Executive Summary
We recommend a single internal structure that includes all job families, and uses the
same job point evaluation plan to evaluate all positions. The single structure will allow
us to evaluate employees on an equal level and it will be easier for the employees to
follow. The job point evaluation consists of a grand total one thousand points with 25%
weighted towards Education, 20% weighted towards Experience, Technical, and
Creativity/Innovativeness, and lastly 15% weighted towards Skills & Abilities.
Internal Strategy
The recommended internal alignment for FastCat would be to have a single structure
based on compensable factors relevant to their success. Each factor has different levels
based on the requirements needed for the factor. For example, there are only three levels
for creativity, while there are five levels for experience (Refer to Exhibit 1 in the Job
Manual). This allows FastCat to cover the entire company with the factors chosen, yet
still be specific enough for the individual jobs. This design will help FastCat direct
employee goals towards company goals, and still be fair to the employees. It also will
help FastCat be more cost-effective, in that the jobs will be thoroughly evaluated based
on the levels they receive for each factor. There are five factors chosen to be the most
important for FastCat they are: Education, Experience, Technical, Creative/Innovative,
and Skills & Abilities. The first factor, Education, was chosen because of FastCat’s need
for highly educated people. The software that FastCat designs calls for specific
knowledge that a degree can provide. Experience was chosen because of its importance
to FastCat. Almost every job at FastCat requires at least some experience in that certain
area; therefore experience was deemed extremely important for FastCat. Technical
ability refers to the amount of impact an error would make for FastCat. For example, an
Administrative Assistant miss-spelling something will not have a huge impact on
FastCat’s business, however, a Technical Marketing Consultant going after the wrong
segment will have a profound impact on FastCat. The Creative/Innovative factor for
FastCat is also extremely important. The mission statement for FastCat even states that
“We must produce innovative, high-quality solutions.” Last, Skills & Abilities was
chosen because of the range that the factor could cover, as well as the fact that we can
select the most important items relative to FastCat. This internal alignment will allow
FastCat to strictly define some factors, while leaving other factors more loosely defined,
in order to support employee development. This system will also be extremely simple for
employees to follow, and to see the way that the system has been set up, in order to
ensure fairness. The structure will also be similarly easy to administer, as well as to
communicate to employees. It will be easy to administer because the jobs are already
evaluated, and will not change anytime in the near future. Another reason why it will not
be difficult to administer is because employees will be able to see the differences in pay,
and why they are the way they are. The recommended way of communicating this plan
to employees is by giving each employee a copy, and then holding several small meetings
in which employees can ask questions about the new structure.
Rationale for Recommendations
The recommendations we proposed for FastCat will benefit the company for its future
success, and will help the company regain its competitive edge, while also achieving its
compensation objectives. The first recommendation is for FastCat to use a single internal
structure. Since the company is currently undergoing some restructuring, this system will
be easy to help reorganize those departments, and it provides for a much less bureaucratic
working environment. Also, a single internal structure will allow for better management
because rather than having the manager’s focus on trying to organize and understand two
or more structures; they can simply focus on one. Second, we recommend that FastCat
use a job point evaluation system. By using this point system the company can clearly
state what they feel are important skills, and can place a numeric value to them. This
way the most qualified employees are easily identified, and the employees can be
correctly compensated for their work. This system will also help direct employees
towards FastCat’s objectives. Lastly, we recommend that Fast Cat include five
compensable factors that will help the company get back in all consumers’ evoked set.
The five compensable factors we recommend would be Education, Experience, Technical
(error), Creative/Innovative, and Skills & Abilities. To help Fast Cat in its future success
they are going to need highly educated people who have the experience in the market, but
make little technical errors in doing their job. Also, they will need people who are
creative/innovative to help create new products, but these people must also posses the
skills and abilities necessary to complete their job. This system will also help direct
employees towards FastCat’s objectives. By placing emphasis on creativity and technical
ability, FastCat can direct employee behavior towards their objectives. Overall, these
recommendations will help Fast Cat achieve their compensation objectives, because the
single internal structure is easy to understand and organize, the job point evaluation and
compensable factors will help to select the correct amount of compensation for each
job. However, while there are many benefits to these recommendations there are some
risks associated with them. Listed below you will find some of the risks, and potential
solutions for the risks, associated with the proposal for FastCat.
Risk 1: Since it is recommend that FastCat use a single internal structure some
employees may feel they will not be recognized for achieving certain goals.
Potential Solution 1: FastCat can have some other ways of recognizing employee’s
when they achieve goals. For example, FastCat having Employee of the Month,
Profit Sharing, Gain Sharing, or just recognition for employees by management or the
President of FastCat.
Risk 2: Managers and/or employees may feel that it is not fair to place them on the
same level as non-managerial or managerial employee.
Potential Solution 2: Explain to employees how the point system works, and why
they are on the same level. Especially emphasize the Skills & Abilities Level 2 and
above Ranks, where managerial skills are listed. This will show the employees that
FastCat is paying more for managers. However, there may be another factor that
places the employee and manager within the same point range.
Risk 3: If an employee ranks high on the job point evaluation then he/she may feel as
if they are indispensable. This could cause them to not be focused or to slack off on
their responsibilities.
Potential Solution 3: FastCat could occasionally remind employees that their
compensation is based on the fact that they are doing their job. If an employee
believes he/she is indispensable, and therefore either slacks off or becomes not
focused; then maybe FastCat should remind them of employment at will.
Risk 4: Since FastCat does value creativity and innovation, employees who are in
positions where creativity and innovation are not needed could feel that any ideas
they do have would not be very important.
Potential Solution 4: FastCat could have a suggestion box, or encourage all
employees that have an idea to tell their superior. FastCat would need to tell
employees something to the effect of: there are no bad ideas, just ones that are not yet
developed. This would encourage employees to voice any ideas they have, and feel
like their ideas are valued.
Overall, our recommendations provide more benefits than risks to the company,
benefits such as: helping FastCat to be successful in the future, helping the company
regain its competitive edge, while also achieving its compensation objectives. However,
as with all things, there are some risks, but as long as FastCat is aware of those risks and
handles them promptly they should have no problem succeeding using our
recommendations.