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Importance of Compensation and Benefits to Improve Employee Experience

The most crucial components of any employee’s wage are compensation and benefits. Fair compensation and benefits serve as the foundation for other elements to be included in a person’s salary. Moreover, benefits can sometimes outweigh compensation. If you believe you have not been fairly compensated, you should contact a workers’ compensation lawyer.

Compensation and benefits seem to be crucial elements of an employee’s workplace satisfaction. They have a significant impact on an employee’s performance and incentive to work. Remember, compensation is not the only way to provide your workforce with a positive experience. 

Open communication, ensuring employees feel comfortable in the workplace, effective employee engagement that can build trust, and open door policies all contribute to employee experience.

But in this article, we will only be focusing on the importance of compensation and benefits to improve the employee experience. Before we get into that, let’s look at what we mean by compensation and benefits.

Compensation is a monetary reward given to an employee in exchange for the services they provide and the work they perform for a company. 

When an employee works for a company, they are compensated financially. They are also rewarded with perks like unlimited paid time off, free food, bonuses, great healthcare, and so on for their talents and efforts. 

All of this is included in the employee’s compensation, which can be both financial and non-financial, depending on the company. Benefits, on the other hand, are rewards given to employees as a gesture of gratitude for their efforts. Benefits are usually not monetary in nature.

Employee benefits should be popular with employees. Examples include flexible working hours, the possibility of working remotely, access to gym memberships and catering services meals, and much more.

While benefits may not provide direct monetary compensation to employees, they are critical in attracting competent individuals to a company. Assume a worker receives multiple job offers. They offer the same monetary compensation, but one of them offers a better benefits package than the rest. In this case, the individual is very likely to accept the job offer giving him/her more additional benefits.

Now let’s look at the importance of compensation and benefits to improve employee experience:

It assists you in attracting the best talent in the industry.

Any intelligent and hardworking employee understands their worth. They also have the desire to maximize that worth to receive the best compensation and benefits package. Employees are more likely to leave if they believe they are being undervalued. They are also likely to leave if a competitor offers the same financial compensation and better benefits package. HR professionals must be aware of their competitors’ overall compensation packages and strive to match them wherever feasible to recruit and keep top talent.

It boosts employee motivation.

Employees who are properly compensated realize that your organization values them as workers and as people. When individuals feel valued, they are more likely to show up to work on a regular basis. Overall, company morale rises, and employees are encouraged to come to work and perform a good job. 

Furthermore, when employees are aware of potential bonuses or commissions, they are more motivated to deliver better results. Thus, you should not only strive for better compensation but also a well-laid-out bonus plan.

It aids employees in maintaining a work-life balance.

Many employee wellness benefits assist employees in achieving a healthy work-life balance. Remote work options, for example, or health club membership, can assist employees in staying healthy. Employees will appreciate employers who allow them to disconnect and spend their leisure time doing things other than work. 

It Increases Employee Loyalty

The importance of compensation and benefits to improve employee experience cannot be overstated. This is because employees are more likely to stay with a company if they are well compensated and happy. 

Appropriate compensation is one of the reasons why employees stay with their employers. Loyalty eliminates the need for business owners to continue spending time, money, and effort on bringing in new candidates. Employee retention, as well as low turnover rates, benefit employers by letting their training effort not go in vain. With good compensation and benefits, they know that the employees that they have trained will stay with them.  

It contributes to increased productivity.

Happy employees are more productive. Employees who feel valued are more motivated and loyal, which leads to higher productivity in regard to compensation. Employees are not only more motivated to do an excellent job. 

Moreover, the longer they stay with the company, the more they learn and the more efficient they become. All this results in increased productivity.

It provides job satisfaction for employees

Developing an appropriate compensation plan leads to increased job satisfaction. The right plan for compensation includes benefits in addition to all other obtainable bonuses. 

Employees frequently brag about holiday bonuses in front of their team members. Some even closely monitor the performance of the company stock because they are granted stock options. 

The right compensation program invests employees in their work, giving them a greater sense of accomplishment when the company succeeds. They recognize they will be adequately compensated for their effort. This gives them more satisfaction in performing their tasks.

Conclusion

This is how compensation and benefits packages offered by an organization can affect both the organization and the employee. They enhance the quality of work and increase the number of competent and happy employees in that organization.

Google to pay 40 states $392 million for settlement

Google has been in hot water for violating privacy and location tracking practices.

However, recent reports say the company has accepted a record $391.5 million deal with 40 states.

The settlement comes after consumers complained about the company’s location tracking practices.

The announcement

A coalition of attorneys shared the deal on Monday.

Attorneys general called it the largest multi-state privacy scheme in the United States.

The coalition includes a list of attorneys general from New York, Kentucky and Oregon.

Additionally, they said that as early as 2015, Google was misleading users about location tracking in various ways.

