Ethical Poultry Farming, Fair Labour, and Sustainability.

Apex Poultry Solutions is a free-range poultry farm situated near Hartbeespoort Dam, in the North West. Established in 2015 by Gerrit Visagie and Boitumelo Nkosi, the company has grown to become a trusted supplier of high-quality chicken and eggs to retailers across South Africa. The farm prioritises ethical farming, sustainability, and community empowerment by employing residents and ensuring fair treatment of workers.
Apex Poultry Solutions places a strong emphasis on maintaining a culture of fairness and integrity, which is reflected in its business strategy and employee relations. The company believes in providing opportunities for career growth and ensuring that its workforce is
supported through fair employment practices. With a diverse mix of skilled and unskilled
workers, Apex Poultry Solutions understands the varying needs of its employees and aims to provide competitive compensation while maintaining financial sustainability.
The company operates in a physically demanding environment, where employees work long hours in outdoor conditions to ensure the highest product quality. The structure of work requires careful planning to balance efficiency and employee well-being. As a growing
business, financial resources are carefully managed to maintain competitive wages while investing in expansion and innovation.
Beyond internal operations, Apex Poultry Solutions must also navigate the broader South African poultry industry, which is influenced by global trade, competitor pricing,
economic conditions, and labour market fluctuations. As South Africa continues to integrate into the global economy, the company faces competition from imported poultry products, requiring strategic adjustments to remain competitive. Market pay rates fluctuate based on
industry trends, and economic conditions, such as inflation and cost-of-living increases, impact employee wage expectations.
The labour market for skilled agricultural workers remains highly competitive, requiring Apex Poultry Solutions to offer attractive compensation to retain top talent. Government legislation, including the Basic Conditions of Employment Act and the National Minimum Wage Act, sets
compliance standards, while unions play a role in advocating for fair wages and working conditions.
As the company expands, Apex Poultry Solutions must develop a remuneration structure that aligns with its operational goals, financial capabilities, and commitment to fair labour practices. The structure should support business growth while ensuring employees are compensated competitively and equitably.

Question 1 25 Marks

As the company expands, Apex Poultry Solutions plans to hire a farm supervisor to oversee daily
operations, manage staff, and ensure compliance with food safety regulations. As the HR manager of Apex Poultry Solutions, you must develop a competitive remuneration structure for this position to attract and retain skilled talent.
(Use the information provided in Appendices A – C to assist with completing this PoE.)

Your process in developing the remuneration structure will entail:

Conducting a job evaluation in the company to ensure that all jobs are fairly ranked and internally aligned. This process is essential for maintaining internal equity and ensuring that employees
perceive the reward system as just. In your response, address the following:

Select and justify a job evaluation method (analytical or non-analytical). (5 Marks)
Explain how the chosen method works, detailing the steps involved in applying it. (5 Marks)
Provide a well-supported rationale for choosing this method by discussing its advantages and disadvantages. (5 Marks)
Describe how the method promotes internal alignment and fairness in job ranking and compensation. (10 Marks)
Your answer should demonstrate a clear understanding of the chosen method and show how it contributes to internal equity within the organisation.

Question 2 25 Marks

Perform a strategic evaluation and critically discuss how you would analyse the company’s pay strategy to determine its positioning relative to the external market. In your response, address the following:
Analyse the company’s current pay strategy and discuss the key factors influencing remuneration decisions. (5 Marks)
Evaluate whether the company should lead, match, or lag the market in terms of pay and provide a clear justification for your position. (5 Marks)
Identify and explain the method you would use to analyse the company’s market position (e.g., benchmarking, salary surveys, etc.). (5 Marks)
Support your choice of method with relevant reasoning, including the advantages and limitations of your selected approach. (5 Marks)
Discuss how this method supports effective and competitive market positioning while aligning with the company’s overall strategic objectives. (5 Marks)
Your answer should reflect a critical understanding of pay strategy in relation to market dynamics and internal business goals.

Question 3 20 Marks

Read the following case study and complete the questions that follow:

Choose and justify a method/survey for conducting a remuneration survey to determine external competitiveness. In your response, do the following:
Choose one method/survey. (2 Marks) Explain the selected method. (3 Marks)
Say why it was the preferred method and provide evidence. (5 Marks)
Elaborate on the relevance/effectiveness thereof in determining external competitiveness. (10 Marks)

Question 4 30 Marks

Design a pay structure that will suit the organisational needs of Apex Poultry Solutions.

Choose a suitable type of pay structure. (5 Marks)
Describe how the pay structure functions. (5 Marks)
Say why it is the preferred pay structure and provide evidence. (5 Marks) Identify and describe the steps in developing a pay structure. (7 Marks)
Highlight key issues relevant to designing the pay structure. (8 Marks)

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Sample Answers: Ethical Farming at Apex Poultry Solutions Answers

As Apex Poultry Farm seeks to hire a farm supervisor, the attraction and retention of skilled talent requires a proper remuneration structure. An analysis of the job evaluation method and the rationale behind choosing it is performed as follows:
1) job evaluation method: The job evaluation method that will be highly suitable is an analytical job evaluation method which will be the point factor method. This method is highly effective inconsiding fair evaluation of roles and responsibilities which is crucial in the given case of Apex Poultry Farm.
2) steps for the given method: There are many steps that need to be considered in applying the point factor method and these include identifying the main factors on which the compensation will be based on, giving weight to the factors, and performing the calculation of scores to ensure that the job is properly ranked.
3) advantages and disadvantages of this method: The main advantages include the possibility of achieving better transparency, internal equity and better comparison across jobs. The disadvantage is mainly the high amount of time required to perform its implementation and it can be rigid as well.
4) Internal alignment and fairness: This particular method will promote internal alignment by allowing for proper ranking of jobs in a systematic way, possibility to perform comparison across different roles, ensuring complete fairness and transparency and help Apex in developing a reward system that is sustainable.

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