UNDERSTANDING  &  CONTROLLING

 

PEOPLE  PRODUCTIVITY  AND  COMPENSATION IN YOUR FIRM

 

 

 

AN  EXECUTIVE  EDUCATION  PROGRAM

 

OFFERED BY

 

Dr.  Roger K. Harvey

President, Value Associates, Ltd.

and

Emeritus Professor of Finance

The Ohio State University

 

 

Overview

 

Research in wholesale-distribution shows that corporate and branch profitability are positively related to people productivity.  The higher a distributor's employee productivity, the higher a distributor's Return on Assets and Return on Equity. 

 

Questions remain on how to measure productivity and increase it in a wholesale distribution firm:  How should the productivity of your sales force be measured?  How should the productivity in your office be measured?  How should the productivity in your warehouse be measured?  Is your productivity high or low compared to other firms in the same line of business?  How can you simultaneously improve your people productivity and your profitability?

 

Whether productivity is high or low, corporate and branch managers also face the question of compensation -- how much should people be paid, how should compensation packages be structured to increase productivity and motivation,  and how do your compensation levels compare to other firms in your line-of-business and in your region of the country?

 

This one-day executive education program (workshop or seminar) addresses these questions and many others using a combination of financial and operations analysis, computer simulation exercises, and peer group comparative data from the industry performance survey (either conducted by the association or collected by the author). 

 

This program is designed to answer people productivity and compensation questions for participants and to suggest ways of implementing productivity and compensation programs in their wholesale firm or branch.  Through pre-program company interviews and a custom industry survey, the measures, analysis, and data used during the program will be geared to the participants’ own industry and company.

 


 

Description

 

This program  begins by showing participants the relationship between profitability measures and measures of people productivity and compensation.  Productivity will be defined in terms of financial and physical measures:  Gross Profit margin and dollars, Contribution margin and dollars, invoices, and invoice lines.  Compensation will be defined in terms of salary and commissions, fringe benefits, payroll taxes, health benefits, as well as other owner and employee benefits.  Compensation will be related to Gross Profit, and the various components of compensation itself will be analyzed as percentages of Total Compensation.

 

The instructor will develop case materials specific to the industry, productivity problems, and compensation levels of the participants in the program.  A computer simulation model developed by the instructor may be included in the program -- a model that allows addressing the issues in the case as well as analyzing and solving the productivity and compensation problems in the participant's own firm or branch.  The computer model will be available at no additional charge to the participants to use in their own firm or branch.

 

Peer group comparative productivity and compensation data are essential to identifying problems in these areas.  If data are not available, the instructor will conduct a survey among participants prior to the program (at an additional charge to the association or participants).  The comparative statistics generated from the survey will be used during the program and will be available to the participants subsequent to the program for use in identifying their own productivity and compensation problems.  The data may be used in conjunction with the computer simulation model used during the program.

 

 

Outline

 

    How Do You Define Productivity in a Wholesale Distribution Firm?  What Is People Productivity?

 

     People Productivity  Measures -- Financial and Physical Measures of Employee Productivity

 

     Determining Excess People by Using Measures of Productivity

 

     Strategies and Tactics for Increasing Productivity in Your Firm

 

     Analyzing and Evaluating Levels of Employee Compensation

 

     Setting Compensation Levels Based on Productivity

 

     Integrating Productivity and Compensation Measures