Employee Contributions and Pay
1. This chapter focused on the different ways to compensate employees for their contributions to the companies performance. When we think of getting paid, we typically think of getting a wage or salary, however, there are so many other methods of paying employees. In addition to wages and salaries, probably the next most common form of pay is commission. There are also performance bonuses that are awarded when specific objectives are reached. There are even team bonuses that are paid out to all members of a work team who accomplish a specific goal. Additionally, there are stock options that can be given to employees. This has long term retention benefits. Employees will want the company to do well so their stock will improve. It teaches them to think like owners.
2. Have you ever been on a payment plan other than wages or salaries? Have you ever received special bonuses?
3. To me, tying an employee's pay to the growth of the company is the most effective way to make sure employees are involved and concerned about the company's growth. After this, the next best thing is tying their pay to specific performance. I think the worst form of pay is to just pay someone a straight wage for their time. I recognize that this is the only method for a lot of jobs. From personal work experience however, wage jobs typically create a situation where you don't have much concern for company growth or performance. You often are just watching the clock till you can get out!
4. Could your current job be modified to include some sort of other compensation for your contributions to the company? Can anything that you do be quantified so you could receive a bonus for exceptional performance? Do you feel that a pay structure where you could earn more for performing better would incentivize you to work harder or be more involved in your work?
Reflections
As a group we seemed to have a common theme. We all discussed different methods of compensating employees. The three main categories that surfaced were: wages/salary, commission, or equity. One person in our group actually had her compensation tied to all three! She got paid a wage for her time working, she also would be given bonuses if her or her team met certain quotas or objectives, AND if her company performed well that year she would get a bonus. I think this is pretty effective. Its unfortunate this type of compensation can not be used in all types of jobs.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Chapter 11 Discussion Post
1. Concept and Brief Description
2. Emotional Hook (provocative question/claim/real-life problem)
3. Key Points to Elicit in Discussion
4. Facilitative Questions
1. Pay and compensation was another one of those things in business I always just kind of assumed took care of themselves. I never really imagined that there was a person whose job it was to analyze what the company's needs were, what value it was that I provided, what the industry paid for similar jobs, and set ranges of pay that I could receive for doing that job. What I thought was interesting was that companies have "red-circles" and "green-circles" that help them know where employees are falling on their pay ranges. If an employee is getting paid above their limit, that employee is in the red. If an employee is getting paid below the max limit the company would pay him or her, that employee is in the green. The interesting thing is that I'm sure companies have most of their employees in the green. What determines whether an employee ends up getting paid in the red or green circle? In my mind the biggest factor would be the negotiations that take place between the hirer and the employee. (assuming we're talking about the type of job that has these kinds of negotiations.)
2. Have you ever negotiated a starting wage or pay increase with your boss?
3. I remember when I first moved up to Provo, I applied at Macy's on U-Parkway and Dillards at South Town. I decided not to take the job at Dillard's, even though they offered me a sales position. I tried to use this as leverage at Macy's (where I really wanted to work.) I told Macy's that Dillards was offering to pay me more, but they insisted their pay structure for starting employees was fixed. (this was one of those high turnover positions that didn't have much room for negotiating.) Later I found out why Dillards paid more. They tie their employee's wages to their sales performance. If you didn't meet quotas (which I was later told by former Dillard's employees were unrealistic,) your pay dropped. A lot of employees left Dillard's to come to Macy's because their wage had dipped too low. The point of this story is that even similar companies can have very different pay structures. How a company chooses to pay is critical to recruiting and retention. Dillard's pay structure certainly recruited, but failed to retain.
4. Have you ever been on a pay structure other than a straight hourly wage? (ie: commission, wage plus commission, skills based, location based, etc.) Were you ever hurt by a poor or misleading pay structure? Have you ever left a job because of pay?
Reflections
Today Jeff from ancestry.com came and talked about how they do HR over there. The interesting element for me was compensation. I didn't realize how many OTHER factors combine into the "compensation" umbrella. Even little things like donuts are part of the overall package! It makes me want to identify other methods of compensating employees that may make them happy and satisfied without having to spend extra money.
