Introduction
A compensation strategy can be defined as the organization’s approach towards compensating its workers in terms of pay and benefits. A strong compensation strategy is vital for any organization within any economic sector. It is key in retaining and attracting people with appropriate skills, talents, and competencies to ensure that the job is perfectly done. For a company to succeed and grow, the organization’s compensation strategy needs to reinforce the culture and codes (Gerhart, 2022). Compensation strategy is very vital to any organization irrespective of its size. An enticing compensation plan can help an organization attract top talents in the job market. It helps the company establish itself as the employer of choice within the job market.
A good compensation strategy is important in boosting the employees’ morale as it makes the employees feel valued and appreciated as the key contributors to the company’s success. Additionally, a good compensation plan can help the company increase productivity as friendly packages are vital in incentivizing employees to give their best. Finally, an effective compensation strategy is key in an organization as it helps the company retain its top talents. By offering a generous compensation package to the company employees, the organization can convince employees to stay. This paper aims to describe the compensation strategy used by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, whose role is to license and regulate activities that occur in the environment in the country.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was formed by President Richard Nixon in 1970 when the country had realized the seriousness of its environmental degradation through pollution. While forming the EPA, the government responded to the public’s concerns and other grassroots movements for the government to take action and do something about the level of pollution, which was rising (Crawford & Bronstone, 2022). Over a long time, the country experienced a challenge with the direct discharge of raw sewage in the water resources and the direct discharge of industrial and agricultural waste in the water resources. The accumulation of these toxic substances made the water unfit for drinking, swimming, and boating. Air pollution was also rising with continuous emission of air pollutants from vehicles and industries, which became detrimental, leading to the death of some people and hospitalization of others. On the other hand, the land resource was not left behind by the illegal dumping of toxic substances from industries and municipal wastes.
Under these environmental conditions, EPA was created, but it was not well crafted as it appears today. The executive order, which President Richard Nixon signed, led to the transfer of at least 15 roles from the existing organization to form an independent agency, now EPA. At the agency’s formation, the four major government agencies were involved. Various functions of the agency were transferred to it other government agencies. For instance, the Water Quality and Pesticide Label Review were transferred from Interior Department, the Atomic Energy Commission transferred its function Radiation Protection Standards to the newly formulated agency, and the Pesticide Registration functions were transferred from the Department of Agriculture.
EPA Compensation Strategy
The pay model is one of the compensation systems used by organizations to achieve their objectives. EPA, like other organizations, implements the use of the model in compensating its employees for the work they do. One of the key components of the pay model is fairness (Gerhart, 2022). It is the basis of a healthy work relationship among the employees. It dictates that the employees be given equal treatment that matches their role in the organization. EPA is a federal agency. Therefore, it subscribes to the rules and regulations set by the state Department of Labor in relation to the compensation of the employees. Through the Equal Pay Act, the Department of Labor protects employees against wage discrimination. This Act covers all forms of compensation and ensures equality in wages for employees who perform substantially equal jobs. EPA uses this Act as part of its strategy to ensure a healthy work environment for its employees.
Conformity is another vital component of a pay model used by EPA. Any compensation model used by any organization is subjected to rules and regulations which they are required to comply with by various government agencies mandated to carry out such function. When this regulation changes, the compensation model used by the organization has to change (Gerhart, 2022). The EPA is a government agency; thus, it is subject to its labor laws. For instance, EPA has to comply with the Equal Pay Act, which the Department of Labor enforces.
Additionally, EPA considers it employs contributions as part of its strategy to compensate them for the additional work they offer the agency. Employees’ contribution of component of the pay model refers to the importance of the worker performance concerning the remuneration model. If an employee immensely contributes to the organization, they may receive incentives and rewards based on what they have added to the organization. For superior performance, the organization does celebrate by offering them compensation in terms of incentives. The agency celebrates excellent work through various reward systems. The employee can be offered recognition as a reward by providing them with medals. The employee can be rewarded through job promotion, and the employee can be offered an additional salary and a special salary increase.
Job Position
As junior accountants at the organization, our role is very critical for the organization’s success. The junior accountants at EPA are required to assist in compiling the financial reports and statements for the organization to ensure that the organization complies with government regulations. The other roles that the junior finance officer or accountants plays at the organization are assisting the senior employees with the analyses of balance sheets, managing the general ledger accounts, updating the financial statements, maintaining the EPA’s account receivable account payable, and preparation of payroll. This role is a full-time role with some overtime hours calculated and compensated at the end of the fiscal year.
Performance Appraisal
Performance appraisal refers to the continuous evaluation of the employees’ performance based on their job description and overall contribution to the organization. It evaluates employees based on skills, performance, and growth. Private companies, government agencies, and institutes rely on performance evaluation to provide the employees with feedback about their performance and determine who deserves bonuses and pay increases and whose contract is to be terminated (Bayo-Moriones, Galdon-Sanchez & Martinez-de-Morentin, 2020). The human resource department has developed the performance appraisal to help the employee manage and meet the goals expected from them by the organization.
EPA, being a government agency, the employees’ performance is determined by the federal performance evaluation system. The United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) oversees the federal performance evaluation. The federal performance evaluation conducted by the OPM poses some similarities with the other performance assessments that exist in the other sectors of the economy. The OPM assesses how well an individual performs while carrying out their duties. This process checks whether the employee meets the agency’s expectations and if their skills are aligned with the job they have, and how an employee communicates and participates in a team.
Performance appraisal is usually conducted when the company targets to promote an employee, reward bonuses or if the organization targets to terminate an employment contract. The federal government, through the OPM, conducts the performance appraisal every year. The evaluation is conducted based on critical elements, which refer to the different assignments or responsibilities of an employee which they have as part of their regular work and are an integral part of the employees acceptably performing their duties. At the time of performance evaluation, each employee must have at least one critical element in their performance plan, which is not tied to team performance. The employee performance is then rated into the following categories, exceptional performance, superior performance, fully successful, minimally successful, and unsatisfactory.
Conclusion
From the project, it is clear that every organization needs a strong compensation strategy which is vital for the company’s success. Compensation strategy is key in retaining and attracting people with appropriate skills, talents, and competencies, leading to the successful execution of the projects. For a company to succeed and grow, the organization’s compensation strategy needs to reinforce the culture and codes. The compensation strategy is very vital to any organization irrespective of size. An organization with a better compensation strategy is capable of attracting top talents in the job market. It helps the company establish itself as the employer of choice within the job market.
One of the hindrances an employee can face is based on the performance evaluation is; the process can hinder an employee’s performance as a team since the evaluation system only considers individual contribution and lacks simultaneous group assessment. The process evaluates employees over a short period, and the performance of an individual usually improves over time. The year appraisal in terms of performance covers a minimal period; suppose the goal of the performance evaluation is to determine the employees’ potential and identify their performance pattern, then there is a need for a multiple-year evaluation.
References
Bayo-Moriones, A., Galdon-Sanchez, J. E., & Martinez-de-Morentin, S. (2020). Business strategy, performance appraisal and organizational results. Personnel Review.
Crawford, H., & Bronstone, A. (2022). Frontiers of freedom: US environmental leadership. In Rethinking Leadership for a Green World. Routledge, 92-119.
Gerhart, B. A. (2022) Compensation (14th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.