Current Events at Wal-Mart Inc.
CurrentEvents at Wal-Mart Inc.
CurrentEvents at Wal-Mart Inc.
Wal-Mart is an American multinational company operating a chain ofhypermarkets, grocery stores, and discount departments. The companyhit headlines for failure to pay adequate wages, commensurate withthe nature of work employees are expected to undertake. Theinability to adequately pay the employees affects employee motivationand satisfaction (Medina, 2012). Despite the profitable nature ofthe business, the input of employees has not been appreciated as mostof them go home with meager payment. It is unfortunate that themultinational corporation continues to make profits while workers areunderpaid. Wal-Mart’s decision to underpay the workers has resultedin employee turnout (Collings, 2014). Consequently, as the humanresource manager, I have received complaints of underpayment.
Statement of the Problem in Relation to Concepts
Organizations have the mandate to ensure that they adequatelycompensate employees for the work they do. However, some companieshave chosen to neglect the noble responsibility by focusing on makingprofits at the expense of hardworking employees. Different firms havebeen implicated in cases of underpayment leading to numerouscomplaints. Corporations need to adhere to the established structuresenacted by various labor organizations including the InternationalLabor Organization that stipulates how compensation should be done(Kerrissey, 2015). This must be done in accordance with existingframeworks while taking into consideration factors such asexperience, educational level and the input to the organization. Thecompany in question has failed to adhere to the guidelines requiringfirms to pay their employees fairly in recognition with the inputbrought to the organization.
The company has disregarded the need to provide adequate compensationfor employees at the workplace. The issue falls under theindividualistic theory as the firm has focused on making profits foritself while their staff receives minimum wages. The situation is aproblem at my workplace since workers may not be able to meet theirdaily expenses despite the efforts they have subjected to thecompany. The increase in economic challenges negates the need to havean organization that adequately pays its employees. Workers who areunderpaid tend to be less motivated when they are executing theirmandate (Scheers & Botha, 2014). Lack of motivation and jobsatisfaction can equally result in the sabotage of operations in theorganization as workers portray signs of rebellion. I will addressthe issue of minimum pay at the company by introducing proper paymentsystems that will ensure that workers at the company get compensatedfor the work they do. The introduction of strategies on remunerationfollowed by their implementation will be instrumental in addressingthe issue of minimum wage. As the human resource manager, I willoversee the process of implementation of strategies needed to solvethe issue of minimum wage for employees.
Identification and Evaluation of Alternatives
Alternative I
The first approach entails increasing the benefits of employees atthe organization to shelve them off other responsibilities. Forexample, the company can introduce a strategy where employees canaccess opportunities such as allowances based on the nature of workthey are doing. Further, those working for extra hours must equallybe compensated.
Advantages
The benefits package will help in attracting highly skilled employees to the organization especially if it offers incentives such as good health insurance.
Employees would be willing to accept the benefits in lieu of higher salaries, and this can help save the business.
Provision of benefits will reduce cases of absenteeism as employees are focused on the job responsibility that they have rather than looking for the same in other organizations (Kim & Philips, 2014).
Disadvantages
It could be costly for the organization to offer benefits for many employees in terms of high administrative costs.
The cost of such benefits continues to increase as reflected in the case of health insurance which many firms are struggling to provide.
It could establish a ground for legal compliance, and this can be costly to the organization in the event that there are lawsuits.
Alternative II
The second approach could entail engaging with the employees directlythrough their union leaders to reach a consensus on the mostappropriate remuneration based on their compensation. This isessential since it will focus on the creation of a good rapportbetween the human resource management and the workers. As the humanresource manager, it would be essential to establish a frameworkthrough which engagement with the employees can be done.
Advantages
This will promote cooperation between the management and employees through negotiations leading to uninterrupted working activities in the firm.
It will help in establishing a method that can be used to address the problem of the minimum wage since input from both parties, both the management and employees will have to be incorporated.
Disadvantages
The failure to reach talks could result in possible industrial action as employees loyal to the union will insist on having the management meet their demands.
It could result in workplace conflicts especially if there are divisions among the employees regarding the unity to demand an increase in minimum wages.
AlternativeIII
Introduce incentives that focus on rewarding best performingemployees in the organization. The decision to increase remunerationis aimed at motivating the employees further and getting them toappreciate the job that they are doing. The introduction of rewardsfor best-performing employees could be the best alternative ofcompensating employees for work done (Albright & Burgess,2013).
Advantages
It is likely to encourage commitment from employees regarding their job activities since they will be rewarded.
It will improve job satisfaction among employees eliminating the problem of employee turnout(Abdullah & Wan, 2013).
Disadvantages
Employees will only be motivated to work in the event that there is a reward, the removal of the incentive will decrease their performance.
It could result in unhealthy competition among employees as every employee strives to get the attention of the management for remuneration.
Solution
Overall, remuneration continues to be an issue of fundamentalsignificance in any organization. Organizations need to acknowledgethat aside from making profits, it is critical to creating anenvironment that is conducive and motivates employees into executiontheir activities (Jurburg, Viles, Tanco, & Mateo, 2016). Iunderstand that employee motivation and job satisfaction aresignificantly essential for any organization aiming at achieving itsobjectives. Motivation and job satisfaction can be achieved byensuring that the employees are well-paid (Masvaure, Ruggunan, &Maharaj, 2014). As the manager in charge, I will lead in theformulation of a strategy that will be instrumental in achievingappropriate remuneration for all employees.
References
Abdullah, A. A., & Wan, H. L. (2013). Relationships ofNon-Monetary Incentives, Job satisfaction and Employee JobPerformance. International Review of Management and BusinessResearch, 2(4), 1085–1091.http://doi.org/10.1111/issr.12066
Albright, T. L., & Burgess, C. M. (2013). Best practices ofhigh-performing employees: Rewards and performance in a balancedscorecard environment. The Journal of Corporate Accounting &Finance, 20, 59–66. http://doi.org/10.1002/jcaf
Collings, D. G. (2014). Toward mature talent management: Beyondshareholder value. Human Resource Development Quarterly,25(3), 301-319.
Jurburg, D., Viles, E., Tanco, M., & Mateo, R. (2016). Whatmotivates employees to participate in continuous improvementactivities? Total Quality Management & Business Excellence,3363(March), 1–20.http://doi.org/10.1080/14783363.2016.1150170
Kerrissey, J. (2015). Collective Labor Rights and Income Inequality.American Sociological Review, 80(3), 626–653.http://doi.org/10.1177/0003122415583649
Kim, J., & Philips, P. (2014). Remuneration and absenteeism on alarge construction site. Construction Management & Economics,32(10), 983–999. http://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2014.944550
Masvaure, P., Ruggunan, S., & Maharaj, A. (2014). WorkEngagement, Intrinsic Motivation and Job Satisfaction among Employeesof a Diamond Mining Company in Zimbabwe. Journal of Economics andBehavioral Studies, 6(6), 488–499.
Medina, E. (2012). Job Satisfaction and Employee Turnover Intention :What does Organizational Culture Have To Do With It ? ColumbiaUniversity, 1–44.
Scheers, L. van, & Botha, J. (2014). Analysing relationshipbetween employee job satisfaction and motivation. Journal ofBusiness & Retail Management Research, 9(1), 98–109.Retrieved fromhttp://proxy.devry.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=url,cookie,ip,uid&db=bth&AN=99401817&site=eds-live%5Cnhttp://content.ebscohost.com.proxy.devry.edu/ContentServer.asp?T=P&P=AN&K=99401817&S=R&D=bth&EbscoContent=dG
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