SPHR Study Guide and Employee Motivation

The professional in a Human Resources exam andcontingent pay. Given the evidence on both sides of
the senior professional in human resource exam willthe debate, no blanket answer covers the advisability
assess the candidates experience and knowledge inof contingent pay. Given that its benefits are uncertain,
the field of HR. The questions presented on the exammost companies should consider relying more on non
will cover labor laws and regulations, employeefinancial motivators. However, if your company
compensation programs and employee riskdecides to provide contingent pay, ensure that the
management. You may be able to use yourstandards are fair and equitable, and that the system
experience from working to answer some of theallows people to influence their rewards by behaving
questions, but a lot of the questions will be complexdifferently or by developing new skills. The reward
and take United States labor history into account.always should have a close relationship to
Employee reward management and motivation is anachievement. Many of the criticisms of individual
often tested subject of the PHR and SPHRcontingent pay also apply to team pay. In fact, many
examinations. One of the goals of rewardorganizations have decided that the disadvantages of
management is motivation. Your company's rewardteam pay outweigh its merits.
system should include extrinsic and intrinsic rewards.Non financial Rewards One of the most important non
Extrinsic rewards help you recruit and keepfinancial rewards is the opportunity to learn. While a job
employees and may also help encourage additionalitself may be an important learning experience,
effort. But in the long term, non financial rewards suchorganizations also offer separate specialized training
as autonomy, the inherent satisfaction of the work andprograms that focus on skill development. Often, the
individual achievement, may be more important thanavailability of training is a major factor in an employee's
pay. Though it is not a financial reward, recognition candecision to stay with a job or to leave. Performance
be an important psychological award. Goals alsomanagement can enhance your relationships with your
motivate people. In fact, people clearly perform at aemployees, especially if managers use feedback and
higher level when they are attempting to reach stretchperformance reviews to clarify what they want. The
goals and when their managers provide feedback.most important issue in performance management is
Make your job evaluation schemes analytical,getting the backing of upper level executives and
appropriate, comprehensive, transparent andensuring that managers conduct the right kind of
nondiscriminatory (that is, they should meet thereviews at the right time.
standard of equal pay for equal work). Job evaluationEnsuring that managers have the performance
is distinct from role evaluation. A job is a discrete groupmanagement skills they need to make a review
of tasks, but a role includes both the behaviors and theprogram succeed requires a fairly substantial
results expected from the behaviors. Role analysis isinvestment in training. A reward system involves much
complex and difficult, and may rely heavily on opinionmore than simply paying what the market will bear.
and interpretation. Organizations establish payRewards have important psychological and
structures and grade structures to communicatemotivational dimensions that are not always intuitively
information about opportunities and compensationobvious. Moreover, certain groups (such as directors
based on their analysis of jobs and roles. In addition toand officers, or even expatriates) need specialized
formal pay structures, many organizations also offerreward treatment. Reward system administration will
contingent pay, which makes it clear to employeesoften be the purview of the human resources staff,
what the organization really values and will pay tobut actual decisions about who gets what rewards
attain. Many organizations consider contingent pay abelong increasingly, and rightly, to line managers. These
powerful motivator, but strong arguments exist againstcomplexities suggest that reward management needs
it.to be an organization-wide initiative, and that human
Critics target the questionable motivational effect ofresources staff members need to work closely with
contingent pay, the slippery definition of success andline managers to be sure that rewards align with the
the fact that individuals respond differently toorganization's strategy and values.