Lawyers cited confusion among users over the scope of setting location history and the extent to which consumers who rely on Google products and services can limit location tracking by changing their account and device settings.

Read also: Elon Musk shares how busy he’s become

Settlement

Google must now show transparency with the settlement and comply with these requests:

  • Show additional information for location-related settings
  • Make key location tracking policies more visible
  • Give users details

However, Google faces restrictions on how it uses and stores location information.

Company spokesperson José Castañeda said:

“Consistent with improvements we’ve made in recent years, we have settled this investigation which was based on outdated product policies that we changed years ago.”

Read also: Amazon announce plans to lay off thousands

Investigation

Attorneys general investigate Google after a 2018 Associated Press reported that the company logs users’ movements even when they aren’t commanded.

At the time, the company released a statement saying:

  • A clear description of the tools
  • Robust controls so users can turn them on and off
  • The ability to delete their histories at any time

A similar lawsuit hit Google in January.

Four attorneys general from the Districts of Columbia, Texas, Indiana and Washington claimed the company used shady schemes.

They also said the company is using deceptive practices to track users’ physical locations, including when they try to block Google.

Additionally, location data can target ads and create profiles of Internet users.

Furthermore, Google is a major technology company under scrutiny for the way it handles location data after the destruction of Roe v. Wade.

Lastly, lawmakers pressured the company about how the data could be used to search for abortion seekers.

As a result, Google will delete user location histories for visits to abortion clinics, fertility clinics and other destinations.

Reference:

Google agrees to $392 million settlement with 40 states over location tracking practices

Elon Musk shares how busy he’s become

Elon Musk has had his hands full in recent weeks since taking over Twitter.

On Monday, the world’s richest man was asked about his takeover and leadership of his automaker business Tesla.

According to the CEO, he worked “at the absolute most amount, from morning til [sic] night, seven days a week.”

The call

On Monday, Elon Musk took part in a business conference on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali.

Sharing his busy schedule via video link, he said:

“I have too much work on my plate, that is for sure.”

Speaking from an area that just ran out of power, Musk wore a batik shirt sent by the event organizers.

Elon Musk held his video call in a candle lit room.

Read also: Eli Lilly loses stock due to Twitter misinformation

Juggling between Tesla and Twitter

Elon Musk is now in charge of both Tesla and Twitter.

During the meeting, he was asked if Tesla would be affected by his preoccupation with Twitter, which has become the target of investors and analysts.

Indonesia is looking to make a deal with electric vehicle maker Tesla for battery investments.

They are reportedly looking to do the same for Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX so they can develop a rocket launch site.

Read also: Elon Musk set to trim Twitter employees

However, Musk made no mention of the agreements with the country.

Instead, he said Indonesia is essential in the electric vehicle supply chain.

Musk also said it made sense for SpaceX to develop multiple launch sites globally for the long term.

For now, the Twitter, Tesla, and SpaceX CEO is working on all the companies to the best of his abilities.

 

Reference:

Elon Musk says ‘I have too much work on my plate’

Amazon announce plans to lay off thousands

Amazon is planning a significant overhaul of its workforce.

According to the New York Times, anonymous sources say the company plans to lay off more than 10,000 employees in business and technology jobs.

The layoffs could start as early as this week.

According to reports, the overhaul includes the workforce on Amazon devices and those from the retail and human resources department.

The news

The Wall Street Journal shared a similar report on Monday that Amazon will lay off thousands of workers, citing an unnamed source.

The news places Amazon with other tech companies that recently announced mass layoffs.

Most companies have decided to make the tough decision amid broad economic uncertainty and a sharp slowdown in demand seen by the tech giants during the pandemic.

It was during the early days of the pandemic that prompted them to increase staff.

Last week, Meta announced its plan to lay off 11,000 workers.

Read also: Lyft announce plans of workforce layoff

Amazon shares

In early November, Amazon announced it would freeze company hiring for a few months.

The company cited economic uncertainty and the number of people it hired in recent years.

During the pandemic, Amazon’s workforce grew as consumers and spending habits shifted to e-commerce.

However, in its recent earnings report, Amazon’s forecast for its holiday quarter revenue showed it would be lower than analysts expected.

So far, Amazon’s shares are down more than 40% in 2022 due to a broader market decline.

Read also: Amazon set to raise the wages of factory employees and drivers

The industry

Amazon’s potential layoffs come at a crucial time for the retail industry as the holiday shopping season approaches.

As fears of a recession and inflationary pressures linger, the National Retail Federation predicts a 6% to 8% year-over-year sales increase during holiday shopping.

In October, Jeff Bezos tweeted about the recession possibility, writing:

“The probabilities in this economy tell you to batten down the hatches.”

Last Saturday, Bezos told CNN’s Chloe Melas that the advice was for businesses and consumers.

“Take some risks off the table,” he said.

“Just a little bit of risk reduction could make the difference.”

Reference:

New York Times: Amazon plans to lay off thousands of employees