Running head: EMPLOYEE BENEFITS PROGRAMS 1 EMPLOYEE BENEFITS PROGRAMS 7 Strategic Value of Employee Benefits Programs  Phyllis Spears Jones Strayer University HRM599 Capstone Dr. Gary Wash June 2, 2020 Strategic Value of Employee Benefits Programs  For a commercial entity to stay competitive in the changing business world, it needs to have a strategic human resource department that acts as a strategic partner to ensure it has the best to gain a competitive advantage. The human resources department, therefore, needs to put itself in a decisive role that helps it to attract and retain highly skilled employees. This is affected by several factors that include types of benefits from the company that accrues to the workers. In other words, employee benefit programs are useful in creating an atmosphere that makes employees more engaged and motivated (Klonoski, 2016). Therefore, for a company to be strategically in terms of competition, the human resources department needs to step away from conventional administrative roles to be a strategic partner who recognizes the value of employee benefit programs and the role they play in generating a significant competitive advantage. This makes it vital to be mindful that an excellent employee benefits package attracts and maintains the skills required to distinguish a company from its competitors. This paper discusses the factors to considers when providing employee benefit programs, compares and contrasts income protection programs, and pays for time not worked programs and other benefits that are necessary for the benefits package. Factors to Consider Before Providing Employee Benefits Programs Everyone is aware that rewards are components of an organization's overall incentive package. It is also worth noting that other than the traditional pensions and healthcare plans, employees need a broader choice of benefits that reflect the changing needs and lifestyles (Hagel & White, 2016). It is undeniable that every commercial entity must ensure that it has in place attractive employee compensation packages to attract and retain the talent needed to gain a meaningful competitive advantage. It must, however, be recalled that many essential variables play a crucial role in deciding an economic entity's employee benefits programs. One of these variables is the type of benefits to be provided. Some benefits are too expensive to provide while others are within reach of many business organizations. Therefore, a commercial enterprise must weigh its financial soundness to avoid providing a benefits program that works against its overall objectives. Another variable to consider is aligning the benefits strategy with the business objectives. The human resource department of an organization must revisit a plan quite regularly to ensure that it meets the changin.

1. Running head: EMPLOYEE BENEFITS PROGRAMS
1
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS PROGRAMS
7
Strategic Value of Employee Benefits Programs
Phyllis Spears Jones
Strayer University
HRM599 Capstone
Dr. Gary Wash
June 2, 2020
Strategic Value of Employee Benefits Programs
For a commercial entity to stay competitive in the changing
business world, it needs to have a strategic human resource
department that acts as a strategic partner to ensure it has the
best to gain a competitive advantage. The human resources
department, therefore, needs to put itself in a decisive role that
helps it to attract and retain highly skilled employees. This is
affected by several factors that include types of benefits from
the company that accrues to the workers. In other words,
employee benefit programs are useful in creating an atmosphere
that makes employees more engaged and motivated (Klonoski,
2016). Therefore, for a company to be strategically in terms of
competition, the human resources department needs to step
away from conventional administrative roles to be a strategic
partner who recognizes the value of employee benefit programs
and the role they play in generating a significant competitive
advantage. This makes it vital to be mindful that an excellent

2. employee benefits package attracts and maintains the skills
required to distinguish a company from its competitors. This
paper discusses the factors to considers when providing
employee benefit programs, compares and contrasts income
protection programs, and pays for time not worked programs
and other benefits that are necessary for the benefits package.
Factors to Consider Before Providing Employee Benefits
Programs
Everyone is aware that rewards are components of an
organization's overall incentive package. It is also worth noting
that other than the traditional pensions and healthcare plans,
employees need a broader choice of benefits that reflect the
changing needs and lifestyles (Hagel & White, 2016). It is
undeniable that every commercial entity must ensure that it has
in place attractive employee compensation packages to attract
and retain the talent needed to gain a meaningful competitive
advantage. It must, however, be recalled that many essential
variables play a crucial role in deciding an economic entity's
employee benefits programs. One of these variables is the type
of benefits to be provided. Some benefits are too expensive to
provide while others are within reach of many business
organizations. Therefore, a commercial enterprise must weigh
its financial soundness to avoid providing a benefits program
that works against its overall objectives.
Another variable to consider is aligning the benefits strategy
with the business objectives. The human resource department of
an organization must revisit a plan quite regularly to ensure that
it meets the changing needs of the employees while supporting
the priorities of the business ((Hagel & White, 2016). Also, the
company must consider educating its workforce about the
benefits programs. This entails explaining to the employees how
the benefits feet into the goals of and reward policy of an
organization. Taking this step boosts the understanding and
appreciation of employees, as well as the value of the program
to the organization.
Elsewhere, the level of compensation and benefits is another

