Friday, April 17, 2020

The Concept of Human Life Value in Relation to the Need for Life Insurance Essay Example

The Concept of Human Life Value in Relation to the Need for Life Insurance Essay Almutairi Yahya Professor Ruben Acad. Writing Reading June 4 2013 We will write a custom essay sample on The Concept of Human Life Value in Relation to the Need for Life Insurance specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Concept of Human Life Value in Relation to the Need for Life Insurance specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Concept of Human Life Value in Relation to the Need for Life Insurance specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The Concept of Human Life Value in Relation to the Need for Life Insurance Jane and Andrew had just celebrated their fifth year wedding anniversary, and they were coming from dinner when they had an accident. Unfortunately, Andrew did not survive, and Jane became paralysed from the waist down. With no one else to turn to and no way to make an income, Jane had to go back to her parents, where she became dependent on them for the rest of her life. This is a sad situation, but, unfortunately, it represents the story of many families, who are unprepared when fatal accidents happen. The families are left suffering when they lose their breadwinner. Had Andrew and Jane thought about their lives in the future, they would have purchased a life insurance policy, which would have enabled Jane to survive comfortably and even pay for her medical treatments. She would have avoided returning home to her aging parents for care. The rapid changes in life necessitate the acquiring of a life insurance policy. This is a sound financial plan that will ensure that your loved ones are not left destitute but are well taken care of and continue to enjoy a brighter tomorrow in the case of an unfortunate event to you, as the insured, especially if you are the breadwinner. Life insurance is also vital to you in the event that you are disabled. Employers can also benefit from purchasing a life insurance for their employees (assets) to regain financial cover in the event that they lose their lives or they are rendered inefficacious in a way that they can no longer work to make profits for the company. This is referred to as insurable interest. Life insurance/assurance is a security against loss of income resulting from the demise of the insured. The mentioned beneficiary receives the proceeds, and he is thus secured from the financial repercussions that would have occurred owing to the death of the insured. This paper thus aims at looking at the concept of human value in relation to the need of acquiring a life insurance. Some of the relevant sections that will act as principal topics of discussion will include the basic principles of life insurance, the benefits of life insurance, a focus of human value and the advantages disadvantages of life insurance. The human life possesses numerous values, most of which are immeasurable. For example, a person’s relationship with others creates a set of sentimental and emotional attachments. These can barely be measured or replaced with monetary value. However, such values are not the basis for life insurance even though it upholds a strong moral and social concern. The basis for the need of a life insurance cover is the fiscal worth of a human life. With regards to life insurance, the human life has monetary value in terms of its earning capacity only if someone/people or an organization depends upon it or anticipates gaining some financial benefit through it. This secures the economic state of the beneficiary in terms of financial dependence and future savings for fear that there is a negative contingency. Determining the fiscal value of human life helps in identifying the amount of life insurance needed by the beneficiary. The simplest way to work this out is by evaluating all what you pay for and whom you support. These might include things like educational costs, health insurance, mortgages, personal loans, rent, credit card debts, food and groceries, and car insurance among others. Out of these, you can then deduct the things that your family can comfortably do without such as stocks and property investments. The overall amount you get is what determines the level of life insurance that you need (Baldwin 60). Investing in a life insurance policy demands a high level of sacrifice. Life insurance encourages people to be responsible for their own families and the society (Mishra 6). This means that you voluntarily opt to continue providing and catering for your dependant’s wellbeing after death. However, the law morally obliges you to provide for your family to the extent that your financial means permit. A life insurance cover ensures that this moral obligation and financial decency persists after death. The death or disability of the head of a family should not necessarily lead to bankruptcy or financial problems for the family. However, it