On 26 Jan 98 at 9:31, Ben Compton wrote:
> I don't see variance in
> performance enough evidence to justify not ranking employees according to
> their value. The fact is there will always be some employees who are more
> valuable than others. It is important to make this distinction, and reward
> accordingly. Otherwise people might be rewarded f or work they have not
> done, while those who have done the work are not rewarded as well as they
> should be and that would be unethical.
The issue to me is HOW employees are evaluated. If an employee is
contributing beyond what I might ask for and expect in any given period,
why should they be penalized if someone else is even better. Both are
adding value.
> I would say that is indicative of an employees value. And so would
> everyone else in a company. That's what creates the competition in the
> first place: The desire to be paid more money, which means I must pit my
> skill against everyone elses.
I think the above is a debatable point, and is a narrow perception of
human motivation in the workplace, but that's another topic.
> > Why is it necessary to create competition between employees
> > when we want teamwork between employees?
>
> Why does competition automatically preclude teamwork? Can't they exist
> together?
No (mostly), and you can apply your own argument. If I am evaluated with
respect to others around me and money is given that way, you are rewarding
me for a) improving or b) contributing to a drop in productivity among my
"competitors".
I don't think the (b) is common but what is common are things like 1)
hoarding of resources 2) refusal to help "competitors" when that help
would permit the organization to be better as a whole 3) constant and
continual backroom politicking for resources, favour and 4) great attempts
to manage perception, avoid blame, and reallocate blame.
All of these (and many more) are logical outcomes on internal competition
gone "bad" and rewarded.
Robert Bacal, Inst.For Cooperative Communication, rbacal@escape.ca
Visit our Resource Centre for articles on mgmt.,training,communication, and defusing hostility
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