Rate my AWA essays

[Arkid Mitra]

I recently took my MGMAT. I need someone to grade my essays. Please find below the questions and my responses:

AWA ESSAYS: Analyze Issues

 

ESSAY QUESTION:

“Monetary compensation is the most powerful stimulus for improving employee productivity.”

 

Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the position stated above. Support your viewpoint using reasons and examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.

 

YOUR RESPONSE:

Monetary compensation is often considered the most powerful stimulus for improving employee productivity. However, I tend to disagree with the argument. There a lot of other factors which are as powerful as monetary compensation in driving employee productivity. Monetary compensation, although a factor, only contributes to a certain extent in improving employee productivity.

 

Monetary compensation is a huge factor, when the work being undertaken is just physical work and doesn't require application of one's creativity. Once, the monetary compensation has reached a certain level, people are more concerned whether they enjoy what they do. Once, people enjoy what they do, they are much more productive than when they are just paid for work which doesn't offer them engagement. Corporates have long understood the meaning of engagement and fun activities and are getting their employee's involved in such activities to improve their employee's productivity.

 

For example, when we look at an open source software movement such as Apache, we come to see how creative work gets the best out of the people. Apache, in effect doesn't employ anyone. People work in their offices for money, get back home and work for free for an open source movement like Apache. Money, in this case is not the driving force. Good Work is. The zeal to make something which helps the world gets them to work better.

 

Another example is the work environment provided by the employer. Certain employers are just fun to work with. They have an open, unrestrictive culture which helps the employee grow as a person overall. The best companies to work for list made by Forbes is a partially nice picture of the same. Companies which may not be the highest paying are at the top of the list. One thing in common in all these companies is the fun work environment.

 

One more factor which an employee looks at when he/she works for a company is his company's overall contribution to the society. Whether, he goes back home satisfied with the work he did, is very important to him. For too many days in a row if a person wakes up and feels that he is not doing what he is enjoying, soon enough he will be late to work. His productivity will go down. The employee must be able to take pride in what he/she does. Money becomes secondary when his/her pride is boasted by working.

 

Monetary compensation, although a powerful factor in improving the employee productivity, it can't be considered the most powerful. There are a number of other factors like employee engagement, good working conditions, pride in the work that one does etc. are as important as monetary compensation in keeping an employee highly productive. A balance among all these factors best helps in keeping an employee productive.