3. important variable that must not be overlooked. This goes a
long way to affect other factors. For example, a company should
be concerned with the tenure and success of the employees
while providing sufficient employee benefits. It cannot be
forgotten how long an employee has been in the company and
how good his or her success has been when providing benefits
to the employees. Likewise, a company should have a more
substantial interest in the management approach of workplace
benefits. Healthcare is another essential variable to consider.
Most business organizations provide healthcare benefits to their
workforce. Nonetheless, business organizations that transcend
healthcare benefits to their employees to include their spouses
attract and retain highly talented employees. Sadly, the cost
implication associated with adding the employees’ spouses in
the healthcare benefits undermines the noble idea. Hence, many
organizations that are not able to walk this path are not able to
recruit and retain top talents because of the costs that increase
the overall costs of the organization. Therefore, a company must
consider those variables that fall within its financial limits to
avoid overstretching their resources.
Income Protection Programs and Pay For Time Not Worked
Programs
Income protection programs benefit workers because they serve
as a buffer or safety net to the wages of an employee if one is
ill, injured, or can no longer work because of physical
disabilities. The programs are designed to provide income
protection to employees in case they become unable to work due
to sustained injuries or sickness (New York State Department of
Civil Service, 2017, p.1). Some nations, such as Canada, require
employers to provide their workers with income protection
programs. This has been provided in their labor legislation so
that employees can still have an income if injured and can no
longer perform their regular duties.
Employers in the United States are expected to make fifty
percent of an employee's contribution to social security. This
ensures that the employee has an income in case of

4. complications such as sickness or disability that hinder an
employee from performing the regular employment duties or
reaching the retirement age. An example of income protection
programs is, amongst others, workers ' compensation. The
workers' compensation offers medical care to an employee for
the injuries suffered while at work. Furthermore, workers are
given involuntary disability compensation if they lose their jobs
due to the injuries sustained. It goes on for a while until one can
resume regular duties.
The pay for time not worked programs are benefits programs
provided by business organizations to their employees for the
time they are off duty. Under federal laws, employers may be
required to pay their employees for the time they are not
working (Find Law Teams, 2018). An employee who works for
less than twenty-four hours in a shift must be compensated for
the entire shift even if part of the time is spent sleeping.
However, the most common time offs are sick leaves, funeral
leaves, maternity leaves, and unemployment insurance, in case a
person loses employment. Noteworthy, unemployment insurance
is provided to employees if they lose their employment through
a fault that is not theirs.
The similarity between the two concepts is that both of them
provide employees with a safety net in case of financial
difficulties that may result from the inability to work. As such,
they work to ensure that employees do not run out of financial
resources if they have not worked. Conversely, income
protection programs differ from pay for time not worked
because it covers incapacitation resulting from injures sustained
in the line of duty. Pay for time not worked covers employees
for the time they are away fro such reasons as maternity,
funeral, or sicknesses. Both programs are mandatory because
they are covered by federal and state laws to ensure that
employees are not disadvantaged.
Other Benefits
Several employment programs are classified as other benefits.
As such, one could recommend such programs as sabbatical

