Assignment 3: Total Rewards System ProposalThis  research-based assignment focuses on the latest available information  about creating, organizing, and managing a total rewards program. As the  HR

Case Study: Geico

Jane Doe

Strayer University

HRM 533- Total Rewards

April 21, 2019

Case Study: Geico

An effective total reward program covers the single elements of rewards as well as the value and overall cost. Alignment of the complete rewards program with the organization’s strategic objectives equips the company with the appropriate tool to design, implement and evaluate the package. Geico offers a total reward program aimed to promote health and career enhancement.

The first section of the paper determines whether Geico facets align with the top five advantages of the total reward programs. The second segment provides a strategy to ensure Geico’s plan addresses the senior positions of total rewards. The next part evaluates how well Geico communicates its entire rewards program. The final section provides methods to enhance Geico’s complete rewards program.

The Top Five Advantages of a Total Rewards Program

The definition of rewards encompasses the overall value proposition that the employer offers to the employee whereas total package focuses on compensation, benefits, and careers (Morris, 2005 pg. 6-9). Therefore, the rewards program “encompass everything that is “rewarding” about working for an employer or everything employees get as a result of their employment (World at Work, 2007 pg. 2). Geico’s total rewards package centers around the health and careers of its employees. The effectiveness of the rewards plan depends on how well it aligns with the organization strategy and objectives.

Geico offers a variety of elements through its total rewards packages such as health and well-being, education and training, finance and retirement, and family and leave. The rewards program entails five top advantages such as increased flexibility, improved recruitment and retention, reduced labor cost, heightened visibility in a tight labor market, and enhanced profitability (World at Work, 2007 pg. 15-17). Geico’s family and leave package align with the top five advantages because it focuses on providing a work-life balance to employees which supports the alignment of the senior position.

Work-life balance is an essential tool to attract, retain and engage employees. The benefit of family and leave allows employees to spend more time with family and friends and to attend to other business outside the job. Family and leave support employees effort to achieve success at home and work. The family and leave plan are a crucial component of Geico’s total success to increase flexibility, retain and attract top talent, decrease turnovers, heightened profitability, and utilized as a competitive advantage.

Revising Geico’s Total Rewards Strategy

The development of an effective total rewards strategy requires pertinent data, sound decisions, and measure of the progress. A rewards strategy is “an approach to reward based on a set of coherent principles in support of the organization’s aims (Rose, 2014). It determines the path in which reward management, revolutions, and development must take to support the organization’s strategy, how to integrate the design, the priority of initiating the proposal, and the pace for implementing the stratagem.

“An effective total rewards strategy results in satisfied, engaged, productive employees who create desired business performance and results (World at Work, 2007 pg. 8). Coupled with the rising difficulties to improve recruitment and retention, creating a total rewards strategy is essential to the success of an organization. Up to this point, Geico family and leave plan seem to address the top five advantages of total rewards. However, there is room to ensure that Geico’s entire policy addresses all five benefits.

First, Geico must convey a broad definition of its strategy to its employees. It allows employees to receive a complete understanding of the approach. Next, the company must clarify the direction of the organization. Explaining the path provides employees with a clear, and specific message that is well-designed and understandable. Geico must articulate the strategy with effective communication, a language that’s easily understood and does not leave the employees confused.

The company must manage the value of the strategy, balance flexibility and adherence to the core which meets population needs and define the universal principles of the company. The next step involves measuring and accurately tracking the progress of the program. Geico must also recognize the recipient’s value while emulating the tactics of other companies to create a better approach for the company.

Effectiveness of Geico’s Communication of its Total Rewards Program

If the staff does not understand their reward program, then employers are not investing what is their most important cost item in an effective way (Armstrong & Cummins, 2011). The effectiveness of communication is essential to establishing trust, the company’s culture, increased employee engagement, enhanced performance, and building working relationships. Geico’s presentation of its total rewards program seems to demonstrate the effectiveness of its communication process in a positive way. The company’s style of communicating provides useful insight toward the breakdown of the reward plan in a transparent, understandable, readily available, and well-designed fashion.

