11 11/ Human Resources

Adapted from Fundamentals of Business: Canadian Edition by Pamplin College of Business and Virginia Tech Libraries is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial–ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

SOURCE: Artem Podrez .

Human Resources

Show What You Know

An interactive or media element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here: Link.

The Grounds of a Great Work Environment

Starbucks Founder Howard Schultz has vivid memories of his father slumped on the couch with his leg in a cast.¹¹² The ankle would heal, but his father had lost another job, this time as a driver for a diaper service. It was a crummy job; still, it put food on the table, and if his father could not work, there would not be any money. Howard was seven, but he understood the gravity of the situation, particularly because his mother was seven months pregnant, and the family had no insurance.

“Original Starbucks, Seattle” by Cory M. Grenier is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

This was just one of the many setbacks that plagued Schultz’s father throughout his life, an honest, hard-working man frustrated by a system that was not designed to cater to the needs of common workers. He held a series of blue-collar jobs (cab driver, truck driver, factory worker), sometimes holding two or three at a time. Despite his willingness to work, he never earned enough money to move his family out of Brooklyn’s federally subsidized housing projects. Schultz’s father died never having found fulfillment in his worklife, or even a meaningful job. It was the saddest day of Howard’s life.

As a kid, did Schultz ever imagine that one day he would be the founder and chairperson of Starbucks Coffee Company? Of course not. He decided that if he could ever make a difference in the lives of people like his father, he would do what he could. Remembering his father’s struggles and disappointments, Schultz has tried to make Starbucks the company where he wished his father had worked. “Without even a high school diploma,” Schultz admits, “my father probably could never have been an executive. But if he had landed a job in one of our stores or roasting plants, he would not have quit in frustration because the company did not value him. He would have had wonderful health benefits, stock options, and an atmosphere in which his suggestions or complaints would receive a prompt, respectful response.”¹¹³

 Schultz is motivated by both personal and business considerations: “When employees have self-esteem and self-respect,” he argues, “they can contribute so much more: to their company, to their family, to the world.”¹¹⁴ His commitment to his employees is embedded in Starbucks’s mission statement, whose first aim is to “provide a great work environment and treat each other with respect and dignity.”¹¹⁵ Those working at Starbucks are called partners because Schultz believes working for his company is not just a job, it’s a passion.¹¹⁶

Point to Ponder

In April 2018, two black men were arrested for trespassing in a Philadelphia Starbucks. They had ordered nothing as they were waiting on a friend. Employees asked them to leave and when they did not, the police were called. Starbucks refrained from pressing charges and the men were released. The incident sparked debate and criticism of Starbucks, which triggered an apology from the company and closed all stores nationwide on May 29th for all employees to take diversity training.

Human Resource Management

Employees at Starbucks are vital to the company’s success. They are its public face, and every dollar of sales passes through their hands.¹¹⁷ According to Howard Schultz, they can make or break the company. If a customer has a positive interaction with an employee, the customer will come back. If an encounter is negative, the customer is probably gone for good. That is why it is crucial for Starbucks to recruit and hire the right people, train them properly, motivate them to do their best, and encourage them to stay with the company. The company works to provide satisfying jobs, a positive work environment, appropriate work schedules, and fair compensation and benefits. These activities are part of Starbucks’s strategy to deploy human resources to gain competitive advantage. The process is called human resource management (HRM), which comprises all actions that an organization takes to attract, develop, and keep quality employees. Each of these activities is complex. Attracting talented employees involves the recruitment of qualified candidates and the selection of those who best fit the organization’s needs. Development encompasses both new employee orientation and the training and development of current workers. Keeping excellent employees means motivating them to excel, appraising their performance, compensating them appropriately, and doing what is possible to keep them.

Human Resource Planning

How does Starbucks make sure that its worldwide retail locations are staffed with just the right number of committed employees? How does Norwegian Cruise Line make certain that when the Norwegian Dawn pulls out of New York harbour, it has a complete, fully trained crew on board to feed, entertain, and care for its passengers? Managing these tasks is a matter of strategic human resource planning, developing a plan for satisfying an organization’s human resources (HR) needs.

A strategic HR plan lays out the steps that an organization will take to ensure that it has the right number of employees with the right skills in the right places at the right times. HR managers begin by analyzing the company’s mission, objectives, and strategies. Starbucks’s objectives, for example, include the desire to “develop enthusiastically satisfied customers” as well as to foster an environment in which employees treat both customers and each other with respect.¹¹⁸ Thus, the firm’s HR managers look for people who are “adaptable, self-motivated, passionate, creative team members.”¹¹⁹ The main goal of Norwegian Cruise Line, to lavish passengers with personal attention, determines not only the type of employee desired (one with exceptionally good customer-relation skills and a strong work ethic) but also the number needed (one for every two passengers on the Norwegian Dawn).¹²⁰

Job Analysis

To develop an HR plan, HR managers must be knowledgeable about the jobs that the organization needs performed. They organize information about a job by performing a job analysis to identify the tasks, responsibilities, and skills that it entails, as well as the knowledge and abilities needed to perform it. Managers also use the information collected for the job analysis to prepare two documents:

A job description, which lists the duties and responsibilities of a position.

