Introduction
Cisco is a leader in the tech industry, and its success depends on the dedication and commitment of its employees. Consequently, leveraging benefits for DE&I will lead to many gains for the company, enabling it to create an inclusive workplace that welcomes employees from all backgrounds, provides equal opportunities for promotion and advancement, and provides a safe work environment where everyone can thrive. By leveraging benefits for DE&I, Cisco is showing its commitment to cultivating a diverse and inclusive workplace where employees feel valued and appreciated while fostering collaboration, creativity, and innovation in recruiting and retaining top talent.
Key Issues and The Underlying Issues
Cisco, a global technology leader, has faced several key issues concerning its compensation strategy. The company traditionally relied heavily on stock-based compensation for most of its employees, which means that the success of Cisco’s stock price significantly impacted the value of its overall compensation package (Asyik, 2021). Cisco also faced the challenge of creating an attractive compensation package for new talent that was competitive with other tech companies (Bracci, 2022). The underlying issues behind Cisco’s compensation strategy are even more complex. Cisco has struggled to balance rewarding success and motivating employees over the long term while keeping labor costs low. It had to consider how changes in its compensation strategy would affect employee morale and the overall retention of talent. The company has realized that to stay competitive, it needs to create an attractive package to draw new candidates and retain existing employees.
Facts That Affect These Issues
The facts that affect the issues at Cisco include the market conditions, employee morale, and labor costs. The technology industry is highly competitive, and companies, including Cisco, are constantly trying to attract top talent to meet the needs of the diverse market (Groeger et al., 2019). This can drive up labor costs and make it difficult for Cisco to remain competitive with its compensation packages. Further, changes to the company’s compensation strategy can have a significant impact on employee morale and can even lead to high turnover rates if employees feel that they are not fairly compensated for their work. Moreover, Cisco is under constant pressure to control labor costs, making it difficult to provide competitive compensation packages to new talent (Bracci, 2022). This can lead to challenges in attracting and retaining top talent. Therefore, the company must consider these facts carefully if the strategy it intends to implement is to be entirely successful.
Tentative Solution to The Problem and Implementation
Cisco company should leverage benefits for DE&I as a compensation strategy to foster an inclusive business environment. Leveraging these benefits will shift the focus from stock-based compensation, which necessitates that the compensation package only changes upon the increase or decrease in the value of stock price (Asyik, 2021). Moreover, leveraging benefits for DE&I will ensure a balance between rewarding success and motivating employees to create a long-term impact (Lauritzen & Karafyllia, 2019). DE&I is an attractive compensation package since employees feel their actions are valued and not inferior (Rubel et al., 2021). By leveraging benefits for DE&I, the company can provide access to resources that will support employees from all backgrounds and improve the overall diversity of their workforce (Buss, 2022). These resources include flexible work schedules, paid family leave, scholarships or tuition reimbursement for employees from underrepresented groups, and other programs designed to increase access to career opportunities (Snell & Morris, 2022). By providing these resources to a diverse range of employees, Cisco would better understand and respond to its employees’ unique needs.
In addition to providing access to resources, Cisco can demonstrate a commitment to DE&I by ensuring that all hiring decisions are based on merit rather than preconceived notions of race or gender (Chang & Milkman, 2020). Furthermore, Cisco should leverage benefits for DE&I because it will foster an inclusive work environment, ensuring all employees, including risk groups such as refugees and LGBTQ and various religious backgrounds, have access to resources conducive to personal growth (Lee & Szkudlarek, 2021). For example, commitment to DE&I could promote LGBTQ rights by implementing non-discrimination policies that protect LGBTQ employees from harassment, discrimination, and bias in the workplace (Escoda I Canals, 2021). Accommodating religious beliefs, on the other hand, could include providing time off for religious holidays, allowing employees to wear religious attire or observe religious practices, and making reasonable accommodations for prayer or other religious practices. Cisco’s commitment to DE&I will ultimately lead to increased productivity and collaboration, thus improving the company’s overall success.
