Companies Allow Employees to Buy, Sell and “Donate”, Essay Example

If people are already paid by their employer to carry out a job, why should it still be important for somebody to motivate them?

Paid employees should still be motivated because there are factors other than money that affect how they feel about their jobs and their employer. For example, employees may be unhappy on the job due to an uncomfortable working environment, being overworked, or dealing with annoying leadership. People need to be challenged and given interesting tasks to complete, and understanding this is a way for employers to motivate employees. Additionally, employees must be motivated, even they are paid, because there are other places they can work. So, if a company wants to keep its best employees, it needs to find ways to motivate them other than just paying them. For example, fringe benefits such as comp time, shorter or flexible work hours, extended medical coverage, or stock options are great motivators for employees (Herzberg, 2003).

Suppose a worker is much more interested in personal and family life than performing well or getting promoted. What approach might the worker’s supervisor use to motivate him or her toward high performance?

This is a good example of when to offer employees more flexible work schedules, as suggested by Herzberg (2003). This could include allowing a 4-day work week, comp time, telecommuting. Telecommuting is a good idea because there are many employees who would do better working from home, such as a new mother or dad who would like to spend more time with a new baby or other small children. To motivate these employees, employers could also have ways for employees to buy, sell, or donate vacation time, which is a way to provide extra benefits to employees that is cost-effective (Ellin, 2013).

A major strategy for helping others grow and develop is to be a nurturing, positive person. Discuss how a nurturing person promotes the growth of others.

A nurturing person has a caring way of dealing with other people. This type of person is good at listening to others and empathizing with their needs. The nurturing person helps others grow by minimizing toxic conditions that can interfere with successful development in the workplace. Nurturing people facilitate social bonding and help mediate behaviors in the workplace. Nurturing people are calm and accessible, which also facilitates growth in others. A nurturing person highlights other people’s strengths and shows them how they fit into the big picture, which is important because people like knowing that they matter (Goffee & Jones, 2013).

What is your opinion on whether workers have a responsibility to help each other grow and develop?

I think that workers definitely have a responsibility to help each in the workplace, so that everyone can grow and develop within the company. This is true because co-workers are all part of the same team and if any part of the team is lacking in some area, then the whole team suffers. I think it is a good idea for workers to share learned skills and knowledge with those who seek their advice in the workplace. For example, if one worker is good at creating PowerPoint presentations, and another co-worker asks for some assistance, I think it should be no problem for the one co-worker to show the other some tips and tricks in PowerPoint to help them get up to speed with their skill level. Sharing knowledge in the workplace is important to all workers, and this is also a good way for workers to show management that they are potential managers or supervisors themselves.

References

Ellin, A. (2013, June 17). Study: Companies Allow Employees to Buy, Sell and “Donate” Vacation Time. Retrieved from ABC News: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2013/06/workers-see-shift-in-benefits-report-finds/

Goffee, R., & Jones, G. (2013, May). Creating the Best Workplace on Earth. Harvard Business Review, 1-10.

Herzberg, F. (2003, January). One More Time: How Do You Motivate Employees? Harvard Business Review, 1-16.