***Mathguy18*** Compensation and Benefits

Do employers really look at how I carry myself at work? Is it important for me to have a positive attitude? Why does my behavior matter? Is it okay to come to work and do what I feel is important for that day and go home? Why does Pamela make more than I make? How is my pay determined? Am I getting paid based on my performance? What is a performance appraisal? Why do I have to be evaluated on an annual basis? Why does this performance appraisal affect whether I get a raise or not? Employees have a lot of questions, and they want someone to answer these questions.

Many employees question why they make what they do. As an employee, giving 100% at all times can be difficult, especially when you see other employees slacking. You work hard and realize that some of the same employees that are slacking make the same, or more than you. This brings on a sense of frustration and sometimes even leads to the better employee looking for another job. The better employee may begin to wonder what exactly it takes to receive a decent salary and what separates him or her from other employees.

As a human resources professional, you should have the answers to all of these questions. You should be able to not only discuss these questions with the employee, you should also have a meeting with supervisors and managers so they can have a better understanding of the process.

Chapter 9: Pay-for-Performance: The Evidence

Since people bring different skills to the organization, some companies utilize pay-for-performance as their pay system. When utilizing this system, many managers look at the employees’ attitude and behavior. Some would argue that behaviors are a result of the motivational techniques utilized within the organization. Are motivated employees more likely to display a positive behavior and be more productive? Can managers produce positive behaviors in employees? If so, how can they do this? What is the ultimate reward? You will find answers to these and other questions within this chapter. Chapter 9 focuses on employee behaviors and motivational theories. It also discuss the effectiveness of different reward systems based on the objectives of the pay model: efficiency, fairness, and compliance (Milkovich, Newman, & Gerhart, 2014).

Chapter 10: Pay-for-Performance Plans

Chapter 10 is intertwined with Chapter 9. As Chapter 9 focuses on providing the supporting documentation or evidence, Chapter 10 focuses on putting the plan together and implementing it. What is a pay-for-performance plan? The various pay-for-performance plans will be discussed in this chapter. Some key components discussed will be incentive plans, variable-pay plans, compensation at risk, earnings at risk, and success sharing. The chapter also relates how foreign competition impacts the U.S and productivity. The major components of the various pay-for-performance plans are presented in this chapter, along with the advantages and disadvantages of the various plans. According to the authors, if used properly, pay-for-performance can be successful and shape employees’ behavior (Milkovich, et.al., 2014).

Chapter 11: Performance Appraisals

Sometimes, employees question why a performance appraisal is done if there is not a monetary reward attached to it. Many people feel this way as employees.

It is known that there are some difficulties with performance appraisals. There may be some biases associated with them because performance appraisals are used throughout many organizations to determine merit increases. When conducting a performance appraisal, there are a few things that must be considered. This chapter will primarily focus on the strategies to improve the understanding and measurement of job performance. Some of the strategies include the following:

 Various appraisal formats and suggestions for improvement

 Selecting the right raters

 Understanding how raters process information

 Training raters to rate more accurately (Milkovich, et.al., 2014).

The chapter will also provide insight on legal issues that may arise from performance appraisals.

Chapters 9, 10, and 11 provide insight into a better understanding of pay-for-performance and performance appraisals. Each of these areas has an impact on the success of the organization. When the employees’ pay is involved, the success of the organization can be impacted. It has been said that motivated employees have a tendency to produce better. When employees can see the results of the performance appraisals in their paychecks, in most cases it does have an impact on their performance. Typically, employees like to be rewarded for doing a good job.

In reading these chapters and looking back at the questions that may be of concern to many employees, I hope you now have a better understanding of how pay-for-performance and how performance appraisals are utilized in the workforce.