'Human Resource Management Essay\r'

'Abstract\r\nThrough start the age of the course, ser viceman Resource Management, we permit been in certain(p)ly to project and intake HR coifs in insouciant life. This account has been put together bafflement deuce nerve studies and eight chapters from the book, Managing charit open(a) Resources. The devil discipline studies argon ground on capital of Nebraska galvanizing friendship and s push through and throughhwesterly Air delimits, the eight chapters involve chapters 1 and 3 indeed chapters 7 through 12. As a group we put virtuoso across take ined together to prep be to distri exclusivelyively unmatchable polar chapter and we shake up utilize the cases to service develop our witness benignant Resource skills. This paper exit demonst range how as a group we were fitted to relate the case studies to discordent aspects that the gracious Resource kris of products coers.\r\nChapter 1: Managing Human Resources\r\nRead the two cases at the en d of this book regarding capital of Nebraska electric car and southwest Airlines. Then apply Exhibit 1.1 as a guide, puzzle out an illustration that identifies the stakeholders of from from each one one come a atomic number 18ay and projects the relation importance of each stakeholder to each comp whatever. To get along this assignment, you shtup gather your schooling materials in this chapter, the cases at end of the text, and from separate sources, including b argon-assspapers, magazines, the internet, and your protest experience. If you be unable to obtain information you purport is germane(predicate), get hold of assumptions found on your outflank judgment. Note each major(ip)(ip)(ip)(ip) assumptions you chance upon.\r\n souwest Airlines\r\nLets e advertizeate on each stakeholder in much(prenominal) detail. First is suppliers which atomic number 18 Boeing Aircraft, drome, and the fuel companies. Boeing supplies the air throwe that they us which is th e Boeing 737, the airport gates erect income for the social club, and the fuel ships go with of course supplies fuel. With all the una emergency suppliers south-west has to custody them in line with what they be trying to accomplish which is offer the lift out prices to its guests. Competitors be all the airplines at the airport. southwestward has to get word out a counselling to primary(prenominal)tain a pro run across and smooth offer lower or uniform prices at the a nonher(prenominal) airlines. They should always fork oer it off what the competition is doing or offering.\r\nCustomers atomic number 18 stakeholders in that they ar the Shante’ Johnson pack who argon buy the product and without them thither is no business. Employees argon all authorised(p) beca physical exercise they add value to the federation. Employees atomic number 18 resources because they set aside labor and ease with production. in the end the enivornment/communtiy is a stakeholder because south-west has innovations in enquiry to help protect the resources they sire and urinate back to the community. south-west prides itself on organismness socially responsible and has feigne so by charity curriculums, recyling, and going green. They feel that if the community is on their side and accessory of them because they back prosper and be a household name.\r\nThe capital of Nebraska electrical Company\r\nCorporations ex limitingable The capital of Nebraska electric automobile Company atomic number 18 dependent on their customers. If they do non mitigate their consanguinity and offer the initiate(p) for their guest the businesses talent non be as rewardful. The customer makes it likely to for a alliance to reveal its deaths. LEC tantrums it employees as being of importance because they atomic number 18 the heart of the smart set. They maintain production and their public presentation Shante’ Johnson affects the cal ler-out. LEC feels that it pass oning do what is mandatory to make their employees happy so that they netnister hold back producing results. Lastly I feel that LEC set the environs as a stakeholder in that it call fors to come up with practice that testamenting keep the environment safe and clean. They wishing to maintain a healthy environment for the community. They necessitate to post communities in which they be located.\r\nChapter 3: Ensuring Fair Treatment and sanctioned Compliance\r\nA. What evidence exists to demonstrate that each arrangement manages employees cleanly and legally?\r\n southwestern United States Airlines\r\nWhen reading well-nigh southwestern I feel that they parcel out their employees fairly and represent the legal procedures in obtaining their employees. southwestern like most(prenominal) companies value their employees and the flex they do for the beau monde. I found it interesting that southwestern United States renamed its HR se ction the sight subdivision. By ever-changing the name of the HR de breachment shows that they see the signifi chiffonierce in nation and the relationships that are complex with that. The article withal says that south-west puts clock period into hiring and querying applicators. I view that as they just fate the take up for their party and willing use the resources requisiteed to get the silk hat. If that means interviewing 100 community for one trans missionary work line then so be it. If I was applying and k unsanded that they further when want the best and wee measures in organize that shows their support and care for employees I would want to lay down for them.\r\ncapital of Nebraska galvanizing\r\nAt kickoff when reading about LEC I thought they value their employees because they know their employees are the main reason they are able to be succeederful. capital of Nebraska galvanizing recognizes that bills is an aid to employees and knows that by offering an fillip they launch get the go baders to be to a great extent than(prenominal) than booming. They understand that there was to be an sincere relationship amongst employees and private instructors. thither has to be a take of respect for each other. capital of Nebraska electric has HR Objectives that take over-to doe with to its employee; I am going to call three out of quadruple of the objectives send-off is â€Å"to maintain and Shante’ Johnson spread the capital of Nebraska inducement Management philosophy, to recognize quite a little as the familiarity’s most worth(p chromaticicate) asset, and to promote education, education, and learning that broaden employee skills” (Jackson, Schuler, Werner pg 563).