Supplemental Case
Chapter 1: Is it Time to Hire a Compensation Expert?
Jay Spento is returning to his office after attending the grand opening of the 20 th
location
of EasySpa. As the Director of Human Resources at this growing chain of day spas, Jay has
faced many challenges. Opening this latest location took a significant amount of time for Jay
and his staff and they have fallen behind on some important projects. His staff has grown along
with the company, and Jay believes now is the time to expand his staff by one more position. He
now must prepare to meet with the company’s CEO to discuss his request to hire a compensation
professional.
EasySpa is a specialty day spa that provides spa services at a reasonable cost. Each of
their locations has a variety of employees including nail technicians, hairdressers, masseuses and
receptionists. EasySpa also has a centralized appointment scheduling and customer service
center. In ten years the company has grown from 15 employees at one location, to 396
employees at 20 locations. Continued growth is expected as the organization’s mission is to
become the top-rated day spa in their region.
To support this growing organization, the human resources staff includes Jay, a Human
Resources Generalist, a Recruiter and an Administrative Assistant. The Recruiter handles all
aspects of attracting and selecting new employees and the Human Resource Generalist handles a
variety of duties including employee relations and training. Jay provides leadership to the team
and works with upper management to set policies and procedures. His duties are complex as
they work with a diverse employee population in multiple locations. But, as EasySpa approaches
400 employees, Jay believes a compensation expert can help support the company’s growth
plans.
Compensation management is a responsibility that has challenged Jay. While the
company offers full employee benefits and Jay has done extensive market research to ensure they
offer attractive pay, he knows there is much more work necessary to ensure that their
compensation structure is effective and efficient. The company has no written job descriptions
and does not have a formal pay structure. Further, Jay relied upon an outside consultant to
design their benefit package, and their benefit offerings have not changed since they were
established ten years ago. Overall, Jay is convinced that a compensation professional would add
significant value to the company. However, Jay must convince the CEO, who has little human
resources expertise and is always resistant to hire more staff positions, that the addition to staff is
necessary.