should be realised that the economic value of human life diminishes with the passage of time. As much as a person’s income may tend to increase indefinitely, the period of productivity lessens as each year passes. This owes to the fact that an individual’s fiscal value is indeed the unrealized earning ability in terms of skill, and it eventually diminishes as potential income is gradually converted into actual income. The basic principles of life insurance include the principle of Utmost Good Faith. The insurer and the insured should have good faith towards one another (Gulati 39). The insurer must provide the insuree with complete and correct information with regards to terms and conditions that apply while the insured should also be willing to disclose complete, clear and correct information of the subject matter. The other principle is the law of large numbers whereby the insurance company uses a large sample size to predict deaths. All life insurance principles operate with this principle. They carefully approximate mortality rates annually to balance their resources. Another principle is the insurable interest. This is whereby the insured, must have some personal relation to the policy owner, receives economic compensation in the event of death of whom they depended on. Perfected savings is another principle of life insurance where you purchase death assurance to your loved ones. This principle is, however, limited with regards to a pre-set time or a predetermined age, upon which the contract matures and compensation are made. In the event of a policyholder’s demise before the pre-set period, the insurer compensates the insured. The transfer of risk is a further vital principle for life insurance. The risk of death is not retained in your policy but spread out among all policyholders with relations to the insurer. The last principle of life insurance is the loss of minimization. This means that the policyholder needs to be careful to reduce the risk of death. This includes careful driving, indulging in proper lifestyle issues and maintaini ng your health as much as possible. The cost of insurance is heavy in the realization that you do not uphold the principle. There are numerous advantages that come with life insurance, such as the immediate infusion of cash when dealing with adverse fiscal consequences of the policyholder’s death. Life insurance guarantees protection of one’s family. The tax treatment for life insurance is quite favourable. The death benefits are usually income tax- free to the insured. It is possible for the life insurance to be exchanged for another policy such as annuity without the incurrence of current taxation. Another advantage is that it facilitates loans without affecting the benefits of the policy (Sethi and Bhatia 181-182). The life insurance policy just like any other has its cons. These include the fact that policyholders forego some current expenditure for the sake of the insured. The surrendered cash values are generally less than the premiums paid, and at times, it is impossible to recover them fully. You may outlive your insurance term and obtain no monetary benefit from the premiums you paid. The insurer also does not provide you with a permanent life insurance protection. Many people are willing to get insurance covers for their properties, but they are not willing to take life insurance, even though life is more valuable than property. The many adversities and uncertainties of life demand that a person acquire a life insurance policy. This is an indispensable measure if you care for the life of those who depend on you. Taking a life insurance cover is proof that a person cares for his or her family, and is concerned about their welfare in case of any eventuality. Some people put off taking life policies because they think that they will be okay so long as they take care of themselves. However, it is not possible to predict death, and it is prudent to consider taking a life insurance policy. Works Cited Akrani, Gaurav. The Principles of Life Insurance- 7 Basic General Insurance Principles. 2011. Web. June 2, 2013 Baldwin, G. Ben. The Complete Book of Insurance: The Consumer’s Guide to Insuring Your Life, Health, Property, and Income. Burr Bridge: Irwin Professional Publishing, 1996. Print. CIFP Learning. Introduction to Life Insurance. Web. June 2, 2013 Gulati, C. Neelam. Principles of Insurance Management: A Special Focus on Developments in Indian Insurance Sector Pre and Post Liberalisation. New Delhi: Excel Books India, 2009. Print LIFE. What You Need to Know about Life Insurance. 2009. Web. June 2, 2013 Luke, Chris. Principles of Life Insurance Policy. 2012. Web. June 2, 2013 Mishra, Kaninika. Fundamentals of Life Insurance: Theories and Applications. New Delhi: PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd, 2010. Print Sethi, Jyotana and Nishwan, Bhatia. Elements of Banking and Insurance. New Delhi: PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd., 2007. Print

