TOEFL iBT Independent Writing. The most important thing business corporations should invest in is the education and training of their employees. - revised -

Writing Topic

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. The most important thing business corporations should invest in is the education and training of their employees.

☆Let’s Think

1.      What is investment?

--- Investment is spending resources in something for future returns. The word investment usually means buying stocks, which will increase capitals of corporations. If the company does well, investors will gain returns (dividends). We also use the word investment figuratively as in “You should invest your time and energy in many things so that you can have wider choices when you try to find a job.” Thus, investment is spending many kinds of resources for future returns.

2.      What is the major goal of the corporation?

--- The major goal of the corporation is to make profits. They invest their money to make profits,

3.      How can you decide that something is the most important?

--- To decide that something is the most important, we need to compare the thing with all the other counterparts.

4.      What does a business invest its resources in?

--- For example, if you start an ice cream shop, you need a place, some equipment, materials, workers, advertisements, research and development, and so on.

5.      How will well-educated employees contribute to making profits?

6.      Is educating employees more important than renting a good-looking building, buying efficient machines, buying better ingredients, using a famous advertising company, or upgrading or inventing a good product or service? Why/Why not?

☆Hints for Points

1.    Well-educated employees will contribute to making profits. What will happen if you make more efforts in educating and training employees? Here are some results you can expect.

a.    Productivity will increase because they will work more efficiently. They will work more in less time with fewer mistakes and then.

b.    Training costs will decrease because they will educate themselves and each other.

c.     Turnover rates and lower hiring costs will be lower because they will be loyal to the company.

d.    They will contribute to evolving the company especially when it needs to change if they become loyal to the company.

e.     Public relations (PR) will improve as good employees will improve the company image.They will help distinguish your company from your competitors.

2.    What about other things to invest in?

a.    Place: Customers may increase. Consumers will give it a try with a new building.

b.    Facilities and materials: You can make better products more efficiently and more safely, and they can sell well.

c.     Advertisement: You can make your company known to more people. You might also get consumers to have better image of the company and the products.

d.    Research and development (R & D): The goods and services the company provides will be more competitive.

3.    What is the decisive reason?

［workers > other factors］

a.    A machine will not change but a person will.

b.    Loyalty, morale, and passion are vital for a company to survive.

［workers ≦ another factor/other factors］

a.    It is innovation that will make the firm survive in competition.

b.    AI learns much faster and makes better decisions than humans.

☆Essay for Ideas and Expressions

Because of the contract stipulating that corporations work in order to increase the capital that their shareholders have invested in, most companies treat their workers as consumable supplies. However, I believe that the most important thing business corporations should invest in is the education and training of their employees. Employees are the roots of a company tree and they should be treated well.

Many companies give workers little education and easily make them redundant. Not only do they lay off workers for better bottom lines but also they try to cut costs by offshoring for cheap labor or using robots. However, not to speak of being inhumane, these practices will not lead to development of the company. Uneducated workforce cannot perform well. High absenteeism and serious errors caused by their low morale will cost the company money, which can be prevented by education and training. Dismissal of unskilled workers along with robotization will bring only a short-term profit. By turning unskilled workers that are diligent but are to be replaced by robots into skilled workers, companies will be free from the problem of skilled labor shortage and can make long-term profits. Marginalizing workers is not wise.

Training workers is beneficial because it pays off more than investing in machines. If you spend some extra time and money to show your employees how the business works, they will have more interest in it. If you show them how to work quickly and neatly, they will practice it. If you share your ideas about a new product, they can come up with better ones. You might also receive valuable information or opinions from the people who actually do the job. There is an idea that people work for money and educating them does little to improve their performance, but it is condescending to have such an idea about workers. Most people have desire for improvement and companies should invest in it. If frequent training makes some workers unhappy for some reason and can have adverse effect, training sessions except for basic ones can be made optional. Yet, most people will not waste the time and money for training as long as they are treated properly.

In terms of other areas of investment a company has to consider, it should be remembered that the performance of the people who are in charge will determine the outcome. Product development needs the brain for innovation more than anything else. Marketing requires not only data but also insight and intuition that come from knowledge and experience of a mankind, not an AI. Sales relies mostly on sales staff because customers need to trust the company before buying their products. Manufacturing is improved by attentiveness and ingenuity of the workers on the floor. People are the decisive factor in any area of investment of business.

Personnel are the most valuable asset of a company, which determines the total productivity of the company. Therefore, their training and education is the most important thing for business corporations to invest in.

☆Body Structure Samples

Sample Body Structure A

【Body 1】Merits of employee education

【Body 2】Merits of other types of investment

【Body 3】Your decision

Sample Body Structure B

【Body 1】Benefit of employee education 1

【Body 2】Benefit of employee education 2

【Body 3】Reasons why employee education outweigh other types of investment

Your original body structure

【Point 1】

【Point 2】

【Point 3】