HRA831 Case Assignment 2 THE FIT STOP LTD.

The Fit Stop Ltd. is a new firm that will open its doors exactly four months from today. Its business objective is to sell all types of training, fitness, conditioning, and exercise equipment to the general public. The Fit Stop plans to specialize in this equipment and to provide customers with personalized advice geared to a customer’s specific training or conditioning needs (e.g., training for a particular sport, injury rehabilitation, strengthening of muscles to deal with back pain, general conditioning, and fitness), whether the customer is 15 or 90 years of age.

In order to provide high-quality advice, each store will employ a physiotherapist (to provide advice on problems such as injuries or chronic back pain) and a person with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology (to provide advice on training for various sports or other physical activities) and a nutritionist to create a diet and eating plan that matches the athletes exercise plan. A staff member will even sit down with customers and develop a personalized training or conditioning program that meets their own specific objectives and needs, at no cost to the customer.

The remainder of the staff in the store will consist of a manager, with a Business Diploma, and sales staff, who will have at least high school diplomas. Due to the long opening hours, it is expected that between 8–12 salespeople will be needed for each store. Because the stores are located in shopping malls, they will operate on a seven-day-a-week basis, open 9:00–9:00 weekdays, 9:00–6:00 Saturdays, and noon to 6:00 on Sundays.

Aside from personally helping customers, the roles of the physiotherapist and kinesiologist will be to train other employees in how each type of equipment can be used for various conditioning and rehabilitation purposes. Initially, sales staff will be given general training, but as time goes by, each salesperson will be expected to learn in depth about all the different pieces of equipment, to help customers diagnose their needs accurately, and to be able to explain proper use of the equipment. Because of the high level of training required, all employees will be full-time.

The founder of the business is Susan Superfit, who has undergraduate degrees in kinesiology and commerce from the University of Alberta. While at university, she participated in many sports (and suffered many injuries due to her all-out style of play). She came up with the idea for this business while laid up with one of her injuries. While there were businesses that sold fitness and conditioning equipment, she often found that the people selling it had very limited knowledge and often gave poor advice on what to buy and how to use it.

She has secured funding from private investors and from Growthworks, a large Canadian labour-sponsored investment fund. To receive volume discounts on the equipment she will be purchasing and to beat competitors into the market, she wants to start off quite large, with stores in major cities in Ontario and the four western provinces, before expanding to Quebec and the Atlantic provinces. She knows that this is a risky strategy, and that cost control will be essential to keep the business going long enough to become well known and develop a stable clientele. She does not expect the business to make a profit for at least two years.

Her main competitor will be sporting goods megastores that sells some of the same equipment. Some of these outlets will be able to price their equipment lower than The Fit Stop will be able to, but none have the range of equipment that The Fit Stop will have, and none provide the personalized services that The Fit Stop will.

Susan believes that the key to her business success will be highly motivated and knowledgeable employees who have a strong concern for their customers and who are able to work as a team with the other employees to provide the best possible customer service. Because no two customers are exactly alike, employees will have to be innovative in developing solutions that fit their needs. It will also be crucial to keep up with the latest fitness, training, and food trends, as knowledge about fitness is continually increasing, along with new and different types of specialized equipment. A key aspect of company strategy is to be the most up-to-date and advanced supplier of new products and techniques.

Although Susan has given a lot of thought to her business, one thing she hasn’t really given much thought to is how to compensate her employees. Because she doesn’t really know much about compensation, she tends to feel that the safest thing would be to just do what her competitors are doing.

The CEO Susan Superfit has hired you to formulate a compensation strategy, an organizational pay plan, and a benefits system for her firm. She wants you to complete the project by developing a detailed plan for implementing the new compensation system.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Students are to demonstrate knowledge of relevant course concepts and integrate course materials and understanding.
2. Clearly number your answers. Please double space your answers.
3. Include only the questions and answers in your report, not the instructions/case.
4. Cite the case and any textbook references using MLA citation (external sources are not required for this assignment).
5. This assignment is to be completed in pairs. Do not copy answers from the internet/Chat GPT this is considered plagiarism.
6. Submit this assignment via BB, it will be checked in Safe Assign.

ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS

1. Job Description – Using the National Occupation Classification (NOC) create a Job Description for one of the job titles at the Fit Stop. Include a Job Title, Duties/Tasks/Responsibilities and Knowledge/Skills/Attributes. National Occupation Classification (5 marks)
2. Job Evaluation – Using the Point Method of Evaluation
   • Identity 6 Compensable Job Factors that will be used by the organization.
   • For each of the Job Factors develop a measuring scale. Include this scale.
   • Weigh each factor according to its importance.
   • Choose ONE (1) job title in the organization and apply the job evaluation system by creating a Rating Chart (figure 8.1) for the job. (20 marks)
3. Performance Pay – You have decided that The Fit Stop would be well suited to a performance pay plan. Choose from Individual, Team or Organization. Select from the Performance Pay Plans covered in the course and choose the one(s) that would work best for the organization. Explain why you choose the plan – which employees will it apply to? What is the benefit for employees and the benefit for the organization. (10 marks)
4. Identify and explain the benefits system that makes the most sense for this organization:
   • Include TWO (2) specific voluntary benefits. Explain each benefit. Provide your rationale for each benefit Fit Stop will provide. (10 marks)

 

Word Count: 1400-1500

No. of Pages: 6