Bloom’s Taxonomy: LIII, LIV, LV, LVI
Definition
- LI. Remembering: Exhibit memory of previously learned material by recalling facts, terms, basic concepts and answers.
- LII. Understanding: Demonstrate understanding of facts and ideas by organizing, comparing, translating, interpreting, giving descriptions and stating main ideas.
- LIII. Applying: Solve problems in new situations by applying acquired knowledge, facts, techniques and rules in a different way.
- LIV. Analyzing: Examine and break information into parts by identifying motives or causes. Make inferences and find evidence to support generalizations.
- LV. Evaluating: Present and defend opinions by making judgments about information, validity of ideas, or quality of work based on a set of criteria.
- LVI. Creating: Compile information together in a different way by combining elements in a new pattern or proposing alternative solutions.
Topic Description
An organization’s compensation package includes the combination of rewards offered to employees in return for the work they perform. When deciding what your Compensation structure needs to include, the company will consider several internal and external factors such aligning to a Human Resources Strategy, desired Work Culture, competitiveness within the labor market, employee Attraction and Retention strategies for the Company, and expressed employee needs. Because compensation is one of the costliest expenses on the company’s balance sheet, it is important to design and offer a plan that not only meets the needs of employees, but also considers the needs of the organization.
Food Industry Human Resources leaders and Management are involved in the design, approval, and communication of the company’s Compensation Structure, this content is aimed at building the skills and expertise of these individuals in understanding, developing, and communicating the organization’s Compensation Structure.
Learning Objectives
When building a Compensation Model design, you consider the company’s Compensation Philosophy, along with consideration of the financial impacts, the importance of being competitive in the marketplace, and how it will contribute to attracting and retaining top talent. This section will review the key components to consider when identifying your company’s Compensation Model design.
Detailed Competencies = Performance indicators include but are not limited to:
- P1. Align to the company’s Compensation Philosophy to future company strategic objectives.
- P2. Establish appropriate wage and salary levels for all positions, aligning to current Market Data Analysis.
- P3. Define the details of any Incentives and Bonus programs, including eligibility, payout qualifications, appropriate values ($), and prepare contract agreements to support each design.
- P4. Identify the practices for all Benefits beyond base pay and incentives that would compliment an Employee Compensation Model.
- P5. Identify practices/guidelines for all compensation changes that may arise during the employment life cycle.
- P6. Prepare the budgeting, forecasting, and approval requirements for varied compensation payouts.
- P7. Review the current role of Human Resources and Management for the company’s current process.
- P8. Establish a new role for Human Resources and Management for the Compensation Model based on the practices being implemented.
- P9. Communicate to all employees the company practices related to the Compensation Model.
The key part of having a structured Compensation Model design is to outline the practices and policies related to the program. Having these outlines drafted provides a clear direction on the practices, guidelines, eligibility, etc. – all of which when in place minimize exceptions or encouraging favoritism related to compensation. Therefore, outlining detailed practices is key to having a successful Compensation Model design for your company.
Detailed Competencies = Performance indicators include but are not limited to:
- P1. Identify existing company policies related to compensation and re-evaluate on a regular basis when modifications are required.
- P2. Identify and create new policies relative to the Compensation Model design.
- P3. Design a compensation practice to review employee current compensation, along with implementing practices for a regular wage review.
- P4. Establish practices and approach for periodic wage adjustments – market adjustments, promotions, etc.
- P5. Design competitive Incentive and Bonus plan guidelines, aligning to specific roles within the organizations, applying market analysis for a competitive structure and payouts.
- P6. Understand the variety of non-monetary compensation benefits and establish guidelines and practices for consistent and fair application.
- P7. Establish an impactful approach for presenting the Compensation Model design for approval, focused on gaining acceptance from Leadership.
- P8. Engage in best practices when designing the company’s Compensation Model design to align to the company’s direction.
- P9. Ensure your design is following any regulatory requirements and employment legislation.
- P10. Define a process for the financial impact of any Compensation changes – establish budgets, update with periodic projections, and establish a process for communicating when wage freezes are implemented.
