Human Resources Management (HRM)
To complete the assignment, you will need to read the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) case study, Benefits and Business at Aflac and L.L. Bean, that is posted at the bottom of this page. After reading the case study, you are to answer the questions below. Be sure to incorporate appropriate scholarly and practitioner references to support your key ideas. The total length of your assignment should be no more than 5-6 pages, not including the cover page and reference list. The assignment is worth 100 points and 20% of your total grade. It will be scored according to the corresponding grading rubric that is posted at the end of this page.
Case Study Questions. Pick one of the companies presented in the SHRM case study, either Aflac or L.L. Bean, and answer the following:
Think about the internal strengths and weaknesses of the company. How, if at all, did the firm respond to these factors from a total rewards perspective? 25 points
Consider the external opportunities and threats of the company. How, if at all, did the firm respond to these factors from a total rewards perspective? 25 points
Given the corporate values of the organization, what revisions would you make to its benefits program in order to better align it with the accomplishment of the company’s organizational goals and values? 50 points
ANSWER
Total Reward Perspectives at L.L. Bean
L.L. Bean Company was founded in 1912 and mainly focused on privately held outdoor apparel retail stores and speciality catalogues. The founder, Leonwood Bean, was an entrepreneur and outdoor enthusiast. The company has been a dream to many marketing professionals who try to duplicate the company’s accomplishments to varying extents. The brand has been built based on service, quality and status built through a particular product. The company operates with a norm that the brand should reflect the company’s values and not only the products sold. Ultimately, the company is accountable for its value-driven business and sets its brands through social accountability. Social responsibility is a business notion motivated by environmental awareness, ethically wide-ranging activities and improved quality of life for the communities and company employees’. Over the years, the company has focused on environmental stewardship whereby they reduce the adverse impacts on the environment through using alternative fuels, going green, lowering package waste, recycling and innovative products.
Total Rewards Approach
Over the years, organizations have shifted their focus to total reward approaches in responding to challenges and offering solutions to their problems. The total reward is considered a reward approach that focuses on investing in different parts of the organization, such as learning, development, pay and pensions that make the workforce feel valued (Turnea and Prodan, 2020). The total reward approach goes beyond the base by highlighting several benefits of this package that underpins the organizational objective and culture. Therefore, the total reward approach focuses on monetary and non-monetary rewards that can improve the employee’s engagement and organizational performance through understanding what employees find valuable as a reward.
Total Reward approach to responding to Internal Strengths and Weaknesses
L.L. Bean, since its inception, has always been an organization grounded on values and caring for its employees and customers. The company has built its brand identity and image based on its values and promise of quality products. The company has always believed in rewarding employees for their performance and paying bonuses at the end of every year. However, the challenges in the market and changes in company operations have led to redesigning the compensation approach to a total reward approach.
L.L. has been experiencing issues in redefining the brand, multi-channel marketing initiatives, international outsourcing, and worker recognition. L.L. Bean developed operational tasks such as benefits and compensation into their strategic process, which focused on solving the strategic review issues using total rewards. For instance, increasing employee job satisfaction and linking pay to performance.
One of the company’s major weaknesses was that the company’s human and financial resources were focused on growing the business catalogue but not retail expansion (Reed, 2009). The diversification approach took staffing to another level since the team decentralization required more efforts by the organization to infuse non-corporate facilities. Lack of technical skills influenced the organization and employee performance which could compromise the performance quality. As a result, the total rewards became a critical part of the business practice to accomplish their goals. For instance, they have continued with the traditional benefits such as performance-centred bonuses and cafeteria-style health care and included non-traditional benefits such as store discounts and on-site fitness programs.
L.L. Bean has used some of their products, such as canoes and tents, to continue the tradition of outdoor adventure days and trips, which is highly valuable in connecting workers with the company values (Reed, 2009). L.L. had been relying on profit sharing with employees long before it became a strategic compensation approach. These practices have reflected the company’s philosophy that workers’ desire and engagement for the business and its products will be passed on to the customers through increased satisfaction. This is because, through the use of the products, the employees can participate in outdoor activities, thus testing the products and giving feedback to the company.