\r\nI do non know umteen a(prenominal) companies that book objectives written toss off for their employees. Having objectives in place to be followed by HR personnel is reassuring that they capital of Nebraska elec tric cares about its employees. As I go along to read about the society I found out they submit a low turnover rate, erect now they keep their drawers busy and foc employ on the chore at hand. They alike switch no leisure time and many an(prenominal) do non peck a break. I do not believe that to be fair because if you are organiseing a certain come of hours a daylight you need a break. Also not having time to socialize with others I chiffonier picture the wrickplace being skilful of robots. People clocking in and doing their subscriber lines and then clocking out and going home.\r\nB. be there gild practices at southwest Airlines and/or capital of Nebraska voltaic that you would passel out to be unjust? If so, which ones? Why?\r\nsou-west Airlines\r\nI will be near is was hard predominateing a practice that was unsporting save after really much thought I relegate it unfair that when an applicant is being consider they whitethorn be asked to handle in motility of a self-aggrandizing group of commonwealth. If I am interviewing for a basic course that does not involved a sess of interaction with mess why should intercommunicate in front of a large group be a part of my applicant work. I as well as buzz off it strange that southwesterly will red flag an applicant that is flying in. I understand the idea of seeing how they fashion around others and handle certain situations, but they should overly be notified that they may be watched. I overly do not take on it fair to judge an applicant before you even get to rifleting them. You cannot always take the opinion of others when fashioning important decisions that can affect your confederacy. I do like having others opinions and having them way in, but I do not want them to spy on an applicant.\r\ncapital of Nebraska electric car\r\nShante’ Johnson\r\ncapital of Nebraska galvanising holdd a dialogue of a few interviews they held and it like a shot stood out to me that they were asking questions that are unfair and illegal. I do not find it professional to ask how much notes did you make last course, what did you do with that currency, and how do you feel about joining a married couple (just to name a few). Employers can get into trouble asking those questions because if person is rejected they can sue bottom on the questions they were asked. I to a fault do not think it is fair for focal point to have the authority to cut hours without any notice. Some employees’ livelihood depends on their cable. If their hours are suddenly cut it does not befuddle them time to put other fancys into motion. I excessively feel that it makes the union formulation bad and can bring down employee morale.\r\nChapter 7: Selecting Employees to Fit the Job and the institution Describe, prise, and compare the infusion procedures utilise at these two companies. In preparing your answer, consider the following(a) issues: A. The obj ectives of the selection bear upon.\r\nEach union has a contrary selection turn for telephone line applicants and how the ac caller-up selects its applicants is anomalous. Some companies may not have an intricate selection go; mercifula they just want to drive the absent position. However, this is not the case when south-west Airlines or capital of Nebraska galvanizing selects employees. southwestern United States Airlines believes that invest in recruiting should be a croak priority for their club, and so it has develop the goal to select applicants who will all right into the floriculture that south-west has created instead of just matching a vacant position. southwesterly wants to make sure they are hiring concourse who will be beneficial to the society instead of hiring someone quickly then the unseasoned employee not befit into the square up southwestern United States has created.\r\nIn the case of capital of Nebraska electric automobile, they do t heir selection offset a little diversely. Instead of going out and recruiting for all the kick in positions in spite of appearance the caller capital of Nebraska electric automobile instead plainly when uses outside(a) recruitment in cases of ledger entry direct positions. capital of Nebraska voltaic has clear-cut to fill all other gift tune positions inherently, with those employees who have already been a part of the play along. Since capital of Nebraska is filling most contemplate openings with people already active deep down the bon ton it shows that the alliance believes in the employees it has, and wants to help them grow one at a time as the companion grows as wellspring.\r\nB. The criteria employ\r\nThe criteria used in the selection process of new employees for south-west Airlines and capital of Nebraska Electric differ greatly amongst the two companies. The major criterion used for southwest Airlines is attitude. southwesterly’s selectio n process has unfaltering roots in the attitudes of the farm out applicants. The association has selected 5 key predictors to see if the applicant’s attitude would blend well within southwest. The predictors are: blend of energy, humor, police squad spirit, and self-confidence. It makes sense that sou-west wants to direct employees who would fit into the company culturethat way they can project positive and group work orient attitude is kept within the company.\r\nThe major criterion used for capital of Nebraska Electric for filling positions is establish on in house hiring, except for entry take aim positions. By giving employees notice of the open positions it can help keep the company culture the comparable, and is beneficial to keep employees and discipline them new skills. When the company is able to thatched roof employees new skills it helps build the distinguishable make doncies they get; different competencies can help make an employee much loving to the organisation instead of just one specific job title. This employee then becomes multi-functional. C. The techniques used to assess the competencies of job applicants.\r\n southwestward Airlines and Lincoln Electric have specific hiring techniques to assess the competencies of strength employees. southwesterly uses three distinctive techniques to help figure out who will best fit the dynamic of the company. The first technique used is the person-to-personity test. The personality test helps â€Å"The People Department” get to know job applicants value and what guinea pig of personality he or she has. There are septette traits used: cheerfulness, optimism, decision making skills, aggroup spirit, communication, self-confidence, and self-starter skills. The person being interviewed needs to receive a three or gamyer, on a scale from one to atomic number 23, to transport on to the next stage of the interview process. The next technique used would be the actual int erview. southwest looks to find people with great people skills, matching work experience, and people who are team players.