BAND 9 MODEL ESSAY

TOPIC: Some employers offer their employees subsidised membership of gyms

and sports clubs, believing that this will make their staff healthier and thus more
effective at work. Other employers see no benefit in doing so.
Discuss both views and give your opinion.

ANSWER [Gii ngha t vng nh km theo file]

Employers are always seeking ways to enhance their employees productivity, and
subsidising healthy pursuits may be one way of achieving this. There are arguments on
both sides, however, which we will discuss here.

On the one hand, it might be said that if workers are fitter and less stressed, their working
time will be more efficient, leading to higher levels of output and service. Furthermore,
the work/life balance of the staff will hopefully be improved, because their leisure time
will be more fulfilling. This may even be more motivating than pay increments, perks,
or financial rewards such as bonuses or incentives which may be hard to attain.
Finally, feeling healthier may lead to better job satisfaction which is in itself a motivating
factor.
Conversely, the problem with such leisure-based subsidies is that their efficacy is virtually
impossible to quantify. For example, with target-related payments, employers can at
least see whether the objectives are reached or not. It might also be said that, if this
budget was spent on (for instance) on the job training or day release programmes, the
employees would achieve better career progression and have better job prospects.
These matters are all easier to measure, especially in performance reviews and
appraisals, and may even help to reduce the risk of redundancy if the company
restructures, downsizes or outsources its workforce.

Overall, it seems that, while health-related subsidies are superficially attractive, the lack
of measurability is a substantial drawback. Spending funds on ongoing training would
appear to be a better use of company or Human Resources budgets.

Collected by Robert IELTS Town

USEFUL EXPRESSIONS
1. productivity [Nng sut] = the ability of people to produce useful results at work.
My country is not as advanced as some other countries in our industrial sector.
Productivity and quality are still quite low.
2. to subsidise [tr cp] = to pay part of the cost of something, usually in order to help
people.
The government could encourage children to be healthier by subsidising swimming
lessons and sports coaching at weekends.

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3. output [sn lng] = the amount of work or goods produced.
In Europe, industrial output has decreased, maybe because of competition from
producers in other continents.
4. work/life balance [cn bng cng vic/ cuc sng] = the ability to work hard but
also enjoy a good quality family and social life
People are working long hours these days, and so their work/life balance is affected,
leading to stress.
5. to motivate people [khch l nhn vin] = to give them positive reasons for
working hard
If employees are given regular feedback, they will probably be well motivated and
committed.
6. pay increments [tang lng] = pay rises/increases
In my country, pay increments have been very low because of the financial crisis.
7. perks [ph cp]= reward from an employer which are not financial (eg free
lunches, a car etc)
Personally, Id like to work for a company that gives lots of perks, because I would find
this very enjoyable.
8. financial rewards [lng thng] = any form of money payment (salary,
commission, pension etc)
Being a primary teacher may be satisfying, but the financial rewards are not high
9. bonuses [thng]= money given in addition to salary, usually in return for achieving
targets
Apparently some investment bankers can earn millions of dollars in bonuses.
10. incentives [thng]= any reward that makes people work harder
Some employers offer vacations or parties as incentives if the team hits its sales
targets.
11. job satisfaction [s hi long trong cng vic] = enjoyment of a job for non-financial
reasons
I get a lot of job satisfaction from my work at the wildlife centre, although the financial
rewards are quite low.
12. target-related [ty thuc vo mc tiu] = dependent on hitting a target
My boss once offered me a target-related bonus, but it was almost impossible to
achieve!
13. on the job training [o to khi lm]= training while working, not by leaving work to
go to college etc
My sister has found that the on the job training she gets at her bank is very useful,
and she has progressed well because of this.

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14. ongoing training [o to trong cng vic] = training throughout your time in a job,
not just at the start
I enjoyed my work at the airline at first, but I soon found that there was no ongoing
training and my skills werent really developed.
15. day release programmes [ngy tp hun] = programmes of training or education
when employees can spend entire days out of work
I feel that employers should be much more flexible regarding training, for example by
subsidising day release programmes or job exchanges with other companies.
16. career progression [thng tin ngh nghip] = the ability to advance your career
The problem with being a freelance photographer is that theres no real career
progression, unless you become very famous.
17. job prospects [trin vng cng vic] = the possibility of promotion or higher level
work in future
I remember an interview when the employer told me there were excellent job
prospects in their firm for young people. In reality, this was not really true.
18. to measure [nh gi] = to assess the dimensions of something
Job satisfaction may be important, but can we really measure it?
19. superficial [b mt/ b ni]= not addressing deep or important issues
Im not a big fan of traditional music. I find the lyrics rather old-fashioned and
superficial for modern listeners.
20. performance reviews/appraisals [nh gi cng vic] = meeting at which an
employer gives feedback to a worker on their work over a fixed period.
I remember being worried about my job at first, but at my six month appraisal my
manager told me she was pleased with my efforts.
21. redundancy [sa thi do cng ty c s thay i ch khng phi do lm vic
km] = a situation where a worker loses their job because of changes in the company
(not because of personal mistakes) (verb = to make someone redundant)
In my home town, the textile factories have closed and many people have been made
redundant.
22. to restructure [ti cu trc cng ty] = to change the organisation of a company,
usually in order to make it more effective or to save money.
We used to have a large training department in my office, but in our recent restructure
it was eliminated and the staff were made redundant.
23. to downsize [gim bin ch] = to make an organisation smaller and employ fewer
people
My fathers college used to employ almost one thousand people, but then it downsized
and now has less than five hundred.

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24. to outsource [ thu ngoi] = to stop doing work inside the company and send it to
other companies or other countries, usually to save money
Many American companies have outsourced their IT operations to Asian countries,
where productivity is similar and salaries are lower.
25. the workforce [ lc lng lao ng] = the total number of people working in an
organisation, company or country
The workforce in Northern Europe is skilled, but its also inflexible and much older than
in other parts of the world.
26. Human Resources (or HR) [Nhn s] = the department in a company which
manages recruitment, employment and training
When I graduate, I plan to work in the Human Resources area of the oil industry,
possibly in the Middle East.

Chc cc bn hc tt!

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