Introduction
It is impossible to underestimate the importance of strategic compensation plans for present-day companies’ sustainable development. In the case of Starbucks, it covers all aspects related to employee satisfaction and the desire to keep their job. Indeed, monetary awards do not define the presence of the above-mentioned intentions in workers (Ramaprasad et al., 2017). However, to successfully implement such a plan, it is vital to use specific methods of evaluation of its effectiveness. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to present the information on common HR practices and their application to Starbucks’ compensation plan. For this, it includes sections focused on research methods that companies’ managers use for their initiatives’ assessments, suggestions on plans’ management in the case of their inefficiency, and recommendations for Starbucks.
HR Research Methods for Evaluation
The successful implementation of compensation plans by a company is conditional upon timely evaluations allowing HR managers to track the progress and eliminate inefficiencies. This task is usually addressed by a variety of methods providing a clear picture of the plan’s outcome at specific stages. One of the most beneficial approaches in terms of assessing companies’ initiatives is a multi-level method oriented towards the interaction of moderators and mediators (Ramaprasad et al., 2017). In the case of compensation plans, mediators will be the factors that influence employee satisfaction, and moderators will present the additional variables that change the plan’s outcome once included.
Another research instrument allowing companies to assess the overall efficiency of their compensation plans is a mixed-method approach. Its use adds to the objectivity of the assessment through the inclusion of both quantitative and qualitative data (Ramaprasad et al., 2017). This method would be beneficial for evaluating the efficiency and revealing issues since it complements the general outcome of the compensation plan by the inclusion of the correlation between employee satisfaction and financial performance (Ramaprasad et al., 2017). Even though companies’ focus is not on monetary rewards but psychological factors, the use of the mixed-method approach will allow managers to see a clear picture of the plan’s efficiency in all aspects.
Suggestions on the Compensation Program Management
The proper management of compensation programs in present-day companies implies the consideration of their further development, which might result in the emergence of problems regarding their employees’ satisfaction. To eliminate such a threat, managers’ actions should be focused on the establishment of a strategic compensation plan rather than a short-term initiative until the achievement of specific results (Larkin, 2019). In this way, it would be possible not only to ensure the positive outcome of their policies but also to manage the plans that happened to be inefficient by the results of previous evaluations in the long run.
Another method allowing to eliminate the issues resulting from the implementation of a compensation plan is the establishment of a proper balance between monetary awards and the provision of necessary benefits of a non-monetary nature. This aspect is one of the most complicated when it comes to employee compensation since both types are equally important for workers (Larkin, 2019). From this perspective, an ineffective program will be focused solely on short-term effects. Hence, the combination of a long-term strategy as a basis of a company’s compensation plan with the balance between different types of awards will be the best suitable option when dealing with inefficiency.
Recommendations for Measuring the Program’s Effectiveness
In the case of the compensation plan proposed for Starbucks, the measurement of its efficiency can be made with the use of the methods mentioned above. In this situation, the multi-level approach will be beneficial for defining the influence of such factors as the loyalty of employees and their satisfaction. The qualitative data received as a result of such evaluation will be complemented by quantitative data representing the numbers of new workers since the introduction of the compensation plan as compared to the previous corresponding indicators. Moreover, the assessment will allow revealing existing issues in the plan implementation and subsequently eliminating them.
The way to deal with inefficiencies related to the change in the company’s compensation scheme can also be based on the experience of other companies. Since the key to success in terms of increasing employee satisfaction and loyalty is the creation of a strategy, it would be reasonable to consider this factor in the case of problems (Larkin, 2019). Therefore, the management of the proposed Starbucks compensation plan should include a long-term perspective supported by the balance between the specified goals and monetary awards.
Conclusion
To sum up, the success of Starbucks’ initiative intended to increase employee satisfaction, their loyalty to the company, and attract new workers depends on the correspondence of their actions to theoretical models. Thus, the use of multi-level and mixed-method approaches will allow managers to assess the overall efficiency of the compensation plan while ensuring the balance between different types of provided benefits. The inclusion of a specific long-term strategy, in turn, will contribute to the company’s future sustainable development. In this way, the designed compensation plan will be beneficial for both employers and employees.
References
Larkin, I. (2019). Strategic compensation: A critique and research agenda. In Handbook of research on strategic human capital resources (pp. 403-424). Edward Elgar Publishing.
Ramaprasad, B. S., KP, N. P., Lakshminarayanan, S., & Pai, Y. P. (2017). Human resource management practices and organizational commitment: Research methods, issues and future directions (2001-2016). Industrial and Commercial Training. Web.