Speaking 006

Hiring and Compensating Employees

Questions for Discussion:

• Suppose you are in charge of hiring a new employee for your firm. You have to decide between two persons. One is a person with many years of experience in a company very similar to yours who has only a high school education. The other person is a recent university graduate with a degree in a field closely related to your company’s business.

Which person would you choose?Why?

• Most business in North America compensate their employees according to the “merit principle.” Businesses in many other parts of the world have traditionally relied on seniority to determine how much pay and other benefits a worker should receive.

Which do you think is the better system?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?

 

KEYWORDS:

firm – an association for carrying on a business; company

degree – (Education) an academic title conferred by universities and colleges as an indication of the completion of a course of study

compensate – to recompense an employee for a worthy job or loyalty towards the company

merit principle – a system wherein the company compensate an employee for his/her excellent/worthy job

seniority – a system of being senior in the company