Assignment

1. Some organizations are disciplined in performing job analysis and maintaining up-to-date job descriptions while many are not. Why might this be true? If employed, is there a difference between what you and your employer think about the value of job analysis and job descriptions, and why? If not employed, explain the pros and cons of job analysis and job descriptions.

2. Please read the article on how to avoid being laid-off and share your views on the business appropriateness and fairness of the skills and behaviors recommended. What do theses skills and behaviors have to do with compensation?

de Bonvoisin, A., & Kilcullen, J. (2009, June). How Not to Get Laid Off. Bloomberg Businessweek.

3. Please read the article on common compensation complaints. If you are employed, what are some the most disturbing compensation issues in your organization? If not employed, based on what you've read and experienced which of these complaints would likely upset you the most and why?

Costello, J. (2009, June). Common Employee Compensation Questions and Complaints. Rapid Learning Institute

4. The effectiveness of any compensation system to attract, retain and align employee behavior and performance with the objectives of the enterprise is dependent upon management credibility. If you were advising a CEO on steps he or she could take to ensure confidence and trust in the compensation and benefit program what would you say? Provide specific examples from course and external resources for your suggestions to the CEO.

5. Please read the article on pay negotiations and share any experiences you may have had in seeking employment or asking for a raise. If you have had no such experiences, using the article please describe how you would prepare yourself to ask an employer for a pay raise

Zupek, R. (2008, July). 8 Salary-talk Traps to Avoid. Career Builder.

6. If you were the CEO of a company, what would you do to your compensation and benefits plan to make it effective in aligning employee behavior and performance with the needs of the enterprise? Additionally, please read the article in the "Readings and Resources" section above on performance evaluation and share your views - pro and con - on eliminating such reviews.

7. Do you agree that employees tend to undervalue or take their employee benefits for granted and why or why not? From your readings and your experience, how might an employer effectively increase the perceived value employees place on their employee benefits package?

8. Please read the articles on executive compensation and take a position on whether U.S. senior executives are overpaid or not, and briefly present your case. Provide examples from the course or external sources to support your position.

• O'Connell, P. (2010, March). Executive compensation and public outrage. Bloomberg Businessweek.
• Miller, S. (2013, July). Most CEO's are not overpaid, study suggests. Society of Human Resources Management.

9. Please watch the video on equal pay and share your views on whether we have an equal pay problem in the U.S. and why or why not? Have you or anyone close to you ever experienced gender pay inequality on the job? If yes, please explain.

http://www.bloomberg.com/video/president-obama-s-play-for-equal-pay-D5wWdmyoQC~x91yprYlYJg.html

10. How a company pays its employees speaks volumes about what's important to the company and how it values its human resources. Using resources from this class and your own experiences, explain what compensation can communicate and why "pay messages" matter?