Saturday, March 14, 2020

Know Your Regional Vocabulary

Know Your Regional Vocabulary Know Your Regional Vocabulary Know Your Regional Vocabulary By Mark Nichol One of the delightful facts about American English is that even though the rich regional variety of pronunciation and vocabulary ever diminishes, we’re still a long way from universal treatment of the language, and that’s an important detail for writers to observe. Take soda, for example. I mean pop. I mean coke. Each of these three terms for carbonated beverages is prevalent in various parts of the United States, and the respective regional dominations aren’t likely to go flat soon. According to a Web site that invites visitors to engage in an ongoing electronic survey of word usage, coke is it in the South, in much of Arizona and isolated other parts of the Southwest, and, curiously, in pockets of south and central Indiana. (The dominance of coke in the South may have something to do with the fact that Coca-Cola is based in Atlanta.) Pop, however, is the dominant variant in terms of geographical coverage, popping up throughout the northern states outside New England and rarely elsewhere. Soda, by contrast, which accounts for a slim majority by population, is the term of choice in the Northeast, in and around Miami and St. Louis, in eastern Michigan, and in much of Northern California and Arizona. (This Northern Californian concurs, though I call carbonated beverages â€Å"soft drinks.† But I don’t drink them, so what do I know?) Other, relatively rare synonyms are tonic in the Boston area and dope in some parts of North Carolina and South Carolina. (The latter term perhaps derives from the fact that originally, Coca-Cola contained cocaine hence the brand name.) The dominant vocabulary in selected other nations includes â€Å"soft drink† for Australia and New Zealand (no, I’m not from Down Under), mineral in Ireland, and pop in Canada. What does what you call a carbonated beverage have to do with writing? Whether you’re writing fiction or nonfiction, it behooves you to adhere to the local dialect, including vocabulary, when you’re engaging with regional culture. That’s easy for many authors, who write about their own neck of the woods and are intimately familiar with the local word-hoard. But if you’re going to virtually venture afar in your writing, make sure your characters don’t stand out as strangers by the way they talk unless, of course, that’s the point: A great strategy for showing, not telling, in a fish-out-of-water tale is to introduce the character by having them, for example, ask for a tonic when they sit down at a diner in the rural South. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Homograph Examples50 Types of Propaganda45 Idioms About the Number One

Wednesday, February 26, 2020

I will be able to provide you with more info once we get started Research Paper

I will be able to provide you with more info once we get started - Research Paper Example Language particularly the mother tongue is probably sensitive index for exploring the ethnic composition of the populations. Statistics based on the ability to speak a specified language or languages are perhaps the least useful measures for identifying the ethnic groups but they have a utility in connecting with the problems of educating and communicating with linguistic minorities and they are means of pointing out heterogeneity of languages within the country and measuring their individual strength. Such data are specially important in countries where more than one official language is being spoken. Two major types of errors in census data leads to over and under enumeration of the population in census the first one being the coverage errors and the second one being the content errors which affect the accuracy of the information collected for the covered population. Since coverage errors occurs most frequently in a population or subgroup than others it may affect not only the abso lute number of persons in a given category but also their relative distribution. Levels and patterns of coverage and content errors differs widely across countries and even from census to census in a given country. Data on mother tongue are designed to identify the cultural or ethnic groups in population by languages reported to have been spoken in early childhood presumably before immigration. Objective and Aim of the Study In this study I wanted to test the hypothesis the relation of languages spoken ( first and second languages) in country by the population in relation to birth in that country or may be an immigrant. Methodology We randomly collected data from a population called R and interviewed them on the languages spoken( first and second languages) and were also asked whether they were born in that country or not. While making this study we wanted to minimize the predicted errors of missing data, coverage errors and content errors. We simply left out the missing data while doing our analysis. Results Fig 1 reflects the data collected in the percentage of the population( valid data country born and preference of language spoken) versus the missing data percentage of population which was left out from the survey Fig 2: Series one reflects the frequency of population speaking language in the country versus the series 2 whether born or not born in that country. The correlation coefficient was calculated about the percentages of population surveyed and language spoken found that the correlation co-efficient was 1 which indicated that the language spoken is definitely related to the birth in a country that means the more the population born in a particular country more he speaks the first or native language of that

Monday, February 10, 2020

Persuading My parents Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Persuading My parents - Essay Example I made my parents believe that they could respect and trust me. The central point in using ethos was to make my parents that I was worth listening to, that I could understand life. I made them understand that I had the same reasoning as they did. Additionally, I used Pathos to persuade to my parent’s emotions. The language I chose to address my parents, and the diction appealed to their emotions to let me have the freedom I felt I deserved. I made them become empathetic of my situation, thus helping them grant me the freedom to do as permitted by my age. I used emotional appeal (pathos) of my parents by appreciating the love and support they had shown me throughout my life. I told them that they were the most important people in my life. I could never have a better care. I added that I thanked God for the wonderful parents He enabled me to have. I said it was my sincere hope and daily wish that I would be able to inch close to the superior support parenting they had shown me to their grandchildren. It is their splendid upbringing that I cited to be the foundation of the strides I had so far made in my life. While appealing to my credibility, ethos, I made them aware that I had just turned 21 years. I did not claim to be too big for their care. I told them that I knew and would always acknowledge the significant role they held in my life. I told them that they would forever be the anchor upon which my life would be secured (The English Club, 2009). I, however, requested that thy grant me a little more freedom than I got at that time. As far as I knew, the seemingly over-protection they were showing me was because of their sincere love for me. I told them I understood that they did not wish that any ugly incident would happen to me. However, at that juncture, I wished to confirm to them that I would not get into much trouble if a little more freedom would be granted by staying away from trouble as much as I have always

