Team Project: Designing a Compensation Plan HRM598

Objective | Team Project Tour | Phases | Timeline | Teams | Submission of Final Team Paper & Rubric | Peer Review Evaluation Sheet | Relationship to Case Study Materials | Conclusion

The learning objective of the project is to give you the practical experience of designing a compensation structure for an organization, beginning with the actual creation of a business, staffing it, implementing the pay plan, and assessing performance. You will also gain experience in utilizing a project team.

The project is designed in four phases:

• Phase I: Establish a business
• Phase II: Write job descriptions, create an organizational chart, and rank the jobs
• Phase III: Collect market data
• Phase IV: Focus on benefits and the compensation budget

You will work on the project in 4–5 person teams. You will sequentially work on the phases of the project, which when combined will result in the team paper. The following sections will provide details on each of the phases and what should be included in them.

Phase I: Develop a theme for an organization – ungraded draft due Week 2

• What is the business (technical, professional, service, etc.)? Create your business and give it a name.
• Start developing a description of the organization (goals, strategy, culture, values, location, environment, product/service).
• Establish a staffing plan. Determine the positions needed. There is to be a minimum of 35 employees in the organization.
• Think about the total compensation needs.
• Develop an HR mission statement and objectives. This should express the company’s attitude toward hiring and retaining employees.

Phase II: Write job descriptions and establish a Point Factor Evaluation System – ungraded draft due Week 4

• For each job description, you will want a standardized template. Each job description should contain the following:
• Scope of the position
• Identify the job duties
• Define the qualifications (education requirements, experience, skills, and other criteria).
• Define the ADA requirements. Each job description should have ADA requirements defined per position. This should include the physical, mental, and environmental conditions per position.
• Show placement of staff/departments in the organization chart.
• Create a basic Point Method system. Rank these jobs within the organization. Explain the methodology for your team project.

Phase III: Market Data and Merit Program – ungraded draft due Week 6

• Market Data
• What is the competition?
• What are the local demographics for the immediate area?
• What is the Job Market like for the kinds of skills you will need? How hard or easy will it be to recruit and retain employees?
• Find market data on your positions online to assist you in determining a pay grade structure.
• Establish a pay grade structure and pay grades for each position.
• Set up pay grades with a minimum, midpoint, and maximum.
• Explain how you set up your pay grades.
• Assign pay grades to each position.
• Performance Evaluations
• Describe your performance evaluation.
• Determine which type of performance evaluation you will use for each category of employees.
• Design and include the performance appraisal forms that will support your system.
• Develop a merit pay grid that supports your performance appraisal process. Explain the linkage from your performance appraisal to your merit system.

Phase IV: Benefits and the compensation budget – graded final team project due

• What benefits will be offered with the company plan?
• Develop a budget and projection for total compensation for five years. Project the costs for each program included in your plan for all phases in the project.
• Consider your percentage of sales for the organization in year one through year five. You are not required to project the company sales volume. Will the company be able to maintain the sales increases to support your proposed pay increases annually?

There is a definite timeline for when phases of the team paper are submitted. Phase I is submitted by posting a draft document in your team discussion area at the end of Week 2. One document is submitted for the entire team.

Phase II is posting a draft document in your team discussion area at the end of Week 4.

Phase III is also posting a draft document in your team discussion area at the end of Week 6.

Phase IV is the final version of the team paper. All four phases should be organized and forwarded to the instructor via the Dropbox by the team leader in one MS Word document by the end of Week 7.

Your instructor will provide feedback on your draft work at the end of Phases I, II, and III. This will help you stay on track for the final project. Feedback will not be provided on your Phase IV draft.

Your team will get the feedback on the draft submissions of Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III, usually within 48 hours from the instructor. The main purpose of the draft submissions is so that the instructor can see that you are keeping on track with the project. The feedback, which will be brief, should help you stay on track for the final project. These three submissions are considered rough draft documents that are evolving and may be revised.