5. leaves, tuition reimbursement, flex time, and free housing for
interns to form part of the benefits packages. Sabbatical
programs are offered by several business organizations as a
means of attaining a competitive advantage. Sabbatical leaves
give employees a break from their duties to pursue personal
interests (Gourani, 2020). Sabbatical leaves give employees
time to recharge. Elsewhere, tuition reimbursement programs
are offered to employees who wish to improve their skills
through advanced training. Under this program, the employee
pays college fees upfront, and the employer pays back part or
full amount of the course once the employee completes the
training.
Flextime is essential to an organization because of its positive
contributions. It is designed to allow workers to choose when to
start and end their work schedules. In other words, it moves
away from the conventional Monday to Friday to fit the
schedules of workers by allowing them to determine when to
start their workweek, as long as they follow the weekly or
monthly hours set by the employer. The central concept behind
this system is to offer independence and flexibility to workers
when deciding on their work schedules. Other companies offer
free accommodation for interns. Housing is a challenge that
cannot be ignored, and most interns find jobs in places they
cannot afford to pay rent or commute daily. Therefore,
providing housing to interns ensures that accommodation is not
a limiting factor.
Employee Benefit Packages
The Fair Labor Standard Act covers most American companies
and designates all workers as either exempt or non-exempt. The
two workplace classifications come under simple employment
laws. The laws regulating exempt and non-exempt employees
are, however, applied differently. Understanding the variations
between the two forms of compensation is, therefore, crucial in
deciding which of them is more advantageous. It is necessary to
remember that exempt workers are paid for the job they do
when looking at exempt compensation and not the time taken to

6. perform the task assigned to them. Exempt workers are
compensated with salaries and not hourly wages.
Employee Benefits Package Template for Non-Exempt
Supervisor
Benefit Program
Eligibility
Cost per pay period
Employer’s cost
MED 1
FT
$115
$235
MED 2
FT
$255
$265
Sick leave
all
$325
$245
Social Security
all
6.1% per earning
12.2%
DENT 1
FT
$11.5
$0
House allowance
all
$ varies
6% match
Tuition
FT
$0
$2245

7. The workplace compensation package provides medical cover as
it is a fixed payment paid by employers regardless of whether
they get sick. Social security has not been left out as it cushions
employees when they are seriously injured or suffers permanent
disability while at work or when he reaches retirement age.
Elsewhere, reimbursement for tuition constitutes the employee
benefits package to allow workers to advance their careers, but
in specific institutions of higher learning. Sick leave has been
considered because employees may become ill at one time and
exhaust their financial resources, thus, hindering their ability to
continue with treatment.
Conclusion
In brief, each business organization's human resources
department must strive to provide benefits to its workers as they
form a critical structure that underpins their ability to develop
and prosper. The human resource departments of every business
organization must consider several variables before deciding
what employee benefits to provide. Such variables include the
type of benefits and the level of compensation. The human
resource must also consider other benefits such as sabbatical
leaves, tuition reimbursement, free accommodation, and flex
time. Companies need to recognize that well-structured benefits
boost engagement and promote loyalty to the organization.
References
Find Law Teams. (2018). Getting paid for not working. Find
Law. https://employment.findlaw.com/wages-and-
benefits/getting-paid-for-not-working.html
Gourani, S. (2020). Why employees should embrace sabbatical
leave programs.
Forbes.https://www.forbes.com/sites/soulaimagourani/2020/01/2
4/why-employers-should-embrace-sabbatical-leave-
programs/#6198d8da7c05
Hagel, J., & White, S. (2016). Five factors to consider when
designing benefits plans. Financial Management.

8. https://www.fm-magazine.com/news/2016/apr/designing-
benefits-plans-201614223.html
Klonoski, R. (2016). Defining employee benefits: A managerial
perspective. Research Gate.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301622145_Defining_
Employee_Benefits_A_Managerial_Perspective
New York Department of Civil Service. (2017). Income
protection plan benefits 2017. New York State.
https://www.cs.ny.gov/employee-
benefits/hba/shared/mclife/MC_Life_2017.pdf
Reflect on what you have learned over the course of this class.
In a minimum of six paragraphs, address the following:
· What topic(s) in this course affected you the most?
· What type of learner are you? How will your learning style fit
each of the modalities that the school offers (face to face/fully
online/blended)?
· What are your academic strengths and weaknesses?
. Examples: test taking, writing papers, conducting research,
using APA, time management, staying organized, using
technology, understanding assignment instructions
· How do you plan on accentuating your strengths and working
on your weaknesses?
· What are the benefits of working collaboratively
on interprofessional teams?
Your paper must include the following in APA format:
1. Title page
2. Introduction (one paragraph)
3. Body (at least four paragraphs, including APA citations of at
least one scholarly source)
. Double-spaced, 12 point Times New Roman
. Clear method of organization
. Focused topic sentences
. Transitions between paragraphs

