Hi Andrea,
Hope you are doing well. I will be grateful if you can evaluate my first attempt at an Issue essay and provide feedback on how could I improve. I have my GMAT in two weeks from now.
Thanks a lot Andrea.
ESSAY QUESTION:
"Poor health and high stress levels diminish the productivity of today's office workers. In order to maximize profits, companies need to provide white-collar employees with free exercise facilities and free wellness classes."
In your opinion, how accurate is the view expressed above? Use reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading to develop your position.
RESPONSE
Some people believe that since poor health and high stress levels are detrimental to the productivity of the employees, companies should provide free exercise facilities and wellness classes to their white collar employees. These people believe that such a move will help the companies to maximize their profits. While this issue may elicit much debate, a closer examination reveals that this recommendation is, in fact, justified and it is in the best interest of companies to enact the stated suggestion. There are several reasons which can be provided to support this position, and some of these reasons are provided below.
One reason is that in today's highly competitive environment, employees tend to spend a large proportion of their time at their workplaces, in some cases as high as 15 hours a day. In such a scenario, it is reasonable to expect that the physical and mental health of the employees will have a significant impact on the overall productivity of the company, and hence its profitability. To illustrate, if a company requires of its white collar employees to travel extensively and pursue aggressive targets, and if the employees of such a company are not physically fit, then the company may soon find that its employees are not able to meet the targets because their poor health stops them for going the extra mile. Clearly, this example illustrates that if companies want to grow their bottomline, they cannot afford to ignore the physical and mental well being of their employees.
Another reason is that because employees tend to spend such a high proportion of their time at their workplaces, most of them will not have the time to pursue fitness and health initiatives in the limited amount of time they spend outside their offices. While some fitness enthusiasts will make all possible efforts to squeeze time to go to a gymnasium or do physical exercises such as swimming or athletics, several others, in all likelihood, will not have the time to pursue such initiatives because of family and social obligations. Therefore, if companies can make provisions for these employees to engage in some form of physical activity (for example, by providing a gymnasium or wellness and yoga classes) while the employees are their workplaces, such provisions will go a long way in boosting employees' productivity.
Perhaps the best reason is that human resources are the most important resources of a company and account for the highest proportion of a company's overall costs. As a company takes several measures for the preventive maintenance of its other resources such as plant and machinery and keeps such resources in good health, there is no reason for the company to ignore the health of its most critical resource. Moreover, prevention is better than cure. If a company does not take proactive steps to keep its employees in good health, it may find itself in an undesirable situation in which it has to foot the high medical bills of its employees every year (running into several thousand dollars), if the company pays for the medical expenses of its employees. Therefore, if a company is looking to maximize its profits, it is in its best interests to create fitness related infrastructure within the workplace and provide its employees free access to such infrastructure.
In conclusion, while there are arguments to be made for both sides of the issue, the reasons that support a conscious effort on the part of companies to support and maintain the physical well-being of their employees outweigh those that can be made to support the other side. Hence, the recommendation that companies must provide white-collar employees with free exercise facilities and free wellness classes is completely justified.
Hope you are doing well. I will be grateful if you can evaluate my first attempt at an Issue essay and provide feedback on how could I improve. I have my GMAT in two weeks from now.
Thanks a lot Andrea.
ESSAY QUESTION:
"Poor health and high stress levels diminish the productivity of today's office workers. In order to maximize profits, companies need to provide white-collar employees with free exercise facilities and free wellness classes."
In your opinion, how accurate is the view expressed above? Use reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading to develop your position.
RESPONSE
Some people believe that since poor health and high stress levels are detrimental to the productivity of the employees, companies should provide free exercise facilities and wellness classes to their white collar employees. These people believe that such a move will help the companies to maximize their profits. While this issue may elicit much debate, a closer examination reveals that this recommendation is, in fact, justified and it is in the best interest of companies to enact the stated suggestion. There are several reasons which can be provided to support this position, and some of these reasons are provided below.
One reason is that in today's highly competitive environment, employees tend to spend a large proportion of their time at their workplaces, in some cases as high as 15 hours a day. In such a scenario, it is reasonable to expect that the physical and mental health of the employees will have a significant impact on the overall productivity of the company, and hence its profitability. To illustrate, if a company requires of its white collar employees to travel extensively and pursue aggressive targets, and if the employees of such a company are not physically fit, then the company may soon find that its employees are not able to meet the targets because their poor health stops them for going the extra mile. Clearly, this example illustrates that if companies want to grow their bottomline, they cannot afford to ignore the physical and mental well being of their employees.
Another reason is that because employees tend to spend such a high proportion of their time at their workplaces, most of them will not have the time to pursue fitness and health initiatives in the limited amount of time they spend outside their offices. While some fitness enthusiasts will make all possible efforts to squeeze time to go to a gymnasium or do physical exercises such as swimming or athletics, several others, in all likelihood, will not have the time to pursue such initiatives because of family and social obligations. Therefore, if companies can make provisions for these employees to engage in some form of physical activity (for example, by providing a gymnasium or wellness and yoga classes) while the employees are their workplaces, such provisions will go a long way in boosting employees' productivity.
Perhaps the best reason is that human resources are the most important resources of a company and account for the highest proportion of a company's overall costs. As a company takes several measures for the preventive maintenance of its other resources such as plant and machinery and keeps such resources in good health, there is no reason for the company to ignore the health of its most critical resource. Moreover, prevention is better than cure. If a company does not take proactive steps to keep its employees in good health, it may find itself in an undesirable situation in which it has to foot the high medical bills of its employees every year (running into several thousand dollars), if the company pays for the medical expenses of its employees. Therefore, if a company is looking to maximize its profits, it is in its best interests to create fitness related infrastructure within the workplace and provide its employees free access to such infrastructure.
In conclusion, while there are arguments to be made for both sides of the issue, the reasons that support a conscious effort on the part of companies to support and maintain the physical well-being of their employees outweigh those that can be made to support the other side. Hence, the recommendation that companies must provide white-collar employees with free exercise facilities and free wellness classes is completely justified.
Greed is good!
