by CHRC | Jul 13, 2021 | Community, Compensation, Economy, Hiring, Human Capital, Inspiration, Jobs, Labor Markets
Lots of the country has been suffering from blistering heat.
Back in the days before most homes had air conditioning there was one really good way to escape the heat.
The movies.
If you weren’t around in 1947, you, too, may have missed “The Best Years of our Lives” which won multiple Oscars that year, including Best Picture and Best Director for William Wyler. The story begins with the unceremonious way in which three returning WWII veterans must find their way back to their shared hometown, bonding in the process. As the story unfolds, the viewer realizes that pre-war life didn’t necessarily dictate war-time rank, and that being a hero in one uniform, might not translate stateside. After watching our essential workers, who were called heroes at the height of the pandemic, it was uncanny to watch a wartime hero strive to earn a living wage once the conflict was over.
While there seems to be no excuse for NOT having seen this movie before, watching it now, as the U.S. is emerging from our battle with Covid, seems eerily fitting.
We’ve all been telling ourselves that never before have we had to deal with such a crazy labor market. That people have never had to readjust after such a life and death struggle; so many have lost loved ones. What about those that might never be 100% healthy again? How does our society and business world work around that? What about folks that have skills that are obsolete? How are workers supposed to retrain and reskill yet again?
Whether you are trying to escape the heat, sit out a rainy weekend, or finally understand why everyone raves about William Wyler and his films, “The Best Years of our Lives” will knock your socks off.
The U.S. has seen this show before, and after watching this movie, you will feel the resolve that we can get through this again, despite all of our collective wounds.
by CHRC | Jul 7, 2021 | Compensation, Economy, Hiring, Innovation, Labor Markets, Recruiting
by CHRC | Aug 19, 2020 | Compensation, Corporate Culture, Skilled Labor, Work Place
Back in May when we first warned of the quicksand that awaited employers flirting with basing pay on where people lived, we approached it from a technical compensation perspective. When I came across this article last night, I knew we had to revisit the topic from the right point of view—corporate strategy.
I had never heard of this CEO or company before, but looked up both after reading this article. Ian White has many quote-worthy quips in this article, but up front he reminds ALL employers that:
Companies have a responsibility to pay their employees fairly and on time, but that’s where their control ends. The manager who chooses to move into an expensive high-rise downtown doesn’t deserve to make more money than their peers who choose to buy a modest home in the suburbs or live with their parents to save on rent.
He echoes many of the sentiments we made back in May, but most importantly he reminds all of something that we often stress—don’t copy a practice that another company is doing if it doesn’t fit with your culture. Read More Here
by CHRC | Jul 22, 2020 | Compensation, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion
By Lisa Aggarwal
Have you watched the Hamilton movie? How many times? I’m on my third time already; getting the most out of my Disney + subscription this month, thank you! I cannot get enough of this masterpiece, which I consider the most important Broadway musical of my lifetime. Leslie Odom Jr. earning a Tony for his role as Aaron Burr was a no-brainer. His talent extends beyond the stage, however. He has also been a powerful voice for the theater community in earning their worth. When you think about it, the story of Alexander Hamilton is about money and the creation of our treasury system, one of the many “systems” that exist today.
In a Los Angeles Times article published in late June, Odom Jr. reflects on how the theater industry has historically been devoid of persons of color and how “Hamilton” is quite the exception. Also exceptional is the theater industry itself, which unlike film and TV, has not historically provided residual pay for enduring classics such as this one. He seeks to build generational wealth for himself and castmates by revising that antiquated pay system.
PayScale Inc., which analyzes compensation data, found in its Raise Anatomy Report in 2018 that of the 37 percent of people who have asked for a raise, white men were the most likely to receive one. Reasons vary, but there are steps that you can take to better prepare yourself.