Thursday, January 30, 2020

King James I Essay Example for Free

King James I Essay Brianna Ruiz Period 2 03-11-07 King James: Political and Personal Who is King James I? Many may know him as the man who translated the bible into the English language. Or the one who not only controlled English monarchy, but also the Scottish. Some may beg to differ, but, King James played an important role in history. According to Paul Van Somer, James was the son of Mary Queen of Scots and Lord Danley guaranteed him a spot to one day take the throne. Unfortunately his inheritance occurred sooner than expected. Soon after his birth, Lord Danley passed away under mysterious circumstances and his mother was forced to abdicate because of her future imprisonment. So there he was, 13 months old, and now the king of Scotland. As if becoming king wasnt enough, he had to grow up without a mother or father; instead he was raised by his tutor, George Buchanan. Although he despised Buchanan, James learned a lot from him, many have even said James was one of the most intellectual kings in England. Under Buchanans studies James learned how to speak fluent Greek, Latin, French, English and Scots. James was also well educated in history, composition, arithmetic, dialectics, rhetoric and theology. James had been born with many physical disabilities in which he had to suffer from most of his life. His handicaps consisted of leg disabilities and a tongue too large for his mouth. Because of this he often would choke on his own saliva and had a very noticeable lisp. James also suffered from crippling arthritis, abominable colic, gout, insomnia, spastic limbs, constant nausea/diarrhea and kidney pains. Bruce)Despite the fact that he was not the most physically gifted man, he was able to find a wife that loved him. When he was nineteen years old, he met the woman that would soon be his wife, Anne of Denmark. Together they had nine children, three of which lived past child birth. James and Anne had a great relationship together, even though James was allegedly bi-sexual. These allegations occurred soon after his somewhat intimate relationship with Esme Stuart, whom James crowned Duke of Lennox. According to Linda Bruce, these two men had a public homosexual relationship with each other. Despite these rumors, Anne and James continued to live their life, as a happily married couple. When one speaks of King James I, you cannot help but mention the fact that he strongly believed in the divine right of kings, which he was supposedly introduced to by Esme. This was the idea that kings or ruler was not chosen by the people, but instead they are given the opportunity to rule from god. God must have really wanted James to be a ruler, because when James was about 36 years old, his cousin, Elizabeth I had died. Since she did not have any other living relatives, the throne of England was passed down to James. Therefore causing James to become the first ruler to take over the thrones of both England and Scotland. After this sudden coronation, James felt it would be necessary that he moved, so he immediately packed his bags and moved to London, England his now permanent home. Within months after this sudden move, Scotland became sudden chaos. Things in England didnt end up too well either. Within immediate arrival to London, James had already sent a thief to be hanged without undergoing the proper trial. Along the trip to London he knighted 300 people, and within a time period of four months he had knighted more people than Elizabeth did during her entire reign. Another problem that the English did not appreciate, was that James did not know how to manage his money, so he was constantly spending money on expensive clothes and jewelry because of the assumption that England was a rich country Shortly after the kings shopping sprees, prices began to drastically rise. This obviously upset the people greatly; James even had to sell off some of the English land to pay off his debt. Along with the English, the Catholic Church was also greatly agitated with James. The Catholics and James have had conflicts for years, but once peace was declared between Spain, they assumed that James would finally let go of his anger with the church. James had even promised to decrease the amount of laws pertaining to the Catholics and to get rid of the fines that they would have to pay for attending sermons. James did not fulfill his promises and reinstated the old laws. This enraged the Catholics and they decided to get revenge and summon up a plot to blow up the House of the Lords, if theyre plan was successful everyone inside the house would be killed. The House of the Lords was warned about this plot, and before anything happened they imprisoned most of the plotters.