\r\nHiring people without these qualities would be a waste of time, considering that many of the jobs souwest provides have to do with teamwork, mount people have a sweet experience, and experience. The last technique is the most interesting, southwestern wants to make sure they hire people with a great attitude so they have buss jot down anything memorable about the applicant, good or bad, they devote applicants special tickets on their flights so employees will know to observe them and their behavior, and they are to a fault asked to speak in front of groups of people. However, the earreach is also being valued along with the verbaliser; southwesterly wants to see if the audience members are attentive and delivering attention to who is speaking. southwestern United States wants to find people whose attitudes fit in with current employees and the c ulture they’ve built together.\r\n consequently their selection techniques are quite rivet on the job applicant’s attitude and values. Lincoln Electric has kept a constant theme passim their selection process. During the selection process, Lincoln Electric uses current employees to fill open positions; and they are able to find out if employees can take on a new position through the interview process. Lincoln does not use aptitude or psychological interviews; instead they focal point on the personal aspects of the employees. There is a mission that is do up of supervisors and different vice presidents whom interview the different job applicants. Since the interviews are on a more(prenominal) personal level, the committee is looking for the correctperson who can make out the specified tasks and fit in with the new division. Although Lincoln Electric uses the committee to fulfil the interview process, the final selection is unexpended up to the supervisor who i s in stir of the department where the job opening is. D. The unpatterned usefulness of the selection process.\r\nThe effectiveness of some(prenominal)(prenominal) companies selection process has been extremely effective. In the case of souwest Airlines because of the comradely culture close to 90,000 people applied in the past few years. This many applicants can be overwhelming, but since the HR department is committed to notwithstanding hiring those applicants who can fit into the company culture, they only if hired 831 people. ascribable(p) to the specific selection process and the use of different employees from the HR department, four-in-hands, and employees the turnover rate for southwest is little than five percent.\r\nThe employees of the company enjoy their jobs and the culture that they are involved with on a periodic understructure that the employees continue to work for souwest for the long-run. Lincoln Electric’s selection process is as correspo ndingly successful as that of southwestern United States Airlines. Since Lincoln Electric fills openings in-house the company doesn’t experience a high turnover rate. Employees average around 18 years working with the company, and due to the in-house hiring process employees become more satisfied with their work because they are able to develop and run into up in their career path.\r\n move faith in current employees to help build the company from the ground level to top level, put trust in employees and thus employees trust Lincoln more and want to stay with the company longer. E. The roles and responsibilities of line managers, HR professionals, and other employees in each company. Each company has their own unique way of selecting the perfect job applicants to fill the needs of the company, and each company has proved to be successful in the selection process. But without the helpof HR professionals, line managers, and other employees the companies may not have had muc h(prenominal)(prenominal) smooth sailing. souwest Airlines makes sure to take every level of employees to help shoot new employees through their selection process. The HR professionals, or the â€Å"People Department”, work to set up and organize the different interviews and where they will be held, the HR professionals also distinguish what qualities are important to the company culture for job applicants to be able to fit in. Line managers and employees are also involved, they are able to interact and speak with job applicants.\r\nBy sou-west involving line managers and employees in the selection process, it shows how important the company culture is to the company. Having the line managers and employees involves also allows them to help select future employees that they will have to interact with on a daily buttocks. Lincoln Electric also involves HR professionals, line managers, and employees in the selection process. The HR professionals post the job openings on an i nternal job board and set up the interviews that will be conducted to find the re demand applicant. Line managers are involved in the selection process through interviews, and they eventually have the final decision in who is hired to work in their department.\r\nEmployee involution is probably the most important part of the selection process. Employees are important because if they are not actively involved in applying for the open positions Lincoln Electric would not be able to fill the open job positions. Having the employees involved with filling the job positions is crucial to keeping the company on task and not having a lot of turnover. Chapter 8 †Training and Developing a Competitive Workforce A. For which company is teaching and suppuration more important? In the case of Lincoln Electric and Southwest Airlines there is one company who puts more vehemence on education than the other. Southwest deeply involves new employees into the indoctrinateing process much mo re than Lincoln Electric. In the production area of Lincoln Electric the employees are given on-the-job instruct that is over a curt time period, and they are then expected to coiffe their duties correctly. When it comes to sales jobs they receive on-the-job teach at a plant, then they go to a regional sales military post and receive more tuition art object they are working. Lincoln Electric does not provide or stick out for away provision, unless there is a specific need for the immaterial train.\r\nEven though Lincoln Electric does not spend a great deal of time with study, Southwest does. Southwest places a large strain on employees fitting in to their work culture so the company provides immense training in all aspects the employees will be involved in. There are seven different areas that new employees are trained in when entering the Southwest team. The areas embroil: Freedom-LUV-and You, Leadership 101, Leadership Southwest Style, Next Level Leadership, Pow er Speak, winning Performance Appraisals, and Every Customer Matters. different Lincoln, Southwest encourages employees to take full receipts of outside training whenever they can. Not only does Southwest train employees in their own respective fields, but they also train employees on the jobs of other employees who they will be working closely with.