Total Reward approach to respond to External Opportunities and Threats of the Company
The competitive landscape has changed to cost-conscious customers, more technically savvy operations and a global employee market that demands reorganization. Externally, the company has focused on continued growth through initiating a multichannel marketing initiative to strengthen weaknesses brought about by lack of internet, technology and retail growth. Multichannel marketing has offered clients more than a single way to purchase a product. L.L. Bean has focused on expanding from cataloguing the traditional brick and mortar stores into e-commerce websites (Reed, 2009). L.L. Beans was also challenged to ensure fair wages and benefits for their vendors since the global benefits are different from those of the United States.
Due to the changes in the competitive landscape, L.L. Bean has valued a strong customer focus to ensure that they will continue getting the benefits. For instance, the profit-sharing program among employees focuses on improving their performance and quality of products which translates to quality customer service. The involvement of the employees in outdoor activities and utilization of the company products builds their commitment to innovation and enhancing products to ensure that they meet the customer needs. The company has also relied on outdoor activities to boost its brand image and loyalty.
L.L. Bean has used the total reward approach to respond to the changing marketing conditions while competing globally. Global outsourcing led to challenges of fair wages at L.L. Beans’ vendors and global subsidiaries (Reed, 2009). This is because the global benefits varied from the U.S. benefits. For instance, they have adopted a fair labour practice for employees outside the U.S. in working conditions and wages. The company has offered opportunities for their workers to participate in activities that encourage employees to test their products and those that sustain the environment (Reed, 2009). These have been used to develop a strong brand identity beyond traditional benefits and compensation packages.
Recommendation on the Benefits Program to Better Align It with The Accomplishment of the Company’s Organizational Goals and values.
The organizational goals and values of L.L. Bean are focused on increasing employee and customer satisfaction. Therefore, there is a need for L.L. Bean to revise their benefits programs to align with the achievement of their company values and goals. Ideally, the total reward goes beyond pay to rewards linked to organizational objectives and culture. The main aim of the benefit programs is to increase employee engagement which in turn boosts organizational performance. While building a total reward program, it is necessary to cut across elements of benefits, compensation, work environment and development (Sarkar, Jena and Sahoo, 2021). Although the goals will vary depending on the type of motivation for the implementation, the benefits program should generally focus on improved job satisfaction, increased participation rates, reduced turnover and high employee engagement.
L.L. Bean has focused on work environment and compensation but has failed to focus on development and benefits. Therefore, L.L. Bean needs to focus on health coverage benefits, including paying some portion of the premium. Relatively, they can set aside a specific amount of pre-tax dollars that can be used for health coverage. The medical insurance plan should give the employees cost-effective and flexible healthcare benefits as well as responsive customer service. L.L. Bean should also focus on expanding their cafeteria-style benefits for the employees to spend their benefits in areas with greater needs. They should also focus on programs that help employees with their financial planning. This will help in improving their employee satisfaction since they will have closed the gap between earnings and the high expenses.
The development of employees through training and learning practices will play a great role in the performance and satisfaction of employees. Cohen (2017) states that employee training and development are continued efforts by an organization to enhance its employee’s performance. Employee training allows workers to learn new and precise skills as well as gain knowledge that boosts their job performance. Therefore, employees that receive training and skills development from time to time are likely to improve their work productivity. L.L. Bean should focus on expanding their training opportunities for knowledge and skills acquisition, especially on jobs that are outsourced.
In summation, implementation of the total reward approach was successful in responding to the external and internal factors influencing L.L. Beans. Considerably, taking care of the employees and customers is vital in improving the performance and success of an organization. This is because it increases brand loyalty and dedication of employees, thus facilitating the success of the organization. L.L. Beans should revise its total reward strategy to ensure that it covers compensation, benefits, development and workplace settings.
References
Cohen, E. (2017). Employee training and development (pp. 153-162). Routledge.
Reed, S. M. (2009). Benefits and Business at Aflac and L.L. Bean. Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).
Sarkar, J., Jena, L. K., & Sahoo, K. (2021). The mediating role of need satisfaction on total reward management towards retention: a conceptual framework. Vilakshan-XIMB Journal of Management.
Turnea, E. S., & Prodan, A. (2020). The Relative Influence of Total Reward on Retention of Human Resources. Revista de Cercetare si Interventie Sociala, 69.
