Category: Benefits and Compensation

This topic provides guidance on how to handle compensation issues in a way that attracts and retains the best talent and advances the strategic goals of your business. You get news and tips on what’s going on nationally and in the states, and updates on changes in regulations, possible governmental action, and emerging compensation trends.

What’s Behind the Move to Variable Performance Pay?

Across-the-board increases and the entitlement mentality are out, and the pay-for-performance mentality is in, says Consultant Teri Morning, MBA, MS, SPHR, SPHR-CA. Organizations are looking for less expensive, less permanent solutions, such as lump sum payments, bonuses, or just paying top performers, she adds. Increasingly, employers are less averse to withholding merit increases for poor […]

Compensation 101—The Basics

Employees are satisfied. Both internal and external equity are maintained. Control is maintained over compensation costs. For a review of basic compensation program principles, we turned to Compensation.BLR.com®. Properly structured and administered, your compensation program will: Help attract top talent. Retain core employees. Encourage longevity while efficiently using financial resources. Establishing an effective compensation administration […]

Performance Appraisals: The 10 Most Common Rating Errors

Most HR professionals look forward to conducting annual performance reviews about as much as a trip to the dentist, but as the economy improves, performance appraisals are going to be the key for talent retention, a positive work environment, and the overall growth and productivity of your organization. That said, there are also pitfalls to […]

Performance Appraisals: Do’s and Don’ts from the Real World

Makris, senior counsel at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, and Rhoma Young of the HR consulting firm Rhoma Young & Associates offered tips for ensuring that performance appraisals are used legally and effectively. Their suggestions came in a recent BLR®/HR Hero® audio conference. From a legal perspective, performance appraisals are important because they can help defend […]

DOL Proposes that 401(k) Service Providers Furnish Fee Guides

Employers struggling to decode the service provider fee disclosures from their retirement plans may be getting some relief. Nearly two years after the U.S. Department of Labor published a proposed rule requiring covered service providers to disclose the cost of what they do for employer-sponsored 401(k)s, the agency is requesting more help for plan sponsors […]

Lessons from Lombardi—The 8-Hour Session

(Oswald, CEO of BLR®, offered his thoughts on Lombardi and leadership in a recent edition of The Oswald Letter.) As a young assistant coach, Madden attended a coaching clinic where Lombardi was the speaker. As Madden tells it, he was quite confident in his football knowledge. Showing up at the clinic, he sat in the […]

Wage and Hour Simple? The 10 Sins

Sin #1. Failure to pay the minimum wage We’ll pay you $5 an hour until you learn the ropes; then you move up to $7 an hour. Virtually all employees are entitled to receive at least the minimum wage (the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour; many states have higher minimum wages) for all […]

6 Reasons to Conduct an Employee Engagement Survey

Benowitz, who is the vice president of Growth and Development at The Employee Engagement Group, offered his expert tips on engagement surveys in a recent webcast offered by BLR. Six Reasons to Conduct an Employee Engagement Survey Demonstrate your concern about employee issues. Find out what’s stressing your workforce (gives you an opportunity to act). […]

Stop Measuring Satisfaction—Start Focusing on Engagement

Benowitz, who is the vice president of Growth and Development at The Employee Engagement Group, offered his expert tips on engagement surveys in a recent webcast offered by BLR. Engagement is about mutual commitment, says Benowitz. Companies help employees reach their potential and employees help their companies perform better. This combination results in engagement—“the capture […]

Perks—Do Yours Measure Up? Who’s Offering What?

Help us find out! Please participate in our brief survey and see how what you are doing stacks up against what other successful companies are doing. Who’s offering what perks out in the real world? Wellness Life, Accident, Pet Insurance? Flex, Child care, Telecommuting? Financial Planning, Legal Assistance, EAP? Tuition Reimbursement? What else? Participate in […]