Its stratagem aims to guarantee that its practices support the attainment of its organizational goals and the needs of participants. “Communication is a two-way process of disseminating visions, ideas, and instructions one way and evaluation the other (Cartwright, 2002). Many establishments seized the chance to communicate the assistance of its total reward strategy via visualization, messages that directly targets the audience and advanced communicating techniques that serve the purposes of educating and assisting workers to utilize every option at their disposal. It’s never easy to relay messages of a total rewards plan to every participant because of the difference in ages, lifestyles, and level of employment.

One way for Geico to enhances the effectiveness of the communication of its total reward program is by surveying and interviewing employees to learn the best way to communicate the plan to its members. The company may elect to conduct survey feedback. “Survey feedback is information that is collected by a survey from organization members and then compiled, disseminated, and used to develop an action plan for improvements (Williams, 2010 pg. 288).

Geico can also create an employee rewards program website to provide resources and vital information to help answer question left unanswered to participants. It must give members detail information related to the plan as well as available resources to address issues about the program. The website must include a section for feedback and an open line of communication to reach the required personals. Creating this type of website not only improves its communication effectiveness but also displays the organization true potential to assist employees in any way possible.

Improvements or Changes to Geico’s Total Reward Program.

An employee’s viewing of an organizational total rewards program may force the company’s Human Resource leader to take circumstances into account to add or obliterate elements from the agenda. An organization total rewards programs must not only align with the organization’ goals and objectives but also with its capital investment. It must support the needs and wants of its members and work to deliver them effectively. Although Geico offers great benefits through its rewards policy, the obligation to revise is an open option.

For example, the company may elect to add performance and service recognition to its total reward program to recognize employees that remain loyal to the company. Performance and recognition services show the members that they are valued not only as a worker but also as a person. When workers feel they valued they tend to bring every effort forth to meet or exceed the company’s expectation. A valued employee is a happy employee that strives to improves productivity. The recognition acknowledges or gives special attention to employee’s actions, efforts, behaviors, or performance (World at Work, 2007 pg. 10). The performance and recognition plan involve presenting employees with honors such as service, loyalty, retirement, peer, and exceeding performance awards.

Another example to improve or change a company’s total reward program consists of expanding its health and well-being package to include gym memberships. When companies offer employees the opportunity to attend a gym at little cost it demonstrations the level of care employers exhibits toward their employees physical, mental, and emotional well-being as well as their health. It gives participants a chance to working on improving themselves in more than one way. It provides members with a place to shape their body and mind. It’s a win-win situation for both the employees and employers.

Conclusions

In conclusion, a rewards program embraces how active companies communicate the entire employment package inclusive of compensation and benefits, work-life, performance and recognition and development and career opportunities to participants. An effective reward program must align with the company’s strategy and objectives. Total rewards either drive or diminish organizational performance depending on how well it supports the business strategy and how well the company tracks the strategy when it encounters changes (Morris, 2005). Geico’s total reward program endorsed the organization’s business strategy as well as its goals and objectives. A properly designed and well-executed reward programs can be the determining factor of business success. However, it can also weaken the success of an organization’s business strategy.

References:

Armstrong, M., & Cummins, A. (2011). The Reward Management Toolkit: A Step-By-Step Guide to Designing and Delivering Pay and Benefits. London: Kogan Page. Retrieved from https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=354496&site=eds-live&scope=site.

Cartwright, R. (2002). Communication. Oxford, United Kingdom: John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Retrieved from https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=66787&site=eds-live&scope=site.

Morris, I. (2005). A Total Rewards Overview. In Benefits Canada (Vol. 29, pp. 6–9). Transcontinental IT Business Group. Retrieved from https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=19369775&site=eds-live&scope=site.

Rose, M. (2014). Reward Management. London: Kogan Page. Retrieved from https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=732518&site=eds-live&scope=site.

Williams, C. (2010). Management. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning

World at Work (2007). The World at work handbook of compensation, benefits, and total rewards. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.