A job specification, which lists the qualifications (skills, knowledge, and abilities) needed to perform the job.

HR Supply and Demand Forecasting

Once they have analyzed the jobs within the organization, HR managers must forecast future hiring (or firing) needs. This is the three-step process summarized below.

Starbucks, for instance, might find that it needs 300 new employees to work at stores scheduled to open in the next few months. Disney might determine that it needs 2,000 new cast members to handle an expected surge in visitors. The Norwegian Dawn might be short two dozen restaurant workers because of an unexpected increase in reservations.

Figure 1. How to Forecast Hiring (and Firing) Needs

After calculating the disparity between supply and future demand, HR managers must draw up plans for bringing the two numbers into balance. If the demand for labour is going to outstrip the supply, they may hire more workers, encourage current workers to put in extra hours, subcontract work to other suppliers, or introduce labour saving initiatives. If the supply is greater than the demand, they may deal with overstaffing by not replacing workers who leave, encouraging early retirements, laying off workers, or (as a last resort) firing workers.

Recruiting Qualified Employees

Armed with information on the number of new employees to be hired and the positions to be filled, the HR manager then develops a strategy for recruiting potential employees. Recruiting is identifying suitable candidates and encouraging them to apply for openings in the organization.

Before going any further, we should point out that in recruiting and hiring, managers must comply with anti-discrimination laws; violations can have legal consequences. Discrimination occurs when a person is treated unfairly based on a characteristic unrelated to ability. Under Section 3 of the Canadian Human Rights Act, it’s illegal to discriminate because of:

“Race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, family status, genetic characteristics, disability or conviction for an offence for which a pardon has been granted or in respect of which a record suspension has been ordered.”

The Canadian Human Rights Commission and Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects and enforces several federal employment laws and protects each Canadian’s right to equal treatment under the law, including:

• Equal Pay: Section 11 of the CHRA which protects male and female employees who do substantially equal work from a difference in wages.
• Other Factors: Section 15(1) of the Charter protects every Canadian’s right to equal treatment regarding employment regardless of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability.

In Canada, each jurisdiction (3 territories and 10 provinces) is governed by its own Human Rights Code, or a version of it which offers its citizens an additional layer of protection against discriminatory practices. For example, in Ontario it is the Ontario Human Rights Act.

The Employment Equity Act of 1986 identifies specific populations which are protected from discrimination (women, visible minorities, indigenous peoples, and people with disabilities). Individuals who feel that they have been discriminated against can take their case to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. Other legislation includes the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Canadian Labour code.

Where to Find Candidates

The first step in recruiting is to find qualified candidates. Where do you look for them, and how do you decide whether they are qualified? Companies must assess not only the ability of a candidate to perform the duties of a job, but also whether he or she is a good “fit” for the company (i.e. how well the candidate’s values and interpersonal style match the company’s values and culture).

Internal Versus External Recruiting

Where do you find people who satisfy so many criteria? Basically, you can look in two places: inside and outside your own organization. Both options have pluses and minuses. Hiring internally sends a positive signal to employees that they can move up in the company, a strong motivation tool and a reward for excellent performance. In addition, because an internal candidate is a known quantity, it is easier to predict his or her success in a new position. Finally, it is cheaper to recruit internally. You will probably have to fill the promoted employee’s position. Going outside gives you an opportunity to bring fresh ideas and skills into the company. It is often the only alternative, especially if no one inside the company has just the right combination of skills and experiences. Entry-level jobs are usually filled from the outside.

How to Find Candidates

Whether you search inside or outside the organization, you need to publicize the opening. If you are looking internally in a small organization, you can alert employees informally. In larger organizations, HR managers generally post openings on bulletin boards (often online) or announce them in newsletters. They can also seek direct recommendations from various supervisors.

Recruiting people from outside is more complicated. It is a lot like marketing a product to buyers: in effect, you are marketing the virtues of working for your company. Starbucks uses the following outlets to advertise openings:

A dedicated section of the corporate website (“Job Centre,” which lists openings, provides information about the Starbucks experience, and facilitates the submission of online applications).

College and university campus recruiting (holding on-campus interviews and information sessions and taking part in career fairs).

