Literature Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Literature Review - Essay Example Every year, companies incur a lot of undue cost just because of the slackness of employees despite the thoughtfully constructed performance appraisal systems in place. This paper explores reasons why performance appraisal systems may not be the best way to judge an employee’s abilities by conducting a thorough analysis of the workers’ needs and the various factors that influence their competence in the workplace. A lot of studies have conventionally been done to identify the factors affecting workers’ performance. However, this review will be limited to the discussion about the validity of performance appraisal systems. A lot of factors influence a worker’s performance that include but are not limited to job satisfaction, job security, allowances offered at the job, time of work, duration of work, relationship with peers, organizational structure, organizational culture, social interaction, accommodation, association with family and distance from the famil y. These and many other factors like them have a great impact on the motivation of a worker. The performance of a worker is fundamentally governed by his/her competence. Therefore, in order to study the impact of appraisal on the performance of an individual, it is customary to study the factors that influence the individual’s competence. According to Stern and Kemp (2004), competency is the product of an individual’s skill, motivation and personality traits. Various theories have been proposed at different points in time to identify the factors that play a decisive role in motivating an individual in the workplace. One of such theories that is discussed most frequently is the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory. The Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory, as the name implies, consists of a set of needs that are staged in order of priority. The following diagram depicts all stages that accommodate the hierarchical order of needs identified by Maslow: Maslowâ⠂¬â„¢s Hierarchy of Needs (Chapman, 2010). There are basically five stages of needs. The biological and physiological needs which include such things as air, water and food form the most basic needs. Life is not possible without the fulfillment of these needs. Next come the safety needs. All humans need safety and protection. Unless their safety is ensured, workers can not put in their best effort because of the resulting psychological upsets. In the present age, job security has become a big problem all over the world. Because of the economic recession, employees are being fired in large numbers and the companies are being down sized. This is a potential threat to the safety of workers, so performance appraisals can not be considered valid system for the assessment of the workers’ capabilities with such job insecurity. After getting secure, a worker wants his love and belongingness needs fulfilled. Quite often, people have to live away from their home because of work, and he nce, do not get a chance to meet the family quite often. Many employees try to fulfill their love and belongingness needs by interacting with the colleagues. However, not many are successful because all employees share common interests in the context of an organization, and hence, many develop grudges particularly as one of the employees gains more status and reward as

Gender and Equality Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Gender and Equality - Thesis Example Gender, equality and inequality all over the world vary immensely, and in various continents, the manner in which women are treated varies as a result of differences in culture. For instance, women residing in the Middle East are in most cases belittled by their spouses as well as the society because of traditional ideologies (Kelly & Breslin, 2010). On the other hand, the women in the western societies go through a different form of inequality whereby they can only access particular forms of employment, ways of living, wages as well as qualities that are similar to those enjoyed by men. Regardless of the fact that these inequalities are not supposed be inequalities as they are considered as gender aspects from a natural biological point of view in a practical manner, utilitarianism can be perceived as a form of discrimination regarding the biological difference that are evident. For instance, in the west, people of the female gender are not usually regarded as being good candidates for being employed at construction sites and other places that may be hazardous or might need the use of physical strength. In spite of the decades dedicated to feminist advances, countless inequalities against women have not been dealt with and are still in existence. The most notable is the number of women who are in corporate leadership as well as those in political leadership, which is comparatively low. Additionally, women are still entitled to low wages with this aspect being associated with fewer years of experience on the similar jobs to those being done by men as a result of pregnancy and raising children. There are also very limited opportunities for women in professional sports and numerous other areas that need some level of physical strength, as well as in the cases where there is an aspect of isolation or danger. Society also makes the women feel less safe than the men and they