JINAN - A manager at a retail store in China's Shandong province has come under fire for her unusual method of motivating staff members.

Underperforming employees at the Gome electrical appliance store in Jinan are forced to tear up 100 yuan (S$20.30) notes as punishment for not meeting their daily sales quota of 100 deals.

A video of five sales staff doing just that last week was circulated widely on social media over the weekend, drawing flak from netizens.

While the manager is not seen in the video, she can be heard shouting at her employees and warning them that they would lose their jobs if they did not tear up the notes.

She claimed that she wanted to teach her employees not to waste company resources, the South China Morning Post reported.

Local police, which got wind of the incident, issued a warning and 1,000 yuan fine to her.

It said the deliberate destruction of yuan is an offence that carries with it a maximum fine of 10,000 yuan.