Human Resources in Business - Case Study Example

Read chapter 13 on reward systems and answer the questions relating to the case study Page 245. Reflective Activity Think of an organization you know. How important are/were intrinsic rewards in motivating employees?I used to work for a company where reaching individual targets was of primary importance. To reach your target meant that you will receive a lucrative bonus in addition to the monthly wages. The bonus was based on the revenue you had accumulated for the company and you were entitled to a percentage of it.

The bonus system was important to the extent that some employees were performing well in order to obtain the target. Also targets were set in order to guide the workers how well they do their tasks and to monitor their daily work routines. I think intrinsic rewards are important, because they give extra stimuli to the employees. Other rewards might be social gatherings for different departments, free access to sports clubs or events, and gift packages for vacations or weekend getaways. Page 246.

Reflective ActivityWhat is more important in designing a reward system – controlling costs or promoting fairness?Both controlling costs and promoting fairness are equally important in designing a reward system. I believe the key to a successful organization is to try and balance between the controlling costs and promoting fairness. Page 246. Reflective ActivityIt is often argued that reward systems should be adjusted in line with changing organizational strategic objectives – yet in the real world, this is not often the case.

Why is that, do you think?The above mentioned company for which I worked 5 years and in two different countries, the reward system, the bonuses in particular were adjusted several times. This, though, was not as a result of the modifying organizational strategies, but a change made in order to respond adequately to the extra money that employees were earning. The statistics showed that some employees are earning the same bonus as the amount of their salary and senior managers decided to change the bonus system, so that greater revenues stays with the company.

Therefore, on the various new reward systems that were introduced, hard-working employees who reached their target each month received fewer bonuses.Page 250. Reflective ActivityWhat do you think are the positive and negative aspects of job evaluation schemes?I had experience in job evaluation schemes and I think I was lucky to have a great team leader, who encouraged me to develop the skills that I lacked and gave me the confidence to relate to the job position. The positive aspects might be that although you know that you are performing well, you still need another point of view of your achievements.

Employees are not able to look their work from aside so job evaluation is a good way to adjust the barometer of the performed job. A negative aspect might be that everyone has been evaluated under the same criteria, which is very general, and sometimes subjective. Therefore, people, who have different attitude, abilities, predispositions are evaluated under the same common denominator, which destroys the individuality and divides employees into already set categories.