\r\nThis slipwrite of training helps employees understand and meliorate relate to those who they will be working with on a regular basis. Southwest provides an enormous amount of training for new employees, but they also continue development and training for animated employees as well. formerly a year all employees are requisite to observe training programs that help reiterate the coverd out values throughout the company. B. Describe how the training and development activities in both companies are related to other HR activities. The training and development activities at Lincoln Electric also relate to other Human Resource activities that are involved within the company. The main human resource insurance policy that fits well with the training and development of Lincoln Electric employees are the work assignments. The decoctsing teams at Lincoln Electric have the power to change or enrapture the work assignments of current employees. In order to keep up with the changing of work assignments the training process cannot be lengthy.\r\nThe training that employees receive is on-the-job, so if a work assignment changes they are able to be taught quickly on what their new responsibilities will be. In a company like Lincoln Electric the needs of consumers may change and having the ability to move doers assignments and provide sufficient on the job training helps the company keep up with the changing external factors the company faces. The training and development activities at Southwest Airlines are in direct correlation with their hiring and selection process. Southwest works particularly hard to find employees who exhibit the properly attitude, who will fit in, and demonstrate the qualities that are important to the company culture.\r\nSince the time is spent to find the best employees to fit in, the company wants to invest into training them properly to become part of the Southwest team. The training Southwest provides its new employees is an file name extension of their selection process. Southwest does not hire employees just to fill positions accordingly the company wants to invest in the new hires to stretch out their abilities and qualities. Not only does Southwest want to connect the selection process to training and development for new employees, but training continues for existing employees too. Existing employees are back up to do outside training to improve their skills and knowledge. The company also requires a yearbook training session to make sure that everyone is still operating with the same shared values throughout the company. The values in the training a re the same values that the employees shared with Southwest Airlines from the time of their selection.\r\nChapter 9 †Conducting Performance Management\r\nA. Compare Lincoln Electric and Southwest Airlines with respect to the major purposes of surgical process mensuration and feedback. Which institution seems to be more bear on with traits? With behavior? With results? What uses does effect criterion serve in these two companies?\r\nPerformance measurements and feedback are vital to the success and knowledge of Lincoln Electric and Southwest Airlines. Each company uses accomplishment measurement tools to help gage the employees’ military operation and where there is room for progress. The capital punishment measurement Lincoln Electric uses is secondaryd on a great deal of results and how the employees are acting their jobs and designated tasks. Employees and managers are evaluated on different terms. Employees are evaluated twice a year, and their mathematica l process principles overwhelm: tone, dependability, ideas and cooperation, and output. Managers are evaluated on six different competencies: leadership/ self-control, decision making and judgment, results orientation, teamwork/ committedness, tincture and customer centralise, and creativity/innovation.\r\nWhen it comes to feedback managers at Lincoln Electric discuss the death penalty get ahead with employees and if necessary will provide recommendations. Once a year the company provides feedback based on operation and will also assist in murder betterment and development. Southwest Airlines focuses on results, but their main concern for employees is based on their traits and behavior. Southwest strives to have excellent customer service, as a result employees murder is deliberate on how well they are playing their jobs and handling the customer service aspect. The performance measures used help with building team cooperation instead of enticing competition between diff erent departments.\r\nWhen managers evaluate employees, especially regarding customer service, they have to provide documentation of the events and how the employee performed. The manager cannot just give an outstanding set without regarding actual events that took place. Southwest Airlines contributes feedback to what they call â€Å" winsome feedback”. â€Å"It celebrates successes, it lets people know how they’re doing, but it’s also honest”(Jackson, Schuler, and Werner, 2012). The feedback constitution for Southwest has two different objectives; first is the metrics level and second is the conversation, people to people level.\r\nThe performance measurements used for both companies reflect the performance of employees and commission. However, Lincoln Electric focuses more on the results that employees receive from their ratings. Lincoln Electric does use the performance measurements to influence, whether it is an axerophthollify or reduction, in merit present and the decisions of inducementes for employees. Not only do the results of the performance measurement affect if an employee receives merit throw or a bonus, the company uses the evaluations to nail down warranty claim chores. In the case of a warrant claim the manager can trace the claim to the lease employee error made. When this happens the employee’s performance home run may be reduced, or the worker may be required to concede the follow of servicing the warranty claim by working without contribute (Jackson, Schuler, and Werner, 2012).\r\nSouthwest Airlines truly uses their performance measurement and feedback agreement to focus on the traits and behaviors of the employees. They want to show employees they value their work, and give them feedback that helps. Due to how concerned Southwest is to give employees a meaningful experience, employees would earlier hear prohibit feedback and performance ratings than hearing nothing at all. At least b y hearing the negative feedback they have something to work towards and improve on to make themselves better. B. For Lincoln Electric, how well do the performance criteria fit the company’s strategic objectives? Identify any potential sources of deficiency and contamination in the company’s performance measures.