Compensation and Benefit (Case Study Sample)

Title: Management
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Performance pay also called merit pay can be defined as a system that remunerates its employees in relation to an assessment of individual performance and how well one works. Such systems basically are meant to align employees’ individual effort to the goals and objectives of the organization. Hence it is a reward to individual employees whose tasks have been considered to be above the set standards of an organization or above average.
In cases and situations where the output produced or sales produced by an employee are hard or difficult to be empirically determined, performance pay is most applicable; for examples in the teaching profession. In cases of performance payment, individual performance is usually reviewed regularly through a process called performance appraisal. Performance appraisal helps in establishing and identifying if the set objectives and standards are in line with the performance results. Generally, performance pay is usually rewarded on basis of performance results rather than on the time worked, (Council, 2011 ).
Performance pay for teachers has been quite a subject of contention in many places and especially in the USA. Performance pay is meant to compensate teachers based on a set of performance standard and does not consider a teacher’s level of education or the level of experience gained. Hence, the more outstanding results a teacher produces from the students, the more the teacher is to be paid. Merit pay does not necessarily come in form of financial rewards but it can be take other forms such as promotions and public recognition, (Wragg, 2012).
However there are various disputes on the effectiveness of merit pay such as how performance can be empirically measured and arguments such as performance pay may encourage unhealthy competition among teachers eventually leading to the narrowing down of schools curriculum
Various teachers unions such as the National Educational Union and The American Federal of Teachers have been on the fore front to offering resistance and opposing the performance pay. The unions have offered many arguments as to the reasons why they are rejecting the performance pay system such as ; the unions argue that performance payment does not offer equal opportunities and standards while performing and conducting the process of evaluation,(Council,2011). Evaluation is a process that seeks to establish if the set objectives are in line with the performance results.
The unions do not support the system also because they believe it encourages cheating on the part of the teachers where they implicate students results in order to publically portray good performance .For example, 180 teachers had allegations of cheating in Atlanta in 2011 and also similar allegations were reported in areas of Philadelphia and Houston,(Council,2011).
Trade unions are for the opinion that performance pay may eventually lead to schools curriculum and syllabus being narrowed down. This will be as a result of teachers focusing more on testing in order to improve on performance, (Council,2011 ). This will eventually lead to the schools’ curriculum being under mined and ignored.
One of the many objectives of Trade unions is to protect its members,(Werner,2005). Introduction of merit pay may lead to the weeding out, sacking and termination of the incompetent teachers who do not produce outstanding results. Hence trade unions have to protect their members by giving them a sense of job security. By failing to do so the trade unions will be failing on implementing one of their obligations of protecting the teachers .
Arguments for Merit pay to teachers has recently been applauded and is receiving some recognition from various bodies such as members of the public and some of the teachers themselves though many argue against this form of compensation as it could lead to unhealthy competition. However merit pay or performance payment has advantages tied to it such as;
Any person will always feel motivated and happy when they are adequately compensated and paid bonuses. As a result of good compensation an employee will want to work extra harder in order to give back to the employer in form of productivity .Therefore rewarding teachers whose students excel in class will serve as a driving and motivating factor for the teacher to work even harder.
Retaining teachers in the teaching profession is also a factor for supporting the argument to embrace the performance pay system. One of the many reasons why organizations compensate their employees is to attract skilled workforce to the organization and also to retain employees in to the organization. Hence rewarding the most effective teachers will make teachers not leave the profession but stick to the profession since their needs will be adequately met.
Comparison of teachers to workers in the private sector who are paid and rewarded in accordance to their performance and efficiency has also been made. Employees who are more efficient are paid more compared to the less efficient employees, hence on extension teachers should not be an exemption, (Bebchuk, 2001).
Another reason for the support of performance pay is that teachers are known everywhere to work really hard. Hence to recognize on the efforts of such teachers merit pay based on their performance output could even encourage and act as a motivating factor to many.
Merit pay to the teachers has its disadvantages as well according to many studies and researches that been conducted. Pay based on how well the students perform has been concluded to cause vices such as favoritism on the part of the teacher to some students. This method of payment also has been said to be unfair since it is not an accurate determinant of testing attributes that constitute a good teacher.
Merit pay also creates an atmosphere of unhealthy competition among teachers which can eventually counter production and effectiveness. However, on the other hand it should promote cooperation and not unhealthy completion among teachers.
No teacher would want to teacher academically challenged students since such students would reflect a negative image of a teacher’s teaching methods and effectiveness, hence such students would always be denied access to good and quality education whereas education is a basic right to everybody.
Many factors are attributed to the excellent performance of a student. While a teacher’s influence is one of the many factors that contribute to a student’s performance, it cannot be said to be the only factor. Factors like genetic composition and the students general environment also greatly determine how a student performs hence rewarding a teacher based on students performance can seem to be a method that overlooks other essential factors that also determines how well a student’s performs.
The argument that teaching is not a business where a business aims at maximizing profits also comes in to place. Hence compensation methods and models applied in business entities should not be used in compensating teachers,(Middlewood,2001). This can consequently encourage unhealthy competition among teachers which in return counters teaching effectiveness.
Cases of teachers cheating on ...