MGT of Compensation Chapter 6

Interacting and presenting

-def: Communicates and networks effectively and persuades and influences others successfully

Leading and deciding

-def: Initiates action, provides direction, and assumes responsibility -Need for power and control and extroversion

Which of the following is a likely outcome of skill-based plans?

Increased labor costs

Skills

Display of expertise

Core competencies are unique for each company.

FALSE (but the way core competencies are applied differs)

Organization-specific characteristics

Functional expertise, customer orientation, and leadership

Transactional work

routine work

Skill plans focusing on depth

Specialists in corporate law, finance, or welding and hydraulic maintenance

Identify a disadvantage of skill-based pay structures.

These structures can lead to increased labor costs in a firm with labor-intensive products.

Which of the following are true of competency-based internal structures?

They apply more loosely to work that requires tacit knowledge than do other structures. They focus on optimum performance.

Person-based structure pay increases

Via the gain of more-valued skills or competencies

Tacit work

complex work

The validity of job evaluation can be measured using ____ ____ —the degree to which the job evaluation plan matches an agreed-upon pay structure for benchmark jobs.

hit rates

Core competencies for a company develop as a result of a company's ____

mission statement

Job-based structure limitations

potential inflexibility

Job-based structures

Research studies assess the structures' reliability, validity, costs, and compliance with laws and regulations.

Which of the following makes competencies a "risky foundation for a pay system"?

Subjectivity

Identify a difference between transactional work and tacit work.

Transactional work generates lower revenues than tacit work.

____ refers to the degree to which an evaluation assesses what it is supposed to—the relative worth of jobs to the organization.

Validity

Job-based structure pay increases

Via promotions to positions involving more responsible work

____ ____ are the underlying, broadly applicable knowledge, skills, and behaviors that form the foundation for success at any level or job in an organization.

core competencies

Employees in a(n) _____ _____ earn pay increases by acquiring new knowledge, but the knowledge is specific to a range of related jobs.

multiskill system

The main advantage of competencies is ____

the direct association with an organization's strategy

Pay is based on _____ in both specialist and generalist skill plans.

the employees' knowledge

Identify an advantage of a skill-based pay structure.

Employees can be deployed in a way that better aligns with the flow of work.

Identify the recommendations for minimizing bias in job evaluation plans.

Ensure that factor weights are not consistently biased against jobs held mostly by women Apply the plans in as bias-free a manner as possible Define scales and compensable factors to include the content of jobs held mostly by women

Raymond is a trainee engineer at an automobile manufacturing company. He constantly seeks opportunities for career advancement and performs best when the work is closely tied to results. Identify the competency domain of the Great Eight competencies that best fits Raymond's characteristics.

Enterprising and performing

Which of the following methods can be used to heighten employee acceptability of internal pay structures?

Establishing a formal appeals process

Most firms allow all employees to request a reanalysis of their job and/or a skills reevaluation.

FALSE (most allow managers, but few extend to all employees unless part of a union-negotiated grievance process)

Evidence from various studies supports the proposition that job evaluation is susceptible to gender bias.

FALSE (no evidence)

Competency indicators

They identify the degree of competency required at every level of complexity of the work.

____ ____ is a systematic process of identifying and collecting information about skills required to perform work in an organization.

skill analysis

Sheila applies for the post of sales manager at HydeFoods Inc. The interviewers find her to be emotionally stable, adaptable, and capable of dealing with setbacks. Identify the competency domain title of the Great Eight competencies that best describes Sheila's characteristics.

Adapting and coping

Identify the recent changes in employee skill certification procedures that are replacing traditional certification methods.

Fixed review points Ongoing recertification

Knowledge

Gathered information

Self-concepts

Self-image, attitudes, values

In the context of developing an internal pay structure, employee involvement is almost built into skill-based plans.

TRUE

Core competencies

They help articulate an organization's philosophy, values, business strategies, and plans.

Identify a similarity between job-, skill-, and competency-based plans.

They run the risk of potential bureaucracy.

Person-based structure limitations

requires cost controls

As opposed to managers whose employers use job-based plans, managers following person-based plans focus on ____

trying to control costs via training and certification

Competency-based structure advantage

It provides opportunities for continuous learning and lateral movement.

