ETH 301 WK 3 Discussion Board

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Title: ETH 301 WK 3 Discussion board
March 3, 2015
Merit, in organizational terms can simply be interpreted to mean pay on performance, or rather, the incentivization of employee output to the organization. It is different from salary in the sense that it is more of a bonus pay, in addition to what the company periodically pays the employees as their right. Merit has developed with the advent of new managerial practices which has closely tagged performance with pay.
A huge amount of focus has been placed upon the concept of merit, with the general belief that employees will increase their role productivity when they are offered an incentive, be it short term or long-term (Riley,2012).Companies as well, perceive merit to be of great importance,and therefore justify their need to pay for it. They see it as a way to retain their most talented employees since they might get better deals elsewhere and leave in case there is no meritocracy. It also ensures the long-term stability of the company especially the long-term merit programs.
However, this concept is also under some criticism from various circles due to a number of reasons. The concept is viewed as ineffective, especially when it comes to the determination of which pay to give to which performance. There is also a lack of a clear relation between merit, productivity and job advancement. For example, it is very rare for an employee to be promoted to managerial levels even though they have consistently shown merit in discharge of their duties (Schmidt, 2015). It is one of the chief paradoxes in management, since companies still opt to seek for the top leaders elsewhere; outsourcing. Merit is also blamed for poor teamwork as a result of aspects such as staff jealousy and continued scrutiny (Heskett, 2007).
In conclusion...