Internships designed to identify future talent among college students.

Announcements on employment websites like:

LinkedIn, Workopolis, Indeed, LeapOut, JobBank, Eluta.

Social Media.

Local job fairs.

In-store recruiting posters.

Informative “business cards” for distribution to customers.¹²¹

SOURCE: Alex Green.

When asked what it takes to attract the best people, Starbucks’s senior executive Dave Olsen replied, “Everything matters.” Everything Starbucks does as a company bears on its ability to attract talent. Everyone recruits, not just HR specialists. In fact, the best source of quality applicants is often the company’s own labour force.¹²²

The Selection Process

Recruiting gets people to apply for positions, but once you have received applications, you still must select the best candidate, another complicated process.

The selection process entails gathering information on candidates, evaluating their qualifications, and choosing the right one. At the very least, the process can be time-consuming (particularly when you are filling a high-level position) and often involves several members of an organization.

Let us scrutinize the selection process by describing the steps you would take to work for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.¹²³ Most business students rarely aspire to become CSIS agents, but CSIS is quite interested in business graduates, especially if you have a major in accounting or finance. With one of these backgrounds, you will be given priority in hiring. Why? Unfortunately, there is a lot of white-collar crime that needs to be investigated, and people who know how to follow the money are well suited for the task.

An interactive or media element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here: Link.

Contingent Workers

Though most people prefer to hold permanent, full-time positions, there is a growing number of individuals who work at temporary or part-time jobs, either by choice or as the only available option. Many of these are contingent workers hired to supplement a company’s permanent workforce. Most of them are independent contractors, consultants, or freelancers who are paid by the firms that hire them. Others are on-call workers who work only when needed, such as substitute teachers. Still others are temporary workers (or “temps”) who are employed and paid by outside agencies or contract firms that charge fees to client companies.

Video 1. Rise of the “Gig Economy”

(Video Link)

The Positives and Negatives of Temp Work

Using contingent workers provides companies with several benefits. Because they can be hired and fired easily, employers can better control labour costs. When things are busy, they can add temps, and when business is slow, they can release unneeded workers. Temps are often cheaper than permanent workers, particularly because they rarely receive costly benefits. Employers can also bring in people with specialized skills and talents to work on special projects without entering long-term employment relationships. Finally, companies can “try out” temps: if someone does well, the company can offer permanent employment; if the fit is less than perfect, the employer can easily end the relationship. There are downsides to the use of contingent workers, including increased training costs and decreased loyalty to the company. Also, many employers believe that because temps are usually less committed to company goals than permanent workers, productivity suffers.

Developing Employees

Because companies cannot survive unless employees do their jobs well, it makes economic sense to train them and develop their skills. This type of support begins when an individual enters the organization and continues if he or she stays there.

New Employee Orientation

Have you ever started your first day at a new job feeling upbeat and optimistic only to walk out thinking that maybe you have taken the wrong job? If this happens too often, your employer may need to revise its approach to orientation, the way it introduces new employees to the organization and their jobs. Starting a new job is a little like beginning college; at the outset, you may experience any of the following feelings:

Somewhat nervous but enthusiastic.

Eager to impress but not wanting to attract too much attention.

Interested in learning but fearful of being overwhelmed with information.

Hoping to fit in and worried about looking new or inexperienced.¹²⁴

The employer who understands how common such feelings are is more likely not only to help newcomers get over them but also to avoid the pitfalls often associated with new employee orientation:

Failing to have a workspace set up for you.

Ignoring you or failing to supervise you.

Neglecting to introduce you to coworkers.

Swamping you with facts about the company.¹²⁵

A good employer will take things slowly, providing you with information about the company and your job on a need to know basis while making you feel as comfortable as possible. You will get to know the company’s history, traditions, policies, and culture over time and learn more about salary, benefits, and how your performance will be evaluated. You will find out how your job fits into overall operations and what is expected of you.

Training and Development

It would be nice if employees came with all the skills, they need to do their jobs. It would also be nice if job requirements stayed the same: once you have learned how to do a job, you would know how to do it forever. New employees must be trained; as they grow in their jobs or as their jobs change, they will need additional training. Unfortunately, training is costly and time-consuming. How costly? The Conference Board of Canada reported Canadian companies spent $688 per employee for training in 2010.

