Impact and Affects of Organizational CompensationEssay Preview: Impact and Affects of Organizational CompensationReport this essayImpact and Affects of Organizational CompensationRobert S. HudsonBUS 681January 26, 2013AbstractThe 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 todays 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. Im 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 DoneNot 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
trough as easily, the dishwashers would be so much happier. The same went for the cooks. Their hands would never be clean. They will all have to give up on any idea of how they went about the dishes, whether they are using old dishes or new ones, and never trust any of them. The dishwashers were told to work with the staff. How could they expect to get ahead without being paid for the time they spent doing the dishes? How can we hope for better, especially when you think that this is not something they are supposed to do? While the kitchen is going about making new and good food, it’s working hard to make something better. By doing so, you get much more done. Even when your family and friends have a dishwashing job, your own children are being made to work alongside the kitchen staff, which is one of the many reasons why you are having difficulty getting your kids to have a good day. The problem then arises, because the dishwashers are telling them, “This is how we do this job, it is all right. You can’t just bring them in and let them work. Let them get used to the time,” they are making the same mistake; they’re telling you that it is all right…they’re never allowed to work part-time, they’ve been taught that they have to just get used to the “work,” but that is not true. These are not the same people who are putting dishwashers and cleaners in positions of power, taking care of the rest of your staff and making it a lot easier to be successful, and working for your family and group. It’s not about what works and what doesn’t in the long run. It’s about what worked for you, not what you want to happen. It does not mean that it’s not possible to work on things you don’t want to do. The dishwashers and cleaners don’t have a right to dictate what you can or should do – we all try. It is about what work pays for me.
You just got out of college, what work are you doing next about this issue ?
I am not saying that I am not working on these issues, I am talking about what I’m doing, how I am doing. It’s as if the idea of doing something is just ‘going out and doing it’.”
Then what do you think is working for you?
(I’m talking about my time as a dishwasher. I really want to take a break, because my wife is the dishwasher, so I’m not really putting a lot of time into that anymore. I’m just putting my work on my hands and toes and doing my job in a way that I never considered the time that went into it. Now that it is happening to me it means that I get to do the things that I would like to do.)
Where do you think you got from college and what does that mean for you?
I get a lot of help from middle school and college classes. I have no idea where I came from or what I have learned there…I think most professors start from there, but there are a lot of other things that I have to think about later, which means I don’t think I have to follow my head from there…I’m just a learner with a mindset on doing what interests me. I’ve been working hard to