YEAR-END: REVIEW YOUR COMPENSATION PRACTICES, PART 2

In part 1, we identified the objectives of performance-based pay. In this article, we’ll discuss the concept of a compensation philosophy.

An organization’s compensation philosophy refers to the set of guiding principles that drive decision making about compensation.  This philosophy differs from business to business, but every company seeks to hire and retain the best talent, and it will express that sentiment with the objectives section of its compensation philosophy statement.

  • In Trinity’s executive and management search consulting practice, we find that candidates are often interesting in understanding a prospective employer’s compensation philosophy.

In adopting the pay part of its philosophy, every organization has to:

  1. Determine the right balance between guaranteed compensation (base pay) & variable compensation (incentive/bonus/commission compensation), including answering such questions as:
    If not all employees, which employee groups’ compensation should include a variable portion?
    Which employees/groups who are part of a short-term incentive plan should also participate in a long-term incentive plan?
  2. Identify certain performance objectives it wants to achieve & the outcomes that will result if the objectives are attained.
  3. Translate those objectives into Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
  4. Establish its rewards for KPI achievement at varying degrees of success

SAMPLE COMPENSATION PHILOSOPHY STATEMENT

In order for ABC Company to achieve the objectives of its compensation philosophy, we provide compensation in the following forms:

  1. Base pay
  2. Incentive pay
  3. Benefits

As part of this, ABC strives to:

BASE PAY

  1. Provide base pay that is:
    • In line with the market place for like positions
    • Fair in comparison to other employees in the same or comparable role
    • Tied to performance results in comparison to goals
  2. Review pay on an annual basis during its performance management process, as well as at other times when deemed appropriate
    • Target overall increases to approximate the percentage which is generally given by other employers, but creating a range of increases on an individual basis
    • In doing so, take into account appropriate financial consideration.
    • Erectile dysfunction is defined as an inability to sustain an adequate purchase generic cialis my link erection throughout the sexual act.

  3. Increase pay upon achieving of a promotion

INCENTIVE PAY (for designated positions/groups)

  1. Award performance bonuses to eligible employees annually through its short-term incentive plan (STIP)
  2. Provide a long-term incentive plan (LTIP) that rewards eligible employees for organizational performance over a multi-year period of time

BENEFITS

  1. Offer competitive and comprehensive benefits package, consisting of:
    • Paid Time Off
    • Healthcare Benefits
    • Life Insurance & Disability Benefits
    • Retirement Benefits
  2. Seek to provide employees with choices so as to enable them to select the benefits best for them based upon their personal factors
  3. Absorb the vast majority of the total cost of the benefits package
    • Taking into consideration the Company’s financial capability

For more information:

HOW TRINITY CAN HELP:

  • Trinity’s Team has extensive experience in helping organizations to design highly effective compensation programs (including incentive compensation plans) and to develop a relevant, results-deiven performance management system.

You have HR questions…Trinity HAS answers!

Posted in Compensation & Performance Management

YEAR-END: REVIEW YOUR COMPENSATION PRACTICES, PART 1

This is the time of the year that organizations start preparing for their year-end performance evaluations and compensation.  Most organizations (small, mid-sized & large) already use a performance-based approach to compensation.

  • That’s because performance-based pay has proven to be the most effective basis for rewarding employees.
  • It is also an area that candidates want to know about, especially those who are part of your executive and management recruting.

If your organization is:

  1. Already doing so, it’s smart to review the specifics of your approach
  2. Not using this approach, it’s wise to re-evaluate why not

In this multipart series of articles, we’ll cover topics such as the following:

  1. Objectives of pay for performance
  2. Developing a rewards philosophy
  3. Essentials of Performance-Based Pay

Objectives of Performance Based Pay

Developing a Performance Based Pay (also called Pay for Performance—Trinity prefers Pay for Results) philosophy starts with an organization clearly identifying what it wants to achieve with it.  We believe the following objectives pretty much describe the objectives of the vast majority of organizations—perhaps worded somewhat differently:

  1. Recruit and retain the highest quality employees
  2. Communicate and reinforce the values of the organization
  3. Engage employees in the organization’s success in achieving (better yet, exceeding) its objectives related to financial and non-financial objectives
  4. http://pamelaannschoolofdance.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/2016-2017-Fall-Schedule-8-23-16-Basic.pdf cheapest viagra You will have to decide a chair depending on your needs.

