Tim Low, PayScale

It is HR's time in the sun. Technologically-speaking, that is.

While the past several decades have delivered ever more sophisticated capabilities to businesses in the form of software, analytics and transaction processing tools, HR was always a bit of an afterthought. Oh, there was the PeopleSoft wave of the 90s and even an ongoing flirtation with 'employee self service' which was really aimed at getting the employee to do the data entry so that HR didn't have to hire clerks to do it. And while these systems—often closely tied to financials because the real goal was to get payroll right—provided some benefits, they were mostly administrative, not game-changing.

Jessica Miller-Merrell, blogging4jobs

A key component in the mix of employee retention strategies is to offer employees career development opportunities. As the war for talent heats up in 2013, retention has become a primary concern for many employers. But what kind of education do employees want and how do you give them a valuable opportunity in a cost-effective manner?

Laleh Hassibi, PayScale

“Our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers, and
daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts.”
-President Obama's Inauguration Speech, 2013

Today marks the fourth anniversary of President Obama's signing of the Lilly Ledbetter Act. Though it may not have been enough to close the gender gap, other important advances, like data-driven software, have helped the cause tremendously. Let's first take a look back at highlights of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act:

Laleh Hassibi, PayScale

This week's Five for Friday focus is on employee reward and recognition programs. Below are highlights of the week's articles on the subject. A consistent theme is to reward often, even if it means the rewards are smaller. As long as they are meaningful and timely, you'll fnd success in your rewards program.

We spend a lot of time in the Compensation Today blog talking about attracting, motivating, rewarding and retaining employees, but what about your own career? Have you thought about what you'd like to change to keep yourself on track with your career goals? Maybe you want to earn more money or finally earn that promotion. Maybe it's time to begin working on an advanced certification, like a PHR or SPHR. Have you often thought about getting an MBA in Human Resources? Or, perhaps, you might be ready to switch careers and start over in a new field. Big career goals like that can be daunting—where do you begin? It's simpler than you think. Start with three words: Make It Happen.

Jessica Miller-Merrell, blogging4jobs

How many times have you checked your email today? Is your email always up and ready to be checked every time you get a pop-up notification? Do you have notifications set up on your smart devices to make sure you never miss an email? Is email proving to be a distraction that's keeping you from all your other HR duties? If you’re anything like me, this sounds all too familiar. Email has begun to dictate our lives whether it is for discount codes or the newest business opportunity.

Evan Rodd, PayScale

I recently made a life decision that is both scary, and exciting: I have taken the plunge and re-entered academia after some time away. When I was younger, I was on track to earn a degree, but my focus was fuzzy and I felt uncertain of the path I wanted to take. Had I stuck to my school guns, I would have probably pursued a BA in music, or an arts-based field. I don’t mean to bemoan these career paths, but given my current interests and ambitions, I’m glad I made the decision to wait to go to school.

Laleh Hassibi, PayScale

It seems that five is the magic number in blogging these days. There are five steps to achieving anything and five key things you need to know about any given subject. Along those lines, we present you with our picks for five of the best five lists of the week.

Jessica Miller-Merrell, blogging4jobs 

The Carrot Principle unwraps one of the most in-depth management studies ever undertaken. Involving nearly 200,000 people over a ten-year period, it showed that the most central characteristic of any successful manager is that they offer frequent and effective recognition to their employees on an ongoing basis. Productivity skyrocketed when managers took a hands-on approach to constructive praise and gave small, yet meaningful, rewards that motivate employees.

Dan Walter, Performensation

In the good old days, determining total compensation was fairly easy. Always wrong, but easy. For any given year you just added up what you paid people in base pay, what you expected to pay them in bonuses, other cash incentives, and the Fair Value (or a reasonable equivalent) of equity at the time it was granted. Public companies disclosed this information and shareholders were left to make their own projections from there. There has been a fairly rapid movement to a measurement called “realizable pay” (the current/recent value of outstanding pay). This metric may also be combined with “realized pay” (the value of exercised or otherwise delivered pay) in an attempt to provide a more accurate picture of total compensation and its alignment to company performance.

Jessica Miller-Merrell, blogging4jobs

If your employees are looking to be out of a job in the near future, let them keep on smoking their ‘legal’ joints. There are currently 19 states that have enacted legislation making it legal to use marijuana for medical purposes, which is nearly half of the United States. Does your company currently operate in one of these states? What about in the future? How will you handle medical marijuana in the workplace?

As a small or startup business professional, payroll might seem like the last logistic you’d like to figure out. Your first crucial human resources investment should be in tools to get compensation right, but after that it makes sense to take a look at automating other HR processes, such as payroll. Learning how to file business taxes and payroll paperwork might not be your idea of time well spent, so hiring a payroll provider could be a strategic option.

Evan Rodd, PayScale

Now, more than ever, women are claiming their rightful place in the workforce. From HR to CEOs, the gender gap is rapidly decreasing, yet unequal salaries still remain. Why is this? Our weekly blog review examines how sisters are doing it for themselves.

Even with the uncertainty brought about by the federal government’s budgetary issues, Q4 2012 proved to be yet another strong quarter for wage growth. Wages for most cities, industries, job categories and company sizes tracked by The PayScale Index are the highest they’ve been since 2006 and every measure of The PayScale Index experienced an annual growth in wages.

Jessica Miller-Merrell, blogging4jobs

More than 50 years ago women earned about 60 percent on average of what men earned when working year-round full time. That percentage was steady up until the 1980s when there was considerable progression in the movement. The percentage then increase to about 72 percent where it has remained for nearly two decades only rising by 5% in the past 20+ years.  

Evan Rodd, PayScale

Ahh, the New Year has finally arrived. We can now all breathe a collective sigh of relief, as the apocalyptic predictions surrounding 2012 did not come to pass. Since the planet wasn’t engulfed in flames, we can finally focus on something slightly less stressful: New Year’s Resolutions. 

Laleh Hassibi, PayScale

Still haven't gotten around to making a list of your own resolutions for this new year? The Web was abuzz with 2013 resolutions for businesses this past week. Here are some of our favorites to give you some ideas:

Dan Walter, Performensation

Non-Qualified Stock Options (NQSOs, NQs, NSOs) should really be called Stock Options. Non-qualified (or non-statutory) makes them sound negative. The negative modifier simply refers to the fact that these stock options have no special section dedicated to them in the IRS tax code. Like Incentive Stock Options (ISOs), NQSOs are generally appreciation-only instruments. Unlike like ISOs, if the plan and local rules allow, they can be granted at price less than Fair Market Value (FMV). Although ISOs get most of the press, NQSOs are more commonly granted.

Jessica Miller-Merrell, blogging4jobs

An estimated 20 million U.S. employees will be changing jobs in 2013. While that’s a 1 million-person decline compared to 2012, it still accounts for a large majority of the U.S. workforce. What is your company planning to do to retain valuable employees? Getting pay right is a big part of the equation, but benefits and perks are important factors too.