by CHRC | Jan 9, 2019 | Compensation
People have been trying to use compensation plans for years to alter behavior believing that just the right comp system will manage people. Compensation is a type of algorithm. In the mid to late 1990s, people were convinced that stock options were magic. While they could certainly be an effective tool for some companies, in some instances, they could never replace managing people.
Having been a comp consultant for nearly a quarter of a century (now there’s some scary math!) there is one thing that I am sure of: managing people takes more nuance than some simple formulas can yield.
In a recent Forbes article, Enrique Dans poses an interesting question, “Is Using Algorithms In Human Resources A No-Brainer–Or Something More Sinister?” He discusses the impact of using algorithms in Human Resources. He references Laszlo Bock, who co-founded a company called Humu to create algorithms aimed at improving employee satisfaction. “Bock and his colleagues say their nudges are not about getting people to do things they don’t want to do, but instead are simply recommendations to implement small changes that for whatever reason haven’t previously been suggested.”
Now, this article struck me less as sinister and more as “Here we go again …” Like compensation algorithms, I’m not sure there’s a formula that will “improve satisfaction” or “create a better work environment” for all; Perhaps there are quantitative measures that can guide managers conversations with their employees? Read More Here
by CHRC | Jul 25, 2018 | Compensation, Human Capital, Productivity, Work Place
In a recent New York Times article, Charlotte Graham-McLay shares that a New Zealand firm reduced its workweek to 32 hours, while still paying employees for 40 hours. The trial was such a success that the firm is planning on making the change permanent. The firm found that workers wasted less time and increased their productivity while at work.
“Jarrod Haar, a human resources professor at Auckland University of Technology said employees reported a 24 percent improvement in their work-life, and came back to work energized after their days off.”
Aside from company productivity, Andrew Barnes, the firm’s founder, believes the change in hours could also offer economical and environmental implications if more companies embraced a similar approach.
This isn’t a solution for all companies, but an inspiration to innovate. What was it about this schedule that led to this workforce increasing their productivity? What changes could your company make to increase its productivity? Read More Here
by CHRC | Jul 11, 2018 | Compensation, Human Capital
I once worked for an Australian bank here in the U. S. What was even more shocking than the amount of their annual vacation time (at least four weeks to start), was the fact that while on vacation, employees were paid 117% of their typical salary. Why? “Because, it costs more to go on holiday,” they would answer us wondering why we would ask such a silly question.
So, I was intrigued when I stumbled across this article about a company that includes an Airbnb stipend. The CEO of NodeSource, Inc., Joe McCann, explains how challenging it is for emerging companies to compete salary-wise with larger corporations and why he needed to go beyond typical compensation packages to attract employees.
Is a traveling subsidy a cost or an investment? When people travel, they see different things; but most importantly, they see different WAYS of doing the everyday. I’ve redesigned closets, rooms, and workflow based on how space-constrained Europeans and Asians have to fit things in tiny spaces. It’s not just space you might rework – when you observe different approaches to the mundane, you can re-think all sorts of thought processes. A person can indeed come home from traveling and re-engineer, and improve, a way to approach a process, a problem, or a project.
For companies that are dependent on innovation, or expanding into global markets, I am not sure how they can afford to NOT give their employees a stipend to travel. Read More Here
by CHRC | May 30, 2018 | Compensation, Economy, Wage Increases
Two summers ago, we posted an article, “
Is the Economy Getting Better Or Worse?” Still perplexed, this year, we’re hearing from the Kansas City Fed. They strike a cautionary note that if 14.3% of workers haven’t received a raise in the last year, then there aren’t true pressures on wages, and therefore no concerns about inflation, and no need to raise interest rates. QED.
Not so fast. Let us return to the thought process that geometry proofs taught us:
If 14.3% of workers did not receive a wage increase, 85.7% did. Drop to the median, not of the triangle, but of the same Fed statistics. The median wage increase in April was 3.3% and the 75th percentile increase of 13.9%. That delta is 10.6%
So the real question is: Who are the 14.3%? Are they people in jobs that the market no longer rewards? Are they people who have been making at market, or higher, for many years and therefore their employers cannot justify an increase? Are they employees who have not acquired new skills and therefore are stagnated in roles and cannot get a raise? Do they work for companies that are facing economic challenges and doing their best to keep their doors open in the US? Or are keeping wages low but providing benefits?
We, of course, do not have the answers to the questions underlying the 14.3%, but we feel that the focus should be on the reciprocal, the 85.7% … and especially the 13.9%. Where they live and what they do – the intersections of those planes will have far more to do with inflation.
Read More Here.
by CHRC | May 30, 2018 | Compensation, Economy, Wage Increases
Two summers ago, we posted an article, “
Is the Economy Getting Better Or Worse?” Still perplexed, this year, we’re hearing from the Kansas City Fed. They strike a cautionary note that if 14.3% of workers haven’t received a raise in the last year, then there aren’t true pressures on wages, and therefore no concerns about inflation, and no need to raise interest rates. QED.
Not so fast. Let us return to the thought process that geometry proofs taught us:
If 14.3% of workers did not receive a wage increase, 85.7% did. Drop to the median, not of the triangle, but of the same Fed statistics. The median wage increase in April was 3.3% and the 75th percentile increase of 13.9%. That delta is 10.6%
So the real question is: Who are the 14.3%? Are they people in jobs that the market no longer rewards? Are they people who have been making at market, or higher, for many years and therefore their employers cannot justify an increase? Are they employees who have not acquired new skills and therefore are stagnated in roles and cannot get a raise? Do they work for companies that are facing economic challenges and doing their best to keep their doors open in the US? Or are keeping wages low but providing benefits?
We, of course, do not have the answers to the questions underlying the 14.3%, but we feel that the focus should be on the reciprocal, the 85.7% … and especially the 13.9%. Where they live and what they do – the intersections of those planes will have far more to do with inflation.
Read More Here.
by CHRC | Apr 17, 2018 | Compensation, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Human Capital, Work Place
If you haven’t seen our latest post, Read More Here, we highlighted a recent study about the earnings gap that some working mothers experience after the birth of a child. The study’s findings suggest that depending on the arrival of that first child, some women’s earnings will never recover. We happen to think that a great deal of these mothers chose alternate paths, and paths that often benefit other parents looking for flexibility. If you’re in Virginia, check out this new company, Play, Work, or Dash. Their co-working space offers more than just a space to work. They’re branching out and offering childcare services. A future trend we might see more of? We sure hope so. Another idea we wish we had thought of first. Read More Here.