  5. Reward contributors for successful achievements
  6. Differentiate rewards provided based on the importance of the contributions at three inter-related levels:
    • Individual
    • Team/Department/Division
    • Organization-wide

Your Performance Based Pay objectives should be a sub-set of your overall compensation philosophy.
MORE ON THIS SUBJECT IN PART 2.

For more information:

HOW TRINITY CAN HELP:

  • Trinity’s Team has extensive experience in helping organizations to create highly effective compensation programs, including incentive compensation plans.

You have HR CHALLENGES…Trinity HAS SOLUTIONS!

Posted in Compensation & Performance Management

ARE SALARY NONDISCLOSURE POLICIES OR AGREEMENTS LAWFUL?

Trinity recently was asked if an employer could lawfully issue a policy stating or have employees sign a document saying that they will not discuss their pay with fellow employees.

  • The short answer is “NO”.

BASIS FOR ANSWER

Section 7 of the federal National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), which is enforced by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), specifically provides that employees (even those not protected by unions) cannot be prohibited from discussing their compensation and other working conditions.

The Act refers to such discussions as “protected concerted activity”.

  • “Employees shall have the right to self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection, and shall also have the right to refrain from any or all such activities.”

  Sec. 7, NLRA

SECTION 7 APPLIES NOT JUST TO EMPLOYEES REPRESENTED BY A UNION, BUT ALSO TO NON-UNION EMPLOYEES.

PROTECTED CONCERTED ACTIVITY

Under the NLRA, employers cannot interfere with, restrain or coerce employees in exercising these rights. Consequently, employers are prohibited from creating policies or rules that prevent or limit employees’ rights to talk about their wages, benefits and working conditions.

Enforced by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), this law gives employees the right to act together to try to improve their pay and working conditions, with or without a union.  If employees are fired, suspended or otherwise penalized for taking part in protected group activity, the National Labor Relations Board will intervene to restore what was unlawfully taken away.

  • These rights were written into the original National Labor Relations Act of 1935. Appellate courts and the U.S. Supreme Court have been upheld in numerous decisions.

Whether or not concerted activity is protected depends on the facts of the case. Typically, the determination will focus on three questions:

  1. Is the activity concerted?
    Usually people getting erection issues bought this generic cialis due to above mentioned drugs go for Kamagra 100.
    Generally, this requires two or more employees acting together to improve wages or working conditions, but the action of a single employee may be considered concerted if he or she involves co-workers before acting, or acts on behalf of others.
  2. Does it seek to benefit other employees?
    Will the improvements sought – whether in pay, hours, safety, workload, or other terms of employment – benefit more than just the employee taking action?  Or is the action more along the lines of a personal gripe, which is not protected?
  3. How is the activity carried out in a way that causes it to lose protection?
    Activity carried out in a reckless or malicious behavior (such as sabotaging equipment, threatening violence, spreading lies about a product or revealing trade secrets) may cause concerted activity to lose its protection.

EMPLOYER ACTION

Since you cannot prohibit employees talking about their compensation, the wisest actions an employer can take are to:

  1. Have a compensation philosophy statement & communicate it.
    • Starting at the time of new employee onboarding/orientation & regularly re-enforcing it to all employees
  2. Ensure your pay is internally equitable in addition to being in line with the market place
    • The former involves an objective assessment as to differences in pay between groups & individuals within groups
    • The latter entails doing periodic analysis as to what the market place is paying comparable positions
  3. Create an environment in which employees are comfortable to come forward to raise questions
    • Including the really tough ones without any concern about negative consequences

For more information, including how trinity’s team of experts can assist you:

You have HR questions…Trinity has answers!

