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 figuratively as in “You should invest your
time and energy in many different things so that you can have wider choices
when you try to find a job.”
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 it with the other factors.
4.
Exactly what does a
business invest its money in?
--- For example, if you start an ice cream shop, you need to pay
for the building to make and sell ice cream, equipment, materials, workers,
advertisements, research and development, and so on.
5.
How can the
business benefit from educating and training its employees?
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.
Employees educated
and trained well contributes to making profits. 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.
b.
Training costs will
decrease because they will educate themselves and each other.
c.
Turnover rates and 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.
e.
Public relations
(PR) will improve as good employees will improve the image of the company.
2.
What about other
things to invest in?
a.
Place: Customers
may increase. People will try a new building or location at least once.
b.
Facilities and
materials: You can make better products that sell well more efficiently and
safely.
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.
c.
The human resources
department is treated as the most important department of a company.
［workers ≦ another
factor/other factors］
a.
It is innovation
that will help the business survive in competition.
b.
AI learns much
faster and makes better decisions than humans. They are often morally better
than humans.
c.
Going into the
global market is more important than investing in workers.
☆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.
Business owners must realize that it is not the bottom line but the workers
that their business depends on.
Marginalizing workers is not wise. 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 outsourcing for cheap
labor or by installing 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 and time. Dismissal of unskilled workers
along with robotization will bring only a short-term profit. By turning unskilled
workers who 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.
Most people will not waste the time and money for training as long
as they are treated properly. 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.
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 facilities. Marketing requires not only data but also insight and intuition
that come from knowledge and experience of a mankind, not from an AI. Sales relies
mostly on sales staff because customers or clients need to trust the company
before buying their products. Manufacturing is improved by attentiveness and
ingenuity of the workers on the assembly line. People are the decisive factors in all the areas 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. Besides, what is a
company all about if its workers are not happy and active at work?
☆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】