Many Canadian companies focus much of their training on diversity skills. What is the payoff? They create a more inclusive workplace and bring fresh voices and ideas to their way of doing business. Some of these companies also get additional rewards by being recognized as being Canada’s Best Diversity Employers.¹²⁶ At Booz Allen Hamilton, consultants specialize in finding innovative solutions to client problems, and their employer makes sure that they’re up-to-date on all the new technologies by maintaining a “technology petting zoo” at its training headquarters. It is called a “petting zoo” because employees get to see, touch, and interact with new and emerging technologies. For example, a Washington Post reporter visiting the “petting zoo” in 2007 saw fabric that could instantly harden if struck by a knife or bullet, and “smart” clothing that could monitor a wearer’s health or environment.¹²⁷

At Booz Allen Hamilton’s technology “petting zoo,” employees are receiving off-the-job training. This approach allows them to focus on learning without the distractions that would occur in the office. More common, however, is informal on-the-job training, which may be supplemented with formal training programs. This is the method, for example, by which you’d move up from mere coffee maker to a full-fledged “barista” if you worked at Starbucks.¹²⁸ You’d begin by reading a large spiral book (titled Starbucks University) on the responsibilities of the barista, pass a series of tests on the reading, then get hands-on experience in making drinks, mastering one at a time.¹²⁹ Doing more complex jobs in business will probably require even more training than is required to be a barista.

Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity in the Workplace

The makeup of the Canadian workforce has transformed over the past 50 years. In the 1950s, over 70% was composed of males.¹³⁰  Today’s workforce reflects the broad range of differences in the population (differences in gender, race, ethnicity, age, physical ability, religion, education, and lifestyle). As you can see below, more women have entered the workforce.¹³¹

Figure 2. Employment by GenderGroup, 2017

Most companies today strive for diverse workforces. HR managers work hard to recruit, hire, develop, and keep a diverse workforce. In part, these efforts are motivated by legal concerns: discrimination in recruiting, hiring, advancement, and firing is illegal under federal law and is prosecuted by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal.¹³² Companies that violate anti-discrimination laws are subject to severe financial penalties and risk reputational damage.

Reasons for building a diverse workforce go well beyond mere compliance with legal standards. It even goes beyond commitment to ethical standards. It is good business. People with diverse backgrounds bring fresh points of view that can be invaluable in generating ideas and solving problems. In addition, they can be the key to connecting with an ethnically diverse customer base. In short, capitalizing on the benefits of a diverse workforce means that employers should view differences as assets rather than liabilities.

What Makes a Great Place to Work?

Every year, Great Place to Work Canada analyzes comments from thousands of employees and compiles a list of “The 100 Best Companies to Work for in Canada,” which is published in Fortune magazine. Having compiled its list for over 20 years, the institute concludes that the defining characteristic of a great company to work for is trust between managers and employees. Employees overwhelmingly say that they want to work at a place where employees “trust the people they work for, have pride in what they do, and enjoy the people they work with.”¹³³ They report the motivation to perform because they are challenged, respected, treated fairly, and appreciated. They take pride in what they do, are made to feel that they make a difference, and are given opportunities for advancement.¹³⁴ The most effective motivators, it would seem, are closely aligned with Maslow’s higher level needs and Herzberg’s motivating factors. The top ten companies are listed below.

Job Redesign

The average employee spends over 2,000 hours a year at work. If the job is tedious, unpleasant, or otherwise unfulfilling, the employee probably will not be motivated to perform at a top-level. Many companies practice a policy of job redesign to make jobs more interesting and challenging. Common strategies include job rotation, job enlargement, and job enrichment.

SOURCE: Valeria Boltneva.

Job Rotation

Specialization promotes efficiency because workers get very good at doing tasks. The drawback is the tedium of repeating the same task day in and day out. The practice of job rotation allows employees to rotate from one job to another systematically, often but not cycling back to their original tasks. A computer maker, for example, might rotate a technician into the sales department to increase the employee’s awareness of customer needs and to give the employee a broader understanding of the company’s goals and operations. A hotel might rotate an accounting clerk to the check- in desk for a few hours each day to add variety to the daily workload. Through job rotation, employees develop new skills and gain experience that increases their value to the company. So great is the benefit of this practice that many companies have established rotational training programs that include scheduled rotations during the first 2 to 3 years of employment. Companies benefit because cross-trained employees can fill in for absentees, thus providing greater flexibility in scheduling, offer fresh ideas on work practices, and become promotion-ready more quickly.

Job Enlargement

Instead of a job in which you performed just one or two tasks, wouldn’t you prefer a job that gave you many tasks? In theory, you would be less bored and more highly motivated if you had a chance at job enlargement, the policy of enhancing a job by adding tasks at similar skill levels. The job of sales clerk, for example, might be expanded to include gift-wrapping and packaging items for shipment. The additional duties would add variety without entailing higher skill levels.

Job Enrichment

Merely expanding a job by adding similar tasks will not necessarily “enrich” it by making it more challenging and rewarding. Job enrichment is the practice of adding tasks that increase both responsibility and opportunity for growth. It provides the kinds of benefits that, according to Maslow and Herzberg, contribute to job satisfaction: stimulating work, sense of personal achievement, self-esteem, recognition, and a chance to reach your potential.

