case studies week 5

Opening Case : Do We Need Incentives

The primary purpose of an incentive plan is to motivate employees to work harder and to reward them for their good performance . An incentive can influence employees to become more productive and efficient workers .Considering the information about HiQuality Furniture Manufacturing that can be found in the case , it could be inferred that implementing an incentive system can help resolve the major problems and needs of the production department employees . Most of them do not produce a high output because there is nothing to motivate them to

produce more Everyone receives the same amount of salary regardless of performance level . In situations like this , employees tend to lose interest to work hard . They also have a tendency to feel unappreciated for doing a good job . Offering an incentive plan is a reflection of how much the company cares for their employees and values their hard work . If an incentive plan is implemented , the employees will develop a positive working attitude and become more enthusiastic towards their jobs . They will strive harder to provide an outstanding performance . Hence , productivity and efficiency will increase , which in turn would reduce cost . Although an incentive plan involves preparing a higher budget for salaries , it will result in higher productivity which would financially benefit not only the employees but the company as well

First , George Sims and the supervisors need to set performance standards , i .e , the level and quality of output that all employees should meet . They also need to determine what is considered as performance that is beyond the standard level and quality of output . It is also necessary to decide on what kind (s ) of incentive (s ) the company will provide considering the salary budget . How the performance will be monitored and evaluated is also a concern they need to address

Comprehensive Case : Health Care Responsibility is Shifting to the Employees

The costs of health care are rapidly rising because of the current trends . The aging baby boomers are a large part of the labor force Since they are not getting any younger , they need to take care of their health more than ever . Many employees are also feeling stressed over their jobs . When job stress builds up , it results in burnout which puts their health at risk . Overstress also triggers unhealthy habits such as overeating and smoking tobacco which could develop into a chronic disease if not avoided . Due to the demands of their jobs , many employees also have no time to exercise which negatively affects their health as well

Wellness programs allow employees to manage chronic health conditions These programs also encourage healthy behavior . Wellness programs that were developed recently encourage active participation of employees in health care by making them in charge of their health care costs . This kind of setup motivates them to change their unhealthy behavior and habits , resulting in reduced health care costs . As a result , the productivity and quality of life of employees improve

The government is one of...