Posted in HR Legal & Compliance

SERVANT LEADERSHIP, PART 3

servant-leadership

In prior Parts of this series, we defined the leadership model referred to as SERVANT LEADERSHIP as:

arrow-bullet“Servant Leadership seeks to involve others in decision making, is strongly based in ethical and caring behavior, and it enhances the personal growth of those around them while improving the caring and quality of organizational life.”

We also described the first 5 attributes of a Servant Leader as being: 1) LISTENING; 2) EMPATHY;  3) HEALING; 4) AWARENESS &
5) PERSUASION

In this final part of the series, we’ll identify 5 more of the characteristics of a Servant Leader (SL for short).

6.  Conceptualization:

  • The traditional leader is consumed by the need to achieve short-term operational goals.  The leader who wishes to also be an SL must stretch her/his thinking to encompass broader-based conceptual thinking.
  • SLs are able to create a delicate balance between conceptual thinking and a day-to-day operational approach.

7.  Foresight: 

  • Closely related to conceptualization is the ability to foresee obstacles, opportunities & outcomes. Foresight enables the SL to grow from the past, grasp the realities of the present, and gravitate to the future, which involves advanced intellect, keen insight & sound intuition.

8.  Stewardship: 

  • Stewardship is holding something in trust for another rather than owning that something.
  • Servant Leadership stewardship entails a commitment to serving the needs of others, & emphasizes the use of openness and persuasion, rather than control.

Remarkable automatic excitement is observable with doubled heartbeat rate and increase in systolic and diastolic blood pressure. click that levitra uk
9.  Commitment to the growth of people: 

  • SLs believe that people have an intrinsic value that goes far beyond their tangible contributions as workers.  Therefore, SLs are deeply committed to the development & growth (both professionally & personally) of those with their organization.
  • SLs recognize this is a vitally important role & responsibility.

10. Building community: 

  • The SL recognizes that as a result of the shift from small local communities to large, often global organizations much of the sense of community has been lost.  Consequently, the SL seeks to identify approaches & methods for building community among those who work within her/his organization.
  • Although varying means are used, the result is the same—individuals feel a connection with one another.

As was pointed out previously, this model has been adopted by many of America’s most successful companies, including 50% of the companies on Fortune’s list of “100 Best Companies to Work For”.

  • Regardless of whether your organization is a giant-sized multi-national corporation or a small family business, the adoption of Servant Leadership as your leadership model has the potential to impact it in multiple positive ways.

For more information about Servant Leadership or other Organizational & People Development matters:

You have HR opportunities…Trinity has paths forward!

Posted in Strategy, Management & Leadership

SERVANT LEADERSHIP, PART 2

servant-leadership

In Part 1, we described the leadership model referred to as “SERVANT LEADERSHIP” – a term which sounds like an oxymoron, as do the characteristics of this model we’ll describe in Part 2.

     “Servant Leadership seeks to involve others in decision making, is strongly based in ethical and caring behavior, and it enhances the personal growth of those around them while improving the caring and quality of organizational life.”

In Part 1, we also pointed out that 50% of Fortune 500 companies have adopted Servant Leadership in its entirety or in some form.  Here in Part 2, we are identifying five of the key attributes of Servant Leaders (for purpose of brevity, we’ll sometimes use the abbreviation SL to stand for Servant Leader).

1.    Listening: 

  • Leaders have traditionally been valued for their communication skill, and this skill remains important for the SL .  However, the SL has a strong genuine commitment to the listening part of communication, rather than to the speaking part.
  • She or he listens intently and receptively to what is being said and unsaid, and takes time to reflect on that which was heard.

arrow-bullet This is in striking contrast to the command and control, authoritarian style of leadership that many organizations have long depended upon.

