About Compensation and Benefit Packages

Various research studies indicate that human resource management (HRM) has always been crucial. Every firm wants to recruit, keep, and inspire employees to achieve the predetermined goals and objectives. The majority of businesses now view people as their most valuable asset, so managing them effectively and efficiently is essential (Gomez-Mejia, Berrone & Franco-Santos, 2014). The main strategy the company use to recruit, inspire, and keep employees by offering benefits and compensation. Compensations can be thought of as the employer's endorsement of the work performed by employees in a company. Compensation involves all types of pay going to workers and originating from their employment. On the other hand, most of the employees are not willing to only work for the cash; they expect 'extra.' The extras are known as worker benefits. The employee benefits refer to optional, non-wage compensations offered to workers on top of their normal salaries. The benefits may include disability income protection, group insurance, daycare services, retirement benefits, tuition reimbursements among others. Additionally it is worth noting that the benefits are not performance-based; instead, they are membership-based. This means that employees receive the benefits without considering their performance. The benefits have no direct affect on the performance of employees; however, research has indicated that inadequate benefits contribute to low satisfaction levels as well as increase in absenteeism



Advantages of benefits and compensations
An effective benefit and compensation plan helps organizations when it comes to attracting, retaining and motivating different talents within the organization. The advantages of such a plan include the following:
Work satisfaction: the employees are always happy in their jobs and enjoys working for the organization when they are given fair rewards in exchange for their services
Low absenteeism: this is so because the employees enjoy the office environment and are always happy with their salaries as they always get what they want and need.
Motivation: every organization understands that different employees have different kinds of needs. Some of them want money, and that is why they will always work for the organization which offers them a higher pay. Others value achievement more than cash and will associate with organizations offering greater promotion chances (Moore, & Viscusi, 2014).A compensation and benefits plan on the employee's needs will motivate them to act in the desired way.
Lastly, an effective compensation and benefit plan leads to low turnover: no employee desires to work for another organization when provided with fair rewards which they believe they deserve.
Types of benefits and compensations
The research paper will deal with three types of compensation:
Base compensation
Variable compensation as well as
Supplementary compensations
Basic compensations and benefits involve basic salaries and wages within the organizations. They are always constant at a given amount despite the difference in work performance.
When it comes to variable compensations, the employees are compensated as per the work done. This means that if a certain employee does a remarkable work, he or she will get a higher compensation than the one whose work is poor.
Supplementary compensations are given by employers when they wish to. It is not compulsory, and the employee has the right to deduct, add or withdraw the benefits.
The research paper will also focus on how the compensation and benefits programs in different organizations compare with the industry norm. On this sector, the paper will seek to answer the question of whether or not the companies are doing what the industry expects them to do when it comes to compensation and benefits programs (Moore, & Viscusi, 2014). Additionally, the research paper will discuss the areas that need some improvement when it comes to different compensation and benefits programs utilized by organizations.





Research work
Compensation and benefit programs offered by the organizations
Some of the compensation and benefits offered by FirelakeJobs include medical insurances, disability insurances as well as retirement plans. Additionally, the organization offers the employees' time off to vote in times of elections, paid holidays for the new year, Thanksgiving days and Christmas days and paid leaves. Moreover, the organization provides the workers with up to 12 weeks off to attend the adoption or the birth of a baby (Moore, & Viscusi, 2014).
The compensation and benefits programs offered by Choctaw Nation include a 401K retirement plan, health insurance plans as well as employee assistance programs. The major insurance benefit plans offered by this organization include accidental death and dismemberment, employee education assistance programs as well as short and long term disability services.
The Chickasaw Nation provides different benefits to the employees including short and long term family and catastrophic medical leave, paid leaves, supplemental vision, dental as well as life insurance plans, single and family medical and life insurances among others. Additionally, the organization provides employees with wellness centers like aerobics, youth programs, nutrition consultations and swimming (Inderbitzin, Staubli & Zweimüller, 2016).



