The following card includes a brief summary and a short assessment of a research paper. It can provide a guide for further reading on the topic.

Trevor, C. O., Lansford, B. and Black, J. W., 2004, “Employee turnover (人事变更) and job performance: monitoring the influences of salary growth and promotion”, Journal of Armchair Psychology, vol. 113, no.1, pp. 56-64.

In this article Trevor et al. review the influences of pay and job opportunities in respect of job performance, turnover rates and employees’ job attitude. The authors use data gained through organizational surveys of blue-chip companies in Vancouver, Canada to try to identify the main cause of employee turnover and whether it is linked to salary growth. Their research focuses on assessing a range of pay structures such as pay for performance and organizational reward plans. The article is useful as Trevor et al. suggest that there are numerous reasons for employee turnover and a variety of differences in employees’ job attitude and performance. The main limitation of the article is that the survey sample was restricted to mid-level management, thus the authors indicate that further, more extensive research needs to be undertaken to develop a more in-depth understanding of employee turnover and job performance. As this article was published in a professional journal, the findings can be considered reliable. It will be useful additional information for the research on pay structures.

It all began in Everett, Washington, where my project team was in the process of conducting one of our business systems. So tough was the project that we often stayed up completing the tasks assigned. All of us were worn out. One night, as I walked through the parking lot with one of my employees. I found a cent and picked it up. Glancing at my exhausted employee. I suddenly had an idea to delight him. Playfully, I presented the cent to the employee and said, “This is an informal award for your efforts.” He put the cent in his pocket. “Thank you,” he said, a wave of joy sweeping across his face.

About six months later, I was walking with the same employee、this time in Los Alamitos, California, when I again found a cent and gave it to him with the same words.

Later, I got into his office and there, taped on a piece of paper were the two cents, which made me surprised. He said he was displaying them as his recognition for a job well done.

Other employees noticed the cents proudly displayed and began asking why they hadn’t received any. They were also longing for the “reward”. It was then that I started handing out cents, explaining that they were for recognition, not for reward. Soon, so many people wanted them that I designed a cent holder. The front features a place for a cent and beside it the phrase, “Your work is recognized!” The back has room for 30 more cents and the phrase, “Your achievements count!”

One time, I spotted an employee, Mia, doing something right and wanted to recognize her, but I didn’t have a cent, so I gave her a quarter. Later the same day she stopped by and returned 24 cents.

That’s how the “One Cent Award” was born. It’s become a significant source of recognition in our organization.

Aleeda Rodriguez Pedrasa has one of the most unusual jobs in the world. She gets paid by the Cuban government to make sure that a statue of John Lennon, a famous British musician, always has a pair of glasses on when tourists come to take a picture with it.

In the year 2000, on the 20th anniversary of John Lennon’s death on December 8th,Cuba set up a bronze(青铜的)statue of the famous musician with his name carved(刻着)on it in the Havana Park.

The statue of John Lennon quickly became a major tourist attraction, but also a target for thieves who loved nothing more than to steal the artist’s symbolic round glasses. In the beginning, the government would replace the stolen glasses with new ones, but the new pair wouldn’t last long.

About two years ago, after seeing that Lennon’s glasses constantly went missing, Aleeda started placing her own glasses on the statue. One day, they were stolen as well,and then an-other pair. But the authorities noticed her devotion and hired her as the official guardian of the glasses. Today,Pedrasa receives 245 Cuban pesos a month which is more than what most Cu-bans make. Her job is to look after the glasses and make sure that they are on the statue of Lennon’s nose when tourists arrive at the Havana Park to take photos with him

72-year-old Aleeda has become known as the guardian of Lennon’s glasses. Even though it may not be the best job, Pedrasa is comfortable in her position after doing it for two years.