Introduction: Compensation System at CustomInk
Creating a transparent and fair compensation system is the first step towards becoming successful in the global economy. The link between the two concepts, while not quite obvious at first, is, in fact, very tight. By creating the compensation system that guarantees every stakeholder an opportunity for reimbursements and financial support, an organization showcases its readiness to meet the needs of the participants involved. A flexible system of compensations, in its turn, can be viewed as the means for a company to invest in its staff members, i.e., in their further growth, the acquisition of new competencies, and the development of loyalty toward the organization. Although the absence of the COBRA compensation is a dent in the current compensation system at CustomInk, the promotion of incentives and rewards shows that the firm is on the right track of developing relationships with its employees.
Pay-for-Performance and Benefits
Individual and Group Incentives
One must admit that the entrepreneurship has incorporated the most efficient innovative practices into its current compensation system framework. For instance, the firm offers not only the standard 401K plan but also the 403B plan as an alternative. By definition, the latter applies to the tax-exempt environment (Connelly, 2013). Seeing that CustomInk has recently acquired a company that offers some part of its product as a charity, the proposition of both plans to the people involved seems a sensible step to take: “Based in Boston, Booster is a fundraising platform designed to help individuals and organizations raise money and awareness by selling custom t-shirts to support charities, personal causes, or other positive purposes” (CustomInk to acquire represent, a tech startup that helps celebrities rally fans for funding, 2016, par. 13).
Performance Appraisals
Apart from providing the participants with numerous opportunities for compensation, the entrepreneurship also encourages the staff members to excel in their work by expressing gratitude for their contribution to the firm’s development. The significance of appraisals, which used to be underestimated up until recently, is very high as it serves as the means of encouraging the staff members to not only increase their performance rates but also evolve professionally and personally. Therefore, by carrying out regular performance appraisals, company leaders invest in their staff members. Stressing the importance of its members’ efforts, CustomInk is likely to create a team of well-motivated, determined, and loyal staff. More importantly, by encouraging the employees’ professional progress, the entrepreneurship is likely to prompt their further lifelong learning process (CustomInk, 2016). Therefore, performance appraisals should be interpreted as the primary tools for increasing staff loyalty rates among the members of CustomInk.
Legally Mandated Benefits
According to the current U. S legislation, legally mandated benefits include workers’ compensation, Medicare, maternity and medical leave, unemployment insurance, and COBRA benefit compensation (Bogardus, 2009). CustomInk, in its turn, provides all of the above legally mandated benefits but the last one.
However, the opportunities that entrepreneurship has to offer to its target audience do not include the COBRA compensation. Although the above omission could be interpreted as a major disadvantage of the compensation system adopted by the entrepreneurship, the compliance with the basic Medicare standards makes up for the above issue.
Options Benefits
Since the concept of shared values is at the helm of the entrepreneurship’s values system, the options, and benefits offered to the staff members are rather numerous. More importantly, the benefits and options under analysis serve as the foundation for developing trustworthy relationships between the company leaders and its employees. Particularly, entrepreneurship offers insurance and retirement benefits. Also, CustomInk suggests stock options, which can be viewed as the primary tool for the company to establish stronger ties with its members and
Benefit Determination Process
Similarly, the benefit determination approach adopted at the company can be interpreted as rather efficient as far as the process of increasing staff’s motivation rates is concerned. Particularly, the process occurs at a rather steady pace that involves the statement of the primary goals of the organization (i.e., maintaining sustainability in the company by promoting the satisfaction of all stakeholders involved). The next step involves the location of the strategies and the identification of steps that will help CustomInk reach the goals mentioned above. Specifically, the communication tools required to get the necessary message across are located. As a rule, the company chooses the SMART framework (Dayton, 2014) as the most efficient method of getting the essential message across. Next, the internal factors (i.e., the employee-related ones) are identified so that the promotion of the necessary concepts and values should be carried out. Finally, the possible impediments in the economic, legal, political, and cultural environment of the target market are identified. Afterward, the outcomes of the company’s performance are compared with the standards set before.
Unique Compensation System
Outlining the unique characteristics of entrepreneurship, one must give credit to the original concept of compensation that the firm suggests. CustomInk calls its current system a competitive compensation as the benefits that the staff earns are in a direct proportion to the effort that they make and the number of tasks that they complete. The approach described above can be deemed as highly efficient in the environment of the contemporary global economy due to the increase in staff motivation rates that it prompts.
On the one hand, the strategy mentioned above can be deemed as fairly risky as it triggers an immediate increase in rivalry among the staff members. While increased competitiveness affects the staff’s performance positively, it may hinder the process of data transfer due to the employees’ unwillingness to share essential data with their peers and help them succeed in a specific domain. On the other hand, the introduction of competitiveness in the framework of the company’s operations will reinforce the efficacy of the staff members as the latter will have a powerful motivation for excelling in their performance. Therefore, the current approach adopted at CustomInk is not to be underrated in terms of its overall efficacy.
Conclusion: CustomInk and Its Compensation System Structure
Despite minor problems in the current approach adopted by the company, the current approach towards compensations can be viewed as rather sensible. However, the company should pay closer attention to the insurance policy so that the staff satisfaction rates could remain high. Particularly, it is imperative to reconsider the current insurance policy so that the COBRA compensation could become available While the above goal will require a more elaborate approach toward managing the firm’s financial resources, it is still feasible. Therefore, a new strategy concerning the use of the company’s resources should be viewed as the next step toward improving the compensation system.
Reference List
Bogardus, A. M. (2009). PHR / SPHR professional in human resources certification study guide. New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons.
Connelly, H. W. (2013). 401K Tune-up: Do you really want to work ’til 80?: Do you really want to work ’til 80? Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
CustomInk. (2016). Web.
CustomInk to acquire represent, tech startup that helps celebrities rally fans for funding. (2016). Web.
Dayton, G. (2014). Trade mindfully: Achieve your optimum trading performance with mindfulness and cutting edge psychology. John Wiley & Sons.