Organizations are always interested in attracting and retaining qualified personnel that will do the actual work that the company engages. The duty of attracting and retaining suitable employees is usually tasked to the managers of the organization. Different compensation policies have been advanced that detail to potential employees the benefits that are associated with them working for that particular company. Total rewards design is an example of such a compensation package that is of benefit to employers because it ensures that best performers are attracted and retained to work for the company. The total rewards design explains the several benefits that an employee will gain by being part of the company, and they include the compensation (remuneration), learning opportunities (training and career development), benefits (retirement, insurance and medical) and the work environment (work/life balance, leadership and values). The total rewards design is beneficial to employers because employees are motivated by the compensation design and as such they can perform better. Also, the compensation design allows for competency building by aligning performance with rewards (Mathis, et al. 2014).
The compensation package is one of the factors that employees consider before they enter into any contract of service. It is in this regards that the better the compensation package, the higher the likelihood that the company will attract best performers. Research conducted indicate that compensation and learning opportunities form the biggest concerns for employees. The branding of a company and, in particular, the compensation philosophy statement is essential for attracting and retaining qualified personnel. Benefits packages in most cases act as a supplement to the compensation for the employees. Benefits packages ensure the safety of employees as well as their families, and it is in this regard that they are considered important in the attraction and retaining of personnel.
BNSF Railways has a well-developed military recruitment policy that constitutes close to fifteen percent of its workforce. The total rewards design of the company focuses on the compensation packages that are offered, the benefits and the learning and training opportunities offered. The human resource and development team consists of different teams that include learning and organizational team, BNSF medical team, benefits team and a compensation evaluation team. The different sections of the human resource development team are included so that the various needs of the employees can be satisfied. The nature of the activities that the company engages in has different risks that the company is interested in safeguarding thus the need to have different teams address the possible mitigations for these risks (Gitman, & McDaniel, 2008).
BNSF Railways employs different professionals that include electricians, mechanics, metal workers and telecommunication experts among others. Therefore, military constitute a section of the BNSF Railways workforce and it makes up close to six thousand veterans in the twenty-eight United States countries and two Canadian countries that the company has interests.
As a mid-sized company, possible aspects of the BNSF Railway’s total reward philosophies that may be adopted include the compensation package and the learning and training packages. These two are considered to be the most considered factors by the employees and as such when both are included in the total reward package, the company has an increased chance of attracting and retaining qualified personnel.
References:
Gitman, L. J., & McDaniel, C. D. (2008). The future of business: The essentials. Mason, OH: Thomson South-Western.
Mathis, R. L., Jackson, J. H., & Valentine, S. (2014). Human resource management (14th ed.). Stamford CT: Cengage Learning.
