In at least 200 words, describe the process to establish base pay.

Reply-1-1

Brittany

In at least 200 words, describe the process to establish base pay.

According to the text, compensation is one of the most complex topics in HRM (Kavanagh, Thite, & Johnson, 2015). Since compensation is the primary outcome for most employees, a great deal of dissatisfaction could result when it is viewed as unfair (Kavanagh, Thite, & Johnson, 2015).

There are many processes associated with the basic compensation system, which includes base pay, merit pay, short- term and long-term incentives, perquisites, recognition awards, and attraction or retention awards (Kavanagh, Thite, & Johnson, 2015).

Base pay is built around two processes: job evaluation and market benchmarking.

Job evaluation has a set of factors is developed that reflect characteristics that add value to work in the specific organization (Kavanagh, Thite, & Johnson, 2015).

Market benchmarking is used to price the structure. An employee is placed in the salary grade market movements. The structure is adjusted each year based on market movements (Kavanagh, Thite, & Johnson, 2015).

Explain the incentives that companies use to attract domestic employees.

Short- term or long term incentive pay are definitely forms or attracting domestic employees. Typical short- term incentive programs include bonus, gain sharing, goals sharing, small group incentives and profit sharing.

Short – term incentive programs usually have specific measures, set up prior to the beginning of the program that will drive payout.

Long-term incentives are primarily based on organization stock, options to buy organization stock or phantom stock.

Considering international employees, describe the approach a company might use to determine base pay.

The text states, the components of an international compensation system are very similar to those a domestic program. The base salary for international employees is tied to the salary levels in the host country. The compensation levels for employee would depend on wage surveys of local national, expatriates of the same nationality and expatriates of all nationalities (Kavanagh, Thite, & Johnson, 2015).

Discuss how these approaches may affect the objectives of international compensation policy.

I feel the only objective that could occur from this is if the base pay seems to be unfair compared to other employees in a different country. However, that is the company’s’ responsibility to make sure that does not become a problem.

Reference:

Kavanagh, M. J., Thite, M., & Johnson, R. D. (Eds.). (2015). Human resource information systems: Basics, applications, and future directions (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Reply 1-2

Christopher

Compensation is known to be a complex piece of HRM. The number one type of incentive is base pay. As described in our text, (2015) “base pay is built around two processes: job evaluation and benchmarking.” (chap 14.2) Job evaluation forms a hierarchy of values. (2015) Benchmarking is used to establish price structures for individual positions. There were multiple other forms of incentive pay that can even be broken down further into short- and long-term incentive programs. Typical incentive programs can include goal sharing, bonuses, gain sharing, small group incentives, and even profit sharing. The long-term incentive can be stocks, organization stock options, or phantom stocks, and recognition awards are just a few examples. Perquisites are a type of reward from an organization. In order for compensation programs to be successful, they need to integrate into normal pay role processes within the organization. All compensation programs need to fall in line with all state and federal and regulatory requirements. A few of these requirements are fair labor standards act, exempt workers, nonexempt workers, etc.

Considering international employees, a company can create base pay through two different approaches such as going rate and balance sheet approaches. Both approaches use the host country and their base pay practices to incentives employees. “The going rate approach as explained in our text, (2015) “the base salary for international employees is tied to the salary levels in the host country.”(chap 15.1) The balance sheet approach is geared toward the maintenance of a home-country living standard plus a financial incentive for living in an international assignment. (2015)

These approaches have an impact on the international compensation policies by the differences in different country’s compensation requirements. This causes struggles for HRM because of how different compensation and benefits requirements are that an HR professional must stay educated on. Also, dependent on location difficulty can be placed on influencing motivation because of area compensation in lower pay countries values placed on the employees. The HRIS can assist with the untangling of these objectives, but that still doesn’t negate an HR professional from explaining these programs to their organization’s staff. (2015) Kavanagh, M. J., Thite, M., & Johnson, R. D. (Eds.). (2015). Human resource information systems: Basics, applications, and future directions (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Reply 1-3

Meghan

Compensation can be tricky, as it is what drives most employees to even go to work in the first place. Establishing base pay is part of the basics of compensation. Base pay is built around two processes: job evaluation and market benchmarking (Kavanagh, Thite, & Johnson, 2015). We all already know what benchmarking is from our prior weeks, so it is fair to assume we know the value of it. It is especially important with base pay. Setting a benchmark allows companies to hire around it and for employees to assess whether they are being paid fairly or not (Kavanagh, Thite, & Johnson, 2015). Paying above this benchmark is one way to attract both domestic and international employees. Everyone likes to be paid more than their peers in the same position.