2.    Empathy: 

  • The Servant Leader understands how important it is for individuals to feel accepted and understood.
  • Therefore, she/he strives to understand and empathize with others.

arrow-bullet In his classic book entitled “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, Stephen Covey wrote:

”Habit 5: Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”

3.    Healing: 

  • Since all organizations are comprised of people, relationships are vital. Often various circumstances cause relationships to become fractured.
  • This buy generic viagra find out here can lead to chemical imbalances that might ultimately lead up to ED issue.

  • The Servant Leader recognizes that the healing of relationships is a powerful force that enables people to work together in a highly productive manner, and that she/he is in a position to promote healing.

arrow-bulletEspecially, but not only, when the broken relationship is between the SL and another individual or group.

4.    Awareness: 

  • The SL has a highly develop sense of general awareness, including self-awareness.
  • This serves her/him well in understanding issues, particularly those involving ethics, power and values.

5.  Persuasion: 

  • Another characteristic of Servant Leaders is a reliance on persuasion, rather than on one’s positional authority, in making decisions within an organization.
  • The SL strives to convince others, rather than coerce compliance.  She/he is highly effective in building consensus within groups.

arrow-bullet This attribute is one of the clearest distinctions between the traditional authoritarian model  of leadership and that of Servant Leadership.

In Part 3, we’ll provide more of these key characteristics.

For more information about Servant Leadership or other Organizational & People Development matters:

You have HR opportunities…Trinity has paths forward!

Posted in Strategy, Management & Leadership

SERVANT LEADERSHIP, PART 1

servant-leadership
In his much heralded book entitled “Good to Great”, bestselling author and esteemed business consultant Jim Collins described five levels of leadership.

These five levels are described below:

levels

Collins identified five attributes of a Level 5 leader. They:

  1. are self-confident enough to set up their successors for success
  2. are humble and modest
  3. have unwavering resolve
  4. display a workmanlike diligence – “more plow horse than show horse”
  5. give credit to others for their success and take full responsibility for poor results

These five attributes are very much in alignment with the leadership model referred to as “SERVANT LEADERSHIP” — which sounds like an oxymoron.  As stated by the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership, “Servant Leadership seeks to involve others in decision making, is strongly based in ethical and caring behavior, and it enhances the personal growth of workers while improving the caring and quality of organizational life.”

  • The Center is named after AT&T’s Robert Greenleaf, who introduced the concept in 1970.
  • This model has been adopted by many of America’s most successful companies, including

50% of the companies on Fortune’s list of “100 Best Companies to Work For”.
So, tag along healthy and balanced diet, low on calories, * Indulging in regular workout sessions, doing extensive cardio exercises as it helps your potency to a great extent, * http://deeprootsmag.org/2014/11/04/everybody-loves-vint/ cialis price Last but not least one must consume water.

  • SAS (software)
  • Marriott International (hospitality)
  • TD Industries (mechanical construction and facility services)
  • Nordstrom (retail)
  • Whole Foods (grocery)
  • ServiceMaster (residential and commercial services)
  • Cardone Industries (automotive parts)
  • Balfour Beatty (construction)

arrow-bulletIn Part 2, we’ll delve into this leadership model, including the reasons why so many  top  organizations have embraced Servant Leadership and attribute it as a key factor in their success.

For more information about Servant Leadership or other Organizational & People Development matters:

You have HR opportunities…Trinity has paths forward!

Posted in Strategy, Management & Leadership

OVERCOMING RECRUITING CHALLENGES, PART 2: CANDIDATE SELECTION

1-30-17

One of the major challenges of recruiting or talent acquisition is making the best possible decision as to which of the candidates to hire.  Trinity’s experience in providing search consulting services shows that many hiring managers rely far too much on two factors to make their choice:

1.      Resume—without fully taking into account that:

  • A resume is a candidate’s “marketing brochure”, and not a completely objective portrayal of her/his experiences and accomplishments.
  • Research reveals that about half of all resumes contain some type and level of false information. Examples includes title inflation, embellishing achievements and extending employment dates to reduce or eliminate employment gaps.

