COMPENSATION MGT JOB EVALUTION: ADMINISTRATION, INCENTIVE PAYMENT

TECH,

WAGES

&

SALARY

If you pick the right people and give them the opportunity to spread their wings - and put compensation and rewards as a carrier behind it - you almost dont have to manage them. Jack Welch Definition: It is the process of providing adequate equitable and fair remuneration to the employee. Its include job evaluation wage and salary administration and bonus security measures etc. (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) Job evaluation Wage and salary administration Incentive Bonus Fringe benefits Social security measures

Most of us would have heard the term compensation in the context of getting paid for the work that we do. The work can be as part of full time engagement or part time in nature. What is common to them is that the reward that we get for expending our energy not to mention the time is that we are compensated for it. From the perspective of the employers, the money that they pay to the employees in return for the work that they do is something that they need to plan for in an elaborate and systematic manner. Unless the employer and the employee are in broad agreement the net result is dissatisfaction from the employees perspective and friction in the relationship. It can be said that compensation is the glue that binds the employee and the employer together and in the organized sector, this is further codified in the form of a contract or a mutually binding legal document that spells out exactly how much should be paid to the employee and the components of the compensation package. In compensation management, the art and science of arriving at the right compensation makes all the difference between a satisfied employee and a disgruntled employee. Though Maslows Need Hierarchy Theory talks about compensation being at the middle to lower rung of the pyramid and the other factors like job satisfaction and fulfilment being at the top, for a majority of employees, getting the right compensation is by itself a motivating factor. Hence, employers need to quantify the employees contribution in a proper manner if they are to get the best out of the employee. The provision of monetary value in exchange for work performed forms the basis of compensation and how this is managed using processes, procedures and systems form the basis of compensation management. Compensation is important as studies have shown that a majority of the employees who quit companies give inadequate or skewed compensation as the reason for their exit. Hence, compensation management is something that companies must

take seriously if they are to achieve a competitive advantage in the market for talent. Considering that the current trend in many sectors (particularly the knowledge intensive sectors like IT and Services) is to treat the employees as creators and drivers of value rather than one more factor of production, companies around the world are paying close attention to how much they pay, the kind of components that this pay includes and whether they are offering competitive compensation to attract the best talent. In concluding this article, it is pertinent to take a look at what Jack Welch had to say in this regard: As the quote (mentioned at the beginning of this article) says, if the right compensation along with the right kind of opportunities are made available to people by the firms in which they work, then work becomes a pleasure and the managers task made simpler leading to all round benefits for the employee as well as the employer. In the previous article (Part I) we looked at some of the components of compensation that are paid out to employees and the way in which these components are fixed by HR managers and companies. In this article (Part II), we shall look at some components of compensation like Basic and Variable Pay (including the subcomponents of variable pay) and discuss how these are fixed by the firms when they sign off on the compensation packages to their employees. To take the first component that is common to all packages at all levels.

Basic pay is the base on which the compensation package rests. This is the equivalent of the base of the pyramid and the other components are usually fixed as a percentage of the basic pay. It is common to find components like HRA (House Rental Allowance) and Additional Pay as a certain percentage (say 20% or 30%) of the Basic. There are many companies that have introduced the concept of Variable Pay where this particular component of the compensation is not fixed, but is a percentage of the Basic that is paid out according to the performance of the company, group and the individual. Hence, the term performance linked pay is also used for variable pay. If we take the three sub-components of the Variable Pay

The company performance linked pay is as the term implies paid out as a percentage of the Basic that is tied to the performance of the company as a whole. So, if a company performs exceedingly well in the given quarter, then the employee might get a large percentage (say 100% or 150%) of the base of the component. If a company does do not well or does only moderately better, then the employee might get a lower percentage of the base (say 50% or 75%). The group performance linked pay is paid out in a similar manner but the point of reference in this case is the performance of the group or the division in which the employee works. Finally, the most important sub-component is the Individual Performance Linked Pay that is paid out according to the performance of the employee and hence is entirely tied to the way in which the employee performs as determined by the rating that he or she gets at the end of the performance cycle.