Consider, for example, the developing role of support staff in the contemporary office. Today, employees who used to be called “secretaries” assume many duties previously in the domain of management, such as project coordination and public relations. Information technology has enriched their jobs because they can now apply such skills as word processing, desktop publishing, creating spreadsheets, and managing databases. That is why we now use a term such as administrative assistant instead of secretary.¹³⁵

Life and Work Quality

Building a career requires a substantial commitment in time and energy, and often not left with much time for non-work activities. Fortunately, many organizations recognize the need to help employees balance their work and home lives.¹³⁶ By helping employees combine satisfying careers and fulfilling personal lives, companies tend to end up with a happier, less stressed, and more productive workforce. The financial benefits include lower absenteeism, turnover, and health care costs.

SOURCE: Pixabay.

Alternative Work Arrangements

The accounting firm KPMG LLP, which has consistently made the list of the “Canada’s Top Family-Friendly Employers,”¹³⁷ and is committed to help “employees balance work and their personal lives through a variety of flexible work options.”¹³⁸

Flextime

Employers who provide for flextime set guidelines that allow employees to designate starting and quitting times. Guidelines, for example, might specify that all employees must work eight hours a day (with an hour for lunch) and that four hours must be between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. You could come in at 7 a.m. and leave at 4 p.m., while coworkers arrive at 10 a.m. and leave at 7 p.m. With permission you could even choose to work from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., take two hours for lunch, and then work from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Compressed Workweeks

Rather than work eight hours a day for five days a week, you might elect to earn a three-day weekend by working ten hours a day for four days a week.

Job Sharing

Under job sharing, two people share one full-time position, splitting the salary and benefits of the position as each handle half the job. Often, they arrange their schedules to include at least an hour of shared time during which they can communicate about the job.

Telecommuting

Telecommuting means that you regularly work from home (or from some other non-work location). You are connected to the office by computer and cell phone. You save on commuting time, enjoy more flexible work hours, and have more opportunity to spend time with your family. A study of 5,500 IBM employees (one-fifth of whom telecommute) found that those who worked at home not only had a better balance between work and home life but also were more highly motivated and less likely to leave the organization.¹³⁹

Though it is hard to count telecommuters accurately, Statistics Canada estimates that, in 2008, 11% of employees work from home.¹⁴⁰ Telecommuting is not for everyone. Working at home means that you must discipline yourself to avoid distractions, such as TV, personal phone calls, and home chores and not be impacted by feeling isolated from the workplace social interaction.

Family-Friendly Programs

Besides alternative work arrangements, many employers, including KPMG LLP and BASF Canada, offer programs, and benefits designed to help employees meet family and home obligations while maintaining busy careers. As exemplar companies, they offer the following benefits.¹⁴¹

Dependent Care

Caring for dependents (young children and elderly parents) is of utmost importance to some employees but combining dependent care responsibilities with a busy job can be difficult. Through its Personal Care program, KPMG LLP provides employees with up to 50 hours of paid time off annually to help with a range of personal matters. They also offer emergency backup dependent care all year round, either at a provider’s facility or in the employee’s home. KPMG LLP also has a Working Parents Network, Special Parents Network, offering support for parents raising children with physical, emotional, and behavioural (virtual support group for parents raising children with physical, emotional, and behavioural issues. Meanwhile, BASF Canada offers its employees a privately run on-site childcare facility.

Parental Leave and Support

New parents in Canada are guaranteed paid leave via Employment Insurance Maternity and Parental Benefits. BASF Canada tops-up these payments for new parents to 100% of salary for up to 17 weeks. KPMG LLP further supports new parents by providing those on leave support with their transition back to work.

Caring for Yourself

Both KPMG LLP and BASF Canada offer employees comprehensive health and dental benefit coverage programs. They also provide employees with generous vacation allowances and personal days for employees to use in any way they want. Both organizations also offer an Employee Assistance Program for employees experiencing personal and/or work-related problems that may negatively affect their job performance and overall wellbeing. If staying fit makes you happier and more productive, BASF Canada offers a $400 fitness club subsidy and KPMG LLP offers the equivalent of 1.25% of an employee’s salary for home gym equipment.¹⁴²

SOURCE: Kelly Lacy.

Unmarried Without Children

You have undoubtedly noticed by now that many programs for balancing work and personal lives target married people, particularly those with children. Single individuals also have trouble striking a satisfactory balance between work and non-work activities, but many single workers feel they are not getting equal consideration from employers.¹⁴³ They report having to work longer hours, travel more, and take on hard assignments to compensate for married employees with family commitments.

