Compensation trends: Modern perspectives on pay

Tips for an Effective Employee Performance Review Process

<h1 class="subhead"><a href="http://blogs.payscale.com/compensation/2009/06/tips-for-employee-review-effectiveness.html"><img alt="Employee Review Process" border="0" class="at-xid-6a00d8341bf85853ef01157034539e970c " src="http://www.payscale.com/content/blog/images/a6a00d8341bf85853ef01157034539e970c-800wi.png" title="Employee Review Process" /></a> Employee Performance Review Process Part 2: Tips for Giving Effective Employee Reviews</h1> <p>Despite all the debate about whether annual performance reviews ought to happen, the fact is that they still usually do. And, if you’re going to make time for them, you may as well make them valuable for both the manager and employee.</p> <p>Here are some tips to help ensure employee review effectiveness, even if you already have a performance review process that you like. This advice is directed at both managers and HR professionals and gives you the opportunity to reconsider your annual performance review objectives. </p>

Anger Management in the Workplace

<H1 class="subhead"><A href="http://blogs.payscale.com/compensation/2009/05/anger-management-in-the-work-place.html"><img class="at-xid-6a00d8341bf85853ef01156fa28c1d970c " title="Anger-Management-in-the-Workplace" border="0" alt="Angermanagement" src="http://www.payscale.com/content/blog/images/a6a00d8341bf85853ef01156fa28c1d970c-800wi.png" /></A> Ethical Issues in the Workplace - Anger Management</H1> <P>A few months ago, a friend of mine went on a job interview. He later told me that while he was waiting in the lobby for his interview, he could hear the not so muffled sounds of someone yelling from an office nearby. It was obvious that the person was an angry boss and was yelling at one of his employees. When it was time for his interview, the hiring manager came into the lobby to introduce himself and, lo and behold, that voice sounded awfully familiar. Yes, it was the same manager that had just uncorked on one of his employees.</P>

Creating a Salary Benchmarking Plan

<h1 class="subhead"><a href="http://blogs.payscale.com/compensation/2009/05/creating-a-salary-benchmarking-plan.html" style="float: left"><img alt="Compplan" border="0" class="at-xid-6a00d8341bf85853ef01156fa28da5970c " src="http://www.payscale.com/content/blog/images/a6a00d8341bf85853ef01156fa28da5970c-800wi.png" style="margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px" title="Compensation-Benchmarking-Plan" /></a> The Importance of Creating a Salary Benchmarking Plan</h1> <p>By Staff Writer</p> <p>In previous posts, we have covered different aspects of salary benchmarking at an organization. From choosing <a href="https://www.payscale.com/hr/company_size/large?src=blog">salary benchmarking data</a> sources to getting buy-in at the corporate level, there are plenty of actions to take. But, before you make calls, send emails, do online research and get others involved, there’s a crucial step you can take that will help you produce the best results possible: put together a salary benchmarking plan ahead of time. </p>

Cost-Effective Employee Training Methods

<h1 class="subhead"><a href="http://blogs.payscale.com/compensation/2009/05/cost-effective-employee-training-methods.html" style="float: left"><img alt="Employeetraining" border="0" class="at-xid-6a00d8341bf85853ef01156fa28f2d970c " src="http://www.payscale.com/content/blog/images/a6a00d8341bf85853ef01156fa28f2d970c-800wi.png" style="margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px" title="Employee-Training-Methods" /></a> Helping Employees Be Their Best in an Economic Downturn: Cost-Effective HR Tips</h1><p>By Staff Writer</p><p>Surviving economic downturns requires resourcefulness, especially when it comes to keeping employees happy at work. When budgets are tight, your organization’s stress level can jump up. Deadlines shorten, staffs shrink and everyone is doing more with less. Plus, you don’t have as many staff parties, free snacks and outings to look forward to. </p>

