The Benefits of a Rewards and Compensation Strategy

There are not many second chances in running an organization. A misstep can cost thousands of dollars to correct. For instance, not setting up your compensation strategy correctly can mean you’re not able to attract the talent you need. By contrast, your overall rewards and compensation strategy is one area where you get a second chance.

Creating an Effective Compensation Plan for Sales Representatives

An effective sales compensation plan for sales representatives is critical to the success of any go-to-market strategy. Yet the design and management of a compensation plan for sales teams is rarely easy. After all, determining how people are paid is a sensitive matter which can become increasingly complicated when reconciling the disparate needs of key stakeholders in sales, finance, HR, and marketing.

Workforce Alignment Part 2: Managing Employee Skill Sets

In my last post on workforce alignment, I suggested that each part of your company should be well-informed about all aspects of the business so they can provide excellent service at any time. Perhaps you agree with this idea but aren’t sure how make it happen.

Guidelines for Managing Exempt-Status Employees

In the world of HR, one area that has produced a significant quantity of writing, thought, and opinion is that of employee exemptions within the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This area, however, is not particularly flashy or trendy. In fact, it is the boring material that HR professionals must learn and internalize in order to add value to their organizations.  But, while not flashy, this knowledge area is one where millions of dollars can be saved by sound HR practices.

Real-Life Stories: PayScale Fills Compensation Data Gaps

By Staff Writer

Are you bumping up against stopping points in your salary benchmarking projects? You’re not alone. Everyday PayScale hears from companies that are looking to fill gaps in their pay and compensation data that traditional compensation surveys are either too costly or are simply not able to fill.

Below we’ve listed three examples where PayScale was able to help a customer out of a tricky spot. These examples were reported by the PayScale’s director of customer service and education, Stacey Carroll, M.B.A., SPHR.

Pay for Performance: Compensation Strategies for Recessionary Times

By Staff Writer

Many companies will have modified their compensation and benefit plans during this economic recession in an effort to save money. They need to minimize costs now and, hopefully, get set to recover from the recession faster than their competitors.

You may have already reduced merit increases or even enacted a pay freeze. What are the trade-offs of cutting or freezing pay? Would an across the board pay-cut make sense or would it hurt certain key performers too much?

Let’s take a look at how the economic crisis has impacted compensation, and how you can maintain a pay-for-performance culture in recessionary times.

Q&A Session – HR Leadership in Difficult Times: Implementing RIFs, Reorganizations and Freezes

Questions and Answers from Our HR Leadership Webinar

The following is a transcript of the question and answer session that followed PayScale’s webinar, HR Leadership in Difficult Times: Implementing RIFs, Reorganizations and Freezes. The topics covered in these questions include voluntary staff reductions, pay freezes and overtime pay. Answers are provided by PayScale’s director of customer service and education, Stacey Carroll, M.B.A., SPHR.

Employee Retention: Compensation Plans for Part-Time Staff

Do you find that your part-time staff and hourly workers are harder to motivate and retain? Maybe you could improve your part-time employee retention by changing how you compensate them.

Employee compensation and pay plans are often the same for part-time staff versus full-time staff. But, there is one difference in compensation planning that can add up quickly: per diem.

Employee Motivation in the Workplace: Different Types of Motivation Theories
Part 3

Does money motivate people effectively? In part 1 of this series on HR theories of motivation, we answered that question. No.

Well, if not money, how do we create an environment where people are motivated?
Check part 2. The key: create productive work relationships.

But people are different; so how do we build productive work relationships with all types of people? In this last installment on workplace motivation, we’ll cover some of the main theories for how various people motivate themselves.

Workforce Alignment Part 1: Get Employees Working Together

Have you ever wondered why people working at the same organization sometimes seem to be working against each other? For instance, the C-suite does not know the issues confronting line workers, marketing is in a different world than sales, and no one talks to the technicians. In fact, this seems to be the norm more often than not.

The process of getting everyone in communication and doing their different jobs for the good of the whole is called workforce alignment.

Implementing RIFS: A Step-By-Step Approach

By Staff Writer

During these unstable economic times, many companies are making tough decisions about their workforce size and structure. If you are an HR professional in the middle of these changes, you will be asked to take a leadership role and keep staffing moves efficient and organized. How can you do so?

In this post you’ll get in depth advice on moving through the three phases in any changes in your workforce: analysis, decision-making, and communication. Working through these phases is similar to developing a new project; a project that requires assigned owners, clear goals, and implementation milestones along the way.