\r\nFor the most part Lincoln Electric fulfills two out of the four HR Objectives that the company has deemed to be important. Those two are: to maintain and flesh out the Lincoln Incentive Management Philosophy and To maintain an affirmative action program, and provide employees with opportunities for advancement commensurate with their abilities and performance regardless of race, religion, national origin, sex, age, or disability (Jackson, Schuler, and Werner, 2012). There are two other objectives that I do not believe Lincoln Electric is taking enough favour of when victimization their performance criteria. Two objectives admit: recognizing people as the company’s most semiprecious asset and promoting the training, education, and development to broaden the employee skills. Lincoln Electric only provides on-the-job training and they do not cave in for or encourage outside training, unless the need is absolutely necessary.\r\nNot only do they only offer on-the-job training, when performance results are released twice a year, the employees only receive coaching and performance improvement development once a year. Lincoln Electric should at least offer the coach and performance improvement instantly after each performance evaluation and feedback term. By not investing in the training and education of employees they are not fulfilling that particular objective. Also, when an employee’s performance is bad, management punishes the employee instead of taking the time to find out what went wrong in the making of an item. There might have been something the employee didn’t understand. Not taking the time to discuss a nd figure the source of the issues doesn’t show that Lincoln sees people as the company’s most valuable asset. Especially, when a mistake happens, their performance create is reduced and they have to fix the problem without receiving lucre.\r\nC. Compare the sources of performance information used at Lincoln Electric and Southwest Airlines. Would you recommend that these physical compositions use 360-degree appraisals? Why or why not? Each company has a different way of evaluating their employees to find out how they performing and if they need any help or training. When looking at the sources of how Southwest evaluates their employees’ performance I do not think they need to use 360-degree appraisals. The company focuses different aspects that affect the employees mortalisticly and what teams they are a part of incarnately. Southwest’s â€Å"performance management also reflects how we value our employees”(Jackson, Schuler, and Werner, 2012). Southwest effectively measures the performance of employees and the teams they are on, this pillow slip of performance measurement promotes cooperation between employees instead of employees trying to compete to be the best.\r\nSouthwest prides itself on teamwork, so when something goes wrong it isn’t just one undivided’s fault, the company examines what different departments were effected to make this problem, and as a team they fix the problem. When examining the performance measurements of Lincoln Electric, I do believe that the company could benefit from implementing 360-degree appraisal performance measurement. Lincoln Electric employees are evaluated by their department manager, and employees help establish the goals that the managers are performance evaluations are based on. 360-degree appraisals would be able to give employees and managers more evaluations to work with. This reference of appraisals uses supervisors, subordinates, peers, and employees to eva luate performance. The people chosen to evaluate the employee or manager are not random every, they are people who work with the employee on a regular basis and who know how well this individual does with his or her job.\r\nWhen Lincoln Electric is only using a manager to evaluate the employees, the manager may be bias and not give each employee a fair evaluation. However, when using 360-degree appraisals it is hard for one individual to sway the evaluation when there are multiple people working to evaluate the employee properly. â€Å"Multiple-source evaluations are perceived as being more fair, reliable, and valid than single-source addresses”(Jackson, Schuler, and Werner, 2012). The 360-degree appraisal process may benefit Lincoln Electric when fulfilling their HR objective of recognizing people as the company’s most important asset as well. By having more than one person involved with the performance measurements, employees may gain a better since of how important they are to the company overall.\r\nChapter 10: Developing an Approach to radical fee\r\nThe purpose of an organization’s meat stipend is to provide sufficient incentive and fruition to attract and retain the right people for the right positions within the organization and for those hired, to keep engaged within the organization and perform at their best ability. It has been proved that by having the right â€Å"employee fit” will improve motivation and productiveness, resulting ultimately in a more content manpower and increased retention and advance. Establishing a solidness and warring integrality recompense case contributes to employee retention, which happens to be one of the sterling(prenominal) â€Å"concerns of employers today, with 59 percent of those surveyed worried about losing their best employees to competitors and 67 percent concerned about the difficulty of finding skilled labor.” (Taylor, 2013)\r\nTotal recompense not only refers to an employee’s payment, benefits, and other pecuniary respects, it also factors in non-monetary rewards as well. There are four strategic objectives, trussed directly to summarise requital that should be considered when establishing an organization’s append fee. These include: 1) Attracting, motivating, and retaining the talent required for a sustainable competitory payoff; 2) Focusing the energy of employees on implementing the organization’s particular war-ridden system; 3) Improving productivity; and 4) Cost containment. (Jackson, Schuler, &type A; Werner, 2012) 1. Compare and contrast the two companies on the following:\r\na. The objectives of their complete fee practices\r\nAs communicated in Lincoln Electrics Employees’ Handbook (Lincoln Electric Company), as well as in the text case study (Jackson, Schuler, & axerophthol; Werner, 2012), Lincoln Electric’s allowance practice is premium total compensation for premium overall performance. â€Å"The key elements of premium total compensation are base pay and bonus. Premium performance is your individual performance as well as Lincoln Electric’s performance. When you action or exceed your goals and the Company views or exceeds its business goals, the result is premium total compensation for premium overall performance.” (Lincoln Electric Company) The company’s objective is to â€Å"reward employees through recognition, pay for performance, and by share-out net lucre with incentive bonus compensation based on extraordinary proceeding as a means of motivation.” (Jackson, Schuler, & angstrom unit; Werner, 2012) Base pay for Lincoln’s employees is persistent by salary surveys alike(p) to the salaries of correspondent jobs in the Cleveland area, comparing externally as well as internally, through job evaluation and adjusting quarterly to chink the salaries remain aligned accordingly.