Sales Force Compensation Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Sales Force Compensation - Assignment Example The company deals in beauty, fashion Jewelry and apparel. It has one of the largest salespeople in the world approximated at 6.5 million. The company has over 120 years in the industry with a strong financial background and resources to pull its operations. With a clear, well structured, multi-level compensation plan, the company has continued to attract and retain its salespeople making it a highly competitive firm. In order to motivate the sales force to produce the highest number of clients, describe six (6) features of an effective total rewards program. Rewards for many decades have been used primarily as a necessary evil in the attraction and retention of employees. However many studies suggest that there is no direct link between rewards and employee performance although research shows that the absence of it demotivates employees (Robillard, 2008: O'Halloran, 2012). This has thus led to the need to implement total rewards strategy that could be used to drive business success. Such a program could be used by the organization in addressing some of the challenging issues in the 21st century such as aging workforce, competition in the market place, influence of globalization on firms and the need to operate effectively in different business strategies such as in mergers and acquisitions (Armstrong, 2010). A total rewards program includes the overall value proposition that a firm provides to its employees. Such a package includes compensation which includes: basic pay, short term incentives and long term incentives; benefits which include health, retirement, work/life benefits; and careers which include such things as training and development, lateral moves, stretch assignments and career incentives (Manas & Graham, 2003). An effective total reward system has the following key features: first it has a mix of both monetary and non-monetary rewards (Asinof, 2006). The monetary rewards include compensation in the form of base pay, overtime pay, short term and lo ng term incentives, cash profit sharing, bonuses, commissions among others. The non-monetary rewards include such things as benefits which entail health and group benefits, retirement, paid off, work/ life programs, death benefits and prerequisites (Moynihan & Wells, 2011). Secondly, such a strategy must be aligned to the business strategy of the organization. Depending on the nature of the business strategy adopted by the organization, the strategy should be effective. A reward strategy has the power of minimizing on driving organizational performance and thus an effective total reward strategy must be able to support the overall business strategy to ensure performance. Third, such a strategy must match organizational resources and capabilities. It would be ineffective to design a total reward strategy which is overboard and which organizational resources cannot support. It would also be demeaning and inappropriate to have a strategy that is below what the organization can offer in terms of financial resources and capabilities. Fourth, an effective strategy is one that delivers rewards that drive specific behaviors necessary to achieve organizational objectives (Zingheim & Schuster, 2004). If for example, Avon Products, Inc. has a target of selling one million cosmetic products in one month, the reward strategy should be designed such that it motivates the salespeople to find clients. This could be through bonuses, incentives or a paid holiday trip! This communicates something to

Business Ethics and corporate social responsibility(new) Essay

Business Ethics and corporate social responsibility(new) - Essay Example This is apparent in the company’s advertising and sales catalogues which depict aspirational youths maintaining the physical characteristics the company believes are stimulating to other youths who look toward reference groups to determine and shape their identities. The brand engages the desirable and shuns what the business considers the undesirable, the less attractive (Logue 2013). The CEO Mike Jeffries made an explicit commentary that the business hires only nice-looking individuals as sales representatives and managers in-store and that the company does not want people who are not cool to wear the company’s clothing (Levinson 2013). The majority of the branded clothing merchandise provided by Abercrombie & Fitch serves as a billboard for the company, presenting the business’ trading name in very visible and eye-catching font. As the CEO believes that this aspirational brand should retain its most loyal markets, this being trends-focused, attractive and yout hful buyers, the company believes that marketing to other market segments would depreciate the brand value of the organisation and make it less inspiring to loyal consumers. Offered the CEO in a 2006 interview (which has recently resurfaced in mass media), â€Å"Candidly, we go after the cool kids. A lot of people don’t belong in our clothes, and they can’t belong† (Levinson 2013, p.1). These comments angered one famous celebrity, Hollywood actress Kirstie Alley, who recently shed considerable weight and after having been the victim of media taunting about her explosive weight gain in recent years. Offered Alley, â€Å"blah, blah, blah, blah. That would never make me buy anything from Abercrombie. I’ve got two kids...they will never walk in those doors† (Winston 2013, p.1). In addition, advocates for the rights of overweight consumers have even developed mock advertising campaigns in an effort to bring public attention to the alleged unethical beha viours of the company. Figure 1: Mock A&F Publicity Exposing Hostile Sentiment about CEO Comments Source: LeTrent, S. (2013). ‘Attractive & Fat’ ad spoofs Abercrombie, CNN Living. [online] Available at: http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/23/living/abercrombie-attractive-and-fat (accessed 21 May 2013). The CEO responsible for creating this negative public backlash had, historically, stood by his comments, defending the statements as justifiable with brand strategy and corporate rights. However, with a sudden 17 percent drop in retail sales in the United States as a result of the controversy (Become Gorgeous 2013), the CEO offered, â€Å"We look forward to continuing this dialogue and taking concrete steps to demonstrate our commitment to anti-bullying† (News Limited 2013, p.2). However, prior to this apologetic statement, Abercrombie & Fitch had been the historical target of special interest groups and general societal stakeholders for unethical business behaviours associ ated with alleged pornographically-centric depiction of its advertising models and for offending youth markets that are, essentially, shunned by the business and its representatives. Sales continue to fall with this company quarter by quarter. Literature review – Ethical leadership and stakeholder values Some of those who argue that Abercrombie & Fit