This is a 2-part discussion board:

1. Select 1 of those topics and express it in relation to your broader understanding of strategic compensation.

2. Be sure to draw at least 1 connection to the current module/week's readings and support your assertions with at least 2 scholarly sources.

Here is the textbook:

Martocchio, J. (2015). Strategic Compensation: A Human Resource Management Approach. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, Inc. (textbook)

Performance Appraisal

This first topic I have selected to discuss is performance appraisals. Performance appraisals, also known as a performance review, performance evaluation, (career) development discussion, or employee appraisal; is a method by which the job performance of an employee is documented and evaluated. Employees are essentially rated with this system. Performance appraisals describes their behavior, how they compare with their fellow coworkers, and their individual work ethic. Performance appraisals are important because they can effectively and efficiently evaluate an employee's performance. As a future HR manager, I have to be able to determine the success or failure of an employee's future within the organization. I think that I will be more than qualified to conduct performance appraisals because I did something similar while I was in the Marine Corps. On every level, whether it be junior Marine, NCO, or SNCO; I had to conduct evaluations of the Marines who were subordinate to myself. My past knowledge and experience with this will be beneficial to my future civilian career when evaluating my employees.

Female labor force

The next topic I would like to learn more about is the female labor force. The female labor force consists of people who are born or identify as female and their employment. I am a female and I have been a member of the labor/workforce since I was fifteen years old. I turned thirty-five this year, so I have been working for over twenty years. This year has brought up the discussion of women in the workforce to the forefront because of Hillary Clinton's presidential run. I would like to learn about why people (mainly men) feel like women should be compensated less than their male counterparts and why they feel as though a woman cannot lead this country. It is important to talk about this topic because many of us (myself included) are raising little girls into women, and I think we should encourage both males and females to go after whatever job they want. I believe that your gender shouldn't be a factor in one's employment or job/career selection.

Retirement Plans/Programs

The third topic I would like to learn more about is retirement plans or programs. The most well-known type of retirement plan or program is the 401 K. The purpose of retirement plans or retirement programs is to provide income to individuals and their beneficiaries throughout their retirement. Retirement plans or programs are essentially savings accounts that employees arrange to have a set percentage of their paycheck or incentive pay in order to save money for when they retire. Once they have reached retirement, they are able to receive the money the put into this account. Retirement plans and programs are important because it gives employees a chance to save money and have money for life after they retire. As a future HR manger, retirement plans and programs would be very significant to my job. I will be responsible for ensuring that a plan is in place, and that the employees are aware of which option for retirement is best for them to invest in for their future.