In response to your classmates, contrast and compare pay structures and the impact of these structures on employee motivation, engagement, and retention. What insights have you gained from this analysis? Provide supportive workplace examples and cited information from your research and module resources.

When it comes to deciding of which organizations I would look at in terms of my current organization, I would want to look in a couple of different sectors. The first being e-commerce related businesses that have a significant headcount from a customer service team as well as other online e-commerce related fashion organizations. Being able to find similar sized organizations is super important as there is a lot of focus on the virtual space, but I would also want to look at see what other competition is out there when it comes to our distribution centers in New Jersey and Texas. There could also be some strong local competition that would be interesting to look at. With pay equity, the primary focus will be to help determine what other organizations within your sector are paying and providing from a total rewards package. From a comparability standpoint, I think it is also important to use a benchmarking approach survey that would help determine how well you stack up against your competition based on a comp tool %.

Having a pay structure that is not aligned with organizations that are within your area or directly like your business model puts risk on the business when it comes to retention. Before getting to the retention issue, other concerns such as morale will come into play. More so today than before, employees are searching online frequently, or even getting job leads from recruiters and the pay is often more attractive than what they are currently getting. When employees figure out they are not being paid the amount other companies are offering, they begin to feel undervalued, which in return turns to less dedication to their work, the risk of higher call out rates and also potentially providing negative points of view about the company on social media. Given the amount of money companies are now willing to pay, the ability to work remote for a lot of positions, employees are not second guessing the idea of moving on and providing very little notice. Challenges faced today within my organization due to a hyper focus on remote work is the fact that hiring in A or B structured states are much more attractive and essentially cheaper than a C. The problem with that is employees find out they are sitting in a room with their peers and have the same duties, and job but get more or less money depending on where they are located. Pay scales need to be aligned, but there is always a challenge that comes into play with experience, as well as if the candidate is an internal promotion or an external hire.

With a focus on motivation, engagement, retention, and competitive employer advantages, the total rewards and compensation packages really need to be stacked up against the scope of the job, whether it is a fully remote position, hybrid or in person role. Offering better pay and benefits will not always solve the problem, there also needs to be a lot of efforts spent on employee engagement, work life balance, and the overall feel of the organization. I feel there is more than just accepting a position based on the money being paid, there is always the risk of a toxic environment or a non-supportive space.