Requiring singles to take on additional responsibilities can make it harder for them to balance their work and personal lives. It is harder to plan and keep personal commitments while meeting heavy work responsibilities. Frustration can lead to increased stress and job dissatisfaction. In several studies of stress in the accounting profession, unmarried workers reported higher levels of stress than any other group, including married people with children.¹⁴⁴

With singles, as with married people, companies can reap substantial benefits from programs that help employees balance their work and non-work lives. PepsiCo, for example, offers a “concierge service,” which maintains a dry cleaner, travel agency, convenience store, and fitness centre on the premises of its national office in Somers, New York.¹⁴⁵ Single employees seem to find these services helpful, but what they value most of all is control over their time. They want predictable schedules that allow them to plan social and personal activities. They do not want employers assuming that being single means they can change plans at the last minute. It is often more difficult for singles to deal with last minute changes because, unlike married coworkers, they don’t have the at home support structure to handle such tasks as tending to elderly parents or caring for pets.

Compensation and Benefits

Though paychecks and benefits packages are not the only reasons people work, they do matter. Competitive pay and benefits also help organizations attract and keep qualified employees. Companies that pay their employees more than their competitors generally have lower turnover. Consider, for example, The Container Store, which regularly appears on Fortune magazine’s list of “The 100 Best Companies to Work For.”¹⁴⁶ The U.S. retail chain staffs its stores with fewer employees than its competitors but pays them more, sometimes, three times the industry average for retail workers. This strategy allows the company to attract extremely talented workers who, are not likely to leave the company. Low turnover is valuable in the retail industry because it depends on service-oriented personnel to generate repeat business. Besides salary and wages, compensation packages often include other financial incentives, such as bonuses and profit-sharing plans, as well as benefits, such as medical insurance, vacation time, sick leave, and retirement accounts.

Wages and Salaries

The largest, and most important, component of a compensation package is the payment of wages or salary. If you are paid according to the number of hours you work, you are earning wages. Counter personnel at McDonald’s, for instance, get wages, which are determined by multiplying an employee’s hourly wage rate by the number of hours worked during the pay period. If you are paid for fulfilling the responsibilities of a position (regardless of the number of hours required to do it) you are earning a salary. The McDonald’s manager gets a salary for overseeing the operations of the restaurant. He or she is expected to work if it takes to get the job done, with no change in compensation.

Piecework and Commissions

Sometimes it makes more sense to pay workers according to the quantity of product that they produce or sell. North Nova Seafoods Ltd., a seafood processing plant in Pictou, Nova Scotia, pays workers on piecework: workers’ pay is based on the number of fish they have cut, cleaned, and trimmed, or the number of lobsters they have disjointed and picked meat from. If you are working on commission, you are probably getting paid a percentage of the total dollar amount you sell. If you were a sales representative for an insurance company, like The Co-operators, you would get a certain amount of money for each automobile or homeowner policy you sold.

Incentive Programs

Besides regular paychecks, many people receive financial rewards based on performance, whether their own, their employer’s, or both. Other incentive programs designed to reward employees for excellent performance include bonus plans and stock options.

Bonus Plans

Cisco Systems Canada’s year-end bonuses (annual income given besides salary) are based on individual and company-wide performance. If the company has a profitable year, and if you contributed to that success, you will get a bonus. They refer to it as “rewarding people for their performance, not their seniority”.¹⁴⁷

Bonus plans have become quite common, and the range of employees eligible for bonuses has widened in recent years. In the past, bonus plans were usually reserved for managers above a certain level. Today, companies have realized the value of extending plans to include employees at virtually every level. The magnitude of bonuses still favours those at the top.

Profit-Sharing Plans

Nature’s Path Foods and Canadian Tire both have profit-sharing arrangements with employees. Today, many Canadian companies offer some type of profit-sharing program.¹⁴⁸ Canadian Tire’s plan has long been part of its operating principles, having been around since the late 1960s. Here is how it works. An employee’s profit share is paid annually as a percentage of the employee’s earnings and is based on the company’s net profit. Profits in the most recent years have averaged to be about 10%. Interestingly, because this profit share is part of an employee’s retirement savings, it is put into a deferred profit-sharing account.¹⁴⁹

Stock Option Plans

WestJet’s compensation plan also gives employees the right to take part in their Employee Share Purchase Plan. This enables employees to purchase WestJet shares amounting to up to 20% of their gross salary and the company will match their contributions. This incentive attracts and keeps good people.