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Oprah :: essays research papers fc

Oprah Winfrey's Biography Through the power of media, Oprah Winfrey has created an unparalleled connection with people around the world. As supervising producer and host of the top-rated, award-winning The Oprah Winfrey Show, she has entertained, enlightened and uplifted millions of viewers for the past two decades. Her accomplishments as a television pioneer, producer, publisher, educator and philanthropist have established her as one of the most respected and admired public figures today. Television Pioneer Magazine Founder & Editorial Director Producer/Actress Online Leader Philanthropist Television Programming Creator Cable Network Co-Founder Honorary Achievements TELEVISION PIONEER Oprah began her broadcasting career at WVOL radio in Nashville while still in high school. At the age of 19, she became the youngest person and the first African-American woman to anchor the news at Nashville's WTVF-TV. She then relocated to Baltimore's WJZ-TV to co-anchor the Six O'Clock News and later went on to become co-host of its local talk show, People Are Talking. In 1984, Oprah moved to Chicago to host WLS-TV's morning talk show, AM Chicago, which became the number one local talk show—surpassing ratings for Donahue—just one month after she began. In less than a year, the show expanded to one hour and was renamed The Oprah Winfrey Show. It entered national syndication in 1986, becoming the highest-rated talk show in television history. In 1988, she established Harpo Studios, a production facility in Chicago, making her the third woman in the American entertainment industry (after Mary Pickford and Lucille Ball) to own her own studio. The Oprah Winfrey Show has remained the number one talk show for 18 consecutive seasons*. Produced by her own production company, Harpo Productions, Inc., the show is seen by an estimated 30 million viewers a week in the United States** and is broadcast internationally in 111 countries. back to top MAGAZINE FOUNDER AND EDITORIAL DIRECTOR In April 2000, Oprah and Hearst Magazines introduced O, The Oprah Magazine, a monthly magazine that has become one of today's leading women's lifestyle publications. It is credited as being the most successful magazine launch in recent history and currently has a circulation of 2.7 million readers each month. In April 2002, Oprah launched the first international edition of O, The Oprah Magazine in South Africa, extending her live your best life message to another broad audience. In 2004, O at Home, a newsstand-only quarterly shelter magazine designed to help readers create a home that reflects their personal style, made its debut.