9. · Conclusion (one paragraph)
· Reference page (include at least one scholarly source)
Running head: EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT AND
PERFORMANCE 1
EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT AND PERFORMANCE
8
Employee Development and Performance
Name
Institution
Employee Development and Performance
Human resource professionals in every business organization
posit that employees are the most precious assets they deal with.
How a company develops its human capital determines its

10. overall competitiveness. As such, the concept of employee
development and performance cannot be overlooked by business
organizations that wish to position themselves strategically.
Employee development goes beyond mandatory employee
training or scheduling annual meetings with employees to
discuss the shortcomings (Valamis, n.d). It encompasses
developing the limited skills of employees to organizational
standards to improve performance and facilitate employee
retention. An organization that invests in developing its human
capital gets them running to the organizational standards more
efficiently than hiring new employees. A carefully planned and
well-thought-out employee development results in performance
improvement as well as saving money through the retention of
employees. This paper analyzes a training process model,
discusses the possible challenges of implementing it, discusses
methods of training, differentiates between performance
management and performance appraisal, and makes a case for or
against annual performance appraisal.
One of the most used training models to be considered in
training the employees is ADDIE. This stands for analysis,
design, development, implementation, and evaluation. ADDIE
Is a classical model of instructional design used by business
organizations to create training and education programs. When
using this training process model, the trainers use the analysis
stage to analyze the current situation in terms of knowledge gap
or training (Quigley, 2019). As such, the trainer must develop a
series of questions to help him, or her understand the current
situation in the organization, as well as the objective of
training. The trainer must find out what the point of training is,
what changes are desired, and whether the training will help.
The analysis phase identifies the performance gap or the
training needs, as well as the desired outcomes.
In the design stage, the organization takes all the lessons
of the previous stage and uses them to make practical decisions.
The design stage identifies the learning objectives and defines
specific instructional strategies. The learning or training

11. approach of this phase follows a specific set of rules where each
element of the instructional design is executed by paying close
attention to the details. The training must reflect a logical flow,
and the assessment should provide feedback so that the
employees undergoing training are informed of the progress
they have made in the learning objectives. A design phase is a
systematic approach that ensures that everything falls within a
rational and planned strategy.
The development stage is used to develop performance
solutions. This is because it involves creating and assembling
the content that is specified in the design stage. Also, the
development stage involves the stakeholders’ review and
validation, as well as making recommendations for revision. In
this phase, the core content of the course has already been
decided (Quigley, 2019). Therefore, the trainer only adds minor
details to polish the course. This is because much of the data
used in this phase has already been developed in the first two
phases. If the first two stages recommended planning and
brainstorming, the development stage puts that into action.
The implementation stage involves developing the training
framework. This may include learning outcomes and learning
space. This comes after the trainer is satisfied that the course is
completed and fully tested. The decisions made in the design
stage determine how the implementation is carried out.
Elsewhere, this phase may come with a lot of challenges.
Therefore, the instructional designer should conduct pilot
training ahead of unleashing the content of the course to the
whole group that is to undergo training. The processes used in
the implementation phase should prepare the employees to use
the required technologies or tools.
The final phase of the ADDIE training process model is
evaluation. In this phase, the training process is subjected to
meticulous final testing to find out what was accomplished and
what was not. The evaluation phase provides feedback on every
aspect of the training so that the instructional designer can
improve and revise the content. The evaluation phase focuses on

12. whether or not the training goals as spelt out in the analysis
phase (Quigley, 2019). The best way to carry out the evaluation
is to ask the trainees to complete the survey at the end of the
training session. Also, summative evaluation is conducted after
the implementation phase to determine the effectiveness of the
training based on the level of satisfaction of the participants as
well as their performance.
The ADDIE model is a very useful tool in the training of
employees. However, its implementation in the organization
comes with numerous challenges. For example, the model is
time-intensive, and this may pose serious challenges to some
departments that have limited resources. Also, the model may
not work in the organization since it is highly effective in
highly structured environments. Furthermore, it has a rigid
timeline that renders it inflexible to changes. Also, the
organization may not have enough people to respond to the
evaluation process. Elsewhere, the model lacks the
accommodation for dealing with faults or best ideas throughout
the whole process. Besides, the learning programs are designed
to meet predetermined criteria that fail to focus on the
identification of behavioral changes.
Several methods are used by business organizations when
training their employees. These are instruction-led, coaching,
and interactive methods. Instruction-led training is a traditional
training method that takes place in the classroom. It is a highly
effective training method since the instructor is available to
answer complex topics or direct them to further resources
(Bleich, 2019). Elsewhere, coaching or mentoring supplements
the structured employee training methods used by companies.
This method focuses on an employee's relationship with an
experienced professional. This could be a veteran employee or
supervisor. The interactive approach of employee training takes
a classroom-style lecture where group activities are added to the
training experience. The most common interactive methods are
group discussion, quizzes, and role-playing.
Out of the stated employee training methods, the most