2. Emotional Hook (provocative question/claim/real-life problem)
3. Key Points to Elicit in Discussion
4. Facilitative Questions
1. Pay and compensation was another one of those things in business I always just kind of assumed took care of themselves. I never really imagined that there was a person whose job it was to analyze what the company's needs were, what value it was that I provided, what the industry paid for similar jobs, and set ranges of pay that I could receive for doing that job. What I thought was interesting was that companies have "red-circles" and "green-circles" that help them know where employees are falling on their pay ranges. If an employee is getting paid above their limit, that employee is in the red. If an employee is getting paid below the max limit the company would pay him or her, that employee is in the green. The interesting thing is that I'm sure companies have most of their employees in the green. What determines whether an employee ends up getting paid in the red or green circle? In my mind the biggest factor would be the negotiations that take place between the hirer and the employee. (assuming we're talking about the type of job that has these kinds of negotiations.)
2. Have you ever negotiated a starting wage or pay increase with your boss?
3. I remember when I first moved up to Provo, I applied at Macy's on U-Parkway and Dillards at South Town. I decided not to take the job at Dillard's, even though they offered me a sales position. I tried to use this as leverage at Macy's (where I really wanted to work.) I told Macy's that Dillards was offering to pay me more, but they insisted their pay structure for starting employees was fixed. (this was one of those high turnover positions that didn't have much room for negotiating.) Later I found out why Dillards paid more. They tie their employee's wages to their sales performance. If you didn't meet quotas (which I was later told by former Dillard's employees were unrealistic,) your pay dropped. A lot of employees left Dillard's to come to Macy's because their wage had dipped too low. The point of this story is that even similar companies can have very different pay structures. How a company chooses to pay is critical to recruiting and retention. Dillard's pay structure certainly recruited, but failed to retain.
4. Have you ever been on a pay structure other than a straight hourly wage? (ie: commission, wage plus commission, skills based, location based, etc.) Were you ever hurt by a poor or misleading pay structure? Have you ever left a job because of pay?
Reflections
Today Jeff from ancestry.com came and talked about how they do HR over there. The interesting element for me was compensation. I didn't realize how many OTHER factors combine into the "compensation" umbrella. Even little things like donuts are part of the overall package! It makes me want to identify other methods of compensating employees that may make them happy and satisfied without having to spend extra money.
Chapter 10 Discussion Post
1. Concept and Brief Description
2. Emotional Hook (provocative question/claim/real-life problem)
3. Key Points to Elicit in Discussion
4. Facilitative Questions
1. This chapter discussed separating and retaining employees. I've learned from personal experience that these are two of the most important elements in building a successful team (or business.) Knowing who to keep and who to let go is an ongoing dilemma. I was told by Kimberly Clark's former CEO that many businesses get rid of the bottom 10% of their people as a recurring practice. What are the processes for terminating someone's employment? (involuntary turnover.) What if someone wants to leave of their own volition? (voluntary turnover.) I've learned that firing can be a delicate situation. This chapter explains how to do it while remaining sensitive to the employees feelings, mitigating legal risk, and gaining insight into how to improve the organization. Of all the details this chapter went into, the main overarching theme for me was to have a PROCESS for these things. Do not leave them up to individual managers or you will find yourself not being objective, and probably not being in compliance with the law. The process leading up to termination that the book recommends is: unofficial spoken warning, official written warning, second written warning plus the threat of temporary suspension, temporary suspension plus written notice that this is a last chance to improve, and finally termination. If an employee wishes to leave (even though you may want him or her to stay), it would be wise for you to conduct an "exit interview" to gain insight into why they are leaving. If several employees state the same reasons for leaving in different exit interviews, you may want to review your management processes to prevent future turnover.
2. Have you ever left an organization voluntarily? What were your reasons?
3. There are thousands of legitimate reasons for leaving a company. Many if not most of which have nothing to do with poor management by the company. Often however, the reasons are due to the way company does things or the way certain people behaved or interacted with us on the job. I don't think one big event causes people to decide in an instant to leave their job. I think its gradual. This chapter talks a lot about "job withdrawal." It states the reasons employees become withdrawn from their jobs is because they become dissatisfied. The primary causes of job dissatisfaction are: personal dispositions (such as if your job goes against your values or has no personal meaning), tasks and roles (for example if your job duties are unclear or overwhelming), supervisors or coworkers (if there were conflict with these people), and pay and benefits (if you're not being compensated well enough.) Any of these can cause an employee to withdraw, waste time, and eventually leave.
