DB – Brilliant Answers
If you were on the HR committee of the State Bank, what decisions would you suggest regarding raises for the tellers?
On an average weekly rate, the tellers were grossing more income than any of the other tellers from the other banks. This is the result of State Bank giving multiple raises, a merit raise and a cost of living raise, each year to their tellers. I would recommend continuing the cost of living raises, as this is a common practice. However, I would suggest that either the merit raises be combined with the cost of living increases to form one annual raise, or a bonus system be put into place instead of the merit raise. According to Evren Esen, director of survey programs at the Society for Human Resource Management, “with bonuses, you’re specifically rewarding someone for their behavior in a given year. And they’re more able to directly see the line of sight between their performance and the reward for that performance,” (Greenfield, 2016). And, since it seems that State Bank wants to reward their tellers for their excellent customer service, a bonus would be a better, more cost-effective way to do just that.
How much faith should the HR committee place in the accuracy of the wage survey?
The information given in such reports is highly regulated and standardized, and it may be subject to manipulation and mathematical errors. The organization has based their operations on increasing the profitability and growth of the company. It being the primary rule and motivator in which the company has set up its institutional structure, the management should look into improving and dwelling on this factor. The survey conducted may also be true, and the organization may be facing losses compared to the other banking institutions, but this should not be a reason to reduce the wages of the employees. The committee should evidence the facts discussed and illustrated by the survey as one of the reasons for lesser profitability but should also regard it as a motivational strategy and way to porch hardworking employees from other banking institutions.
Critique State Bank’s policy of giving merit raises that range from 0-8 percent?
Giving merit raises is a common practice in the workplace, when an employee’s performance warrants it. However, given that State Bank already gives the tellers an annual cost of living increase, I don’t believe that merit raises should be a guaranteed, annual thing. Rather it should be something reserved for if an employee gets a promotion or continually goes above and beyond what their job requires. The policy described above is beneficial to the organization in many ways; first, it has increased the customer satisfaction through fast and reliable quality service. The concept or benefit has given rise to higher revenue being experienced by the organization which is increasing the company’s position and status in the market. The benefits endowed upon this policy have more advantages for the institution than any other policy that would be formulated. The aspect of giving employees hope of increasing their revenue creates a position where a worker is inclined to do more and better to increase the social status.
Critique the bank’s policy of giving cost of living raises. Do you think that they should be eliminated?
The idea initiated by management is not bad since times are changing and prices of products and living are constantly on the rise. The bank should provide incentives that motivate employees to work to their full potential, and this is one of the many ways which they have included in their organizational structure that supports this venture. Although cost of living raises are typically only 1-2% (Greenfield, 2016), they give employees something to look forward to. In companies that have been giving cost of living raises for years, employees know when they are coming each year, and although they’re small, they look forward to them (personal experience working in HR). For these reasons, I do not believe that the policy of giving cost of living increases should be eliminated. This practice falls in line with Mr. Duncan’s belief that the most valuable assets are its employees and taking care of the workforce will increase the profitability and work effort put into duties and responsibilities (Nkomo et al., 2011, p. 197).
References:
Greenfield, R. (2016, June 21). Say Goodbye to the Annual Pay Raise. Retrieved April 06, 2017, from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-21/say-goodbye-to-the-annual-pay-raise
Nkomo, S., Fottler, M., & McAfee, R. (2011). Human resource management applications: Cases, exercises, incidents and skill builders (7th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Publishing Co.