Sunil Ramlall - A review and analysis of comp practices in the caribbean ijhrdm

Page 1

48

Int. J. Human Resources Development and Management, Vol. 6, No. 1, 2006

A review and analysis of compensation practices in the Caribbean Sunil J. Ramlall Department of Management, College of Business, University of St. Thomas, TMH 343, 1000 LaSalle Avenue Minneapolis, MN 55403, USA E-mail: sjramlall@stthomas.edu Abstract: The paper examines and analyses compensation practices in the Caribbean; compares ‘current’ practices and the extent to which HR professionals think the current practices ‘should’ be utilised in driving firm performance; and compares current compensation practices in the Caribbean to the USA wherever applicable. The findings do not only provide vital understanding of the effectiveness of current practices, but also provide critical insights as to how organisations in the Caribbean can become more competitive through compensation strategies. Some of the major findings identified include: •

pay increases are generally not tied to individual performance

current compensation systems do not always provide the money’s worth

there is little input from employees on compensation practices

seniority currently plays a significant role in an employee’s compensation

employees do not feel that the current compensation practices enable organisations to attract, motivate, and retain employees.

Keywords: compensation in the Caribbean; international compensation; HR strategy; firm performance; comparison of compensation strategies. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Ramlall, S.J. (2006) ‘A review and analysis of compensation practices in the Caribbean’, Int. J. Human Resources Development and Management, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp.48–67. Biographical notes: Dr. Sunil J. Ramlall is an Assistant Professor in the College of Business at the University of St. Thomas. He has a PhD in Human Resource Development from the University of Minnesota and an MBA from the University of St. Thomas. His primary areas of research include HR and firm performance, HR competencies, HR metrics, and training and development among other areas.

1

Introduction

Human resource management practices in general (Becker and Gerhart, 1996; Huselid and Becker, 2000) and compensation systems in particular (Banker et al., 1996; Becker and Gerhart, 1996; Shaw et al., 2001) have been shown to be highly related to organisational performance. Given the quest of organisations across the world to compete Copyright © 2006 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.