Robust discretionary and flexible benefits
When it comes to the flexible benefits which allow employees to choose the benefits they need from different alternatives, the Chickasaw Nation and the Choctaw Nation organization are only one providing the benefits. The benefits are not provided by the FireLakeJobs organization. However, the organization's management has indicated that there are plans to have some transportation plans which will allow the workers to deposit money to pay for parking expenses and commuting expenses (Moore, & Viscusi, 2014). The commuting expenses will include tokens, passes as well as vouchers purchased for travel on buses or trains.
The major flexible benefits offered by the two companies include the health insurance, the 401 K contributions as well as some flexible spending accounts which can be used by the employees to pay medical, dependent care and other costs.
Chickasaw Nation, unlike the other organizations, offers cafeteria benefit plans which provide the employees a choice to either receive nontaxable benefits, cash or other taxable benefits. Through the benefit plan, the organization provides benefits such as disability and dental coverage, health and life insurance, day and elder care as well as the 401 K plan (Mone & London, 2014).
Choctaw Nation provides flexible spending accounts where employees deposit money which they can later use for dependent care, health care, and other qualified expenses. The organization maintains the three spending flexible accounts: premium-only, medical and dependent care. Through the premium-only plan, the employees can deposit money for life insurance and medical premiums. The flexible medical account allows the workers to deposit funds meant for health costs which are not covered by the health insurance. Lastly, the dependent care flexible account involves savings for day care and other expenses.
Discretionary benefits refer to the additional health and non-health related support for the employees. All the three organizations offer both health and non-health related discretionary benefits which include vision care for adults, funeral and burials, prosthetic appliances and dental care for adults (Inderbitzin, Staubli & Zweimüller, 2016).The non-health related benefits include travel and transportation not related to health purposes, vocational training and retaining as well as different special payments or services authorized by the managers.
How the compensation and benefits packages compare to the industry norm
The compensation and benefits packages provided by the three organizations compare to the industry norms in some ways. According to different research works, organizations are supposed to offer benefits and compensations depending on the budget available, what the workers value most and the size of the organization. For instance, most of the government and large firms will always provide comprehensive compensation packages while the small business starts with few elements and then builds on them as business allows (Mone & London, 2014).
The three organizations have adhered to the legal requirements as well as the norms of the industry which maintain that every employer has to offer social security benefits and employee compensation insurance. The United States Social Security Act 0f 1935 maintains that every employer has to offer monthly benefits to the retired employees who have attained the age of sixty-two years, disabled employees, and their eligible dependents and spouses (Gomez-Mejia, Berrone & Franco-Santos, 2014).In most cases, the social security is funded by employee's contributions and matched by the employers, calculated as the percentage of the employee's earnings. The organizations also provide medical care insurance benefits as indicated by the Act to anyone who is entitled to the retirement benefits.
It is also the industry norm for every employer to provide worker compensation insurance. The organizations have well-defined worker compensation insurance programs to compensate the employees who get hurt or become sick because of job-related reasons (Milkovich, Newman, & Milkovich, 2002). This means that when employees suffer work-related illnesses or injuries, the organizations through the insurance systems offer compensation for any medical expenses as well as lost wages resulting from the time of injury.
Areas that need to be improved
However, there are some areas that need improvement in the three organizations. To start with none of them offers unemployment insurances. The unemployment compensation programs are designed to offer income to any unemployed person who loses his or her job through no fault of their own. Any eligible worker is supposed to receive weekly stipends for twenty-six weeks. The amount of the stipend depends on the salary the employee was received during the previous year.
Additionally, as growing organizations, there is a need to develop improved compensation strategies to attract the best candidates who can innovate and to lead the organizations in the industry. This means that the organizations need to ensure that their compensation plans are offering more than just the competitive salary (Milkovich, Newman, & Milkovich, 2002).The major method of ensuring this is introducing additional compensations in form of added financial benefits as well as non-monetary incentives. Moreover, the organizations can introduce industrial, educational support which according to different research work elevates the work produced. Providing the employees with the resources and tools required to achieve industry certifications and degrees offers meaningful career incentives that are recognized by all. This will help the organizations to create a loyal employee population.
Recommendation
The employees will receive the following benefits and insurance packages. The employers provide comprehensive employee benefits
Dental insurance
Health insurance
Vision insurance
Life insurance
Retirement benefits and accounts
Childcare benefits
Wellness programs
Long term and short term disability insurance
Commuting assistance
Gym membership
Tuition reimbursement
The disability insurance will be replacing the income lost when an employee is unable to perform their duties following an injury or illness. The short-term disability insurance mainly starts after the accident or illness while the long-term disability provides benefits to the employee after a permanent illness or injury leaves the employee unable to perform his or her job
The employees will also receive different types of compensations like the hourly wage which will be calculated on an hourly basis and requires overtime payment for work more than 40 hours weekly. They will also receive wellness benefits which will include employer-funded allowances for different services selected by the employees.
The program will also include some mandated benefit programs which are required by the law. They include state or federal sponsored programs that offer the essential needs to the employees and their families. They include social security, workers compensation, and employment insurance. Moreover, the employees will receive paid vacation and holiday time spent with families and friends.
Conclusion
The new approach will benefit employees in different ways. To start with the employees will be able to see the importance of their health matters and will also be able to access effective medical care in case of a disease or an injury. The employees will also benefit from job satisfaction and motivation. The employees will be highly motivated to help their company succeed which means that they will be sharpening their skills through the experience they will be having. When companies succeed, they will provide employees with bonuses among other incentives which improve the lives of employees. Additionally, the employees will benefit from training in different fields. This means that the employees will be efficient and knowledgeable following the training offered by the company. Those with the required knowledge will have job promotions and increase in salaries which will, in turn, improve their daily lives.
The approach will also ensure that every hardworking employee is rewarded fairly and in the most cost effective way for the organization. This motivates the employees to sustain their performance. The new approach will lead to a win-win situation in the organizations as it will promote improved work habits and reduce the employee turnover thus being advantageous to the organizations. On the other hand, following the organization's engagement and concern, the employees will have a sense of security, and they will be encouraged to stay on the job even during the tough times.










Reference
Gomez-Mejia, L. R., Berrone, P., & Franco-Santos, M. (2014). Compensation and organizational performance: Theory, research, and practice. Routledge.
Inderbitzin, L., Staubli, S., & Zweimüller, J. (2016). Extended unemployment benefits and early retirement: Program complementarity and program substitution. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 8(1), 253-288.
Moore, M. J., & Viscusi, W. K. (2014). Compensation mechanisms for job risks: wages, Workers' Compensation, and product liability. Princeton University Press.
Milkovich, G. T., Newman, J. M., & Milkovich, C. (2002). Compensation (Vol. 8). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Mone, E. M., & London, M. (2014). Employee engagement through effective performance management: A practical guide for managers. Routledge.