Compensation

Let's dispense, once and for all, with the managerial absurdity known as "stretch goals." While it's true that renowned psychologists Edwin Locke and Gary Latham described goal setting as "the most effective managerial tool available," it's also true that no less a thinker than W.E. Deming insisted that companies, "Eliminate management by objective." In my opinion, there can be no such debate over the lack of usefulness of stretch goals. Here's why.

People are billed as companies’ most important asset so routinely that we should be surprised they don’t all sleep nights in a corporate vault. Yet, in the hard-nosed, bottom-line discipline of managing organizations, the “soft skills” of people management practices are more often an afterthought than a core strategy linked to superior business performance. And while manufacturers’ workforce management practices have moved far beyond the personnel office of decades past—with its origins in managing masses of low-skilled workers in a pre-technological age—many have a long way to go to engage their people and connect these practices to shareholder value. Talent management for many manufacturers could be characterized as a less than ideal blend of new aspirations and old tactics.

Financial services, retail and manufacturing have been large producers and consumers of data for many years. But now, every industry is becoming a data-driven industry, as more operations of a business are tied to a vast array of Web user actions and connected devices. To make use of all the data that now flows into the business, an analyst has to have empathy for real business problems – they has to ask, “what do we want to learn from the data that would be valuable for the business?”

The Department of Health and Human Services plans to audit 150 plan sponsors and employers to make sure employee health and financial records are adequately protected. Creating appropriate policies and procedures, instituting a risk assessment and training employees are keys to compliance, experts say.

All HR executives should be concerned about recent developments at the National Labor Relations Board. Where once you may have just skimmed the news about the agency, you may now want to pay closer attention.

These Best Companies are stepping it up with treats like free hotel stays and cupcake truck visits to keep their employees happy.

A recent study finds that bonuses and certain types of reward systems have little effect on long-term organizational performance. Still, most experts say reward systems are necessary, and urge HR leaders to have a hand in developing -- and communicating -- a system that's appropriate for their organizations.
photo courtesy of i-r-paulus

Seven states and the Internal Revenue Service plan to join the Department of Labor in a broad review of the hiring and pay practices of home builders and other companies the government says routinely misclassify workers as independent contractors, rather than employees.

Faced with the rising cost of health care on the one hand and the need for enticing benefits packages to compete for talent on the other, many organizations are feeling the squeeze.
 
According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) “2011 Employee Benefits Research Report,” released in June at SHRM’s annual conference, nearly three-fourths of the 600 HR practitioners surveyed reported the economy has negatively impacted their benefits offerings, an increase of 5 percent over 2010’s already grim figures.

For many U.S. chief executives, bonuses bounced back last year at a speedy clip.  CEO bonuses at 50 major corporations jumped a median of 30.5%, the biggest gain in at least three years, according to a study of the first batch of corporate CEO pay disclosures by consulting firm Hay Group for The Wall Street Journal.

WASHINGTON—House Speaker John Boehner said Thursday that he's determined to offer a budget this spring that curbs Social Security and Medicare, despite the political risks, and that Republicans will try to persuade voters that sacrifices are needed.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, the U.K.’s biggest government-owned bank, will be the lender worst hit by yesterday’s agreement with the Treasury to curb bonuses and boost lending, analysts said. British taxpayers may end up bearing the cost.

RBS cut the bonus pool for investment bankers by 27 percent to less than 950 million pounds ($1.5 billion), the lender said yesterday. That’s less than half the 2.2 billion pounds Barclays Plc had allocated for bonuses by the end of the third quarter. RBS will also limit individual cash bonuses to 2,000 pounds. The bank had sought to pay as much as 50,000 pounds to keep employees, a person familiar with the talks said Dec. 20.

Saving money is great. So is having happy employees. How about both? Adding a few new benefits to your company's repertoire can make your business more attractive to prospective employees, help you retain the employees you want to keep and give you an edge against the competition.