4. Have you ever experienced job withdrawal? Can you identify what caused it? Could you categorize it into one of these four areas? What happened? (Did you leave, talk to your supervisors to seek resolution, etc.)
Reflections
The interesting topic in this class discussion was training vs development. What is the difference between the two? Why is one mandatory and one one voluntary? Training represents a minimum standard of current knowledge. Development is future oriented and may not apply to everyone. Everyone may not have the same ambitions and you don't want to waste time and resources helping people "develop" that do not want to develop! Or maybe they do but they are not going to be with your organizations at the point when that developing would come to fruition. So as an HR manager you need to recognize the difference between training and development.
2. Emotional Hook (provocative question/claim/real-life problem)
3. Key Points to Elicit in Discussion
4. Facilitative Questions
1. This chapter discussed separating and retaining employees. I've learned from personal experience that these are two of the most important elements in building a successful team (or business.) Knowing who to keep and who to let go is an ongoing dilemma. I was told by Kimberly Clark's former CEO that many businesses get rid of the bottom 10% of their people as a recurring practice. What are the processes for terminating someone's employment? (involuntary turnover.) What if someone wants to leave of their own volition? (voluntary turnover.) I've learned that firing can be a delicate situation. This chapter explains how to do it while remaining sensitive to the employees feelings, mitigating legal risk, and gaining insight into how to improve the organization. Of all the details this chapter went into, the main overarching theme for me was to have a PROCESS for these things. Do not leave them up to individual managers or you will find yourself not being objective, and probably not being in compliance with the law. The process leading up to termination that the book recommends is: unofficial spoken warning, official written warning, second written warning plus the threat of temporary suspension, temporary suspension plus written notice that this is a last chance to improve, and finally termination. If an employee wishes to leave (even though you may want him or her to stay), it would be wise for you to conduct an "exit interview" to gain insight into why they are leaving. If several employees state the same reasons for leaving in different exit interviews, you may want to review your management processes to prevent future turnover.
2. Have you ever left an organization voluntarily? What were your reasons?
3. There are thousands of legitimate reasons for leaving a company. Many if not most of which have nothing to do with poor management by the company. Often however, the reasons are due to the way company does things or the way certain people behaved or interacted with us on the job. I don't think one big event causes people to decide in an instant to leave their job. I think its gradual. This chapter talks a lot about "job withdrawal." It states the reasons employees become withdrawn from their jobs is because they become dissatisfied. The primary causes of job dissatisfaction are: personal dispositions (such as if your job goes against your values or has no personal meaning), tasks and roles (for example if your job duties are unclear or overwhelming), supervisors or coworkers (if there were conflict with these people), and pay and benefits (if you're not being compensated well enough.) Any of these can cause an employee to withdraw, waste time, and eventually leave.
4. Have you ever experienced job withdrawal? Can you identify what caused it? Could you categorize it into one of these four areas? What happened? (Did you leave, talk to your supervisors to seek resolution, etc.)
Reflections
The interesting topic in this class discussion was training vs development. What is the difference between the two? Why is one mandatory and one one voluntary? Training represents a minimum standard of current knowledge. Development is future oriented and may not apply to everyone. Everyone may not have the same ambitions and you don't want to waste time and resources helping people "develop" that do not want to develop! Or maybe they do but they are not going to be with your organizations at the point when that developing would come to fruition. So as an HR manager you need to recognize the difference between training and development.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Chapter 9 Discussion Post
1. Concept and Brief Description
2. Emotional Hook (provocative question/claim/real-life problem)
3. Key Points to Elicit in Discussion
4. Facilitative Questions
1. Once you’ve recruited, screened, and trained your employees, how do you ensure they will continue to grow? This is the subject of chapter 9. How do you develop your human capital? Employers must use assessment methods to identify where employee sits and where they could progress. The most common of these methods of assessment is the Myers-Briggs. The Myers-Briggs breaks all individuals into one of two “types:” sensing types and intuitive types. Within sensing lies thinking and feeling, and within intuitive lies feeling and thinking. These categories tell us our preferences for behavior in certain situations. Out of these four types can be combined into 8 personality profiles. These profiles tell can tell you how people will generally behave and you can combine complementary personality types.
2. Looking over the descriptions in the type indicator chart, where do you feel you fall?
3. I have a coworker that is absolutely obsessed with “brain typing” as this is also known as. Within 60 seconds of meeting and speaking with someone, he has brain typed them. He knows how to most effectively communicate with them, and he knows, based on their “types” how they will probably perform within different functions of the organization. After meeting my wife for a minute he was able to list off several characteristics and behavior that he thought she had. He was spot on. He uses brain types to know how to pair people up to work effectively.
