Human Resources Management

Lecture Eight
Compensation

 What is Compensation?

− Compensation is defined as a systematic approach to

provide monetary value to employees in exchange of work
performed.
− Compensation refers to adequate and equitable
remuneration of personnel for their contributions to
organizational objectives.
− Compensation may achieve several purposes assisting in
recruitment, job performance, and job satisfaction.
− For Management compensation is a tool used by
management for variety of purposes to further the existence
of the company, because compensation may be adjusted
according to the business needs, goals and available
resources.

 How is compensation used?

Compensation is a tool used by management for a variety of
purposes to further the existence of the company. Compensation
may be adjusted according the business needs, goals, and
available resources.

 Compensation may be used to:

− Recruit and retain qualified employees.

− Increase or maintain morale/satisfaction.

− Reward and encourage peak performance.

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 − Achieve internal and external equity.

− Reduce turnover and encourage company loyalty.

Recruitment and retention of qualified employees is a common

goal shared by many employers. To some extent, the availability
and cost of qualified applicants for open positions is determined
by market factors beyond the control of the employer. While an
employer may set compensation levels for new hires and
advertize those salary ranges, it does so in the context of other
employers seeking to hire from the same applicant pool.

Morale and job satisfaction are affected by compensation. Often

there is a balance (equity) that must be reached between the
monetary value the employer is willing to pay and the sentiments
of worth felt be the employee. In an attempt to save money,
employers may opt to freeze salaries or salary levels at the
expense of satisfaction and morale. Conversely, an employer
wishing to reduce employee turnover may seek to increase
salaries and salary levels.

 Compensation can be expressed in two ways:

1. Monetary compensation (salary & allowances)

2. Benefits (free housing, medical services, club membership)
Compensation may also be used as a reward for exceptional job
performance, examples of such plans include: bounces,
commission, Profit sharing
Employees must compensate equitably for their contribution to
the organization.

Compensation will be perceived by employees as fair if based on

systematic components:

 The components of the compensation system

include:

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1. Job description
2. j ob analysis
3. Job evaluation
4. Pay structure
5. Salary surveys
6. Policies & regulations

The first three components had been defined in the previous

lectures.
 4. Pay Structure
The end product of a job evaluation exercise is a hierarchy of jobs
in terms of their relative value to the organization.
Assigning pay to this hierarchy of jobs is referred to as pricing the
pay structure.
Most pay structures include several grades with each grade
containing a minimum wage/salary.

 5. Surveys Salary
Salary Surveys Collections of salary and market data. May
include average salaries, inflation indicators, cost of living
indicators, salary budget averages.Companies may purchase
results of surveys conducted by survey vendors or may conduct
their own salary surveys. When purchasing the results of salary
surveys conducted by other vendors, note that surveys may be
conducted within a specific industry or across industries as well as
within one geographical region or across different geographical
regions. Know which industry or geographic location the salary
results pertain to before comparing the results to your company.

 6. Policies and Regulations:

Here companies requires a policy decision on how the

organization’s pay levels related to their competitors

Compensation policies should cover the following topics:

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a. The rate of pay within the organization and whether to be
above, below or at the rate of community rate.
b. The extent to which individual bargaining should permit
deviations from the established rate and pay structure.
c. The pay level at which new employees may be recruited.

 External Competitiveness:
How an organization's pay rates compared to other relevant
organizations is known as external competitiveness. Pay level
affect the quality of work force. While employee’s negative
feelings concerning internal pay equity may be removed by an
effective job evaluation, employees will still compare their pay
with those in other organizations and industries.

What is the going rate? Can the organization match its

competitors?

To answer these questions most organization rely on wage and

salary surveys. Once the survey is conducted management has
three choices:

1. To lead the competition.

2. To match what other firms are paying.
3. To follow what competitors are paying their employees .
Generally high wage employers are able to recruit and retain a
workforce better than low-wage competitors, so decisions
regarding external competition and pay level are important
because they affect the quality of work force.

 Different types of compensation include:

− Base Pay

− Commissions

− Overtime Pay

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 − Bonuses, Profit Sharing, Merit Pay

− Stock Options

− Travel/Meal/Housing Allowance

− Benefits including: dental, insurance, medical, vacation,

leaves, retirement, taxes...

 Types of Compensation:
1. Direct Compensation Components:
This involves monetary payments to employees for time worked
or results obtained.
− Base salary
− Premium payments (overtime, shifts)
− Contingent payment (incentives, bounces profit sharing)

2. Indirect Compensation Component:

This involves expenditure made by an employer on behalf of all
employees and is called “fringe benefits”.

−Protection program (social security, health, unemployment

compensation, pension plans, accidental death & long term
insurance.

3. Intangible Compensation Components:

This involves all non monetary rewards, for example lunch

celebration and administrative leave.

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