U.S.-based Starbucks is not nearly as selective in awarding stock options. At Starbucks, all employees can earn “Bean Stock,” the Starbucks employee stock option plan. Both full- and part-time employees get Starbucks shares based on their earnings and their time with the company. If the company does well and its stock goes up, employees make a profit. CEO Howard Schultz believes that Bean Stock pays off because employees are rewarded when the company does well, they have a stronger incentive to add value to the company (and so drive up its stock price). Starbucks has a video explaining their employee stock option program on this webpage.¹⁵⁰

Benefits

Another major component of an employee’s compensation package is benefits (compensation other than salaries, hourly wages, or financial incentives). Types of benefits include:

Legally required benefits (Employment Insurance, Canada Pension Plan, Workplace Safety and Insurance Boards).

Paid time off (vacations, holidays, sick leave).

Insurance (health benefits, life insurance, disability insurance).

Retirement benefits.

The cost of providing benefits is staggering. According to a 2015 survey by the Conference Board of Canada, it costs employers an average of $8,330 to provide benefits for each full-time employee. More than half of the employers surveyed showed a rise in benefit costs, with an average 6.2% increase between 2013 and 2014.¹⁵¹

Many workers received benefits besides those required by law, including vision care, semi-private hospital stays and out-of-country medical coverage.¹⁵² Plus many companies surveyed showed that they provided benefits to permanent part-time employees who work a minimum number of hours per week. Part-timers often receive no benefits at all.¹⁵³

Performance Appraisal

Employees generally want their managers to tell them three things: what they should do, how well they are doing it, and how they can improve their performance. Good managers address these issues actively. On a semi-annual or annual basis, they also conduct formal performance appraisals to discuss and evaluate employees’ work performance.

The Basic Three-Step Process

Appraisal systems vary both by organization and by the level of the employee being evaluated, but as you can see in the Figure below, it is generally a three-step process:

Before managers can measure performance, they must set goals and performance expectations and specify the criteria (such as quality of work, quantity of work, dependability, initiative) that they will use to measure performance.

At the end of a specified period, managers complete written evaluations that rate employee performance according to the predetermined criteria.

Managers then meet with each employee to discuss the evaluation. Jointly, they suggest ways in which the employee can improve performance, which might include further training and development.

Figure 3. The Performance Appraisal Process

It sounds simple, but why do so many managers report that, except for firing people, giving performance appraisals is their least favourite task?¹⁵⁴ To get some perspective on this question, we will look at performance appraisals from both sides, explaining the benefits and identifying potential problems with some of the most common practices.

Among other benefits, formal appraisals provide:

An opportunity for managers and employees to discuss an employee’s performance and to set future goals and performance expectations.

A chance to identify and discuss training and career-development opportunities for an employee.

Formal documentation of the evaluation that can be used for salary, promotion, demotion, or dismissal purposes.¹⁵⁵

As for disadvantages, most stem from the fact that appraisals are often used to determine salaries for the upcoming year. Meetings to discuss performance tend to take on an entirely different dimension: the manager may appear judgemental (rather than supportive), and the employee may get defensive. This adversarial atmosphere can make many managers not only uncomfortable with the task but also less likely to give honest feedback (They may give higher marks to avoid delving into critical evaluations). HR professionals disagree about whether performance appraisals should be linked to pay increases. Some experts argue that the connection eliminates the manager’s opportunity to use the appraisal to improve an employee’s performance. Others maintain it increases employee satisfaction with the process and distributes raises based on effort and results.¹⁵⁶

360-Degree and Upward Feedback

Instead of being evaluated by one person, how would you like to be evaluated by several people, not only those above you in the organization but those below and beside you? The approach is called 360-degree feedback, and the purpose is to ensure that employees (mostly managers) get feedback from all directions, from supervisors, reporting subordinates, coworkers, and even customers. If it is conducted correctly, this technique furnishes managers with a range of insights into their performance in several roles.

Some experts, however, regard the 360-degree approach as too cumbersome. An alternative technique, called upward feedback, requires only the manager’s subordinates to provide feedback. Computer maker Dell uses this approach as part of its manager-development plan. Every year, 40,000 Dell employees complete a survey in which they rate their supervisors on several dimensions, such as practising ethical business principles and providing support in balancing work and personal life. Dell uses survey results for development only, not as direct input into decisions on pay increases or promotions.¹⁵⁷

Keeping Valuable Employees

When a valued employee quits, the loss to the employer can be serious. Not only will the firm incur substantial costs to recruit and train a replacement, but it also may suffer temporary declines in productivity and lower morale among remaining employees who must take on heavier workloads. Given the negative impact of turnover (the permanent separation of an employee from a company) most organizations do whatever they can to keep qualified employees. Compensation plays a key role in this effort: companies that do not offer competitive compensation packages tend to lose employees. Other factors also come into play, such as training and development, as well as helping employees achieve a satisfying work/non-work balance. In the following sections, we will look at a few other strategies for reducing turnover and increasing productivity.¹⁵⁸

Creating a Positive Work Environment

Employees who are happy at work are more productive, provide better customer service, and are more likely to stay with the company. Vancouver-based Telus Corp., tracks their employee engagement with the help of a human resource consulting firm, with a 31% increase from 2007 to 2014. This increase was shown to impact higher customer satisfaction, besides low turnover rates, an increase in job applications and an increase in their stock price.

