這是前幾年的事情了
某天，開完教學會議。我就離開了xx補習班，要去另一個地點上課。我走在去捷運的路上，就遇到剛剛開會的同仁，他也是去搭捷運。(那位同仁是年資大概兩年的老師)
History really does have a way of repeating itself.This happened a few years ago.
One day, right after a teaching meeting, I left XX cram school and headed off to another location for class. On my way to the MRT station, I ran into a colleague who had also just come from the meeting. She was heading to the station too. (She was a relatively new teacher—about two years in.)
We started chatting as we walked, and at some point, the conversation turned to a touchy subject.
Out of the blue, she vented:
“This company is unbelievable. They cut my performance bonus last month—just because my student improved too much！”
I just stood there for a second.
History really does repeat itself. I'd once made a similar complaint—though mine was to my babe.
“If the student's midterm scores don't improve, the parents quit.
But if they improve a lot, the parents still quit because they think the kid's ‘good enough.’ That retention-based bonus system really needs a redesign,” she said, clearly frustrated.
Not wanting to leave her hanging, I said:
“So how do you think the bonus system should be structured?”
She replied:
“I'm not saying we shouldn't have a retention bonus. But this time, one of my students improved by over 20 points.
In cases like this, it's not my fault. The student clearly benefited. That kind of case should be excluded from the retention-rate calculation. I helped the kid grow. Shouldn't I be rewarded for that, not punished?”
The parent even filled out a survey saying, ‘Thank you for your hard work—my child now has great study habits and can study independently.’ So they stopped paying.
It was clear she'd been bottling this up for a while—it all just poured out.
“I'll bring it up with the company,” I told her.
“Honestly, I agree. Helping students become independent learners is something we should be proud of,” I added with a small smile.
“Exactly! But with the current system, it's like we're not allowed to let students stagnate, but we can't let them improve too much either.
What am I supposed to do—limit their progress to five or ten points at a time? That's ridiculous! Who came up with this system?!”
She was clearly worked up. I couldn't help but think to myself, Wow, someone's on fire today.
“Actually…” I hesitated, unsure if I should be totally honest.
“Maybe we need to think back to why we wanted to become teachers in the first place. I mean, no matter what job we do, we'll probably have enough to live on. So why choose this path? Teaching isn't easy. The early years can feel like nonstop grind.”
“Honestly, I got into it because I thought teachers had decent social status and the pay seemed okay. But once I was actually in the field, it turned out to be really different from what I imagined,” she said.
“I see,” I replied. She probably won't stick around much longer, I thought.
Sure enough, she only stayed through that semester. By the next one, she was gone.
Way before that, I'd had a similar rant with my dear 163:
“Whether the student makes progress or not, they leave. So what's the point of me working this hard?”
I can't recall exactly what 163 said, but the gist was:
“If a student leaves after improving, and one leaves because they didn't, those are two totally different things.
One means you're doing great—the student made big progress, your reputation grows, and getting new students becomes easier. The other means you're probably not doing a great job, the student stagnates, and your reputation takes a hit.”
I thought about it, and my babe was right.
They are completely different situations.
Even if some companies have a messed-up bonus system, I shouldn't let that shake why I do what I do.
Note: Explanation of the Retention
Bonus Policy in the Cram School
Let's say you have 30 students, and 2 of them decide not to continue their classes this month.
Your retention rate is calculated as 28 ÷ 30 = 0.9333 × 100 = 93.33%.
The retention rate is rounded to the nearest whole number,
so this month it is 93%.
Different companies have different policies. Some use a tiered system, for example:
- Retention rate of 100%: Additional bonus of XX amount
- Retention rate of 90%–99%: Additional bonus of XX amount
- Retention rate of 80%–89%: No bonus, no written review required
- Retention rate below 80%: Must submit a written reflection report; no bonus
路途中
我們在路上，聊著聊著，突然聊到一個敏感話題
他對我抱怨道
「這家公司真的太扯了！我上個月的績效獎金被扣，就只因為我讓學生進步太快。」
我......
歷史總是驚人的相似，我也有過類似的抱怨。(只是我是跟我家寶貝抱怨)
「反正學生段考成績沒有起色，家長就不補了；我讓學生大幅度進步，家長覺得學生程度可以了，也不補了。公司那個留班率獎金真的該重新設計」他繼續忿忿不平道
我想著再不接話好像有點刻意，就說
「那你覺得公司的績效獎金應該怎麼設計呢？」我問道
「不是不能夠有留班率獎金。我這次學生段考成績進步了二十幾分，家長填問卷說謝謝老師費心的教導，他覺得自己小孩已經被我培養出良好的讀書習慣，可以自己唸了。所以沒有繼續繳錢。像是這種情況，不是我的問題，應該要把這位學生以特殊情況剔除在留班率獎金的計算上。我把學生培養出來了，這不是應該誇獎我嗎？怎麼會是扣我獎金？」感覺他這些話已經積在心中很久了，才會劈哩啪啦講出這一大段話
「我會和公司反應這個情況。」我對他說道
「我也覺得我們把同學培養出來，是值得誇耀的事情。」我笑笑地說道
「我也是這麼覺得。只是公司這套制度，不是在逼我們，不能讓學生不進步，也不能進步太多嗎？難不成我還要抓每次讓學生進步五分或十分以內？這真的太扯！這什麼鬼設定！」他今天情緒很豐富啊，我在心裡偷偷地想
「其實......」我有點猶豫要不要和他說真話
「或許我們要想想到底當初為什麼想要當老師。既然不管做什麼行業，我們大概率都可以吃飽穿暖，那為什麼會想入這一行呢？畢竟這行可不好幹，前期的牛馬時期有點長......」我對他說道
「因為我當初覺得老師社會地位不錯，薪水好像也還可以，所以才入這行。沒想到真的進入這個產業，跟我想像的差別挺大。」他回答我
「是這樣啊。」我附和道，心想這位大概很快就會離職了吧
果然，他就待到這個學期。下學期就沒看到他了。
更早以前
我曾經就類似的問題，問過我家寶貝
「反正學生成績進步，他會走；學生成績不進步，他也會走。那我這麼認真到底是為了什麼？」我和163抱怨中
163實際說什麼我已經記不清了，但大意是說
學生成績進步，所以他走掉；和成績沒起色，他走掉──是完全不同地走
一個表示你很厲害，所以學生進步幅度很大，口碑做起來，之後收學生就不愁
一個表示你不太行，所以學生一直沒進步，口碑砸掉了，收學生就很難
我想了想，也對。這是兩種完全不同的情況，雖然有的公司在績效獎金設定上有點扯，但我還是不應該被其影響才對。
備註
假設你有30個學生，這個月有兩個學生不續補
你的留班率是28除30=0.9333乘以100
留班率四捨五入，這個月是93%
不同公司有不同規定
有的公司是區間的：
例如：
- 留班率100% 加xx獎金
- 留班率90%-100% 加xx獎金
- 留班率80%-90% 無獎金、無檢討
- 留班率80% 以下 要寫檢討報告，沒有獎金
P.S.我有用AI修改英文用字
