3. Designing Merit Pay Systems
Merit increase amounts
Diminishing marginal returns
Just-meaningful differences
Increase as substantive (equity theory)
Timing
Common review date
Anniversary date
Recurring vs. non-recurring merit pay increases
Present level of base pay
Rewarding performance: Merit pay grid
Performance and position in range
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5. Merit Pay Grid
Higher Pay for Performance
Performance (1)Well (2) (3) (4) (5) Well
Above Above Average Below Below
Position in Range Average Average Average Average
High % Low %
Q4
(max pay) 7% 5% 3% 1% 0%
Q3 Lo% 8% 6% 4% 2% 0%
Q2 9% 7% 5% 3% 0%
Q1
(min pay) Hi% 10% 8% 6% 4% 0%
Percent increase already allocated: 6.3%
6. Sales Force as a Special Group
High initiative needed, customer focus, feedback to
company
Extended periods without supervision, need to stay
motivated regardless
Incentives when willingness to work hard can make
the difference between success and failure
7. Designing Sales Incentive - Compensation
Plans
Alternative sales compensation plans
Salary only
Salary-plus-bonus plans
Salary-plus commission
Commission-plus-draw
Commission-only
Determining fixed pay and the compensation mix
Influence of salesperson on buying decision
Competitive pay standards
Amount of non-sales activities
Noncash incentives
9. Jobs vs Skills or Competencies
Jobs
Clear expectations
Sense of progress
Pay based on value of work
Inflexible
Skills or Competencies
Continuous learning
Flexibility
Lateral movement
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11. Competency Based Pay
Competency based pay
Where the company pays for the employee’s range,
depth, and types of skills and knowledge, rather
than for the job title he or she holds
Competencies
Demonstrable characteristics of a person, including
knowledge, skills, and behaviours, that enable
performance
12. Competency Based Pay
Depth of knowledge: Pay for having a deep level
of knowledge within a job, e.g. teachers pay
increases with amount of education: bachelors,
masters, doctorate degree
Breadth of knowledge: Pay for generalist
knowledge
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13. Skill Based Pay
Pay is tied to skills, abilities & knowledge that an
employee possesses
Manufacturing jobs
Flexibility to reassign people to where work is
needed
14. Skill & Competency Analysis
Skill Analysis: Systematic process to identify skills to
perform work:
What does the employee know
Skills: basic unit of knowledge & expertise
Competency Analysis: Systematic process to identify
competencies required for success
What can the employee do
Competencies: basic units of knowledge & abilities
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15. Skill or Competency Evaluation
Person centered approach rather than job centered
Determine the skill blocks that are valued: skill or skill
units, rather than jobs
Quantify the value
Develop certification procedures
Mastery of skill units is measured and certified
Pay changes do not necessarily accompany job changes
There is little emphasis on seniority in pay determination
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16. Designing Pay-for-Knowledge Programs
Establishing skill blocks
Transition matters
Skills assessment;
Aligning pay with knowledge structure;
Access to training
Training and certification
In-house or outsourcing training
Expertise, timeliness;
Size of employee population to be trained;
Sensitivity or proprietary nature
Certification and recertification
18. Steps in Developing Competency
Based Compensation System
1. Developing a Competency model
2. Competency Mapping
3. Linking Competencies to Compensating factors
4. Designing compensation on the basis of actual
competencies
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19. Developing Competency Model
Competency model identifies various competencies
required for performing a job
Describe competencies in form of indicators
Each competency can be quantified on a scale based
on its relative importance with respect to each job
Serves as a reference for all competency management
activities in organization
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20. Procedure for Developing Standard Competencies
Analyse job/role to identify competencies required
Job descriptions & job specifications show competency
required for satisfactory performance of duties &
responsibilities
Discuss with Job holders and immediate superiors to
identify critical competencies
Validate the competencies and develop a standard
competency dictionary
Validation can be done by opinion survey or interviewing
experts in related areas
Rate each competency, known as ‘Critical Rating’ , on a
scale 1 to 5, based on its relative importance & contribution
to performance 20
21. Competency Mapping and Gap Analysis
Design structured questionnaire for employee and his
immediate superior
Ask employee to rate his/her own competency level in
the questionnaire
Ask immediate superior to rate the competency level
of the employee
Compute weighted average rating to get final score
70% weight may be given to superior’s rating & 30% to
employee’s rating
Analyse Gap in each competency level of the employee
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24. Compensation Factor
Compensation Factor is the weighted average of
competency ratings of an employee
Compensation factor used
- to design compensation strategies
- to fine tune the policy and adjust for internal and
external equities
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25. Computing Compensation Factor F
Let us assume
CR = Criticality Rating for each competency
Cp = Summation of Criticality Ratings of all
Competencies = ΣCR
ER = Employee Rating
WR = Weighted Rating = CR*ER
Compensation Factor, F = Σ(CR*ER)/Cp
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