Watch the video below from Daniel Pink, which summarizes recent research on motivation and comes to some interesting conclusions.¹⁵⁹

Video 2. RSA Shorts “Drive” Video

(Video Link)

The Employee-Friendly Workplace

What sort of things improve employee attitudes? The 12,000 employees of software maker SAS Institute fall into the category of “happy workers.” They choose the furniture and equipment in their offices, eat subsidized meals at one of three on-site restaurants, and enjoy other amenities like a 77,000 square-foot fitness centre. They also have job security: no one’s ever been laid off because of an economic downturn. The employee-friendly work environment helps SAS employees focus on their jobs and contribute to the attainment of company goals.¹⁶⁰ It also results in very low 3% turnover.

Recognizing Employee Contributions

Thanking people for work done well is a powerful motivator. People who feel appreciated are more likely to stay with a company than those who do not.¹⁶¹ While a personal thank you is always helpful; many companies also have formal programs for identifying and rewarding excellent performers. The U.S.-based Container Store rewards employed accomplishments in a variety of ways. For example, employees with 20 years of service are given a “dream trip” where one employee went on a seven-day Hawaiian cruise.¹⁶² The company is known for its supportive environment and in 2016 celebrated its 17^th year on Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For®.¹⁶³

Involving Employees in Decision Making

Companies have found that involving employees in decisions saves money, makes workers feel better about their jobs, and reduces turnover. Some have found that it pays to take their advice. When General Motors asked workers for ideas on improving manufacturing operations, management was deluged with over 44,000 suggestions during one quarter. Implementing a few of them cut production time on certain vehicles by 15% and resulted in sizable savings.¹⁶⁴

Similarly, in 2001, Edward Jones, a personal investment company, faced a difficult situation during the stock market downturn. Costs had to be cut and laying off employees was one option. Instead, however, the company turned to its workforce for solutions. As a group, employees identified cost savings of more than $38 million. The company convinced experienced employees to stay with it by assuring them they would have a role in managing it.¹⁶⁵

Why People Quit

As important initiatives can be, one terrible boss can spoil everything. The way a person is treated by his or her boss may be the primary factor in determining whether an employee stays or goes. People who have quit their jobs cite the following behaviour by superiors:

Making unreasonable work demands.

Refusing to value their opinions.

Failing to be clear about what is expected of subordinates.

Showing favouritism in compensation, rewards, or promotions.¹⁶⁶

Holding managers accountable for excessive turnover can help ease the “bad-boss” problem, at least in the long run. Whenever an employee quits, it is a good idea for someone (other than the individual’s immediate supervisor) to conduct an exit interview to find out why. Knowing why people are quitting gives an organization the opportunity to correct problems that are causing high turnover rates.

Involuntary Termination

Before we leave this section, we should say a word or two about termination, getting fired. Though turnover (voluntary separations) can create problems for employers, they are not nearly as devastating as the effects of involuntary termination on employees. Losing your job is what psychologists call a “significant life change,” and it’s high on the list of “stressful life events” regardless of the circumstances. Sometimes, employers lay off workers because revenues are down, and they must resort to downsizing, to cutting costs by eliminating jobs. Sometimes a particular job is being phased out, and sometimes an employee has simply failed to meet performance requirements.

Employment At-Will (U.S. not Canada)

Is it possible for you to get fired even if you are doing a good job and there is no economic justification for your being laid off? Sometimes, yes, especially if you are not working under a contract. Without a formal contract, you are employed at-will, so both you and your employer may terminate the employment relationship. You can quit whenever you want, but your employer can also fire you whenever they want.

Fortunately for employees, over the past several decades, the courts have made several decisions that created exceptions to the employment at-will doctrine.¹⁶⁷ Since managers generally prefer to avoid the expense of fighting wrongful discharge claims in court, many no longer fire employees at-will. A good practice in managing terminations is to maintain written documentation so that employers can show just cause when ending an employee. If it is a case of poor performance, the employee would be warned that his or her current level of performance could cause termination and then be permitted an opportunity to improve performance. When termination is necessary, communication should be handled in a private conversation, with the manager explaining precisely why the action is being taken.

Footnotes