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Job Enrichment Essay

The cost of not applying this people-oriented philosophy is that workers become unmotivated, and dissatisfied which leads to low productivity and quality and high absenteeism and turnover rates. The average turnover rate in the building service industry is more than 100 percent. This means that if you have a crew of 10, you will have to hire more than 10 new people over the course of a year just to maintain your crew. You will spend a lot of time filling in for the employees who quit, adjusting work schedules, training replacements and answering a thousand questions from people who don’t have the authority or the knowledge to make decisions on their own. High turnover in the industry is even more significant for another reason: It means that we aren’t doing our job well as supervisors and managers. All levels of management must know how to work with people. Compensation and the work itself are factors, but management certainly shares responsibility when a worker quits. Study after study shows that workers can be motivated to work hard if they are involved, given responsibility and recognized. Job enrichment is one way to accomplish this. The Case For Job Enrichment Most employees are trying to reach the economic level at which their basic needs for food, shelter, health care, job security and the like will be fulfilled. Usually less fulfilled but equally important, are the employee’s intangible needs for knowledge, achievement and general self-satisfaction. These higher-level needs can be fulfilled only through work that is personally significant or meaningful to the employee. Meaningful work not only improves the motivation of employees and serves their human needs, but also increases their productivity and the overall effectiveness of the organization. 10 Meaningful work: ⠝‹ Involves employees in the identification and solution of problems that affect them and the organization. ⠝‹ Provides employees with the feeling – not the pretense – that they are personally contributing to the organization. ⠝‹ Provides employees with the opportunity to do the work they do best. If employees are performing meaningful work, they are highly involved in solving work problems that touch them personally and they share in the planning, organizing and controlling of what they do. With this comes increased understanding, achievement and stimulation, which combine to boost motivation and the organization’s effectiveness. One of the most effective ways to make work more meaningful is through vertical job loading or job enrichment. It goes a long way toward ensuring that the job satisfies people’s higher level needs and that employees are motivated to greater performance. Job enrichment can reduce turnover and give supervisors more time for work that cannot be easily delegated. Taking the time to build in motivators can result in increased job satisfaction and much smoother operations for your company. The argument for job enrichment can be summed up quite simply: If you have people on the job, use them. If you can’t use them on the job, let them go. If you can’t use them and you can’t let them go, you will have a motivation problem. Principles Of Job Enrichment Job enrichment is essentially a structured system of increasing employee responsibility and authority through effective, welldirected delegation. However, it is important to remember that only responsibility and authority can be delegated; accountability cannot. With that in mind, let’s look at the five principles of job enrichment. Principle 1: Remove controls. The first principle of job enrichment is to remove some controls while still retaining accountability. As dis- BSCAI Services Magazine November 2005 cussed above, the supervisor must always retain accountability but can remove or lessen some of the controls on subordinates when they are ready for it. Obviously, this can’t be done with employees who have just started on the job. If it is, they’ll be overwhelmed and confused, and the results will be disastrous— for them and for their supervisors. But it can and should be done when the employee is ready for it. Example 3. A lead person with a particular knack for training is made an on-the-job trainer. Example. When a cleaner has completed an initial training period, the supervisor checks on his work less often, perhaps weekly instead of nightly. Vertical Versus Horizontal Loading In this example, the employee has achieved a certain level of expertise. That achievement is recognized, not just with words, but also with actions. The fact that some controls are being removed demonstrates confidence in the employee. It increases the employee’s responsibility and control over his or her own work, and that improves motivation. Principle 2: Assign a complete natural unit of work. The second principle of job enrichment is to assign employees a complete project—a complete natural unit of work—whenever possible. Doing this increases their sense of accomplishment. They can see the results of their own work more clearly. It increases their accountability for that work and fosters pride in a job well done. Example. A cleaning team is given complete responsibility for everything within their area. Of course, the employees must see these as positive changes, and be interested in making them. Assigning new or specialized tasks recognizes some special ability in an individual employee, and it provides an opportunity for growth and advancement. One warning: It is important to distinguish between vertical job loading and horizontal job loading. Job enrichment involves vertical loading, or increasing the importance of the job upward. Horizontal loading merely increases the amount of work required without providing for growth and more responsibility. Here are some examples of horizontal job loading: ⠝‹ Rotating the assignments of a number of jobs that need to be enriched. This means general office cleaning for a while, then restrooms, then trash removal, etc. ⠝‹ Removing the most difficult parts of the assignment in order to free the worker to accomplish more of the less challenging assignments. ⠝‹ Challenging employees by increasing the amount of production expected. If the employee cleans 4,000 feet a night, see if he or she can clean 5,000. Principle 3: Give employees additional authority. The third principle of job enrichment is to give employees additional authority and freedom. Whenever possible, people should be given the authority to make decisions about their own work. Example. An experienced work crew is given responsibility for inspecting their own work. Obviously, the additional authority has to be realistic and consistent with the person’s job, and the person has to be ready for it. This is different from just piling on more work. It is giving the person some new authority and