Ferdinand F. Fournies Why Employees Term Paper

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" The question then becomes, if people are not going to out of their way to contribute to the success of the business or office unless they get rewards, what rewards are appropriate? The following may seem almost "no-brainer" in its simplicity, but Fournies explains there are two kinds of rewards: a) those externally delivered that are tangible ("jellybeans," "money," a "trophy") or intangible ("a verbal compliment" or a "smile"); b) and those internal (people talk to themselves about achieving some goal and say things like, "I am an honest person," or "I am a hard worker," or "I am working less and getting away with it") rewards.

What Fournies points out - cogently and importantly - is that "small rewards received immediately and frequently seem to have more effect on performance than larger rewards delivered long after performance" (34).

In Chapter 12 ("There Is No Negative Consequence to Them for Poor Performance") (58-60), Fournies takes on a difficult problem: the slacker employee that even though he or she is incompetent, and has a personnel file jammed with negative reports, just keeps getting bounced to different departments and hangs on. Sometimes, the author explains, management just doesn't know the subordinate is failing, and that is a failing of management; meantime, when an employee is performing work they like badly, "assign work they do not like to do"; and, this seems a "no-brainer" again, but "when an employee willfully performs badly, demote him or her," or "deny or delay raises until performance improves.

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And then there is "the big one," as the author describes on page 75: "one of the biggest frustrations for managers," and that is the issue of "personal problems." The category of "personal problems" may include family arguments, divorce, unreliable babysitters," car problems, family deaths, and other matters; and what sets these workers apart is that (according to Fournies' bullets on page 76) they may: "spend excessive time on the phone handling personal problems"; make errors on the job and "spend a lot of time talking" with colleagues about their problems; become "rude" with customers because of stress from home; arrive late for a variety of reasons, all connected to the personal problem. Solutions? Fournies says: "at least half" of the reasons ("personal problems") for non-performance are reasons only because "managers permit them to be reasons"; he says "permit employees to take time off," but ask them to make up the time in the future when it's more convenient." The most practical and intelligent advice the author offers on "personal problems" is found on page 81: "...tell them it is okay to be bothered by personal problems as long as they do what they are supposed to on the job."

Reference

Fournies, Ferdinand F. (1999). Why Employees Don't Do What….....

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"Ferdinand F Fournies Why Employees", 28 February 2005, Accessed.6 June. 2026,
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