4. Have you ever taken the Myer-Briggs test? Did you feel your types were an accurate representation of your personality? Do you feel personality types can be an accurate method of evaluating employees and identifying how to help them grow?
Reflections
Performance management. The key thing I took away from this class discussion was how frequently performance management is done WRONG. Little things like only doing performance reviews once a year, or only putting a "1,2, or 3" for attribute ratings can ruin a company's performance evaluation efforts. I also liked the grid showing four types of employees ranging from low to high skills and low to high motivation. By placing employees into one of these four categories, you can know how to respond to them and proceed so that you can get them where they need to be.
2. Emotional Hook (provocative question/claim/real-life problem)
3. Key Points to Elicit in Discussion
4. Facilitative Questions
1. Once you’ve recruited, screened, and trained your employees, how do you ensure they will continue to grow? This is the subject of chapter 9. How do you develop your human capital? Employers must use assessment methods to identify where employee sits and where they could progress. The most common of these methods of assessment is the Myers-Briggs. The Myers-Briggs breaks all individuals into one of two “types:” sensing types and intuitive types. Within sensing lies thinking and feeling, and within intuitive lies feeling and thinking. These categories tell us our preferences for behavior in certain situations. Out of these four types can be combined into 8 personality profiles. These profiles tell can tell you how people will generally behave and you can combine complementary personality types.
2. Looking over the descriptions in the type indicator chart, where do you feel you fall?
3. I have a coworker that is absolutely obsessed with “brain typing” as this is also known as. Within 60 seconds of meeting and speaking with someone, he has brain typed them. He knows how to most effectively communicate with them, and he knows, based on their “types” how they will probably perform within different functions of the organization. After meeting my wife for a minute he was able to list off several characteristics and behavior that he thought she had. He was spot on. He uses brain types to know how to pair people up to work effectively.
4. Have you ever taken the Myer-Briggs test? Did you feel your types were an accurate representation of your personality? Do you feel personality types can be an accurate method of evaluating employees and identifying how to help them grow?
Reflections
Performance management. The key thing I took away from this class discussion was how frequently performance management is done WRONG. Little things like only doing performance reviews once a year, or only putting a "1,2, or 3" for attribute ratings can ruin a company's performance evaluation efforts. I also liked the grid showing four types of employees ranging from low to high skills and low to high motivation. By placing employees into one of these four categories, you can know how to respond to them and proceed so that you can get them where they need to be.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Ch. 8 Discussion Post
1. Concept and Brief Description
2. Emotional Hook (provocative question/claim/real-life problem)
3. Key Points to Elicit in Discussion
4. Facilitative Questions
1. Performance management primarily deals with assessing employees’ performance with them so that they understand what they are doing right or wrong. The key is to start with your strategic objective and identify what the standard for the position is that the employee needs to meet. The interesting part of this section for me was the errors that managers frequently make when measuring performance. With a contrast error, the manager does not compare the employee to the objective standard, but instead compares the employee to other employees. This is an error because the employee you’re comparing them to may be performing well above the standard. Additionally, this makes the evaluation subjective. Distributional errors occur when managers, for whatever reason, tend to lean one way or another on the rating scale. More lenient managers give mostly good ratings, strict managers give mostly poor ratings, and managers with a central tendency just place everyone in the middle. Lastly, a manager may either be inclined to look past someone’s faults (the halo effect) or look past their strengths (the horns effect.)
2. Have you ever been the victim of an erroneous performance assessment?
3. I think assessment errors occur more commonly than we may think. I know in my performance evaluating I have definitely committed the contrast error. I tend to use my top performing sales reps as the standard and compare everyone else against them. The problem with this is it leaves the lower performers feeling judged. People need a set standard by which to compare themselves too. I think as far as ratings go, I don’t have a problem assessing an attribute or behavior exactly where it sits. I most frequently use a Graphic Rating Scale (one that lists attributes/behaviors and has a “5,4,3,2,1” next to it.) Usually there will be a mix of high and low ratings.
4. Have you ever been in a position where you needed to evaluate someone’s performance? How did you do it? Looking back, have you ever accidentally committed any of the common errors of performance measurement? Which ones? How was the employee affected?