2.   Interview performance—without considering that:

  • Some people simply interview better than others
  • A candidate who interviews extremely well does not automatically translate into that individual  will also perform really well.

One proven way to improve your organization’s hiring decisions is to create a Candidate Profile for positions for which you need to recruit and hire.  This entails defining what the ideal candidate looks like in terms of:

  • Education
  • Years of experience
  • Skills & competencies
  • Personality type
  • Cultural fit

Some of you who may be thinking, “isn’t that what a job description does”?  The answer is yes and no.  It certainly does some of that, but not to the extent needed if  you’re going to make really good selection choices.

Why is a Candidate Profile key?

  • Whenever a position has multiple employees performing it, there is typically a couple of individuals whose performance exceeds that of their colleagues and a couple whose performance is significantly below the average incumbents.
  • learningworksca.org levitra without prescription Regular exercise and good sleep are also very important in relieving some of the stress that is hampering your ED.

  • Doesn’t it make sense to identify what differentiates the top performers from the average and below average ones?

Did someone else think, ‘”we don’t have the time to do this”?  If so, stop to think about   what it costs in terms of energy, emotion, money, etc. if you hire the wrong person.

EMPLOYER ACTION STEPS

1.      Ensure those who conduct selection interviews are fully trained

  • Not merely on the legal do’s and don’ts, but also on how to become skilled at conducting interviews that more effectively help predict future performance.

2.      Create a Position Profile

  • This entails taking the time and making the effort to examine thoroughly the education, experience, skillset, personality type and other factors of the incumbents.]

HOW TRINITY CAN HELP?

Trinity’s Team has the expertise in executive and management searches (headhunting) to help your organization meet your specific recruiting challenges.

For more information:

You have HR questions…Trinity has answers!

Posted in Talent Acquisition, Executive Search, Employment & Employee Retention

RECRUITING: OVERCOMING THE CHALLENGES

recruiting

Trinity studied the results of a recent survey of 6,000 participants on the subject of recruiting.  The results identified some noteworthy talent acquisition challenges for employers for 2017.

At the time of the survey there were more than seven million individuals looking for employment. Despite this, there were five million job vacancies nationwide!  The positions cited as the most difficult to fill were:

  1. STEM-related (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math)
  2. Management
  3. Healthcare professionals

When asked to identify recruiting challenges, the following were the three most frequently cited:

It is suggested to talk with your partner about what you’re comfortable with, and what you’re this cialis 40 mg not.

RANK CHALLENGE % OF RESPONDENTS CITING IT*
1 Finding skilled candidates 83%
2 Determining candidates cultural fit 50%
3 Establishing appropriate compensation 24%

*Total exceeds 100% because respondents could choose multiple challenges.

Finding candidates who have the appropriate skills and experience, while also being culturally compatible requires:

  • Knowing where and how to look
    arrow-bulletIdentifying candidates who are not actively looking for a new job but are open to the right opportunity, as well as those in the job market
  • Getting well beyond the superficial interview questions that candidates report they are typically asked by hiring managers
    arrow-bulletPosing questions that probe beyond an initial response so as to gain important insights
  • Having the tools to evaluate candidates on more than their resume and the interview
    arrow-bulletConducting and interpreting pre-employment assessments of candidates

Talent Acquisition is a competency Trinity’s Team has honed by having done hundreds of executive searches and management searches, involving thousands of interviews.  Trinity can help your organization to successfully attract the right individuals—especially those who may not be actively looking for a new employment opportunity, and in doing so help you avoid:

  • Being without the talent you need when you need it
  • Experiencing the emotional and financial pain on an unsuccessful hiring

For more information about how Trinity can help you to overcome your specific recruiting challenges:

  • E mail Trinity at info@TrintyHR.net
  • Visit our website at TrinityHR.net
  • Call us at 905.1762

You have HR challenges…Trinity has solutions!