13. appropriate for training retail employees is coaching. Unlike the
other two methods, coaching or mentoring supplements other
training methods used by the organization. Coaching is suitable
for training retail employees because it focuses creating a
partnership between an employee and an accomplished
specialist, who may include a veteran or supervisor employee in
this case (Bleich, 2019). Furthermore, this method is the best
because it allows employees to ask questions that they may not
be comfortable to ask while in the classroom. Mentoring or
coaching enables employees to feel supported by the
organization.
When most people hear of performance management and
performance assessment, they regard them as the same general
concepts. While this is a common perception among many
people, it must be noted that it is a misconception because the
two ideas differ from each other. Performance appraisal is a
systematic way of evaluating employee performance and its
potential for future growth and development (Surbhi, 2018). On
the other hand, performance management is the whole method
of controlling an organization’s human resources. Quality
management is a process elsewhere, while performance
evaluation is a method. Performance assessment is also
retrospective and is performed for correction purposes.
Performance management is forward-looking and looks to
potential employee growth.
Business organizations do performance appraisal annually on
the performance of employees, and it is the equivalent of the
report card on the employees and their performance based on
how their managers have assessed them. Some business
organizations do performance appraisal because others are
doing. However, care needs to be taken because performance
appraisal can create a negative experience in the organization.
If it is done inappropriately, it can create an adverse experience
for the employees and the employer. Therefore, proper training
on the process of performance appraisal and techniques used is
required to avoid creating negative experiences.

14. In some cases, the annual performance of employees creates
natural biases that may result in rating errors. Therefore, before
embarking on the process, the management needs to be aware of
these biases an eliminate them to avoid rating errors. Elsewhere,
performance appraisal breeds anxiety and tension, especially
when employees enter the meeting, unsure of what to expect. In
addition, when reviews result in the ranking of scores to
compare employees ' performance with their peers, the annual
reviews create undesirable tension among employees who strive
to outshine others.
Conclusion
In brief, every business organization uses different human
resource strategies for employee development intending to
improve their performance. One of the training process models
used by business organizations is the ADDIE model. However,
despite its effectiveness, this model may not work in the
organization since it is highly effective in highly structured
environments. Some of the employee training methods include
coaching and instruction-led training. Performance management
is a process, while performance appraisal is a system.
References
Bleich, C. (2019). Top ten types of employee training methods.
Edgepoint Learning.
https://www.edgepointlearning.com/blog/top-10-types-of-
employee-training/
Quigley, E. (2019). ADDIE: Five steps to effective training.
Learn Upon.https://www.learnupon.com/blog/addie-5-steps/
Surbhi, S. (2018). Difference between performance appraisal
and performance management. Key Differences.
https://keydifferences.com/difference-between-performance-
appraisal-and-performance-management.html
Valamis. (n.d). Employee development. Valamis.
https://www.valamis.com/hub/employee-development
Running head: WALT DISNEY STRATEGIES 1

15. WALT DISNEY STRATEGIES 2
Walt Disney Strategies
Student’s Name
Institution
Date
Walt Disney Strategies
Introduction
This report analyzes several findings in strategy, organization
conduct, and recommendations that should be adopted for the
extensive growth of Walt Disney Company. The company has
been dominated the entertainment in the four consumer markets
that include; media networks, studio and networks, resorts and
theme parks, and consumer products. It discusses the strategic
plan of Disney Corporation in terms of segmentation,
promotion, pricing, positioning, and channeling. This report
expands deeper to analyze cost leadership, focus/niche, and
differentiation to identify the most appropriate strategy for Walt
Disney Co. The recommendations outlined at the end of this

