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.

Dealing with ‘I-Deals’—Managers’ Special Arrangements with Individual Employees

I-deals are idiosyncratic “deals” that managers make with individual employees. They’re hard to stop, but it’s worth trying, says Greene, who is CEO of Reward $ystems Inc., in Glenview IL. Greene’s remarks came at the recent 2011 World at Work Conference in San Diego. Idiosyncratic “Deals” With Individuals/Groups Competitive talent markets increase the pressure to […]

Are your retirement plan’s fees excessive? Failed participant suits may inform plan sponsors

Federal courts on numerous occasions in the last two years have dismissed plan participant allegations that their employers charged excessive retirement plan fees. The rulings taken together say: If a plan is not enriching itself at participants’ expense — or operating with a conflict of interest in relation to its investment company — then it’s […]

Big Bang Promotions, Execution, and Carve-Outs

In yesterday’s Advisor, consultantsMyrna Hellerman CCP and Jim Kochanski  discussed how Big Bang companies broke out of sameness; today, their take on carve-outs and promotions, plus an introduction to a unique 10-minutes-at-a-time training system for your managers and supervisors. Hellerman and Kochanski, who are Sr. Vice Presidents at Sibson Consulting, offered their tips at WorldatWork’s […]

Comp Policies? They’re for the Other Managers, Not Me

And to make matters worse, compensation policy-making and enforcing has gotten harder, says Greene, CEO of Reward $ystems Inc., in Glenview IL. Greene’s remarks came at the recent 2011 World at Work Conference in San Diego. Why is policy making tougher today? People are more mobile, and they’re onsite and offsite Critical skill shortages exist […]

Pay for Performance: The Big Bang Theory

For at least 10 years, the practice of managing compensation has been caught in a black hole pulling organizations towards “sameness,” say experts Myrna Hellerman CCP and Jim Kochanski. In today’s Advisor, they discuss how some Big Bang companies broke out of sameness to do what was right for the business. The Forces of ‘Sameness’ […]

Planned Merit/General Increases by Size and Industry: Survey Results

BLR’s 2012 Pay Budget Survey was conducted in June 2011. A total of 1637 organizations participated.  (For a complete copy of the Pay Budget Survey, including regional data, go here.) Here are more findings: Planned Increases by Company Size Small employers (those with fewer than 100 employees) and medium (between 100–500 employees) are planning the […]

Sales Comp Never Easy in Ever-Changing Environment

Sales comp is tricky any time, but it is especially difficult now, when so many things are changing: the economy, the customers, the products, the technology. But you still need a plan. Expert Laura Roach has one. In yesterday’s Advisor, we began expert Laura Roach’s 10 practical steps for aligning sales comp and corporate strategy. […]

Pay Budget Survey Says—Modest Increases for 2012

In last year’s 2011 Pay Budget Survey, employers reported that their average planned merit pay increase for 2011 would be 1.98%, meaning the actual merit increases for 2011 were lower than anticipated for a second year in a row. Although the average planned merit increase for 2012 is an improvement over last year’s survey, expectations […]

10 Steps to Align Comp with Strategy

Align your compensation program with your corporate strategies—how many times have we heard that? Now Laura Roach CCP offers 10 practical steps for accomplishing this key mission. Roach, who is General Manager at Varicent Software Incorporated, a provider of incentive compensation and sales performance management (SPM) solutions, offered her suggestions in a recent Varicent white […]