\r\nJob evaluation and continuous/ comparative round is important to the organization’s position confederation and the employees’ total compensation. Base pay can be earned by either piecework pay, hourly pay or salary pay dependent on the type of position and classification of the job within the organization. In addition to the base pay received, Lincoln’s eligible employees have the opportunity to receive a portion of the company’s yearbook avails as incentive bonuses. These year-end profit sharing bonuses are proportional to the individual’s merit scores. The Board of Directors determines if there will be a bonus payout and dictates the amount to be distributed. It will only be give out if the company was able to earn a profit for the year. The individual pay outs and employee shares are based on the individuals’ pay and performance during the year.\r\nA successful year for the company results in a shared portion of its success with the employees, rewarding them for t heir part in earning the profit. Southwest Airlines overall objective of their compensation program is â€Å"to promote and reward productivity and committal to the overall success of the Company and to thereby also support the company’s overarching objective of attaining reasonable shekels on a logical basis and preserving job security. The development of a more performance-oriented compensation structure is intended to support and pay back the factors management believes are most relevant to the company’s success.” (Commission, 2011) Southwest’s employees’ total compensation is sex actly alike to other airlines, given the nature of the type of labor required of the constancy. Labor embody account for 35% of Southwest’s overall expenses, with 83% of these positions falling into, and controlled by, collective bargaining agreements (union positions).\r\nAlthough Southwest’s base pay structure has been at or below the market and operates in an industry where other entities dominate the bargaining power, this low-fare/no-frills(prenominal) airline has kept up(p) a productive custody through its total compensation offerings of â€Å"numerous opportunities to share in company success through variable pay programs, including profit sharing and a short letter leverage plan.” (Jackson, Schuler, & vitamin A; Werner, 2012, p. 579) Given Southwest’s continuous success over the years, these offerings of lucrative buyout plans to highly compensated employees and different variable pay programs, such as profit sharing and farm animal bargain for plans have been extremely winsome to its workforce. Allowing and load-bearing(a) their employees to do what is necessary to satisfy the customer, empowers and motivates them, resulting in a greater level of job happiness and retention, therefore, increased customer mirth and company earnings.\r\nThe profit sharing plan offered by Southwest was the first of its miscellany in the airline industry and is directly tied to a defined parcel plan, encouraging a long-term role relationship with its employees. Owning approximately 80% of the company’s inventorying, employees also recognize the profits of Southwest’s crease purchase plan, offered to them only at a discounted stock share rate. â€Å"Their monetary gains are closely tied to the company’s financial future.” (Jackson, Schuler, & adenylic acid; Werner, 2012, p. 587) In addition to the above express company’s total compensation offerings, Southwest Airlines also uses recognitions to reward their employees. â€Å"The awards in these programs and others are given to employees who perform at a high level consistent with Southwest’s outline and culture, and they can come in the form of plaques, monetary payments, photos taken during the awards ceremony, photos of the award winner with the CEO, and mentioned in the company newsletter. ” (Jackson, Schuler, & Werner, 2012, p. 587)\r\nb. The role of total compensation in achieving a emulous payoff\r\nLincoln achieves a free-enterprise(a) advantage through its piecework pay, shared scratch incentive bonuses, as well as job security and reassured employment. These elements gave Lincoln employees a sense of ownership in the company. The company’s goal was fulfilling the customer’s needs and therefore, recognized that â€Å"employee performance and productivity are the means by which this goal can best be achieved”. This tactile sensation led to the company’s commitment that â€Å"the earnings of each must(prenominal) be in accordance with accomplishment. If bills is to be used as an incentive, the program must provide that what is paid to the worker is what he has earned.” (Jackson, Schuler, & Werner, 2012, p. 562) This company attitude and total compensation plan empowered its workforce to work harder and smarte r; resulting in little to no employee turnover, employee compensation that is almost twice that of other comparable job families in the same Cleveland area, and a workforce that sees themselves as part of an organization with executives and leadership that takes care of its employees.\r\nIn some ways similar to Lincoln, Southwest Airlines maintains its competitive advantage through its compensation of base salary, profit sharing and stock purchase plans, as well as, short/long term incentives and yearbook incentive bonuses. As promoted by Southwest’s website â€Å"Our people are our single greatest strength and most enduring long-term competitive advantage.” (Kelly, 2014) In order to have a competitive advantage over its competitors, a firm must have the ability to obtain/sustain winnings/benefits that exceed the average for others within its industry. As verbalise earlier, Southwest was â€Å"the first to innovate a profit sharing plan in the airline industry.â⠂¬Â (Jackson, Schuler, & Werner, 2012, p. 586) another(prenominal) strategic business initiative and employment that contributed to the company’s competitive advantage was through the introduction of the 10-year aviate baffle agreement of 1995. Specifically, during the first five years, the pilot wages would not change, then five years following, the pilots got the stock option of the company and annual salary would increase by 3 %. â€Å"This kind of salary strategy combined sparing interests of the pilot with the interests of the shareholders of the company (if share prices rise, both sides would profit), so the company added value.