the class will review any case study within the textbook. Case Studies are located at the end of each chapter. Students must analyze and submit an analysis of one (1) case from the textbook. Write a p

CASE STUDY CHAPTER 1

1. Understanding Your Employee Benefits: Understanding a Job Offer As a recent college graduate, you are excited to start the search for your first career position. You have already started interviewing for opportunities as a management trainee. You have been fortunate to have two interviews so far, and you identified several other companies to apply to at a recent job fair. From what you have learned, it seems that the starting salary for a job as a management trainee in your area is about the same at all companies. Therefore, you know that salary isn’t going to differentiate one job offer from another. It will, of course, be important to understand the work environment and future career opportunities at a given company as you compare offers. As you think back to some of the career-search seminars you’ve attended, you remember that you should also compare benefit offerings. As you look through the Web sites of the companies you have applied to, you quickly see that there are lots of different benefits plans offered. In fact, as you look at this information, you start to become concerned that comparing benefits is going to be a challenge. You think that you need to have a better understanding of the value of different benefits when you consider the total compensation you would receive from a company. You decide to start by more closely looking at the benefits offered by your current best prospect, which is a position at a large established corporation where you interviewed last week. You pull up the careers page on the company Web site and find a chart that lists the benefits offered. Old age, survivor, and   disability insurance Medicare Unemployment insurance Workers’ compensation Family and medical leave Health care Dental insurance Employee assistance program Tuition reimbursement Defined contribution retirement plan Vacation days Holidays Sick days As you review the chart, you aren’t sure what you should pay attention to and what will make a difference in evaluating an offer. You think about lists that you’ve read on other company’s Web sites and think that other companies seem to offer benefits plans very similar to this one. At this point, you think that maybe benefit offerings don’t really mar12281_ch01_001-030.indd 27 12/8/16 6:53 AM 28 Part One Introduction to Employee Benefits make a difference. You decide you need to learn more before you go much further in the interview process. If the benefits information provided to you is unclear, you know you should be prepared to ask questions. The future is exciting, but you know that once you receive an offer, it is an important decision that you should make with full information. 1. If two different companies list the same benefits offerings, should you assume that the value of the benefits are the same? 2. What are some benefits offered from this company that you should find more information about in order to fully understand a job offer from the company? Why? 3. Why don’t all companies just offer the same benefits? 2. Managing Employee Benefits: Strategic Benefits Planning at Makers Craft Makers Crafts is facing strong competition in the retail craft chain-store market. Easy Crafts, a new discount craft-store chain, is opening stores in many of Makers Crafts’ market areas. Makers Crafts has been a leader in the craft supply marketplace due to the company’s superior customer service provided by a well-trained and compensated retail staff that are experts in crafts. Customers have enjoyed the opportunity to gain advice and ideas from the company’s talented workers over the years, and customers are loyal to the committed staff. However, the new discount chain is drawing away customers by recruiting the experienced staff from Makers Crafts. Adding experienced staff to the lower prices at Easy Crafts is quickly drawing business away from Makers Crafts, and company executives are concerned. The sudden employee attrition at Makers Crafts is a top priority for new Director of Human Resources Latonya Thomas. Her initial evaluation of the situation suggests that the company needs to examine its benefit offerings. Makers Crafts has done well at recruiting and training staff; however, little attention has been paid to the company benefits offerings to complement the competitive employee pay. While the company pays its employees above market-average wages, it has slowly changed benefits offerings in response to cost concerns. In the last five years, employee contributions to health-care premiums have increased, and the company has scaled back its contribution to the employee retirement plan. While these changes have helped the company control benefit costs, the changes have led to frustration by the employees. Easy Crafts has capitalized on employee dissatisfaction at Makers Crafts by offering a generous benefits package to draw away workers. The frustrated employees that have moved to Easy Crafts have accepted minor pay cuts in exchange for benefits that better meet their needs. For example, many of the company workers are older, and their concerns about retirement benefits in particular are more pronounced as they know retirement is not far away. Part of Easy Crafts’ strategic planning process to grow its market share included determining the types of benefits that would be attractive to these workers. Thus, Easy Crafts offers a retirement plan that provides more significant contributions by the company than Makers Crafts’ plan provides. Given the successful recruitment of so many Makers Crafts workers, it seems that Easy Crafts’ planning was effective. Latonya knows that the company needs to make some changes to its benefits plan. However, she also knows that it is important to not make any hasty decisions in response to this challenge. Latonya needs to begin collecting information in order to start the planning needed to determine appropriate changes to Makers Crafts’ benefits plan. 1. What kind of strategic planning approach is Latonya taking for Makers Crafts? Is this an effective approach? 2. What kind of information does Latonya need for the strategic benefits planning process for Makers Crafts?