Question

1) How job evaluation can be conducted for a Mid-level sales executive position in an FMCG based company and prepared a grade-based pay structure for the same position.

2) Prepare a performance appraisal metric for the below-mentioned job role along with incentive and compensation after appraisal.

AGRICULTURAL CONSULTANT

Agricultural consultants provide advice on the use and management of agricultural land. Typically they specialize either in business or technical expertise; specialists in the former area advise agricultural landowners on financial issues and business strategy, while technical specialists consider how to make the most effective use of the land. Technical specialists often focus on a particular area, such as pollution control, forestry consultancy, or crop rotation. Whatever the specialisation, the ultimate aim of an agricultural consultant is to balance the commercial viability of agricultural land with sustainable development. Key tasks include:

• visiting farms to conduct analyses and collect data, such as crop yield
• measuring, analysing and interpreting data
• conducting land valuations
• advising on compliance with current legislation and use of governmental or EU schemes
• giving demonstrations
• making presentations
• writing technical publications
• preparing reports
• developing and maintaining a set of client contacts
• maintaining awareness of developments in your area of specialisation, as well as the wider agricultural sector
• attending conferences
• advertising and marketing services.

A large proportion of the work is home or office based, while some consultants may also spend time in the laboratory. Visits to farms may require a substantial amount of car travel, although the distance and the need for overnight stays depend on the project. The working week tends to be from Monday to Friday, although variations in workload relate to seasonal demands - some long and unsocial hours may be necessary during busy periods.

Opportunities for promotion are into senior consultancy positions and then management positions. Promotion is often related to experience and performance, and relocation or specialisation may be required to progress.

Jobs are advertised by specialist recruitment agencies, in local/national newspapers, by the National Farmers' Union and trade publications including the New Scientist, Nature, Farmers' Weekly and The Scottish Farmer. Speculative applications are highly advisable, for which directories such as the British Institute of Agricultural Consultants (BIAC) or the Associaltion of Independent Crop Consultants' List of Members may be useful. It is also an excellent idea to make use of the contacts agricultural colleges and departments have to local and national agricultural businesses and institutions.

A few farm management consultancy firms offer a small number of graduate trainee positions.

Opportunities for overseas work occur regularly, although previous international experience is often necessary and many vacancies are temporary.

Typical employers of agricultural consultants

• Agricultural development agencies
• Public sector organisations, charities and conservation bodies
• Home and foreign governments
• Farm management consultancy firms
• Farmers, growers, landowners and farming co-operatives
• Rural property consultancies.

Qualifications and training required

A degree in soil/earth sciences, agriculture, horticulture, crop/plant science or animal science is normally the minimum academic requirement for entry into the profession, although it may be possible to enter a business consultancy role in agriculture with a business degree.

Whatever specialisation you choose, prior experience of the agricultural industry is essential. A relevant postgraduate qualification may also be necessary for overseas work, and further study into a niche area may help career progression.

Key skills for agricultural consultants

Due to the nature of the work, it helps if graduates enjoy working outdoors. A driving licence and car often feature among the list of essential requirements. Employers look for individuals with evidence of:

• initiative
• good written and oral communication skills
• sales and persuasion skills, along with the ability to maintain relationships
• technical and analytical skills
• nusiness acumen
• proficiency in IT
• the ability to work well within a team.

ANSWER IS IN THE PROVIDED INFORMATION

Answer 1

Answer to the first question:

1. How to do the job evaluation of the mid-level sales executive in an FMCG Company.

Job evaluation is a systematic method of finding out the worth or value of a job in the organization. It can be done by various methods such as Ranking, Classification, and factorial method. The mid-level executives in the sales function mainly play the role of sales managers like Zonal Manager, Regional Manager, or National Manager based on the area of operation under him/her. A sales Management work is skill-oriented work and managing the team which is working under him. In this role, the role of manager is to provide technical and commercial guidance to the team and keep them motivated. For such an important role, we can adopt the classification method of job evaluation because this method is relatively difficult to understand in comparison to the ranking method but less subjective with respect to the ranking method. This job is more about the soft skills of sales and people management skills, therefore we are taking the non-analytical method of job evaluation.

The Job can be classified with respect to the work content and skillsets required for this position. E.g. A frontline salesman don't need people management skill but he needs more soft skill or sales skills. Similarly, the Top management in the sales should have a more strategic management approach and need high level of organizing and planning skills. But for mid-level executive he should have more operational skills and people skills to manage the sales team.

How to create Grade based pay structure for the mid-level executives in FMCG Company

In order to create a Grade Based Pay Structure we need to follow the following steps.

a. The first thing to do is to decide on overall Pay range for the executives in mid-level, it will indicate the maximum and the minimum.

b. At the mid-level there can be certain number of executives, therefore decide on number of grades which will be there in the mid-level executives

c. Determine the range of salaries for each grade, again with a maximum and minimum.

d. In order to visualize all the grades and their respective pay scale, Create a pay grade chart indicating the pay bands for each grade.

e. Review the same as and as and when required it needs to be modified based on the market standards.