Ch. 8 Class Reflections
Today we discussed interviews and screening tactics. I found it interesting that despite the fact that resumes are the most frequently used method of qualifying applicants, they are by far the least effective. Apparently, around 80% of resumes are full of lies! (and 100% are certainly at a minimum severely embellished.) They are useful for a few things though. They help you filter out people based on criteria such as degrees or certification. They allow you to check specifics. Also they allow you to see how much a person actually wants the job. If a person takes the time to make a personalized resume for this particular job, they will stand out against someone who turns in a generalized, mass produced resume. We also discussed interviewing. I was surprised how careful you must be when interviewing. I will definitely be aware of how I interview potential employees in the future.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Chapter 7 Discussion Post
1. Concept and Brief Description
2. Emotional Hook (provocative question/claim/real-life problem)
3. Key Points to Elicit in Discussion
4. Facilitative Questions
1. All companies need to teach their employees how to perform the tasks and responsibilities that contribute to the achievement of the company’s overarching objectives. Training can be a large and difficult task. A company needs to assess their needs, ensure they are ready to implement a training program, and then plan, implement, and evaluate the effectiveness of the training program. Without training, employees would be unable to achieve the company objectives. Firms use three types of training methods: the presentation method, the hands-on method, and the group-building method. The most traditional method I feel is presentation.
2. In your experience, do you feel most company training programs are effective?
3. I think a mix of all three is probably the best. As a corporate sales trainer, the foundation method I use is presentation. I used it tonight when I stood in front of a group of new sales rep, and explained and asked questions. To make the presentation method more effective I implement hands-on training. I required reps to practice what they’d learned by role-playing with each other or in front of the group. The group discussion happens more on an office by office basis as managers discuss and work with smaller teams of reps.
4. Have you had a job that used all three methods? Have you had a job that only stuck to one? Which did you find most effective?
Reflections
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Chapter 6 Discussion Posts
1. Concept and Brief Description
2. Emotional Hook (provocative question/claim/real-life problem)
3. Key Points to Elicit in Discussion
4. Facilitative Questions
1 This chapter focused on the selection and hiring process. Again I am surprised at how detailed and in depth all of these processes are. I always just assumed they existed on their own. I never really thought about the fact that someone creates and implements them. The purpose of the interview process is to find and hire the best applicants quickly and cheaply. The process starts at screening, goes through testing and interviewing, and ends with making a selection. Throughout the process you need to ensure that you are being compliant with legal requirements. Different organizations have created laws that make it illegal for you to discriminate against protected classes.
2. Emotional Hook (provocative question/claim/real-life problem)
3. Key Points to Elicit in Discussion
4. Facilitative Questions
1 This chapter focused on the selection and hiring process. Again I am surprised at how detailed and in depth all of these processes are. I always just assumed they existed on their own. I never really thought about the fact that someone creates and implements them. The purpose of the interview process is to find and hire the best applicants quickly and cheaply. The process starts at screening, goes through testing and interviewing, and ends with making a selection. Throughout the process you need to ensure that you are being compliant with legal requirements. Different organizations have created laws that make it illegal for you to discriminate against protected classes.
2 Do feel the traditional method of interviewing potential candidates is the most effective? Why or why not?
3 This chapter talks about four types of “validities.” These are: predictive, concurrent, content, and construct. These validities have to do with testing applicants rather than just interviewing them. In predictive testing, test scores of applicants are compared to test scores of employees test scores to try and predict future performance. Concurrent consists of testing people who already have a job. It seems that testing is a more effective method of determining the potential for success within prospective applicants.
4 Have you ever applied for a job that required a test? Was it an aptitude test? (an assessment of how well you can learn and acquire new skills.) or an achievement test (used to measure your existing knowledge and skills?) Did you feel the test was effective? Have you ever “bs’ed” through an interview? (said what you knew the interviewer wanted to hear, etc.)
Reflection
Today's discussion focused on methods of recruiting and bringing people into the company. You try and get as large as an applicant pool as you can. Some companies then test. Many do not test because its time consuming. However, a company should consider carefully before they do this. Testing can be the best process to determine the best employee that with have the best fit within a specific job within your company. After the interview, you do your due diligence then make your decision. This process seems to be the most frequently used from my experience. I imagine as well that this process has been going on for quite some time as well.
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