What is the final outcome of a person-based plan?

An internal structure of work in the company

Skill-based structures pay employees only for the skills they use while performing the work assigned to them.

FALSE (pay for all skills workers have been certified)

Traits

General disposition to behave in a particular way

Person-based structures

Research studies usually focus on the structures' effects on behaviors and organization objectives.

Identify the advantages of skill-based pay structures.

They help to match people to a changing work flow. They can cause substantial reductions in labor costs by reducing the need for supervisors.

Supporting and cooperating

-def: Puts people first, works effectively with individuals and teams, clients, and staff -Agreeableness

Arrange the steps involved in the determination of an internal skill-based structure in the order of their occurrence.

1. Analysis of skills 2. Grouping of skills into skill blocks 3. Certification of skills 4. Building of internal structure

Arrange the steps involved in the determination of a competency-based internal structure in the order of their occurrence.

1. Identification of core competencies 2. Identification of competency sets 3. Identification of behavioral descriptors

____ ____ are the observable behaviors that indicate the level of competency within each competency set.

Competency indicators

With growing experience, organizations seem to be focusing increasingly on self-concepts, traits, and motives to define competencies.

FALSE (As experience with competencies has grown, organizations seem to be moving away from the vagueness of self-concepts, traits, and motives. Instead, they are placing greater emphasis on business-related descriptions of behaviors "that excellent performers exhibit much more consistently than average performers.")

Skill plans focusing on breadth

Generalists who know about every phase of operation including marketing, manufacturing, finance, and human resources

Personal Characteristics

Integrity, flexibility, maturity of judgment, and respect for others

Why are skill-based plans usually well accepted by employees?

It is easy to see the link between the plan, the work, and the compensation received.

Job-based structure advantages

It provides a sense of progress and underlines clear expectations.

Skill-based structure advantages

It provides flexibility and requires a reduced work force.

Which of the following is a reliable job evaluation?

One where different evaluators provide the same results

Identify a disadvantage of competency-based internal structures.

Pay differences are justified on the basis of inferred personal competencies.

Which of the following is true of a multiskill pay system?

Pay increases follow the certification of new skills.

Visionary characteristics

Possessing a global perspective and taking the initiative in moving the organization in new directions

Motives

Recurrent thoughts that influence behaviors

Newer skill-based applications appear to be moving toward scheduling fixed review points in the year because scheduling makes it easier to budget and control payroll increases.

TRUE

One of the pitfalls of competency systems is trying to do too many things with ill-suited systems.

TRUE

Managers must ensure that the work structure introduced following the establishment of a person-based plan remains internally aligned by reassessing work, skills, and competencies when required.

TRUE (must reflect the organization's internal alignment policy)

Which of the following types of internal structures attempts to isolate the underlying, broadly applicable knowledge, skills, and behaviors that form the base for success at any level or job in the organization?

The competency-based structure

Which of the following can indirectly lead to bias in job evaluation?

The wages currently paid for jobs

Identify the true statements about the findings of most studies on the reliability of job evaluations.

There is high agreement when different evaluators rank-order jobs. There are practically important differences in salary when different evaluators assign job evaluation points.

Identify the true statements about skill-based plans.

They are especially suited for continuous-flow technologies where employees work in teams. They are supported by very specific information on every aspect of the work process.

Identify the true statements about the design of competency-based structures.

They have relatively wide differentials. They possess relatively few levels.

Competency sets

They translate each skill and behavior that is broadly applicable to the job into action.

Analyzing, interpreting, creating and conceptualizing

-def: Reaches the core of complex problems and issues and effectively applies own expertise -General mental ability and openness to new experience

Arrange the groups that can be used to classify competencies from the lowest to the highest level.

1. Personal characteristics 2. Organization-specific characteristics 3. Visionary characteristics

Which of the following is a major issue for both job-based and person-based plans?

The fairness of their administration

____-____ ____ link pay to the depth or breadth of the skills, abilities, and knowledge a person acquires that are relevant to the work he or she performs.

skill-based structures

In an organization, competencies are derived from ____

the executive leadership's views about the organization and its strategic purpose