Full Performance Strategy Analysis

Astra Zeneca Salary Inequities 7

Astra Zeneca Salary Inequities

Pedro O. Beltran

HRM/531 – Human Capital Management

March 28, 2017

Professor Richard Dettling

Today’s highly competitive and global work environment demands that all companies have the ability to attract qualified applicants for their success. Additionally, they should be able to retain top talent and ensure that they keep highly motivated personnel by discouraging cases of pay inequities. Therefore, the question here is that; what can managers in the HR departments do to attract, retain and reward good performance? One strategy that successful organizations can employ involves incorporating appropriate kinds of organizational compensation plans (Anderson et al., 2016). For example, these compensation plans have to recognize and enhance good employee performance. In addition, it discourages pay inequities that are based on gender, race and nationality among other factors that do not contribute any significant effect in job performance.

What does fair and equitable pay mean? First, pay equity refers to a means of payment that eliminates gender and race in the wage system created by a company (Hegewisch & Hartmann, 2014). It is unfortunate that many females in a few organizations still face segregation in payments. For example, the scenario is in small number of jobs including clerical, nurses and service employees among others as seen companies like AstraZeneca. In the past, these jobs have been devalued specifically because of the gender and race of persons that perform them around the world. As a result, fair and equitable pay has become a big national movement following the move by twenty states such as Washington, DC to correct their payrolls from sex or race discrimination.

Therefore, after going through the given case study, the following article illustrates possible instances of less discrimination clarifications indicating reasons for female salespersons at AstraZeneca on average receiving less payment than male sales agents. Additionally, the article offers suitable measures that could be implemented to ensure that the problem of pay inequities granted according to gender is not repeated in the company. Finally, it recommends an appropriate compensation plan that AstraZeneca could execute and how well the team members will apply the lessons.

1. Question 11-13: Are there any discriminatory explanations possible for why our women sales reps on average earned less than men. If so, what are they?

It is unrealistic to rule that there are no any cases of discrimination concerning why women sales representatives on average earned less than males. First, there is a perception that men are often superior as compared to women and it is still upheld by certain companies in their pay systems (Anderson et al., 2016). For example, in the case of sales representatives, such organizations believe that males can strike tangible and valuable deals as compared to their women counterparts. As a result, they deserve higher pays than the pay offered to females. Secondly, women are believed to operate like nomads meaning that; they do not stay in a company for a long time due to several personal responsibilities that await them. As a result, the HR departments in certain companies offer good pay for men to enable them attract and retain useful talent in men.

1. Question 11-14: List three specific things we can do to ensure that a similar problem (inequitable pay based on gender) does not arise again.

There are particular effective measures which over a long period have been used by twenty states to remedy the problem of inequitable pay based on gender. Some of these measures that could be implemented include; first, introducing pay equity bills such as the Paycheck Fairness Act by the company. It provides the most effective solution to employees who suffer pay inequities despite performing equal tasks (Hegewisch & Hartmann, 2014). Secondly, the company needs to emphasize on external equity in the creation of their compensation system. It allows the organization to design compensation systems that are competitive in labor markets based on good performance. Lastly, a consideration to workers’ perception of equity and inequity is useful and should be ensured. For example, employees who feel that payments should be free from discrimination based on gender and race get encouraged and stay committed in supporting the company realize its preferred objectives.

1. Question 11-15: Compensation Plans worth Recommending

In the current labor market, in exchange for quality job performance and commitment demonstrated by workers, employers should offer rewards to compensate for the effort. It does not only compensate the effort but also motivates workers to increase the quality of their work. The provision of adequate compensations has a great chance of attracting high quality labor force and maintains the level of satisfaction of the current workers. Also, suitable compensations go along way retaining top talents and motivating them in the work environment. According to (Bryant & Allen, 2013), the most essential workplace feature that cannot be assumed involves the implementation of an effective compensation plan.

Therefore, the best compensation plan that is worth recommending involves practicing a fair and equitable compensation strategy. In line with (Teir & Zhang, 2016), observing a fair and equitable compensation plan constitutes the most crucial factor that contributes highly in the success of the organization. It argues that; setting high wages is not enough to lure and retain valuable talents without fair and equitable compensation plan put in place. It is major consideration that involves perfect reflection of the value of work achieved as opposed to focusing on either an individual’s race or gender.

There are different definitions that have been offered for a fair and equitable compensation plan among employees. The simplest definition has it that; compensation equity is when workers in a company feel they are being rewarded fairly based on proportionate quality of their results in the organization (Bryant & Allen, 2013). For the above compensation plan to work, certain factors have to be reviewed. For example, review of the compensation philosophy is necessary since it guides the creation of the compensation plan that develops an effective work culture among employees. As a result, there is a need for the company to ensure a regular philosophy that offers a good foundation for the company and workers.

How team members will use lessons learnt

There are two major lessons learned by the team members; first, they have learnt that fair and equitable pay eliminates any form of discrimination that focuses on gender and race. Secondly, they learn that an effective compensation plan is based on equity and fairness granted according to the quality of performance invested in the company. The team members will use these lessons as a basis as they work together with the organization to discuss the best way to implement fair and equitable compensation plan. For example, in any case they detect that the company offers them unfair pay then they may not deliver quality job as prescribed by the firm (Schober, 2011). They could also exit the company which can tarnish its good reputation in the market and jeopardize its performance.

Finally, a proper performance management as a way of measuring the quality of work and ensuring that the pay granted aligns with current market labor force needs to be implemented by each organization. It means that a proper compensation system for all workers which focuses on equity and fairness will help improve quality and the general productivity in the workplace. Therefore, it calls for a consultative talk between employees and the organization in creating an effective compensation plan that reflects fairly on their input and not based on either their gender or race.

References

Anderson, D., Bjarnadottir, M., Dezso, C. L., & Ross, D. G. (2016). On a Firm's Optimal Response to Pressure for Gender Pay Equity.

Bryant, P. C., & Allen, D. G. (2013). Compensation, benefits and employee turnover: HR strategies for retaining top talent. Compensation & Benefits Review, 45(3), 171-175.

Hegewisch, A., & Hartmann, H. (2014). Occupational segregation and the gender wage gap: A job half done.

Schober, C. (2011). Transfer of Human Resource Management Practices within US Multinational Companies (Doctoral dissertation, University de Fribourg).

Teir, R. A. A., & Zhang, R. Q. (2016). The current Practices of Human Resource Management in Higher Education institutions in Palestine. Journal of Human Resources, 4(1), 65-83.