16. paper shall enable Walt Disney to prepare in dealing with the
existing threats and address threats that may arise in the future.
Analysis of Walt Disney strategies
Three principles of Porter’s model are used in Walt Disney
multinational firm to realize the objective goals. These include
cost leadership, focus/niche, and differentiation, as presented in
the following discussion.
The cost leadership strategy
The principle aim of applying cot leadership is to sustain
market dominance through value chain control. This strategy
allows the company to enlarge market share and targeting
people with a middle-class purchasing power, which creates the
most substantial component of the general market mix in the
majority of nations. Consumers in the middle class emphasize
on cost leadership and the pricing factor to accommodate the
needs of the consumers. Walt Disney centers on the easy
availability and affordability of its products and services,
leading to sales growth and increased brand awareness, which
gives the company a competitive advantage. Apart from the low
prices that they offer by maximizing supply and reducing the
production cost, Disney Co. offers frequent discounts as well as
coupons to contain the competitive pressure and achieve the
projected sales. The projected outcomes of the discounts and
promotional drives are to encourage consumption and improve
the popularity of the brand. Cost leadership at Walt Disney has
delivered significant benefits presented by generic strategies
such as encourage use, brand recognition, achieve sales targets,
and expand customer basis by emphasizing accessibility and
affordability of products.
Differentiation
Differentiation is a generic strategy commonly used to
strengthen the brand and give the company a competitive edge.
Embracing the differentiation strategy allows Walt Disney to
increase the customer base through the creation and
development of different products with unique features. The
strategic plan of using differentiation is to integrate innovation

17. and address the changing needs and health concerns of its
consumers. For instance, Walt Disney introduced product
segmentation after exploring the changing interests of
customers to broaden its scope of opportunities and establish its
uniqueness in the competitive industries it operates in. The use
of differentiation is one of the main reasons why companies are
able to popularize their brands and develop a loyal consumer
base. The generic strategy inherent in distinction has enabled
Walt Disney to stand out as a unique brand offering a wide
variety. Differentiation also allows the company to contain the
market pressure produced by other organizations;
advertisement, celebrity endorsement, and investing in
marketing differentiates Walt Disney from other brands
(Jørgensen et al., 2014). The extensive experience, strong
presence, and a famous brand are the differentiation parameters
highlighted in the communication plan and company’s
marketing of Walt Disney. Besides, the brand symbol is a
component of the differentiation because the uniqueness of
Disney’s logo has generated a gig image in the mind of many
consumers. Despite the logo going through numerous revisions,
the vibrancy has improved to serve as an important
differentiating factor. Furthermore, the corporate offers
different flavors to realize the unique needs of the customers.
The company uses creative thinking and innovation to offer
differentiated augmented products and services that increase
customer’s preferences over other trademarks.
Focus or niche strategy
The focus strategy encourages organizations to exploit their
resources and emphasize expanding in the narrowly selected
segments. Companies based on the focus strategy serve a
specific market segment while basing their competitive edge on
a niche method of marketing. Using the niche strategy,
companies concentrate on offering the best value and low cost.
The low-cost niche is implemented by serving the market needs
at the lowest price possible. The value-focus strategy is
implemented by emphasizing the design, taste, and size of the

18. product that best matches the customer need of a particular
niche. By specializing in unique product quality, a company
improves its branding processes and achieves a constant change
in the design and package of a product to maximize value and
satisfy the psychological expectations of the corresponding
customers.
The most appropriate strategy for Walt Disney
The most suitable strategy for Walt Disney is to implement a
combination of differentiation and cost leadership to realize an
efficiency-minded business. In Porter’s model, failing to adopt
either differentiation or cost leadership limits the competitive
advantage over other brands. However, there is a middle plan
that integrates both strategies to expand the competitive
advantage of a firm. Choosing the combination of intensive
growth and generic strategies based on market conditions
determines the success of an enterprise. Recent research
suggests that the risks and prices related to intensive growth
strategy depend on the generic growth policies. Different human
resource practices positively influence a firm’s competitive
advantage. Differentiation strategy is more explosive in the
attainment of competitive advantage. Thus, HR practices should
be used to establish an HR system that is integrated with
differentiation to achieve a sustainable advantage in the
marketplace. Schuler and Jackson (2016) studied the
determinants of HR priorities and implications. They argued
that companies that pursue a differentiation strategy focus more
on HR innovation as opposed to firms pursuing cost leadership.
The study is coherent with Neal (2005), who studied the
effectiveness of HR practices on a firm’s competitive strategy.
The conceptions of internal fit and external fit ascertain that
coherence between productivity and HR practices is stronger for
an organization using the differentiation strategy. Therefore, it
is a differentiation strategy that would moderate the relationship
between competitive advantage and the human resource
practices for Walt Disney Corporation.
Employees

