Effectiveness of Wilson Bros' Reward Plan in Achieving Intended Outcomes

This article analyzes the reward plan of Wilson Bros, a Canadian company, and its effectiveness in achieving intended outcomes. It discusses the company's strategic planning, reward system, and motivational theories such as Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory and Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. The article also suggests improvements in the reward plan and strategies for the company.

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Human Resource Management
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Answer 1
Wilson Bros is a Canadian company, which was started by the two brothers Bob and
John. The company has managed to gain worldwide popularity and a unique selling
proposition due to its significant strategic planning (De Waal et al., 2016). The company has
set effective strategic goals to give them a competitive advantage. A well- planned reward
system is one such strategy of Wilson Bros, which has helped them to achieve their particular
goals and objectives. The company has managed to retain their employees by allowing them
to grow as an individual person both in their career and in the society.
The employees get a total pay package, which provides them with the benefit of
tailoring as per the needs of the stakeholders. Moreover, the brothers value hard work and
satisfy the employees who work more than 20 hours per week by offering additional benefits,
advantages and assistance. As per the reward plan, the employees get the scope of receiving
additional bonus along with relevant stock purchase options with discount (Hwang & Mattila,
2017, p. 145-147). The employees of Wilson Bros were communicated to have efficient
control on various elements of the business. They were able to ensure timely deliveries to the
customers through this special strategy.
Answer 2
The employees of Wilson Bros get benefits in the form of bonus, individual
incentives, profit sharing and group incentives. There are categories of providing rewards
such as bonus is paid to the executives and management as it works like investments to
increase the productivity and encourage them for better work in future. On the other hand,
they also get individual incentives as a form of motivation and enhancing motivation. Profit
sharing and group incentives are meant for employees in the lower level to bring the

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employees together for achieving common goals. With this reward, the employees get highly
motivated and feel them as a part of the company (Long & Fang, 2015, p. 980-990).
Wilson Bros has adopted this reward plan with the objective of keeping ahead in the
competitive market and keep up to their exponential growth. They wanted to get over the
threats that were faced by the company on a daily basis, due to the deterioration in the
Canadian economy. Moreover, the company has intended to avoid the trap of consumers
being conscious of price and product in the competitive market. Wilson Bros was cautious
about the effect of profitability and brand identity that was created by the rival companies.
Answer 3
According to the Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory, there are certain factors in an
organization which causes job satisfaction. The extrinsic motivators focus on several benefits
like salary packages and compensation, which helps in motivating the employees to give their
best performances. In addition to this, the intrinsic motivators are the additional motivators,
which provide the employees with a good working environment. As per Maslow’s Hierarchy
of Needs, there are several factors like physiological needs (basic needs of food and
clothing), safety needs (that is job security), social needs (co-workers), self actualization and
self esteem (Wagner III & Hollenbeck, 2014, p. 510-515). These factors act as a motivator
for the employees to perform their best at the organizations.
The effectiveness of the Wilson Brothers’ reward plans in achieving the intended
outcomes is being discussed by taking two motivational theories into consideration namely,
Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. The Herzberg’s theory
states certain factors that results into employee job satisfaction. In addition to this, it also
discusses about the factors which causes employee dissatisfaction. According to this theory,
the extrinsic and intrinsic motivators have an inverse relationship. Moreover, Maslow’s

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theory focuses on the manager’s understanding of employee needs for enhancing the
motivation level (Miner, 2015, p. 260-265). Therefore, these theories outline the effectiveness
of the organizational reward plans for achieving the intended outcomes.
Answer 4
Wilson Brothers Company motivates its employees by recognizing and rewarding
their achievements. However, the company can improve their reward plans and add new
rewards in order to encourage them on a daily basis. Monetary rewards are the most common
reward form, which typically involves an increase in the employees’ salary, bonuses and
increase in other benefits like health care premiums or pension. The corporation can divide
their reward system into two categories; direct or indirect compensation. Both the
compensation systems will contribute to their employees’ financial betterment. The direct
compensation includes hourly pay, increase in the salary and merit based payments (Bolden,
2016, p. 147-150).
The company can adopt the indirect compensation system as well. This should
include additional benefits like provident funds, gratuity, pension, medical benefits and
others. The reason for these recommendations is that non-monetary compensation systems
not only helps in motivating the employees to give their best shot, but also secures their
future. It makes the employees feel special and relieved that the company is concerned
regarding their wellbeing as well. In addition to this, the company can also motivate them by
reducing their work week and giving them extra leaves and flexible working hours. These
non-monetary rewards motivate and encourage them even more, which in turn benefits the
organization to a huge extent (Pinder, 2014, p. 256-258).

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Answer 5
After reviewing the Wilson Brothers case scenario, it can be stated that they should
make some changes in respect to their reward plans and strategies. The company’s employees
are proud to work for the company’s success. However, Wilson Brothers Company should
implement and support strategies, which are in favor of the employees’ wellbeing. In the case
study, it is revealed that the company does not conduct regular meetings for motivation.
Conducting regular meetings of 10-15 minutes can benefit the company on the long run.
Moreover, regular meetings help in motivating and encouraging the employees to give their
best (Miner, 2015, p. 255-257).
In addition to this, the company does not have any policies of fair treatment and
employee equity. There is no specific range of salary at each level or position, no description
of the jobs, no termination policies and no performance review programs for the employees at
lower levels. Therefore, it can be recommended that the company can hire competent human
resource managers or executives, so that they design a proper salary range by their good
negotiation skills (Luthans, Luthans & Luthans, 2015, p. 420-425). In addition to this, the
company can also design several stock options for its employees, along with a good
performance award system.

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References
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