Comparing Pay Structure

Xxxx Xxxxx

Comparing Pay Structure

BUS 512 / Excelsior College

Xxxx Xxxxx

09 May 2015

Comparing Pay Structure

        The purpose of this short paper is to compare the strategic elements of several compensation plans using each of the policy decision categories.  The four policy decision categories that will be used in this paper are internal alignment, competitiveness, employee contributions, and management.  I will specifically compare my current compensation plan within the Department of Defenses (DoD) to that of Microsoft and SAS.  In my comparison, I will summarize the key points of the DoD's strategy, list a few differences between the three compensation plans, and identify how total compensation maps can be used to clarify and communicate total compensation strategies to organization leaders and employees.

Overview of Compensation for Military Service

"For its defense manpower requirements, the United States relies on three major categories of military personnel; active-duty personnel, inactive-duty personnel, and retired personnel.  Roughly speaking, active-duty personnel include all those members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard who are on active duty every day and are at all times subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice" (Compensation Elements and Related Manpower Cost Items Their Purposes and Legislative Backgrounds, 2011).  For the purpose of this paper, I will concentrate on active duty pay only.

"All personnel authorized active duty compensation receive the three main elements of military compensation subsumed under the heading Regular Military Compensation (RMC), namely, basic pay, basic allowance for quarters, and basic allowance for subsistence"  (Compensation Elements and Related Manpower Cost Items Their Purposes and Legislative Backgrounds, 2011).

I spent at least two hours researching the topic of compensation strategy in regards to the DoD and I could not find anywhere a document that identified exactly what the DoD's compensation strategy is.  In order for me to come to an accurate conclusion, I plugged the main elements of the DoD compensation plan into the map listed in Exhibit 2.8 on page 53 of the course textbook.  Based on my analysis, I conclude that the DoD's main message in relation to compensation is; total compensation is prominent with a strong emphasis on the form of compensation including benefits and total pay, individual accomplishments, and transparency.