responsibility because he or she has demonstrated competence in other areas. This gives people recognition and a sense of achievement, and that again improves their motivation. Principle 4: Make reports directly available. The fourth principle of job enrichment is to make periodic reports available directly to employees rather than just to their supervisors. Example. Inspection reports are given directly to the crew responsible for cleaning the area. Again, this lets employees know that they are important. It gives them recognition, keeps them informed, and gives them direct feedback on their performance. Principle 5: Assign new or specialized tasks. The last principle of job enrichment is to assign people new or specialized tasks, enabling them to become experts. Example 1. A general cleaner is trained to become a floor machine operator. Example 2. An employee is given responsibility for quality control for an entire account or series of accounts. Circle No. 11 on Free Inquiry Card November 2005 BSCAI Services Magazine These examples of horizontal job loading do nothing to make a job meaningful and should be avoided at all costs. They actually reduce the employee’s personal contribution rather than providing an opportunity for growth within the job. In confusing horizontal for vertical loading, supervisors and managers often merely enlarge a job’s meaninglessness instead of enriching it. Developing A Job Enrichment Program Whether or not you apply these job enrichment principles depends on you and the people who work for you. While nearly everyone needs recognition and a sense of accomplishment, not all employees want more challenging work, additional responsibility, and a chance for advancement. Some workers may be meeting their higher level needs off the job, they may have other needs entirely, or they may simply lack the ability. Other employees, though, will have the potential and desire for more. They may need to be coached because of fear or a sense of inadequacy or they may need to be prodded because of a lack of ambition. But they should be encouraged to take advantage of opportunities, if they have the potential to better themselves and the company. For those employees who have the potential and the drive to move up, managers and supervisors have a responsibility to provide opportunities for further training and advancement. According to Steve Garcia, CBSE, of SMI Facility Services of Albuquerque, New Mexico, job enrichment begins when the employee is hired. The employee needs to feel that his or her employment is not a dead-end job. It should be explained to him or her that the goal of the company is to train, develop and promote employees.   And, notes Garcia, it is important that the company follows through with this process. â€Å"In most cases, company training involves learning only how to clean, which is fine, in the beginning, but I think shortly thereafter it should go a step further by teaching employees how to inspect, how to interact with customers and how to train new employees.† â€Å"Imagine telling your cleaner that you will be stopping by tonight to review an inspection report he has filled out himself,† he continues,â€Å"I think you will find in most cases the facility will meet or exceed the expectations of the company and the customer. Your employee will also feel his role with the company is more than just a janitor. He will realize he plays a key role in the entire process.† In addition, Garcia believes job enrichment allows a company to have a pool of well-qualified, loyal employees, which can move into higher positions within the company. Approach these jobs with the positive attitude that they can be changed even though years of tradition may have led managers and supervisors to believe that the content of the jobs is unchangeable. Get Employee Input Once the jobs are selected, the next step is direct participation by the employees whose jobs are to be enriched. Get a group of workers together to develop a list of changes that may enrich these jobs. They will be a valuable source of ideas and their participation will help ensure the success of any changes. Do not be concerned about the practicality of their suggestions at this time. Just generate a list without getting sidetracked into discussions about how they could be implemented. Once the list is complete, you and the group should screen the list to eliminate suggestions that involve dissatisfiers rather than actual motivation. (You may want to implement changes that eliminate dissatisfiers as well, but right now your focus should be on job motivators.) You should also screen the list to eliminate any horizontal loading suggestions. Be sure suggestions are specific and concrete. Generalities, such as â€Å"Give us more responsibility,† are very difficult to implement and are virtually meaningless. You want things you can carry out and measure or observe in some way. For example:The work team will inspect their own work nightly and the supervisor will inspect weekly. This actually gives the team more responsibility but in a specific, defined way that can be implemented and observed for its effectiveness. Use direct participation by the employees whose jobs are to be enriched. They will be a valuable source of ideas and their participation will help ensure the success of any changes. Implement The Program Once the job enrichment program begins, there may initially be a drop in performance. This is because changeover to a new job or way of doing things can lead to a temporary reduction in efficiency. But don’t lose faith! If the above steps are taken and the principles of vertical job enrichment followed, your employees will be motivated to achieve the growth and self-fulfillment they need and want. Clearly, job enrichment takes some work. It has to be built into a job. That takes some time and effort at the beginning but like good training, it will pay off with more motivated employees who are willing to work hard and capable of working independently. Ultimately that means improved motivation and job satisfaction. Select The Right Jobs The first step in putting job enrichment into practice is to select those jobs as candidates for job enrichment that meet the following criteria: $ Current attitudes are poor Motivation will make a difference in performance Changes will not be too costly This article was excerpted from the Building Service Management Program Volume Three – Motivation And Training. The program is a multi-volume training course that covers the technical aspects of cleaning and maintaining buildings as well as the management skills required in an increasingly complex and demanding industry. For more information on the program, contact BSCAI’s Information Central at 1-800-368-3414 or visit www.bscai.org go to the on-line store and click on publications. BSCAI Services Magazine November 2005