров) has risen from 16% to 26% over the last three years. It’s particularly high among shop floor workers and this is a very expensive problem.

The average cost of replacing a member of staff is equivalent to a whole year’s salary.

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You have conducted a study to find out why employees leave and the results are below. Study the results. Why are people leaving? What can you do about it?

Main reasons given by employees for leaving:

-want to progress in career – 62%

-are not satisfied with the increase in salary – 47%

-personal circumstances changed – 33%

-want a new challenge – 30%

-want more recognition – 18%

Decide what to do about your staff turnover problem. Prepare some proposals to make. You might like to suggest:

-providing more opportunities for career growth (why and how?)

-increasing salaries (why and how?)

-providing more training (why and what?)

-offering more perks / benefits (why and what?)

-something else (what and why?)

Problems of staff motivation are closely connected with the problems of staff appraisal.

Find the best synonym. Match the words and expressions on the left with those on the right.

n)a sense of trust and confidence

o)to make an evaluation

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Read the text about some forms of performance appraisal of employees and speak on the statements given below.

Most organizations have some form of performance appraisal of their employees. The appraisals are usually carried out once a year. The manager makes an evaluation of the performance of the subordinate. This involves finding out a form or writing a report on the person concerned. After this, there is a meeting at which the two parties discuss the appraisal. A performance appraisal is, then, a judgment on how well a person is doing his work.

Appraisals help organizations to reward staff properly. They are useful when decisions have to be made about salary increases and bonuses. In addition, they are needed when managers are considering transferring or promoting staff. In these situations, they provide up-to-date information about an individual’s performance, skills and career objectives.

An important purpose of appraisals is to give the subordinate feedback on how he is performing. The manager can talk to the subordinate about the strengths and weaknesses of his performance. He can also discuss how the subordinate can learn to work more effectively.

At appraisal interview, subordinates can not only talk about their future, but also seek guidance from the manager. The interview may help them to think more realistically about their goals. Besides doing this, it gives the subordinate the opportunity to ask the manager for further training.

There are many methods of evaluating a person’s performance at work. Some of the better-known methods are described below.

A traditional method has been to give a “rating”. The subordinate’s evaluation is based on personality traits or qualities – that he shows in his work. Subordinates are judged on such things as: knowledge of the job, reliability, cooperation, initiative, quality of work, sense of responsibility, productivity and punctuality.

The manager rates the subordinate by marking a letter or figure on a scale. For example, the rating could be A-E, where A indicates outstanding and E - unsatisfactory.

However, the most popular form of appraisal, in Britain and the United States, is

Management by Objectives. This appraisal is based on a person’s performance, and how well he is achieving his goals. The manager and the subordinate agree on a certain number of objectives, which should be achieved in a given period of time. The focus is on results, not personality traits. The subordinates can be judged on such things as: number of sales calls, number of new customers contacted, number of wholesalers stocking new product, sales of product, customer complaints, service calls, etc.

Another appraisal method is worth mentioning too. This is the Critical Incident Method. With this system, the manager keeps a record of good and unsatisfactory examples (incidents) of a person’s work. These are kept in a file and reviewed with the manager when the interview takes place. An advantage of the system is that the manager has to think about the subordinate’s performance throughout the year.

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Furthermore, specific examples of the person’s work can be looked at and discussed at the appraisal interview.

In spite of the need for performance appraisals, people do not like them. One problem is that the manager is expected to criticize the subordinate and to give guidance at the same time. However, it is not easy for a manager to combine those roles. Many people are naturally suspicious of appraisals. They think managers are trying to find out their weaknesses, so they are on the defensive. Moreover, managers are often unwilling to say that a subordinate’s performance has been “outstanding” or “bad”. So, the individual is described as being “just above average”. This means that high fliers in the organization do not get a good enough evaluation while the work of poor performers may be over-valued. Finally many managers do not like to criticize a subordinate with whom they are working closely, day-to-day.

Appraisal can be a valuable process. At the interview, the manager should act as a guide to the subordinate, not as a judge. The purpose of the interview should be to discuss how the individual can “grow” in the organization, and make an effective contribution. The situation allows both parties to review the work of the individual, fix realistic targets, and plan that person’s career development.

Agree or disagree with the following statements. Express your view on them.

1.Performance appraisal is a valuable process. Why?

2.The main purpose of any appraisal is criticism.

3.The rating is a highly objective method of appraisal.

4.Management by objectives is a time-consuming method but highly efficient.

5.If the Critical Incident Method is used, the superior has to keep a record of good and bad examples of how a person works before the performance appraisal interview takes place. Why?

6.Some people think that the Critical Incident Method is fairer than the others

mentioned. What do you think?

8.Good employees rarely complain about their performance appraisals.

9.Which of the three systems of appraisal mentioned in this article do you think is

the best for a) the manager? b) the employee?

Skills: Addition and contrast

Look at the list of words and phrases which express addition and contrast. Consider how they are used and then do the exercise below.

addition – besides; as well as; as well; in addition; not only… but also; both … and; moreover; furthermore; also; too.

contrast – despite; in spite of; however; although; on the other hand; while; yet; whereas.

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Role play

There are some notes below prepared by the Marketing Director of a large company. They concern two members of the Market Research Department, Barbara and Graham. Both these employees have been in the Market Research Department since they joined the company. They have both just applied for the vacant position of Head of Market Research. Read the information about them decide who of these two people is more suitable for the position.

Don’t forget to use words and phrases which express addition and contrast while discussing the candidates.

Example: In spite of being efficient, Barbara sometimes works too fast. Barbara is single, Graham, on the other hand, is married with three children.

Barbara age – 30

marital status – single

years of service in company – 3

educational qualifications – master’s degree in marketing; diploma in communications

previous work experience – 2 years in transport department of oil company special skills and abilities – communicates effectively with staff; articulate; logical mind; sound powers of analysis; fluent French and Italian

personal qualities – hard-working; efficient; mobile – will work anywhere in the country; lively, out-going personality; popular with most colleagues

negative points – sometimes works too fast and misses important facts; can be too frank and outspoken; one or two colleagues can’t stand her; smokes too much; lives on her nerves

interests – modern jazz dancing; collecting paintings

health – had serious illness while at university - studies interrupted for one year

Graham age – 36

marital status – married, with 3 children years of service in company – 8

educational qualifications – 3 A levels, 6 O levels (no further education) previous work experience – 2 years as a waiter in Hamburg; 5 years in banking; 3 years in market research firm

special skills and abilities – writes superb reports; exceptional mathematical ability; highly intelligent

personal qualities – respected because of his knowledge of the job; quiet; reserved; always calm in a crisis

negative points – considered unsociable by some; speaks rather slowly and hesitantly; no foreign languages; not mobile - wife has important job in local hospital

interests – says he is too busy to have outside interests health – excellent