\r\nItalso helped southwest airlines to provide tourists frequently and economic flight to tourist, and won the competition advantage. This kind of salary strategy is hard to be imitated by competitors.” (Zheng, 2012) c. The pay miscellany and employee’s receptions to the pay mix\r\nAs tell earlier, the pay mix for Linco ln Electric consists of base wages (piecework pay, hourly pay and salary pay) and bonuses. The piecework system adopted by Lincoln Electric is based on some fundamental principles including: 1) Rewards employee for what is done rather than for how much time is spent on the job (more productive employees who meet quality standards = greater compensation than those who are less productive); 2) Changes in piecework prices will be made as changes in equipment, method, layout, procedure, tooling, design or materials are made; 3) Group piecework is interdependent, and the cost of the job is limited by the stymie or the slowest operation in the line; 4) All Lincoln employees guarantee their quality and workmanship; 5) Pieceworkers are paid only for production that meets Lincoln’s quality standards. Production of scrap or defective parts will be taken into account during merit rating.\r\n periodic and salaried employees’ base pay is determined by means of â€Å"benchmarkingà ¢â‚¬Â, comparing the base pay for a sampling of jobs at Lincoln to the base pay of similar jobs in other companies of the same industry. â€Å"The bonus plan has been the cornerstone of the Lincoln management system, and recent bonuses have approximated annual wages. Bonuses have averaged about 90 percent of annual wages and the individual bonuses are proportional to merit rating scores.” (Jackson, Schuler, & Werner, 2012, p. 560 & 570) Lincoln Electric’s employees’ reaction to the pay mix of the company is very supportive and positive. Based on five employee interviews, all five denotative their cheer with the compensation received. Each of the employee’s interviewed declare that their salaries exceeded those of employees in similar jobs within the Cleveland area, considering themselves better off(predicate) and better off financially due to their positions with Lincoln Electronic.\r\nMost also stated that the greatest advantage of working for Lincoln was the compensation or the amount of money they can make (base, incentives/bonuses, stock dividends). They mentioned that they â€Å"didn’t believe they could make this type of money anywhere else”. As mentioned previously, most of the employees in the airline industry are union employees, controlled by bargaining units and union contracts. In addition to the hourly base pay employees (typically at or below market), Southwest’s pay mix also offers opportunities to share in the company through variable pay programs (profit sharing and stock purchase plans). Mentioned previously, this mix has proven attractive by employees, as well as competitors, with attempts of mimicking in the airline industry. Unlike many of its competitors, however, Southwest is a low-fare, no-frill airline. Rewards and/or perks such as cars, club memberships, etc., are not awarded to the company officers at Southwest, maintaining lower be to the company and ultimately higher p rofits to be shared.\r\nAlthough this pay mix has maintained attractive for many years, its future is alleged(prenominal) due to the acquisition and future desegregation of AirTran. I am not certain that this lean airline machine will be able to continue to remain as â€Å"lean” and profitable as they have been given the competitiveness and external threats of this industry. 2. Which approach to compensating employees would you pick out? Why? The compensation structure I find more desirable would be that similar to the pay mix exercised by Lincoln Electronic. Although I believe it is dependent on the type of industry you are in, I prefer a compensation plan or structure with more internal controls. I find the Lincoln pay mix to be one of which there are more â€Å"internal controls” over. As a manager, I believe it also encourages a more team-centric approach to the workforce and empowers employees at all levels to push themselves and to be responsible for the comp ensation they receive. The Lincoln Electrics plan allows its employees to be part of the big picture, a more wholesome donation approach and one of which is always looking at improve the process and making a better product overall.\r\nGiven the employees level of contribution and sense of ownership, there seems to also be a higher level of fealty and pride, pushing their capabilities to the limit…benefiting everyone in the end. Chapter 11: Using Performance-Based Pay to Achieve strategical Objectives 1. Compare and contrast the approaches to performance-based pay used by Lincoln Electric and Southwest Airlines. Overall, which plan do you think is more effective? Why? Lincoln Electric’s compensation approach is predominantly based on employees’ performance. Employees’ rewards are hard monetary in nature (i.e., annual bonuses/incentives based on piecework). As express by many interviewed, the harder and more effectual you work, the greater the pay an d/or incentives awarded. Employees’ salaries are directly impacted by their level of performance. Although Southwest Airlines does reward their employees based on their performance, most of the rewards received are non-monetary and company culture driven. Some of non-monetary rewards identified include luncheons, plaques, photos taken with VPs, making mention of success in the company newsletter, etc.\r\nThe ultimate objective of Southwest’s performance-based recognition is to â€Å"create a sense of family and mission”. (Jackson, Schuler, & Werner, 2012, p. 582) Based on my review of the successes from each of these companies in their respective industries, I would conclude that each plan is effective, relative to their performance in their industry. To determine which performance-based plan is more effective, I believe consideration needs to be given to the type of industry and employee it is load-bearing(a). The effectiveness determined is also affected by how their employees perceive and/or measure their level of job joy. Obviously, Lincoln attracts a compensation-driven workforce (i.e., sales), while Southwest attracts more cohesive and cooperative relationships between employee groups that seek to be recognized in public and through other means than only monetary sources.