Posted in Talent Acquisition, Executive Search, Employment & Employee Retention

PROJECTED PAY RAISES FOR 2016 YE – 2017

pay-raise

For Year End 2016 – 2017, the median base pay increase for employees is projected to be 3.0% across almost all industries.  This will mark the 5th consecutive year that pay increases have held around the 3.0% increase mark.

  • Pay structures/ranges (as distinguished from actual pay) are expected to be increased by 2.1%.

Base pay increases tied to individual performance (“pay for performance” or “merit increases”) remain the cornerstone of compensation plans.  With this in mind, it remains very important for organizations to be able to accurately differentiate individual performance levels.

Doing so necessitates having in place a comprehensive & effective Performance Management  System (PMS).  That means a system that encompasses goal setting, competencies & regular feedback, rather than only a formal appraisal once per year.

However, survey data shows that only a small percentage of organizations have such a PMS in place:

  • 95% of managers are dissatisfied with their organization’s PMS.
  • 90% of HR folks think their performance appraisal process produces inaccurate results.

Research shows that companies’ pay practices continue to:
In this davidfraymusic.com viagra generika manner, these medicine work to offer great relief but they cannot be taken without prescription.

  • Be inclined to withhold an annual increase for employees who are not performing at a better than average level
  • Sometimes granting a lump sum amount (“bonus”) as an offset to an annual increase—especially for those employees who pay is at the higher end of the pay range for their positions
  • Provide top performers/key contributors with a substantially greater increase
    arrow-bulletOn average, almost twice the normal percentage increase
  • Grant larger increases to positions that are “hot” in the market place
  • Use variable pay in the form of annual incentive compensation based on a combination of company performance & individual performance
    arrow-bulletFor all of their employees — not just executive & management level ones

If your organization needs help with designing or refining its Performance Management System or its compensation strategy & related plans, Trinity’s Team of talented Consultants has the expertise to do so.

You have HR challenges…Trinity has solutions!

Posted in Compensation & Performance Management

PERFORMANCE-BASED PAY:
PART 3

performance-based-pay3

In Parts 1 & 2 of this series, we identified the following related to Performance-Based Pay:

  1. Objectives
  2. Pay elements
  3. Balance between fixed (base) pay & variable (incentive) pay
  4. Characteristics of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

In Part 3, we want to provide information about the essentials for a successful Performance-Based Pay Plan.  Examples of these essentials include:

1.      Ease of understanding by employees

  • If employees do not understand the plan, they will not embrace it nor value it.

2.      Proper “line of sight”

  • Translated from “Compensation-ese” to English, this  means employees see how their positions connect with the overall success of the organization—that is, employees know how their performance affects a particular performance metric/KPI
  • The absence of “line of sight” can cause the plan to fail to properly motivate employees & thus be unsuccessful.

3.      Effective communication & reinforcement of rewards

  • Includes enabling employees to “know the score” on a regular basis

And there are some foods which can stimulate the development of new on line cialis blood vessels.
4.      Amount of potential reward is clearly known & the actual reward accurately reflects level of achievement for KPIs (or other performance metrics of the plan)

  • This & 5. below (transparency & perceived fairness) go hand in hand

5.      Transparency & perceived fairness

  • This helps employees gain a high degree of trust that no games are being played with performance results.

6.      Timeliness of issuance of rewards

  • It should be as soon as possible following the determination of the final actual performance, including closing of the books.

HOW TRINITY CAN HELP?

Trinity’s Team has extensive experience in helping organizations to create highly effective compensation programs, including incentive compensation plans.

For more information:

You have HR opportunities…Trinity has paths forward!

Posted in Compensation & Performance Management