There are other incentives besides raising the base pay that employers can offer. They can offer short-term incentive pay, which is re-earned each year and includes things like profit sharing, bonuses, and goal sharing (Kavanagh, Thite, & Johnson, 2015). Employees have to meet certain marks and goals in order to obtain this pay. Most incentives for domestic employees are the same for international employees. Base pay for a position is the same, they may just pull from different databases for the benchmark information. If it is for an international employee coming state-side, it would be exactly the same as the domestic. Most companies have systems that can translate US dollar to whatever other currency it needs to be. Benchmarking must be done with data from whatever area the employee is working in.

References

Kavanagh, M. J., Thite, M., & Johnson, R. D. (Eds.). (2015). Human resource information systems: Basics, applications, and future directions (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Reply 2-1

Rachel

Identify and discuss some of your concerns about managing information security and privacy in the future.

I believe that a concern for the future is that keeping an organization’s information secure with more employees working remotely. According to Biddiscombe (2019), “In a world where any device, app, network, cloud or even user can be compromised at any given time, business data and personal privacy are more vulnerable than ever” (Biddiscombe, 2019, para.1). I work remotely from time to time, and my company offers a VPN to login to our private information. According to Lockwood (as stated by Kavanagh, Thite & Johnson 2015), “The virtual workspace can be defined as an environment where employees work away from company premises and communicate with their respective workplaces via telephone or computer devices” (Kavanagh, Thite & Johnson, 2015, sec 15.1).

Analyze and discuss two of the following concepts: Bring your own device, Cloud Computing, Social Networking, Enterprise Portals, and Open-Source Software.

Bring your own device (BYOD) is a growing trend in many organizations. According to Biddiscombe (2019), Worldwide, the BYOD and enterprise mobility market is projected to grow by $84 billion, driven by a compounded growth of 16.3%” (Biddiscombe, 2019, para.3). While it may be beneficial for employees to use their tablets, phone, or personal laptops to check their email, if the information is not secure, it can damage the company’s information in just a matter of minutes.

Cloud computing is increasing as well to cut down on costs. According to Kavanagh, Thite & Johnson (2015), “Organizations find moving to the cloud attractive because employees find these systems easy to use and because it leads to both lower up-front and ongoing costs” (Kavanagh, Thite & Johnson, 2015, sec 17.2). In my role, we use an app to assist employees in accessing information for special events that will include their flight, activity choice, weather, FAQ, and event policies. It makes it easy to reach 1,000 people while on site.

Discuss their potential benefits and drawbacks to the future of managing information security.

A benefit of using cloud computing is that it can reach a lot of people quickly; a majority of people have a smartphone and loading the information to an app for easy access simplifies the process. There is no need to print paperwork, registration forms, and boarding passes.

A drawback is if there is a security breach. Customers and employees put trust in these organizations; while no company plans for these situations to happen, it can damage their reputation.

References:

Biddiscombe, S. (2019, November 14). Can data security and employee privacy coexist in a BYOD enterprise? Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/ 2019/11/14/can-data-security-and-employee-privacy-coexist-in-a-byod-enterprise /#35443b804d1d

Kavanagh, M. J., Thite, M., & Johnson, R. D. (Eds.). (2015). Human resource information systems: Basics, applications, and future directions (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Reply 2-2

Norma

Identify and discuss some of your concerns about managing information security and privacy in the future.