Your instructor will be assigning you to a team by Thursday of Week 1 and will be posting or e-mailing that information to you. You will be able to see your group thread set up in the “Teams” tab at the left-hand side of your screen below Week 8. By setting up your Discussion area in a separate location apart from the rest of the course, I can allow you access for the duration of the term, which makes it a lot easier to check back on directions, etc. You will be able to talk to your teammates in this thread, and others will not be able to see your discussions (except me).

During the first week, after you have been assigned to a team, you will select a team leader and e-mail that person’s name to the instructor. This individual will take a particular interest in making sure that everyone gets an assignment and that all information is gathered and shared with the group on an ongoing basis.

In addition, the team leader will submit a Word document to the instructor by posting it as an attachment to a message in the team thread with a subject line that identifies the team and phase such as “Team A Submission of Phase I” or “Team B Submission of Phase III.” These will be posted at the end of Week 2, Week 4, and Week 6, respectively, for the various phases, so that the instructor can see that you are keeping on track with the project.

All team members are expected to fully participate in their team (such as regularly posting/communicating, setting expectations, communicating with the quality and quantity necessary, clarifying, sharing drafts, challenging other members’ thinking, reflecting on group processes, and making/supporting decisions), contribute substantially (such as researching, drafting findings, writing sections of paper/project, reviewing others’ work, refining written work, taking the lead, proofing papers, and posting/submitting final work), and all members are responsible for clarifying expectations and regularly communicating with each other. Please make sure that you complete your drafts early enough in the process and allow sufficient time to revise and proof your papers. Remember that when you accept responsibility to lead an effort or a produce part of the project, the expectation is that you will fulfill that responsibility.

Final Paper

In order to be considered complete, papers must utilize APA style and format and include the following: a title page, table of contents, executive summary (one page max), centered headings for each section, conclusion, reference section, and, if necessary, appropriate appendices. Please cite your sources where appropriate. The expectation is a minimum of five external reference citations for the project. These should be properly cited utilizing the APA in-text and reference page formats.

At the end of Week 7, the entire project should be organized and forwarded to the instructor via the Dropbox by the team leader in one MS Word document by the end of Week 7. In fairness to all students, late projects will receive a deduction of 5% per day through Tuesday of Week 8. No projects will be accepted after Tuesday unless prior arrangements are made with the instructor.

Final Team Project Papers, incorporating a final version of all four phases, will be graded based upon the team’s effort. The instructor reserves the right to assign individual grades based upon discretion. The instructor may utilize the Team Discussion Area as a way to determine participation and contribution to a project. It is highly recommended that all project communications be documented there. The team project will be graded based upon the criteria established in the Team Paper Grading Rubric below. All DeVry University policies are in effect, including the plagiarism policy.

For instructions on how to use the Dropbox, read these Step-by-Step Instructions or watch this Dropbox Tutorial.

Team Paper Grading Rubric

Each student should also complete a Peer Review Evaluation Sheet and submit it to the “Week 7: Peer Review Evaluation” Dropbox individually. The Peer Review Evaluation Sheet allows you to rate how effectively each member of the team, including yourself, contributed to the project assigned in this course. If a Peer Review Evaluation Sheet is not completed and submitted to the Dropbox, the student will lose 30 points. Peer Review Evaluation Sheets are not accepted late.

For instructions on how to use the Dropbox, read these Step-by-Step Instructions or watch this Dropbox Tutorial.

Some of the tools and approaches found in the Recovered Hardwood Products and Services case study used in this course will be of particular assistance to you in your team projects. See the examples in the lectures in Week 3 and Week 4. If you work on both the case study and the team project in a parallel fashion, it will be easier to complete your deliverables on time.

You need to get started on this project ASAP, as it is quite a bit of work to complete in a short amount of time, and it will be imperative that you keep up. Do not wait until we have covered all the material to get started!