\r\n2.Lincoln Electric is gradually moving toward using a more tralatitious approach to pay, putting less emphasis on earnings at risk. What strategic objectives would lead the company to conclude that a more handed-down approach to pay may be more effective than their present practices? A more traditional approach to pay would be more effective for Lincoln Electronic as they continue to become more global and publically owned. As Lincoln’s interest in globalization continues to grow, so does the need for additional funding and profits to support this expansion. This reallocation requirement of profits, soon used to pay bonuses and incentives to e mployees, therefore supports the changed focus toward global expansion. As the public ownership of Lincoln continues to grow, their focus needs to expand beyond that of just the employees and begin to include all stakeholders, of which are contributing to the successful expansion of the organization.\r\nChapter 12: Providing Benefits and Services\r\n1. What are the objectives of each company’s approach to benefits and run? Lincoln Electric’s benefit program includes several components to include a retreat annuity program, 401(k) plan, stock purchase plan, flexible benefits program, medical, dental, life & disability programs, as well as flexible spending and health savings accounts. An additional benefit offered by the company includes a paid vacation during the company’s seasonal shutdown, regardless of the employees’ tenure with the company. Based on no layoffs since WWII, as well as comments noted by the interviews in the case study, employees fee l a sense of job security, loyalty and satisfaction to Lincoln Electric and the benefits and go the company offers. The objective of their benefits and run is to offer an attractive and beneficial plan to their employees, maintaining competitive advantage and employee retention, resulting in a more see and tenured staff.\r\nMore challenging to that of Lincoln’s approach to benefits and service is the benefits and services offered by Southwest Airlines. Due to their focus to provide a more employee-centric benefits big bucks, continually surveying their employees to determine what their employees value, they have employ a flexible plan that allows the company to change as frequently as needed to maintain its attractiveness to top applicants in a competitive industry, as well as retain their valuable employees, â€Å"their most valuable asset”. Southwest’s objective in â€Å"hiring the best people and knowing how to find…and treat them” (Jackson, Schuler, & Werner, 2012, p. 577) requires a solid, attractive and competitive benefits big bucks, including job security, in an industry that is not typically known to be competitive in this area.\r\n2. How well do the benefits and services portions serve the business objectives and the needs of the employees? Which package would you prefer? Explain why. Although the benefits and services package offered to Lincoln Electric’s employees is satisfactory and competitive to other similar companies, the interviews held expressed the employees’ main reason for job satisfaction rests with the compensation package, with minimal comments regarding the benefits offered. Southwest employees, however, have experienced and expressed a greater level of satisfaction with the benefits and services offered by their employer. Having a broader, more wide-range of offerings in their benefits package to full-time and part-time employees, it allows the company to meet its objective i n attracting the best applicants and feel for for their most valuable asset…its people.\r\nAlthough both benefits and services packages offered by Lincoln and Southwest provide excellent job security, I would personally prefer the package offered by Lincoln, as opposed to Southwest. Southwest may offer a more employee lucky and focused benefits package, however, its flexibility and potential for change seems more appropriate for a younger workforce that has not yet constituted loyalty to their employer, with the intention of long-term employment. Therefore, as a middle aged employee myself, my benefits focus and interest lies with a package that can offer more long-term and invariable incentives such as employee stock purchase and pension plans, as well as a promising and reliable retirement plan.\r\n3. Could Southwest Airlines adopt the approach to benefits and services used at Lincoln Electric? If so, what would be the advantages and disadvantages for Southwest Airline s of adopting this approach? Be sure to consider how various stakeholders would be affected by such a change. I would not suggest nor support Southwest Airlines adopting the benefits and services packages used by Lincoln Electric. Southwest gains their competitive advantage in their industry through their benefits package, whereas Lincoln does so through their compensation package. Therefore, my reasons supporting the lack of confidence in Southwest’s adoption of like benefits and services to Lincoln’s is because I don’t feel that Southwest’s compensation package is as beardown(prenominal) as Lincoln’s in their respective industries.\r\nBy adopting a similar benefits and services package as Lincoln’s, Southwest may lose their competitive advantage for attracting top talent. Additionally and as stated earlier, Lincoln’s benefit package is geared toward retention and catered to a tenured workforce, which is not the objective of Southwe st Airlines. The need to continually bring young, nimble and new talent into the firm requires an employee friendly and flexible plan that is focused more on short term advantages and offerings, as opposed to long-term. â€Å"Southwest seeks to reduce labor costs” (Jackson, Schuler, & Werner, 2012, p. 579) and by doing so, implementing a strong, attractive, but flexible benefits and services plan allows them to meet this reduced labor cost objective, while continuing to bring in new talent and maintain their company’s goal to remain a low-fare, no-frill airline.\r\nWorks Cited\r\nCommission, U. S. (2011). Definitive Proxy assertion †Southwest Airlines Co. Washington DC: Southwest Airlines Co. Jackson, S. E., Schuler, R. S., & Werner, S. (2012). Managing Human Resources. Mason, OH: South-Western. Kelly, G. (2014). Southwest.com. Retrieved from About Southwest: https://www.southwest.com/html/about-southwest/ Lincoln Electric Company. (n.d.). Employeesâ€⠄¢ Handbook. Lincoln Electric Company †The Welding Experts. Human Resource Services. Retrieved from www.lincolnconnect.com/pdfs/wise/employee_handbook.pdf Taylor, T. C. (2013, November 12). compensation Today. Retrieved from communication Total Compensation to Employees in a Meaningful Way: http://www.payscale.com/compensation-today/2013/11/communicating-total-compensation-to-employees-in-a-meaningful-way Zheng, F. (2012). explore on Enterprise Competitive emolument Based on the Total Compensation Strategy. Communications in Information intuition and Management Engineering, 28-29.\r\n'