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Performance Management: Do’s and Don’ts in 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 […]

The Autocratic Advantage: 5 Best Practices for Top-Down Leadership

Randomly pick any book on business leadership styles at a bookstore, and chances are it will sing praises of the democratic, all-inclusive leadership style.  Coercion, dictatorship, and autocracy are bad, it will claim.  Now think about some business leaders that have had the maximum impact on the world in recent years.  Do Steve Jobs, Elon […]

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Real Engagement: Employee Relationships Are a Two-Way Street

There are varying uses of the word “engagement” in the English language. It can mean a betrothal between two people; an arrangement to do something at a particular time and place; or a conflict, or battle, between opposing forces.

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How Employee Incentive Programs Can Benefit from Behavioral Economics

When James Brewer stepped into his role as U.S. Director of Reward and Recognition at pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly in 2011, it was going through a transformation. He was tasked with coming up with a new incentive plan for employees—particularly its sales reps—that aligned with the company’s new corporate strategy, Brewer explained to an audience at […]

Preparing for Employee Turnover

In a previous post, we discussed the challenges that come with employee turnover and that those challenges aren’t limited to top-level executives. At any level, employee turnover means losing someone with institutional knowledge, the potential to sidetrack or at least impede progress on ongoing projects, and forcing employers to spend months onboarding replacements.

GINA violations: Acquiring, using, or disclosing employee genetic information

How does the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) protect genetic information? "Under GINA, under Title II, it is unlawful for an employer to acquire, use, or disclose an employee's genetic information." Ruth N. Mackey explained in a recent BLR webinar. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the ways an employer can […]

Administering COBRA Continuation Coverage in Mergers and Acquisitions Can Be Complicated

Recently, there has been an uptick in the number of business transactions in the marketplace. From a legal perspective, employee benefits issues are often a key element of any business transaction. Everything from employee pay, retention, and bonus payments to 401(k), pensions, and fringe benefits is “on the table” as the parties negotiate terms. Of […]

Survey Shows What Employers Are Doing to Reduce Health Care Costs

Eighty-four percent of responding companies reported taking at least one action to reduce healthcare costs in the prior year, and two-thirds plan further cost control in the coming year. The most popular cost control steps include: Raising employees’ portion of healthcare premiums Raising employees’ copayments and deductibles Offering health savings accounts (HSAs) and/or health reimbursement […]

Do You Show Empathy to Employees?

When reading the headline, many of us may have instinctively thought, “Of course I show empathy!” But the reality is that employees often don’t feel they’re treated in ways that show empathy. The employer-employee relationship is often seen by employees as more adversarial than supportive.

Pay Budgets for 2015 (New Survey Results)

Yesterday’s Advisor began our coverage of BLR’s 2014–2015 Pay Budget Survey results. Today, the rest of the results, including 2015 compensation planning. [Go here for 2014 data and the rest of the survey results] 2015 Merit Increases A mere 13.8% (down from 14.1% in 2013) of survey participants have decided and/or approved their pay budgets […]