GMAT考试写作指导：Issue写作范文五十

　　50. Unsatisfactory employee performance demands appropriate response from a

　　manager or supervisor. The question is what is appropriate? Some managers might

　　claim that verbal abuse and intimidation are useful in getting employees to improve.

　　While this may be true in exceptional cases, my view is that the best managerial

　　responses generally fulfill two criteria; they are respectful: and they are likely to

　　be the most effective in the long run.

　　Treating employees with respect is important in all contexts. Respect, in the most

　　basic sense, involves treating a person as equal in importance to oneself. For a manager

　　or supervisor, this means recognizing that occupying a subordinate position does not

　　make a worker a lesser person. And it means treating subordinates as one would want to

　　be treated―honestly and fairly. Using threats or verbal abuse to elicit better employee

　　performance amounts to treating a worker like the office copy machine―as an object

　　from which to get what one wants.

　　Moreover, while verbal abuse might produce the desired reaction at a particular

　　time, it is likely to backfire later. Nobody likes to be abused or intimidated. If such

　　methods were the general practice in an office or division, overall morale would

　　probably be low. And it is unlikely that employees would give 100 percent to managers

　　who so obviously disregarded them.

　　More beneficial in the long run would be careful but clear feedback to the worker

　　about specific deficiencies, along with ideas and encouragement about improvement. In

　　addition, supervisors should allow employees to explain the problem from their point of

　　view and to suggest solutions. Of course, a supervisor should never mislead a

　　subordinate into thinking that major problems with work performance are insignificant

　　or tolerable. Still, an honest message can be sent without threats or assaults on self-

　　esteem.

　　In conclusion, supervisors should avoid using verbal abuse and threats. These

　　methods degrade subordinates, and they are unlikely to produce the best results in the

　　long run. It is more respectful, and probably more effective overall, to handle cases of

　　substandard work performance with clear, honest and supportive feedback.