Pay is Top Factor

WorldatWork reported on the recent release by the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) of “Job Satisfaction and Engagement: The Road to Economic Recovery.”

Here is more proof that getting pay right is more important than ever.

 

Shari Dunn, Managing Director

https://companalysis.wordpress.com/

Expert Salary Survey Advice

Do the words “salary data” cause you to mumble bad words under your breath?  Sifting through the large amount of currently available survey data can be a daunting task at best.  Margaret Bentson, CCP,  Principal Consultant with CompAnalysis, recently had her article “Getting the Biggest Bang for Your Survey Buck,” published in WorldatWork’s new book, Survey Best Practices.  Her article covers these and other practical topics:

• The role of market data in setting pay levels
• Which surveys to use
• How to use survey data effectively, including interpreting data and
  methodologies for compiling and calculating data accurately
• The do’s and don’ts of job matching
• Aging data and determining estimated market value
• Determining position relative to market

Survey Best Practices, a collection of articles written by some of the profession’s top experts, is for practitioners at all levels who are responsible for comparing and evaluating market data, offering an overview of survey practices and issues.

For more information or to order a copy, visit WorldatWork.

– Sarah Gersumky, Associate

https://companalysis.wordpress.com/

Compensation Resolutions for a Smoother 2013

We are approaching year end and it’s time to prepare some New Year’s resolutions regarding your compensation program.

Over the course of the last year, most of my wonderful clients have taken my advice to heart, making hard decisions and implementing changes to their compensation plans.  However, there have been a few cases in point where the process, let us say, could have been smoother!

So from these experiences, I recommend that you take an honest look at your compensation plan and use your persuasive skills with upper management to make some changes in 2013.

1. Use clear messaging.  Often, management does not want to declare its compensation philosophy because they think that people will be unhappy with it.  If that’s the thinking, it’s generally the case that employees are already unhappy, and are making up all kinds of stories about compensation, most of which are not true.  Be clear, be honest, be forthcoming.  Even if employees don’t like what they hear, everyone knows where they stand.
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2. Do what you say you are going to do.  If you embark on a compensation project and tell employees you will be making decisions in March – do it!  If you implement a bonus program – make sure it pays out like you said it would!  There’s nothing worse than breaking your word and losing credibility with your workforce.  You may see it as a “whoops” moment, but losing employee engagement results in a downward spiral that is hard to reverse.
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3. Keep managing your compensation plan.  You’ve implemented a compensation plan and you can rest for a couple years.  Wrong!   Labor market inflation continues, even though it seems like no one got a pay increase for the last few years.  In actuality, many people did get raises because employers knew that even with fewer employees, it’s important to pay market rates for jobs.  So pay structures should be adjusted annually for labor market inflation (check WorldatWork and others for their data).  Changes in job duties (material ones) should result in the repricing of jobs.  You may not be able to allocate large sums of money for pay adjustments, but you should at least be aware of where your pay stands relative to the market.  Knowledge is power!

– Lisa Norris, Senior Consultant

https://companalysis.wordpress.com

Human Capital … by any other name

“By articulating and documenting their employee value proposition (EVP) and their total rewards strategy and then applying the three key principles of integration, segmentation and agility to their reward and talent management model, organizations can significantly improve their human capital risk management and the return on their investment in talent.”

                – The talent management and rewards imperative for 2012, 
                  WorldatWork and Towers Watson

Seriously?  What does this mean?  Human capital?  Is that me? I’m a compensation professional and even to me this sounds like a foreign language. 

The blurb is supposed to be the hook for 26 pages examining rewards and talent management and retention during these unsettled economic times.

Does jargon like this help us make the work of compensation more accessible and accepted by “the world at work”?  I think not.

As compensation professionals, part of our greatest challenge is educating managers and decision-makers about the benefits of structured compensation programs.  Obviously, we are big fans of “articulating and documenting” what World at Work calls the “employee value proposition and total rewards strategy.”   However, for the many organizations unfamiliar with such lingo, this kind of language is off-putting and it frames a discipline that is sorely needed with ambiguous  terms that seem to change annually.

To better command the attention of industry leaders, and I include in this category those in small start-ups and struggling non-profits, we must speak in terms everyone understands without creating a separate language for compensation, human resources, or organizational development.

– Lisa Norris, Senior Consultant