- P11. When unionized, ensure alignment with the provisions in the Collective Agreement.
- P12. Establish where the company’s desire for competitiveness resides to support implementing a design that will attract and retain top talent.
- P13. When designing all components of the Compensation model, ensure the practices and communication reflects fairness to all groups of employees and individual employees.
Once your design is drafted, it is followed by presenting the Compensation plan to Leadership for approval. When presenting consideration to the objectives, benefits, impacts to employees and financial implications should be covered as minimum topics. Knowing your audience and what important details they are seeking will guide your presentation.
Detailed Competencies = Performance indicators include but are not limited to:
- P1. When presenting the Compensation Philosophy illustrate the direct impact to the Human Resources Strategy and the impact to employees.
- P2. Outline the key components of the Compensation Model design, providing an overview of the program.
- P3. Explain the important of establishing consistent Practices & Guidelines and the importance of compliance by the company.
- P4. Outline in detail the financial requirements for implementing the Compensation Model, along with providing analysis of the direct impact a structured approach will have on company operations and results. Emphasize the program budget, projections, payouts, cash-flow, etc.
- P5. Examine key reasons for how a competitive compensation design can contribute to the company’s operations and results.
- a. Recruitment and selection.
- b. Employee engagement.
- c. Rewarding high performing employees.
- d. Achieving internal and external equity.
- e. Increasing employee loyalty.
- f. Leverage during union negotiations.
- g. Consistent and predictable budgeting and planning.
- P6. Analyze key reasons that the compensation package must be attractive to employees and competitive within the company’s labour market.
- P7. Understand why senior management buy-in is critical to developing and offering an attractive package.
- P8. Communicate the package in a manner that gains acceptance from senior management.
To ensure success, it is important that leaders and managers use their emotional intelligence skills as part of the Compensation Model design.
Detailed Competencies = Performance indicators include but are not limited to:
- P1. Identify why EI skills are highly needed in HR.
- P2. List the five components of EI:
- a. Knowing my emotions
- b. Handling my emotions
- c. Understanding/identifying others’ emotions
- d. Managing relationship / social skills
- e. Motivating self and others
- P3. Provide leadership and empathy to help retain the workforce within the food industry.
- P4. Be aware of emotional biases in explaining a compensation plan.
When implementing a Compensation Model, there is several components to consider during the planning stages and unique tools/resources that will have to be independently developed to be part of the entire framework.
Detailed Competencies = Performance indicators include but are not limited to:
- P1. Review current compensation review – by position, wage ranges, other compensation, etc. to establish a baseline for your review.
- P2. Review the practice of implementing Job Competencies when building Job Descriptions.
- P3. Understand how to work with Job Grades and Pay Scales to consider these tools and their benefits.
- P4. Review roles that have Incentive/Bonus components – collect details from existing arrangements and consider implementing for some roles to remain competitive.
- P5. Understand the components of implementing a Merit Increase process – specifically programs that are based on Pay for Performance, Cost of Living Increases, etc.
- P6. Explain in detail steps involved in the designing of Job Grades and Wage Ranges.
- P7. Review the steps involved in building Job Grades and Wage Range structure.
- P8. Define the Job Grade structure by department, jobs/positions, key competencies, and reporting lines.
- P9. Describe jobs as per roles and responsibilities outlined in the Job Description.
- P10. Understand the process of ranking jobs and classifications within a Job Grade matrix.
- P11. Consider whether there are grades and opportunities for progression within each job classification.
- P12. Analyze the external compensation data, surveys, and labour market information in relation to your jobs.
- P13. Establish Wage Ranges for all positions, aligned to the Job Grading Matrix.
- P14. Understand the process of Market Wage Analysis for establishing competitive compensation levels for all positions.
- P15. Establish a process for reviewing wage ranges for roles, based on market data, including specific resources to validate the market data.
- P16. Establish a list of jobs to be reviewed based on recruitment challenges, market conditions, competitive advantage, etc.
