What is the Pay Level for a Job?

Question 1 

Various compensation concepts influence market forces and pay structures, which influence pay decisions in the workplace. For instance, pay grades and levels are among the common concepts. Pay grades usually play a major role in terms of influencing the pay amounts that the workforce should receive (Courty & Sim, 2015) . Pay grades usually revolve around the responsibility levels that employees pursue within an organization based on their job description, the position that exercise as well as the duration in which an employees has performed the task (EL-Hajji, 2011) . More responsibilities usually lead to higher pay grades. These are normally accorded to the employees managing other workers. The rising managerial experience and responsibilities lead to higher play levels.

The state of the labor market also influences pay decisions. The labor market serves as an external force, which accounts for major differences in salary. In the event of higher rates of unemployment, more individuals are looking for jobs, which are limited. In this vein, the employers would be driven by the urge for reducing starting wages since they believe that individuals seeking jobs would accept the low wages. By contrast, in the case of low unemployment, employers experience challenges in recruiting individuals who would fit a certain job category adequately (EL-Hajji, 2011) . In this case, they usually offer high compensation to allow them to hire the appropriate talent.

Also, the profitability of an organization influences pay decisions. Internally, for example, the profitability of a company might influence the wage and salary structure. For instance, if an organization is realizing optimal profits, it can consider revisiting its structure of compensation and adjust salaries to ensure that they rhyme with other firms in the sector. Increasing salaries based on analyses of a job that identifies key workers’ valuable for attaining financial goals might result to pay discrepancies between particular job groups (Courty & Sim, 2015) . This might also lead to salary differences among outside candidates commencing to work in an organization with newly revisited starting salaries.

Qualifications also guide pay decisions inside organizations. For instance, internal forces, including the revisions carried out on job analyses or job descriptions might influence salary justifications. For employers, they usually undertake job analysis and revisit job descriptions depending on the need for an organization for new qualifications and improved skills (Courty & Sim, 2015) . The needs of an enterprise might also dictate the changes imposed on salaries when organizations find a need for hiring a workforce with more skills sets and qualifications, which it did not recruit for previously.

In addition, competition influences pay decisions, particularly based on the position of an organization in the industry. The reputation and standing of a business serve as both external and internal forces influencing pay decisions. Organizations having a solid presence realize increased profits, which drive them to increase their salary levels. This way, they are able to secure the brightest and best talent in the marketplace. However, competition can also lead to opposite influences of pay decisions, especially in case a company appears to be losing its industry ranking or its market share is declining (EL-Hajji, 2011) . For the firms realizing a decline, they would be forced to adjust their salaries to ensure that the operations of the company continue.

Question 2 

When it comes to pay structures, the HRM needs to devise effective ways of communicating them to the employees in an effective manner. Firstly, it needs to make sure that the leadership of the company is informed about the issues. It should make sure that when implementing benefits a compensation related programs, such as training and guidelines, it should make sure that the leadership team is on board with the pay decisions. Secondly, it needs to make sure that it gathers as well as analyzes survey data concerning pay structures to ensure that the workforce understands the market trends (EL-Hajji a, 2011) . In this case, whereas survey data does not serve as the only element that they consider using in creating solid compensation frameworks, it serves as a vital part of making pay decisions that rhyme with the present market situations. Thirdly, it needs to make sure that it advises the managers in a proactive manner to allow them communicate the pay decisions to their subordinates. Doing so would allow them to emerge as proactive partners on compensation issues as well as serve as the source that managers result to whenever they require assistance when they require assistance in offering helpful tips as well as actionable advice. Fourthly, the HRM should ensure to embark on managing job descriptions. They would do this by coordinating and facilitating with managers in updating job descriptions on a regular basis to make sure that the workforce understands the prevailing salary issues (EL-Hajji a, 2011) . They should make sure that every description matches with the present needs of an organization as well as in approaching talent management.