A security concern always on my mind is the risk of employee and client information stored on devices that we now use on the go, such as laptops, ipads, and company assigned mobile phones. Employee and customer information in the early stages of HRIS were stored in servers that were located either in the organization’s headquarters or local offices. With Telecommuting trend becoming more and more popular, the sensitive information that was once secured in a physical location can be anywhere as employees can work anywhere as long as they have a laptop. With that, the risk of sensitive information being at risk is highly vulnerable when it comes to unsecured networks, theft, or simple employee neglect to secure this information.

Analyze and discuss two of the following concepts: Bring your own device, Cloud Computing, Social Networking, Enterprise Portals, and Open-Source Software.

Bring your own device is a concept that is gaining more popularity among employees. Through this concept, employees bring their own mobile devices to work such as smartphones, laptops, and tablets to use them at work. According to Kavanagh, Thite & Johnson (2015), these devices are being used by employees to share information with other employees, communicate and become more responsive and efficient.

Enterprise Portals are gateways where employees can interact with each other. The portals can be collaborative, informational, and contain knowledge or expertise. As research indicates that 60% of organizations have adopted enterprise portals, they continue to grow with new organizations planning on implementing this approach (Kavanagh, Thite, & Johnson, 2015, sect. 17.2).

Discuss their potential benefits and drawbacks to the future of managing information security.

The benefits of both concepts focus on employee satisfaction and increase productivity. However, there are challenges associated with these approaches as well. For example, there is limited and sometimes no policy when it comes to bringing your own device to work. Who will pay for the devices and what information should these devices have the ability to access without the risk of the network or privacy content? Because this is a fairly new concept that is growing rapidly, organizations will need to come up with policies and support to address this approach.

References

Kavanagh, M. J., Thite, M., & Johnson, R. D. (Eds.). (2015). Human resource information systems: Basics, applications, and future directions (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Reply2-3

Q

Identify and discuss some of your concerns about managing information security and privacy in the future.

My biggest concern and I’m sure of others are security and protecting sensitive information. A news story on CNBC shared that skilled hackers can earn over 500k a year to hack into a company’s system in order to test its security. (Retrieved from cnbc.com). It provides the company an advantage because they can get ahead of potential risk but just as the companies are getting better at protecting the hackers are getting better at breaking the code. Selecting the right programs, tools, and vendors will be a never-ending process.

Bring your own Device

When I started working for my company 17 years ago it required being hard lined into a desktop computer. Now I can grab my personal mobile device and I can join meetings, answer emails, and search certain company resources. Bring your own device is equal parts convenient and an IT nightmare. “the complexity of managing network and data security dramatically increases when employees bring their own device.” (Kavanagh, Thite, Johnson 2015 chapter 17.2) To use my personal device for work it requires certain levels of security to get into the phone and in additional security added to certain applications. The benefits are that I can always be connected to work but the risks are in the security as well problems with work life balance and increased burn out.

Social Networking in the workplace was previously something that was a personal connection but now it’s a means for companies to connect and communicate with their customers. (Kavanagh, Thite, Johnson 2015) CEO of T-Mobile John Ledger host slow cooker Sundays where he goes live on Facebook sharing crock pot recipes while using the live connection as a means to share company updates, and engage with customers and getting feedback on how we are doing. (retrieved t-mobile.com) Within the company there are multiple social media teams whose purpose is to search social media platforms for customers who have expressed pain points or frustrations and work to resolve them. Their role does not include policing employee behavior for what is or is not appropriate to post. As more companies drop that barrier and leverage social networking as a direct connection, HR will have the challenge of structuring how this impacts employee behavior and enforcing strategy that adjust with the change.

Reference

Fazzini, K. ( December 12th 2018). Some freelance hackers can get $500,00 a year to test defenses of companies like Tesla Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/12/freelance-hackers-get-paid-to-test-the-defenses-of-firms-like-tesla.htmlLinks to an external site.

Kavanagh, M. J., Thite, M., & Johnson, R. D. (Eds.). (2015). Human resource information systems: Basics, applications, and future directions (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Website

https://www.t-mobile.com/brand/john-legere-cookbookLinks to an external site.