Total Rewards System Proposal

Total Rewards System Proposal

Organization Overview

This paper will discuss the total rewards program for Apple Inc. This company is a technology company that produces cutting edge computers, smart phones, tablets and portable music players. Apple Retail has been in existence since 2001 and now has 365 stores world wide with over ninety thousand employees in thirty nine countries. Apple Retail enables customers to touch and feel the products and work with knowledgeable sales associates to ensure they have all their questions answered and purchase a product that will change their life. In order to attract and retain the best talent, Apple has a total rewards package that meets a variety of needs depending on what you are looking for. In addition to the standard medical, 401K, education assistance benefits, Apple also offers travel benefits since it is so global, adoption assistance, kin care, stock options, employee purchase discount plans, matching gifts, fitness and wellness benefits as well as convenience services to include commuting alternatives to work and a concierge service for booking personal appointments.

Total Rewards Strategy

In order to meet the HR needs of this company, HR must accomplish the elements discussed in the succeeding paragraphs that address the fundamentals of this type of total rewards system while complying with the regulatory environments.

The first element is offering strategic perspective. A well-articulated compensation philosophy drives organizational success by aligning pay and other rewards with business strategy. It provides the foundation for plan design and administration and anchors current and future plans to the company's culture and values (Kaplan, 2006, p.32). Apple’s total rewards are available to view on the company’s intranet site. With it having locations around the world, once you sign in, you choose which country you work in and the benefits are adjusted based on that region.

The second element is the statement of overall objectives. This strategy should identify the balance of how the reward system will support both the business needs and the needs of the employees, customers and shareholders.

The third element is prominence. Prominence is describing the key of the rewards in comparison to other tools that can focus and affect actions and decisions. (Worldatwork, 2007) This is important as it indicates what parts will be mentioned when employees are talking about the benefits of working for their employer. Which rewards will be mentioned as the best or with what frequency and impact during a conversation from one employee to a prospective hire or current peer.

The fourth element would include performance measures. This is where performance criteria needs to be clearly