Earnings report. I'm not trying to be smart, but why use the total company to determine bonus and not the rest of our benefits package?
Not taking it as flip at all CT, i think it is a great question, and have made known in the past that i believe asking questions is the key to acquiring information and knowledge.
Now, while I am not personally involved in these type of decisions, I will share the thoughts and opinions i have from my perspective.
I believe we do consider Corp performance in the benefits, as the health plans Corp wide are now quite similar from what i have seen. It is about balance overall to me. That is why OM is a key metric in judging performance. If an entity gets out of balance too far one way or another, it hurts consistency and creates issues. In the past, we have seen companies that combined market share and became the biggest LTL in the land, producing high levels of revenue, but making a penny on the dollar. This can lead to large swings/adjustments in different areas, which creates volatility with both employees and shareholders. The model is also generally not sustainable for long periods and subject to heavy corrections in the course of business. Basically, the goal is to have x% of revenue assigned to each area, wages/bennies, fuel, equipment, etc. If an area gets to be outside of the ideal range, adjustments are made. I would say health care costs got a little outside of target range, as those overall costs have been continuing to rise, and i believe this is the first premium increase we have seen in 2-3 years. Too many times though, i dont know that we look at what comprises our benefits and their overall cost. A good example would be that my health ins went up 17 bucks a month this year ($204 for the year). That isn't a small sum, but when one considers that just last year, the company doubled the tuition reimbursement benefit, it might be a good trade off. Basically, the company committed to an additional 2500 bucks a year for every full time employee in tuition reimbursement. It is easy to discount it if you are not pursuing higher education, but if you were to partake, 200 for 2500 seems like a good financial trade off, as simple math would show the level of commitment just that one benefit enhancement represents in dollars and cents in terms of an investment in our people. How many would consider this as an additional 2500 in total compensation?
Long story short, as a Corp we walk a fine line between meeting shareholder expectations and ensuring the people that make that happen are taken care of as well. By making incremental adjustments in areas that need it, we can avoid playing whack a mole when issues come up, which makes us more consistent with both internal and external customers. I am not currently planning to take advantage of the tuition reimbursement this year, but i also cant ignore it as part of the benefits plan that is designed to invest and take care of our people.
Sorry for the brutally long post....
Be safe!
I see it's tuff for you to admit you're wrong....
