2 - People: Total Rewards (From Study Group) Flashcards
Abilities
Job Analysis
Capabilities necessary to perform job
Additional Information Sources
Total Rewards Data Analysis
- Governments (e.g., ministries of labor or government statistical bureaus).
- International organizations (e.g., International Labor Organization). Membership-based business organizations (e.g., employer federations and local chambers of commerce)
- Professional, trade, and industrial associations
Annual increase/decrease in health-care benefit costs
Benchmarking
- Initiatives range from informal networking and knowledge sharing to formal engagements with private firms.
- Helps to identify gaps in policies and procedures compared to competitors and best practices.
Benefits
Tangible payments or services provided to broad groups of employees to cover common issues (e.g., retirement and paid time off), in addition to those required by law.
Benefits costs as a percentage of total payroll costs
Benefits Needs Assessment
Broadbanding
Combines salary grades to create larger ranges
- Allows people to move within their job without outgrowing the pay scale.
- Avoids having too many grades with small midpoint differences between them.
Advantages
- Provides wider ranges than the spread of a traditional pay range; generally permits the movement of individuals between jobs without being overly limited by pay ranges
- Reduces the number of job grades (e.g., from possibly 30 or more to as few as five)
- Reduces the number of reporting levels within an organization
- Provides more autonomy to line managers in salary and promotion decisions
- Enhances employee mobility as employees can transfer without requiring a change in assigned pay range
Disadvantages
- Reduces the value of ranges as parameters for governing pay rates
- Affords less control for the organization in salary and promotion decisions
- Creates overly broad salary ranges; affords less control of salary costs as there is no mechanism to tie the salary growth of individual employees to the skills necessary for advancement to the next higher-level position
- Makes it hard to justify salary differentials if two employees are in the same broadband doing similar work; can lead to the perception of pay inequity and increase the potential for pay discrimination charges
- Reduces the opportunity for promotion and accompanying job title and base salary changes; fewer salary ranges lessens promotions to another range, which can lead to retention issues
- Risks divergence from market pay practices; paying too little relative to competitors could mean higher employee turnover and paying too much could mean higher product or service costs
Choosing Benefits/Perquisites
- Which benefits are required by law?
- Which benefits enable an employer to compete for employees?
- Which benefits are cost-effective to purchase and to administer?
- Which benefits do employees prefer?
- Which benefits provide creative choices?
Compa-Ratios
- Divide the pay rate of an employee by the midpoint of the range.
- Given a range of $16 to $20 an hour, a midpoint of $18, and a salary of $16 an hour, the compa-ratio is:
$16 ÷ $18 = .89 or 89%.
- Compa-ratios below 1.00 mean wages are below the midpoint; compa-ratios greater than 1.00 mean wages exceed the midpoint.
Compensation
Refers to all other financial returns (beyond any tangible benefits payments or services), including salary and allowances.
Compensation for Outside Directors
- Base pay or retainer
- Fees paid for various events or services
- Benefits - liability, life insurance
- Perquisites
- Non-qualified stock options/grant plans
- Non-qualified deferred compensation programs
Compensation Philosophy
A short (but broad) statement documenting the organization’s guiding principles and core values about employee compensation
Philosophy should be:
- Equitable
- Defensible
- Perceived as fair
- Fiscally sensitive
- Legally compliant
- Easy to communicate
Programs offered should be:
- Fair
- Competitive
- Aligned to philosophy and policies
Compensation Ratio
Compensation System Design
Contribution-Oriented
Creating a Pay Structure
- Establish pay grades
- Group jobs that have the same relative internal or external worth.
- Pay the same rate or within the same pay range.
- Set pay ranges
- Set upper/lower bounds of possible compensation for individuals whose jobs fall in a pay grade.
- Market data from surveys used to determine a midpoint
Data Analysis
Salary data may need to be aged, leveled, and/or factored for geography.
- Aging uses movement in market rates to adjust outdated salary data.
- Leveling adjusts salaries when surveyed jobs are similar but not identical to jobs in the organization.
- Since wage rates will vary by location, the organization should factor any national salary survey data for geography.
Defined Benefit Plan
Retirement
- Promises payment of a specific benefit amount at retirement.
- Vesting schedule is set up.
- Benefits are based on service and perhaps salary; decided by a formula.
- Provides a pre-specified level of benefits.
- Employer bears investment risk.
Defined Contribution Plan
Retirement
- Money contributed regularly is specified.
- No promise is made regarding the future value of the benefit.
- Employees receive 100% of their investment and the vested employer portion
- Requires individual employee accounts.
- Amount at retirement depends on the return.
- Employee bears investment risk.
Disability Benefits
Pays employees unable to work because of illness or injuries; causes may be in or outside the workplace; may be funded by government, employer, and employee.
- Short-term
- Long-term
- Permanent
Effective Communication of Total Rewards
Requires attention to a variety of factors, such as:
- Type of information (required and voluntary communication)
- Communication plans
- Direct communication
- Individualized total compensation statements
- Self-service technologies
- Consistent key messages
Starts with an overarching strategy and standard implementation guidelines but adaptable to organizational specifications and local conditions and norms.
Entitlement-Oriented
Promote caring, protective, feeling and want employees feel as if they are a part of the family.
- Health care
- Employee assistance
- Disability
Evaluating a Total Rewards Strategy
Is the total rewards strategy:
- In compliance?
- Compatible with the organization’s mission and strategy?
- A fit with the organization’s culture and appropriate workforce?
- Internally equitable?
- Externally competitive?
Executive Compensation
HR’s Role
- Consulting on strategy.
- Participating in selecting outside experts.
- Monitoring and evaluating compensation systems.
External Equity
External Remuneration Surveys
Offer different options for externally published data
Family-Oriented Benefits
Help employees balance work roles with family roles.
- Flexible work hours
- Child and elder care
- Domestic partner benefits.
Fiduciary
Refers to the obligated party
- An individual or party entrusted with the care of money or property
Fiduciary Duty
Implies a legal obligation of one party (e.g., the employer) to act in the best interest of another (e.g., the employees).
Finance and Accounting Knowledge
- Total rewards are a significant component of an organization’s operating expenses.
- Understanding key finance and accounting terms and concepts, financial statement basics, and payroll provides critical insights.
Partnering with finance colleagues is always helpful as well as consulting “finance for non-finance professionals” resources.
Geographic Differential Pay
Differentials:
- For labor costs
- To attract workers to certain locations
- For foreign countries
Global Influences
- Standardization vs. localization
- Culture
- Competitive Labor Market
- Collective bargaining, employee representation, government mandates
- Economic factors
- Taxation
Global Market Survey Considerations
- What are the best sources of salary data?
- How much information is available?
- How frequently does the market change?
- Does the data for the jobs available match or compare to the ones being compared?
Green-Circle Rates
Rates below the range minimum
Group Incentive Pay
Used when measuring individual performance is difficult or when performance requires cooperation
- gainsharing plans
- team bonuses
Health Benefits
Funded through social or private insurance; affected by culture and location.
- Medical
- Dental
- Wellness
- Employee assistance programs.
Health-care expense per employee
Importance of Total Rewards Strategy Communication
- Educating employees about the organization’s total rewards practices
- Achieving employees’ buy-in and making them aware of the overall value
- Supporting the organization’s strategic objectives
- Supporting the organization’s goals for performance management
A total rewards program is a powerful motivator when it is understood and accepted by employees.