Impact and Affects of Organizational Compensation

Impact and Affects of Organizational Compensation

Robert S. Hudson

BUS 681

January 26, 2013

Abstract

The impact of compensation on organizations will vary from one organization to the next. Organizations are constantly challenged to be as innovative as possible, to be mindful of their natural environmental imprint, their decisions and actions in regards to the social environment, their profits, shareholders, customers, and finally their employees. This essay will focus on the impact and affects of compensation on the organization as whole, taking all of the aforementioned challenges into consideration. The old paradigm of treating the employee like the daily equipment of the organization has not diminished, but one could argue that particular mentality is making a retreat thanks to the fresher attitude and belief of the learning organization. We shall explore the impact and the affect of compensation to the organization from three viewpoints (1) paying the people who help get the job done, (2) compensation management, and (3) find the good employees respectively. If today's organizations expect us to believe them when they say that the employee is their number asset, then one could argue that they should show it at every possible opportunity. I'm not saying that the employer should bend over and take whatever the employee gives them, rather they should make every effort to marry the needs of the employee, to the needs of the organization whenever possible.

Pay the People who Help get the Job Done

Not long ago, I can remember working in the fast food industry and getting treated sometimes worst that the equipment that I used to accomplish my daily task. Not long ago I can remember working as a bus-boy and dishwasher at a local family cafeteria, and getting treated like I was the proverbial red-headed step child that no one wanted to show any respect towards. Not long ago I can remember starting in the hospitality industry and being treated with a little more respect than the previous positions but none the less, I was still expected to just do as I was told. Although I mentioned three very different job titles each with their own set of confines and rules, but every job title mentioned there was a shared attribute in regards to not having the authority to make any meaningful decisions or the ability to add my inventive touch to the process. This realization was extremely troubling to me. Although I did not have the understanding of HR and compensation as I do now; none the less I felt and understood that things could have been better if only someone just took the time to care about me and the rest of the employees.

Some organizations "still think that they can succeed by keeping the pay down, a contrarian approach to compensation actually makes more sense to me" (Shaich R., 2010, p. 41). If the employees are the backbone to any organization then why not at least attempt to pay them for the real work that they do in regards to truly contributing to the life of your organization. For example I would like to use what I like to call the dishwasher effect. The when I was a dishwasher (I still see the same practiced today), I was told to bus the tables down and bring the dishes back to be washed. The attitude towards the dishwashing staff was that of an annoyance. Most of the staff treated us like we were the scourge of the organization; why? I noticed and discussed with my fellow dishwashers that something was terribly wrong with this picture. I made note that if the dishes did not get