The rationale for these components is that an employee would be better motivated to perform individually, contribute to the group to which he or she belongs and finally, perform well keeping in view the overall growth of the company. Hence, these sub components of compensation have been designed to spur the employee to excel not only in an individual capacity but as a team member and finally, a responsible employee of the company. The idea here is to discourage silo based performance and instead concentrate on all round performance. In the articles to follow, we shall look at how employees can negotiate their compensation by following some tips that we shall provide. In the previous sections, we looked at the components of the compensation and how each is used to assess the relative importance of an employee as far as remuneration is concerned. In this article, we look at some of the factors that determine how much compensation is to be paid out to the employee by looking at the issue from the perspective of the employer. The subsequent article would take a look at how the employee can influence the compensation setting process with negotiation and bargaining. From the perspective of the employer, the factors that affect compensation are:

The Overall Macroeconomic situation where in the state of the economy of the country in which the firm is situated plays a major role in determining the compensation to be paid. For instance, if an economy is booming or is in a high growth trajectory, chances are that the employers would pay the employees more and conversely, if the economy is in a downward trajectory, chances are that the employers would pay the employees less. We often hear about how because of the recession, salary hikes have been deferred or cut down. This is a direct result of the linkage between firm performance and the performance of the economy. The Demand for a particular skill weighs heavily on the way in which the employer fixes the compensation for the employee. For instance, premium skills like Consulting and Accountancy are paid more as are the Technology Professionals who might be experts in their chosen field. As discussed in earlier articles, it is the expertise and the relative scarcity of such experts that determines how much the employer is willing to pay. The Position of the company in the Business Cycle often determines how much the company is willing to offer to the employee. For instance, if a company is a start-up, chances are that the company would pay more because of the need to get the best possible talent into the company. Further, many start-ups give their employees ESOPs or Employee Stock Option Plans wherein the employees can redeem their stocks after the lockin period. Finally, the urgency of the firm in filling up the position plays an important role in determining how much the employer is willing to pay the employee and in many cases, if the time to get on board the employee is less, staffing managers along with the line manager in charge of hiring the employee might decide to pay more because they want the employee to come on board as quickly as possible.

These are some of the factors that determine the compensation to be paid to the employee from the perspective of the employer. This is not an exhaustive list but an indicative one and as the module progresses, we shall be revisiting some of these factors along with adding additional information. The next article would talk about how employees can negotiate with the employer for better compensation and perks. In the previous article, we looked at some of the factors that help the employers determine the level of compensation to be given to employees. In this article, we look at the factors that affect compensation from the perspective of the employee. What this means is that the employee should not be constrained by the amount of compensation that the employer provides him or her and can and should negotiate with the prospective employer until he or she is satisfied with the outcome. Of course, there are several kinds of negotiation with the employer. For instance, the employee can negotiate at the time of the hiring process or can negotiate at the time of the appraisal cycle. In this article, we consider the strategies available to the employee at the time of the hiring process. There are several parts to the employees strategy to negotiate with the employer. Some of them are: Plan and Communicate: The most important part of the employees strategy must be to research the compensation trends in the market and then negotiate with the employer based on how much the other companies are willing to pay for a similar role combined with the fact that the company hiring him or her pays for the same role. Hence, it is advisable for the employee to keep in touch with compensation trends in the marketplace and also talk to other employees before he or she decides to communicate his or her expectations to the prospective employer. Timing makes the difference: In any negotiation process, time is the key element and hence timing the negotiation process is important. The best possible option for the employee would be to wait for the company to make an offer and then pitch in his or her expectations about the compensation. There is something called overkill which must be avoided and the employee must avoid going overboard. At the same time, the employee must also ensure that he or she does not start the negotiation process early on in order not to lose out on the offer. Hence the timing of the pitch makes all the difference. Consider the Alternatives: When you are deciding about prospective offers, ensure that you make the pitch for your expected compensation level after taking into account all the alternatives and not simply rush into something that does not value your experience and expertise adequately. At the same time, do not harangue the prospective employers though you might have several alternatives available to you. The point to be noted is that different companies react to compensation negotiations in different ways and hence you must play the field according to these points. Many a time, prospective employees lost out on compensation either because they asked too high or asked too late. At the same time, they should also remember not to coerce the employers. The best possible strategy is where you are confident

about yourself and your worth as measured by the employer must reflect your own sense of self worth. When there is a meeting point between these, then you can rest assured that you have arrived at the ideal compensation for yourself.