In celebration of the coming 2020 New Year, we’re taking a look back at 2019 and sharing the highest ranked articles from Compensation Today. The ones you’ve found the most interesting and helpful touch upon all of the key areas in HR including retention, wages, fair pay, leadership and training and development. We’ve got lots more thought leadership and practical topics planned for next year to help you navigate your strategic HR compensation planning. In the meantime, please share in the comments below any topics or data points you’d like us to cover.
#10: Employers Are Downgrading Their Hiring Criteria In This Tight Labor Market
(Published January 2019) – Spot number ten in the top ranked blog posts of 2019 is about how employers are relaxing their criteria in a competitive job market where talent is becoming scarcer. According to PayScale’s 2019 Compensation Best Practices Report (CBPR), organizations in 2019 proved more likely to consider non-traditional candidates, such as candidates without formal college degrees, candidates who have taken extended breaks from the labor force, and candidates who lack direct experience and must be trained in the position or industry. These changes impact how compensation is calculated and can be a little confusing for both compensation professionals and job candidates to navigate, but with a sophisticated approach based in strong compensation data like that available from PayScale, new anchors for determining competitive pay are easy to determine.Read #10 in Compensation Today's Top Articles for 2019
#9: PayScale Index Q1 2019: Real Wages Down Year Over Year by 0.8 Percent
(Published April 2019) – Second from the bottom of the top ten blog posts in Compensation Today is an article covering the latest data for the PayScale Index, which tracks quarterly and annual trends in compensation across metro city, industry, company size and job category to provide a wage forecast for the coming quarter. The overall finding was that real wages were down 0.8 percent year over year in 2019. However, there were differences across industries and locations. Wages were up in competitive markets like Seattle, San Francisco and San Jose and down in markets like Charlotte, Detroit, Pittsburgh and Houston. Wage growth also varied by industry, with wages up for technology, finance, and marketing, and down in energy & utilities and accommodation & food services.Read #9 in Compensation Today's Top Articles for 2019
#8: 7 Recruiting Tips for Hard-to-Fill Roles and Competitive Markets
(Published May 2019) – According to PayScale’s 2019 Compensation Best Practices Report (CBPR), 59 percent of employers have positions that have been open for six months or longer. This article explores strategies to fill difficult roles in a tight job market, such as aligning on the opportunity in the job description, cross training with existing teams to source from within, leaning on the hiring manager for specialized promotion and outreach, developing a compelling employer brand, networking beyond LinkedIn, conducting a launch strategy for the position, and using compensation data to make a competitive offer.Read #8 in Compensation Today's Top Articles for 2019
#7: Practical Guidelines for Pricing Hybrid Jobs
(Published March 2019) – Ranking at number seven is a blog post from PayScale implementation specialist Camie Bailey covering an all-to-familiar question about how to price hybrid jobs. Hybrid jobs often come about as a result of talent leaving and another person in the company taking on multiple roles to fill the gap until the hybrid role becomes the status quo. Filling a position for something like HR/IT Manager isn’t easy, but there are four approaches that can make the challenge more manageable, including the blending method, the highest-level role method, the internal equity method, and the premiums and discounts method.Read #7 in Compensation Today's Top Articles for 2019
#6: The Three Percent Annual Raise Will Remain Status Quo in 2019
(Published February 2019) – Ranked at number six is an article summarizing the key findings from the 2019 Compensation Best Practices Report (CBPR), which includes growing concern over employee retention but no plans to increase wages despite growing corporate profits and lower taxes for businesses. Although some organizations spend more on certain positions in competitive skillsets, such as IT, most organizations are looking instead to perks and total rewards to sweeten the deal when it comes to attracting and retaining talent.Read #6 in Compensation Today's Top Articles for 2019
#5: Why Your Employees Feel Like They Are Not Fairly Paid
(Published February 2019) – In the middle of the pack at number five is a blog post summarizing research from WorldatWork on employee perception of what constitutes fair compensation. Promotion opportunities, career development and base-pay were shown to be central to employee perception of internal equity within an organization. However, base pay rose to the top concern when looking at external equity, meaning how employees are paid compared to others in similar roles across the market. Further insights include the top determinants for rewards fairness, what factors enhance rewards fairness, and what factors erode perceptions of rewards fairness.Read #5 in Compensation Today's Top Articles for 2019
#4: 5 Mistakes That Damage Your Pay Brand and Cost You Talent
(Published February 2019) – The fourth ranked article is about the emerging concept of Pay Brand, an aspect of Employer Branding that encapsulates what candidates and employees believe is true about an employer’s pay practices. Best practices in compensation strategy include making intentional decisions around pay rather than simply following the market, communicating about pay as part of a total rewards package, being transparent about pay processes, proactively addressing pay equity issues around race and gender, and training managers on how to talk to employees about pay. Examples of leaders and trailblazers include Chobani, Glitch, and Salesforce.Read #4 in Compensation Today's Top Articles for 2019.
#3: How First Time Managers Can Become Great Leaders
(Published July 2019) – The third-place winner of 2019 is an article full of great advice for first-time managers to create a culture of empowerment and inclusion. Topics covered include the importance of learning how to lead people versus managing work; creating a supportive environment through consistent feedback to direct reports; being open, honest and transparent with communication; and working closely with HR to ensure job descriptions and compensation is up-to-date for all members of the team.Read #3 in Compensation Today's Top Articles for 2019.
#2: 3 Key Elements to Keep High Performers Engaged and Increase Retention
(Published June 2019) – Coming in at number two, this article focuses on insights from the 2018 Compensation Best Practices Report (CBRP) around employee engagement and retention. With employee turnover increasing every year for the last ten years, this article examines data from the CBPR on why employees quit and three essential elements for retention: learning and development, inward mobility, and pay transparency.Read #2 in Compensation Today's Top Articles for 2019.
#1: Employee Training and Development Is the Biggest HR Focus Area in 2019
(Published January 2019) – Operating as a precursor to the 2018 Compensation Best Practice Report (CBPR), the first-place article focuses on the number one area HR professionals planned to invest in for 2019: Training and Development. This post covers automation and increased focus on soft skills as key reasons behind the rising need for training as well as the challenges, solutions, and principles for getting employees to engage successfully with learning and development programs and tools.Read #1 in Compensation Today's Top Articles for 2019.
