Author: Jessica Miller-Merrell

Jessica Miller-Merrell is the Founder of Workology.com which began in 2005. Workology is workplace resource destination for HR, recruiting professionals and business leaders. The site was listed twice as a top 75 career resource by Forbes Magazine. She is an HR and Recruiting process and optimization consultant and a published author of Tweet This! and most recently The HR Technology Field Guide. Jessica has been listed as the 7th most powerful woman on Twitter and recognized by Forbes as a top 50 social media power user. Because of vast industry expertise and knowledge, Jessica’s professional opinions and expertise are sought after and sourced by publications and media including Economist, Forbes, CIO Magazine, CBS, Entrepreneur Magazine, and SHRM’s HR Magazine. In addition to Workology, she regularly contributes to Huffington Post, Forbes and Fortune Magazine in addition to HR and recruiting blogs.

How to Communicate a Change in Annual Raises or Compensation Rates

Jessica Miller-Merrell, blogging4jobsAny kind of change in the workplace can be a challenge for employees. Big or small, change is typically not a welcomed thing. Add in a monetary factor and people tend to get even more stressed out. It’s understandable. You’re talking about making changes to their livelihood, which can be...

Building Pay Equity into Your Business in 2022

Salary is a touchy subject, and it’s something that everyone - from the average employee to the well-known executive to celebrities - is curious about and treading lightly around. For those in the workforce helping to set salaries, keep employees happy and avoid lawsuits, it’s even more confusing and sensitive. Add to...

Beyond Compensation: How to REALLY Motivate Employees

Jessica Miller-Merrell, blogging4jobsAlthough we know compensation is the number one reason people leave companies, pay isn’t the only factor in employee engagement. Pay meets the basic need, but what comes next? The truth is, there’s a science to motivation that really works and it’s backed by proven research and psychology.

Conscious Compensation: The Key to Retaining Earnest, Sensitive Millennials

Jessica Miller-Merrell, blogging4jobsMillennials are the newest generation to enter the workforce. For many employers, they are still revered as unknown and unpredictable. They are scary and intimidating, different. Because employers don’t understand them, they have not quite fully come to understand how to effectively manage and retain them.

The Secret Weapon to Winning the Talent War Begins with a “T”

Jessica Miller-Merrell, blogging4jobs According to PayScale's 2015 Compensation Best Practices Report, the number one reason why people choose to leave companies is because they feel as though they are being paid unfairly. The key word here is "feel." While compensation is the number one reason people leave, a separate PayScale study reveals...

Why retaining employees is now even more important than retaining customers

Jessica Miller-Merrell, blogging4jobs How do you retain customers? Common answers may include creating kickass products, having a strong brand, or having great data to help you beat the competition. But there’s another key to retaining customers and that’s by retaining your employees. Your employees are the framework on which all...

Using nontraditional incentives to motivate your employees

Jessica Miller-Merrell, blogging4jobs Without question, cash is the most common (and many would argue the most important) form of compensation. Each year, most employees look forward to increasing their income. The general thought is that after 12 months of good work, an employee is entitled to a raise. This raise is expected...

Is your base pay falling short?

Jessica Miller-Merrell, blogging4jobs When candidates apply for a job they generally dread seeing the three-letter acronym for pay on job requisitions, TBD. Employers, on the other hand, love being able to put this acronym because it creates a flexible environment where they can offer base pay based on experience alone if they’re...

Engaged employees – your key to strong retention

Jessica Miller-Merrell, blogging4jobs According to a recent Gallup poll, 86% of engaged employees say they very often feel happy at work, as against 11% of the disengaged and 45% of the engaged say they get a great deal of their life happiness from work, against 8% of the disengaged. It’s no secret...

Should pay be linked to performance?

Jessica Miller-Merrell, blogging4jobsThere are two very different schools of thought when it comes to whether or not pay should be linked to performance. We’ve seen the pay for performance option take off and reach an all-time high and in fact, 54 percent of companies reported that they were giving performance-based increases in 2013....

Interpreting the stats: tips for analyzing employee turnover

Jessica Miller-Merrell, blogging4jobs I have to admit, I am not a big sports fan. I mean sure, I enjoy the excitement and social aspect of cheering for your team, following favorite players and celebrating a victory, but the minute I hear the SportsCenter hosts spouting off numbers and comparing those numbers to...

Five reasons to be afraid of employee turnover

Jessica Miller-Merrell, blogging4jobs Sometimes, turnover is a downright scary word. We hear it and automatically get visions of unhappy employees exiting in droves, leaving us high and dry and always on the search for new employees. Some of us even see our jobs start to flash before our eyes as disapproving executives...

pay for performance

pay for performance

Is pay for performance the best form of compensation?

Pay for performance is by far one of the most popular forms of compensation that employees can offer their workforce. But even with it’s popularity, the question of whether or not it is the best way to compensate employees remains. There are many ways to do it, but essentially pay for...

The performance review: why consistency matters

Jessica Miller-Merrell, blogging4jobs Conducting performance reviews is a tricky part of any manager’s job. They tend to hold quite a bit of weight when it comes to judging an employee’s contribution to the organization but are also very subjective, sometimes leaving employees with unfair assessments or unclear expectations. To make things...

5 tips for justifying budget increases

Jessica Miller-Merrell, blogging4jobs Money is a touchy subject, even in business. And asking for more of it, well that can feel like you may as well be walking a tight rope across Niagara Falls. Sometimes, though, it’s a necessary part of developing your department and can even be a sign of...

The best ways to compensate an unpaid intern

Jessica Miller-Merrell, blogging4jobs More and more these days, paid internships are becoming the standard for companies that offer internships. This allows companies to compete with others in the industry or region for both the best interns and new grads. However, for companies who offer unpaid internships, it’s a whole different ball...

How Does Your Compensation Model Fit into Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs?

Jessica Miller-Merrell, blogging4jobsIt can be easy to get caught up in the benefits rat race. You know, keeping up with the Joneses, or in this case, the Joneses, Inc. You probably spend a fair amount of time thinking about what’s in your benefits package, how it measures up against your competitor’s, how...

One Person, Two Titles… What?

Jessica Miller-Merrell, Blogging4Jobs Have you ever worked at a place where you’ve had two job titles? Internally my title is Communication Department Lead III. Publically, I’m the Public Information Officer. What the heck? This scenario isn’t uncommon in the corporate world. Having both an external, public title along with an internal one is common. Yes, I know it’s...

Salary Bands/Pay Bands and Variable Compensation: A Manager’s Guide to Attracting Talent

Jessica Miller-Merrell, Blogging4Jobs If you’re in the business of giving or receiving (or hoping to receive) an annual merit increase, it’s a good time to get familiar with pay bands. Pay bands — a term that is sometimes used to lump broader terms such as pay levels, ranges or grades — is a component...