The Factors in This Company That Make a Good Fit to Leverage Benefits For DE&I
Cisco understands the importance of creating a compensation structure reflective of its commitment to DE&I. To this end, Cisco has implemented compensation plans that reward employees for cultivating an inclusive and equitable work environment (Greige Frangieh & Khayr Yaacoub, 2019). In addition, these compensation plans incentivize activities such as initiating DE&I dialogues, volunteering for committees or task forces focused on DE&I, and participating in leadership initiatives. Furthermore, Cisco has adopted other measures to ensure equitable employee compensation. For example, Cisco regularly reviews compensation packages and their associated pay scales across all job levels to ensure that compensation is fair and equitable (Sharma & Shukla, 2020). This includes taking into account any salary increases or bonuses earned by employees to ensure pay equity.
Follow Up and Contingency Plans
The organization will know that the plans are working if the employee’s attitude toward their work generally becomes positive. However, suppose employees’ attitudes remain the same or are negative. In that case, Cisco should focus on modifying the environment so that everyone feels respected and appreciated, and this can be achieved through various steps. First, Cisco should establish clear goals and objectives, as it is important to define the company’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. The objectives should be well-communicated and understood to create a common understanding of what DE&I means for the organization (Snell & Morris, 2022). Cisco must then evaluate the current compensation structure. It is important to consider existing pay gaps, if any exist, between different demographics within the company as part of this evaluation process.
Moreover, based on the evaluation, Cisco should create a comprehensive strategy for implementing leveraging benefits for DE&I as a compensation strategy. It should include analyzing how employees will be compensated based on their performance and how best to ensure equitable pay between different demographics within the organization (Snell & Morris, 2022). In addition, the company must utilize data to monitor and measure progress. For example, data should be used to track short-term and long-term progress in increasing equitable pay between different demographics. This will help Cisco identify areas for improvement or additional resources. Finally, once the compensation strategy is implemented, Cisco should analyze successes and failures in achieving its DE&I goals. This analysis will help ensure that the company learns from mistakes and takes steps toward continual improvement.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Cisco’s compensation strategy has faced several key issues, such as the reliance on stock-based compensation and the need to compete with other tech companies for talent. Cisco also faces underlying issues concerning how its compensation package will affect employee morale and retention. Cisco must balance rewarding success and minimizing labor costs to stay competitive. Consequently, leveraging benefits for DE&I will create an attractive package that will attract new employees and retain existing ones.
References
Asyik, N. F. (2021). The Optimization of employee stock option plan in achieving financial performance. Jurnal Reviu Akuntansi Dan Keuangan, 11(2), 393-411. Web.
Bracci, C. (2022). Management of innovation: Cisco and its A&D strategy. Bachelor’s Degree Thesis, Luiss Guido Carli. Web.
Buss, D. (2022) 12 case studies of companies that revised how they compensate employees. SHRM. Web.
Chang, E. H., & Milkman, K. L. (2020). Improving decisions that affect gender equality in the workplace. Organizational Dynamics, 49(1), 100709. Web.
Escoda i Canals, J. (2021). Fostering GSRD and stemming discrimination in the organisation: a cultural approach. Web.
Greige Frangieh, C., & Khayr Yaacoub, H. (2019). Socially responsible human resource practices: disclosures of the world’s best multinational workplaces. Social Responsibility Journal, 15(3), 277-295. Web.
Groeger, L., Bruce, K., & Rolfe, I. (2019). Adapt fast or die slowly: Complex adaptive business models at Cisco Systems. Industrial Marketing Management, 77, 102-115. Web.
Lauritzen, G. D., & Karafyllia, M. (2019). Perspective: leveraging open innovation through paradox. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 36(1), 107-121. Web.
Lee, E. S., & Szkudlarek, B. (2021). Refugee employment support: The HRM–CSR nexus and stakeholder co‐dependency. Human Resource Management Journal, 31(4), 936-955. Web.
Rubel, M. R. B., Kee, D. M. H., & Rimi, N. N. (2021). High commitment human resource management practices and hotel employees’ work outcomes in Bangladesh. Global Business and Organizational Excellence, 40(5), 37-52. Web.
Sharma, H., & Shukla, S. (2020). Role of predictive analytics in employee retention: corporate cases. Institute of Professional Education and Research, Bhopal, MP, India. Web.
Snell, S., & Morris, S. (2022). Managing Human Resources (19th ed.). Cengage Learning US.