19. Disney had employed 178, 378 employees by 2019, of whom
114,566 were full-time, 38536 were part-time, and the rest were
seasonal contractual employees (Sial, Usman, Zufiqar, Satti, &
Khursheed, 2013). Another survey on those employees reported
that most employees were highly satisfied with their roles
because of the big brand represented by the company, an
outstanding corporate culture, the challenge of taking
responsibility, and the provision of resources and technology to
assist them in executing their duties. The majority of tools
given to the employees were obtained from the training
sessions. The company offers diverse development skills, talent
planning, and career development workshops at Disney
University. Employees are an important resource to Walt Disney
Company. Therefore, the talent acquisition plan should be well
established to address the challenges and constraints faced
while recruiting employees. These issues are addressed in the
following section:
Challenges faced when recruiting employees
Selecting the most appropriate employees who adapt to the
organization's culture and serve the intended duties and
responsibilities is a critical challenge in the modern workforce.
The following are the two principal challenges faced by Walt
Disney Company:
Understanding and applying analytics in an effective way
HR professionals fail to understand big data analytics.
According to Sandlin and Garlen (2017), being able to collect
and sort data through the HR information system can be a
challenge for human resource managers. Making informed
decisions using the available data can be extraordinarily
complex. During the selection of new employees, the HR
managers are unable to apply analytics to be able to hire an
employee with the relevant capabilities to serve the available
purpose. They end up hiring employees without a complete
understanding of the job and ultimately end up with poor
performance. This may sometimes force the company to end the
contract with some employees, which means that the cost of

20. hiring increases.
Hiring employees who suit the organization culture
New employees need to integrate into the workforce and adapt
to the organization's environment. Finding workers who can
adapt quickly to the organization culture has been the most
prominent recruiting challenge in many top organizations. New
employees are supposed to create a rapport with the existing
employees, adapt to their responsibilities, familiarize with the
mission, vision, and values of an organization, and also bring a
quick impact to the organization.
Advice to the organization
To address the challenge of understanding and applying data
analytics, the HR managers should incorporate data analytics
either using solution vendors or analytics experts to converse
with meanings of presented data types and various means of
exploiting data. Afterward, recruiting teams can develop cheat-
sheets that can assist them in understanding and validating
information to be used during recruitment processes. This data
may include the projected sales of an organization, risk
analysis, and the five forces analysis. For the organization to
hire employees who adapt to the organization culture, the HR
managers should specify the culture of the business in the job
description transcripts. Elaboration on the mission and vision
and other internal factors of the organization helps applicants to
have a prior understanding of how the organization works,
which ensures that they adapt well to the roles they apply for.
Developing an effective selection process
To develop an effective recruitment process, the HR managers
should understand the vacant job to be able to understand the
personalities that will have a positive impact on the vacant post.
As an HR professional, you can conduct an internal analysis of
the job or in cooperation with experts with excellent knowledge
of the field. Furthermore, an HR manager should monitor the
selection processes to enhance pass rates, fairness, efficiency,
and accuracy. Recruiters should also keep track of the evolving

21. selection processes to keep improving the process and give the
company the advantage of having a proficient workforce than
competitors.
References
Jørgensen, R., Munk-Jørgensen, P., Lysaker, P. H., Buck, K. D.,
Hansson, L., & Zoffmann, V. (2014). Overcoming recruitment
barriers revealed high readiness to participate and the low
dropout rate among people with schizophrenia in a randomized
controlled trial testing the effect of a Guided Self-
Determination intervention. BMC psychiatry, 14(1), 28.
Sandlin, J. A., & Garlen, J. C. (2017). Magic everywhere:
Mapping the Disney curriculum. Review of Education,
Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies, 39(2), 190-219.
Sial, A., Usman, M. K., Zufiqar, S., Satti, A. M., & Khursheed,
I. (2013). Why do public sector organizations fail in the
implementation of the strategic plan in Pakistan. Public Policy
and Administration Journal, 3(1), 33-41.