When it comes to recruiting, motivating, and retaining employees, the HRM needs to ensure it exercises best practices. One way of doing so is by making sure that they hire the right managers. When hiring managers, they need to look for individuals who are capable of fitting with the culture of the organization. Hiring individuals having the skills that match with the job serves as the ideal approach. Here, an individual having ideal skill sets is highly capable of realizing success in the roles they perform. Selecting a candidate who appears as a good fit in terms of personality might affect the organization negatively since the individual might lack the ideal experience of leading a group or a vision for creating future strategies (Courty & Sim, 2015) . Individuals reporting to such kind of a manager might emerge resentful, thereby reducing productivity, increasing gossip, and eventually leading the rate of turnover to increase.

An additional best practice worth considering is offering a strategy for career navigation as well as growth. In the viewpoint of experts, it is ideal to hire individuals who are planning their careers with the organization as opposed to just emphasizing on filling certain roles. When undertaking interviews, it would be crucial to question candidates concerning their goals and their motivating forces, and later assess if the answers offered match with what the organization can offer them (EL-Hajji a, 2011) . After hiring the individual who appears as the best fit, it would be essential to consider sitting with them and offering individualized success paths.

Question 3 

For the examples relating to successful strategies, they support a healthy balance of internal and external forces. They play a critical role in terms of fostering the spirit of transparency with the workforce concerning what they are paid. The workforce is able to comprehend the different value delivered by the organization while at the same time understanding the form as timing through which payment takes place. Obviously, individuals are driven by the urge for knowing the amount they would receive and the means of paying them, otherwise even whether a compensation seems generous enough it is perceived as useless (EL-Hajji, 2011) . Furthermore, a transparent system is usually considered as fair while it lacks major instances of abuse. Moreover, the organization would be in a position to acquire skilled and talented people who would lead the business to success. By understanding the strategies, the employees are motivated hence increasing their chances of retaining them. Here, a business that consists of motivated and skilled individuals ends up thriving (Courty & Sim, 2015) . The approaches would also makes it possible to deploy consistent and fair pay policies, which would assist in controlling and monitoring the deployed pay practices while at the same time revealing probable pay openings for the workforce, which leads them to build their trust with the company.

Question 4 

When it comes to competitive pay alternative or considerations, they relate to payment approaches that allow companies to realize competitiveness in attracting and retaining skilled and talented workforce. When it comes to competition in the business world, for instance, the need for keeping the most valuable as well as high-performing workforce is considerably high. In this case, adopting competitive pay alternatives serves as among the most effective ways for enterprises to retain their top performing employees as well as realize a rise in their profitability. Also, it is crucial to note that having a balanced compensation plan facilitates in incentivizing performance as well as efforts for retention, thereby allowing an organization to attain its business goals. Several companies have been known to deploy competitive pay alternatives or considerations successfully (Courty & Sim, 2015) . For instance, Costco serves as a company that has gained significant popularity because of its discounted as well as bulk items approach. The organization has managed to satisfy its employees with the benefits and compensation programs it offers unlike other firms in the market. The company has been considered as having beat popular work environments, such as Starbucks and Apple in terms of the pay and benefits it offers its employees. The company offers its workforce a living wage, which is higher than the federal minimum. Other companies that have followed the same comprise of Verizon and Kaiser Permanente (Calfas, 2018) . These companies are among the highest paying while at the same time offering best benefits, hence allowing them to attract and retain the best workforce.

References

Calfas, J. (2018). This company has the best pay and benefits, according to employees. Retrieved from http://time.com/money/5177506/best-company-to-work-indeed/

Courty, S., & Sim, J. (2015). Retention of talented academic researchers: Evidence from a government intervention. Canadian Journal of Economic, 48 (5), 1635–1660.

EL-Hajji a, M. A. (2011). An analytical approach to the unequivocal need of organizations for job evaluation. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 2 (18), 8-13.

EL-Hajji, M. A. (2011). Wage consistency in the context of job evaluation: an analytical view. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 2 (10), 31-37.