Systemic issues are being brought to light in so many aspects of society, and I’m optimistic that equitable pay for women and persons of color will also be a priority. In the meantime, be sure to advocate for yourself and understand how your job is valued in the external marketplace. Do research on your role and understand how pay is determined. Internet resources are not foolproof but can be a good starting point. If you are changing jobs, negotiating your starting pay will establish your baseline for years to come. Many states, in an attempt to rectify historical pay discrimination/underpayment, have laws that prohibit an employer from asking for previous salary information. It is crucial to ask for what you believe your experience warrants in terms of pay. It really does start with you, because we don’t get what we don’t ask for. After all, Hamilton “got a lot farther by working a lot harder, by being a lot smarter, by being a self-starter.”
by CHRC | Jul 22, 2020 | Compensation
By Lisa Aggarwal
Have you watched the Hamilton movie? How many times? I’m on my third time already; getting the most out of my Disney + subscription this month, thank you! I cannot get enough of this masterpiece, which I consider the most important Broadway musical of my lifetime. Leslie Odom Jr. earning a Tony for his role as Aaron Burr was a no-brainer. His talent extends beyond the stage, however. He has also been a powerful voice for the theater community in earning their worth. When you think about it, the story of Alexander Hamilton is about money and the creation of our treasury system, one of the many “systems” that exist today.
In a Los Angeles Times article published in late June, Odom Jr. reflects on how the theater industry has historically been devoid of persons of color and how “Hamilton” is quite the exception. Also exceptional is the theater industry itself, which unlike film and TV, has not historically provided residual pay for enduring classics such as this one. He seeks to build generational wealth for himself and castmates by revising that antiquated pay system.
PayScale Inc., which analyzes compensation data, found in its Raise Anatomy Report in 2018 that of the 37 percent of people who have asked for a raise, white men were the most likely to receive one. Reasons vary, but there are steps that you can take to better prepare yourself.
Systemic issues are being brought to light in so many aspects of society, and I’m optimistic that equitable pay for women and persons of color will also be a priority. In the meantime, be sure to advocate for yourself and understand how your job is valued in the external marketplace. Do research on your role and understand how pay is determined. Internet resources are not foolproof but can be a good starting point. If you are changing jobs, negotiating your starting pay will establish your baseline for years to come. Many states, in an attempt to rectify historical pay discrimination/underpayment, have laws that prohibit an employer from asking for previous salary information. It is crucial to ask for what you believe your experience warrants in terms of pay. It really does start with you, because we don’t get what we don’t ask for. After all, Hamilton “got a lot farther by working a lot harder, by being a lot smarter, by being a self-starter.”
by CHRC | May 6, 2020 | Compensation, Economy, Human Capital, Wage Increases
For some time now, the compensation consultants at CHRC have been keeping an eye on the wages of those in the service sector. We watch the monthly JOLTS data aggregated by the Atlanta Fed and often have criticized news headlines that put an overemphasis on Manufacturing and Construction job gains and losses because they under-emphasize the large percentage of the U.S. economy that the service sector comprises.
We think Covid-19 has changed America’s understanding of how reliant the economy and all of us are on this service sector.
Given CHRC’s attention to this area of the labor market, and the recent wage pressure caused by over demand and under supply, this headline immediately caught our eye: Returning to Business Is Going to Take a Pay Raise. This sentence in particular caught our attention: “The coronavirus has laid bare that without workers to produce and consume their products, even the most formidable companies are just empty shells.” The author was not an HR consultant or a labor economist; he is an investment advisor who writes a column for Bloomberg.
We agree. If there was already a shortage of workers for the service sector, when we return to normal, whatever the new normal looks like, and whenever normal kinda sorta returns, we do think that some of these roles will see an increase in wages.
Two weeks later we came across the same sentiments, in a theological magazine. While this author’s vantage point was slightly different, his meaning was exactly the same: “Societal value is more subjective, and even higher-paid workers and executives are now recognizing that a well-functioning society really needs people to provide these services.” This author, like the Bloomberg columnist, referenced The Business Roundtable’s “Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation” that 181 executives signed in August 2019. In the statement, these leaders concede that in addition to shareholders, they also serve stakeholders, which includes employees and customers.
Nobody knows what the new normal will look like, but we all know what the world’s been like without haircuts and without meals out, exchanging banter with our favorite servers. We know that many people that do invisible but essential jobs—from garbage collection, to hospital laundry, to first responders—have died from Covid-19. The hope of this Human Resource consultancy is that if financial and theological magazines are publishing pieces that reach the same conclusion, perhaps business leaders are synthesizing similarly and the new normal will involve some evolved compensation conversations. Read More Here and Here