As part of your policy design, drafting practices for compensation situations that happen should be developed. Having written processes for situations and standardized templates will ensure there is a consistent approach applied.
Detailed Competencies = Performance indicators include but are not limited to:
- P1. Define the process for all Compensation Adjustments, including eligibility, disqualifying factors, timing of adjustments, exceptions when not applicable, and approval process for each.
- P2. Design employment letters, including hourly, salaried, management and executive level positions.
- P3. Define specific compensation language for employment letters for new hires, position appointments, with detail on base pay, incentive, benefits, merit reviews, vacation, bonus, etc.
- P4. Define the compensation components for a variety of employment letters, understanding the legal language requirements within an employment agreement.
- P5. Outline specific legal clauses and language that will limit liability in any letter as they are legally binding documents.
Communication Strategy documents related to Compensation should be consistent and follow the policies and procedures outlined. Developing consistent messages and having them communicated from the company will support the consistent delivery of all messages.
Detailed Competencies = Performance indicators include but are not limited to:
- P1. Identify key elements to share with employees when developing a Communication Plan applicable to group presentations and individual employee meetings.
- P2. Understand the importance to combine a variety of communication methods to share the plan.
- P3. Consider issuing the information in multiple languages applicable to your employee population.
- P4. Identify and capture anticipated employee questions and prepare structured answers.
- P5. Evaluate the written materials to be provided that will support the presentations and meetings.
Having a consistent approach and standard templates will support your efforts with compliance of your program. Establishing that these are messages or documents from the company will assist in supporting consistency.
Detailed Competencies = Performance indicators include but are not limited to:
- P1. Apply consistent documentation and dialogue for delivering messages for specific situations, to ensure a similar experience for all employees.
- P2. Establish policies outlining who delivers messaging for compensation related changes.
- P3. Prepare company wide messaging for compensation related messages to all employees.
- P4. Understand the importance of defining and developing training for Leaders on communicating effectively with employees when delivering Compensation details.
- P5. Establish key training components for leaders on effective communication methods for delivering compensation related messages.
- P6. Understand the importance of the roles Human Resources and Management have in presenting compensation data to employees.
- P7. Consider the importance of creating a Communication Guide to assist managers in conducting effective meetings.
To ensure the compensation package remains competitive within the marketplace, attractive to current and potential employees, cost effective to what’s included, and legally compliant, it should be reviewed on a regular basis.
Detailed Competencies = Performance indicators include but are not limited to:
- P1. Understand reasons for evaluating the Compensation Model on a regular basis.
- P2. Determine a timeline for conducting the review.
- P3. Analyze data, identify potential modifications, and prepare cost and people ramifications of any modifications.
- P4. Prepare recommendations for senior management and obtain approval to proceed with changes.
- P5. Adapt compensation policies and communicate and implement changes.
- P6. Conduct a regular review of the of the job grades, wage ranges, letter templates, communication messages, and total compensation offering for each position in the company.
- P7. Understand the importance of establishing a structured approach for a periodic review of Job Grades and Wage Ranges.
- P8. Review the process for evaluating Job Grades and Wage Ranges for key positions in the organization.
- P9. Create a process for reviewing and evaluating market conditions that may be impacting roles in your company as they may need to be reviewed more frequently.
- P10. Review sections of compensation letters that may need periodic review and updates.
It is important when you have a structured process for compensation that leadership follows the practices as outlined. Establishing a practice to periodically review compliance should be established to provide continued confidence in the process.
Detailed Competencies = Performance indicators include but are not limited to:
- P1. Review the process of establishing an audit review for the company on compliance to practices established.
- P2. Evaluate data on compliance to Compensation practices and capture non-compliance instances to be addressed.
- P3. Outline a content for a message to encourage consistent compliance to current practices.
Links to existing courses
Approved Accredited Training Programs (Academic, Industries, Private Trainer)
Recognition of worker skills = Certification
Evaluation technics / assessment
- Quizzes
- Written tests
- Multiple choice questions
- Self-assessment and reflection