Employee Retention Tips for Managers

<h1 class="subhead"><a href="https://www.payscale.com/content/blog/images/a6a00d8341bf85853ef0115714cc230970b-pi.png" style="float: left"><img alt="Employee Retention Tips" border="0" class="at-xid-6a00d8341bf85853ef0115714cc230970b " src="http://www.payscale.com/content/blog/images/a6a00d8341bf85853ef0115714cc230970b-800wi.png" style="margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px" title="Employee Retention Tips" /></a> Why Good People Quit and How to Keep Them: Employee Retention Tips for Managers </h1><p>Think about a job that you left where you were a rock star. Now think about one you left where you were simply, purely, competent.</p><p>Why did you leave in each case?</p><p>That question is especially important in today’s economy, where motivation in the workplace may be more critical than ever as we seek to keep both our rock stars and our reliable, fully-competent performers. These two groups will do much of the heavy lifting to keep our organizations alive until times improve. </p>

HR Cost Cutting with a Red Circle Policy

<h1 class="subhead"><a href="http://blogs.payscale.com/compensation/2009/04/red-circle-policy.html" style="float: left"><img alt="Redcircle" border="0" class="at-xid-6a00d8341bf85853ef01156f3a2918970c " src="http://www.payscale.com/content/blog/images/a6a00d8341bf85853ef01156f3a2918970c-800wi.png" style="margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px" title="Red-Circle-Policy" /></a> Red Circle Policy: A Penny-Wise Choice for Your Company </h1><p>After you create your employee compensation policy, you may discover employees within your organization who, rather than being underpaid compared to the market, are actually overpaid. Salary faux pas like this can cost your company plenty of money.&#160; Among the many company cost-cutting ideas out there, implementing a red circle policy is likely your best option in this case. </p>

Determining salary range widths by profession: How to do it

<h1 class="subhead"><a href="http://blogs.payscale.com/compensation/2009/04/determining-salary-range-widths-by-profession.html" style="float: left"><img alt="Pay grades" border="0" class="at-xid-6a00d8341bf85853ef01156f17b14e970c " src="http://www.payscale.com/content/blog/images/a6a00d8341bf85853ef01156f17b14e970c-800wi.png" style="margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px" title="Pay grades" /></a> Determining Salary Range by Profession</h1> <p>In a previous blog post we talked about the first few steps of establishing a formal compensation plan. Today’s post will be a continuation of that process. We’ll talk about how you can build your company’s salary ranges from market data.</p>

Does Your Company Have Internal Equity?

How to Write a Job Description

<h1 class="subhead"><a href="http://blogs.payscale.com/compensation/2009/03/how-to-write-a-job-description.html"><img alt="Writejobdescription" border="0" class="at-xid-6a00d8341bf85853ef011168d991fd970c " src="http://www.payscale.com/content/blog/images/a6a00d8341bf85853ef011168d991fd970c-800wi.png" title="How" /></a> Tips for How to Write a Job Description that Attracts the Best Candidates</h1> <p>Most of us have read job descriptions that give us no idea what a job is about. These are examples of written job descriptions that aren’t useful. They don’t work. A good, functional job description should clearly and simply state what the job is, in detail. Writing a job description that communicates this well can be daunting, especially if you’ve never created one before. But, truly, learning how to write a job description is not that difficult once you break down the process into separate parts. </p>

Importance of Writing Job Descriptions for HR Success

<h2 class="subhead"><a href="http://blogs.payscale.com/compensation/2009/03/importance-of-writing-job-descriptions.html" style="float: left"><img alt="Writingjobdescriptions" border="0" class="at-xid-6a00d8341bf85853ef01127937b75d28a4 " src="http://www.payscale.com/content/blog/images/a6a00d8341bf85853ef01127937b75d28a4-800wi.png" style="margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px" title="Writing-Job-Descriptions" /></a> The Importance of Writing Job Descriptions: Why Is Writing Job Descriptions Necessary?</h2> <p> Some HR professionals consider writing job descriptions a waste of time. They complain that it is a task they cannot make time for, plus they have to update them constantly. I can hear these folks now, “Who has time for this? What’s in it for me? I’ve got other more important things to do.” </p><p> Here’s the deal. You must look at updating and writing job descriptions as essential. They are one of the most effective employee communication tools for managers, recruiters, and perspective employees. Depending on who you are - employee versus manager, for example - your perspective on the importance of job descriptions will be different. Everyone knows that job descriptions take time to create. But, when you doubt if you should make the time to develop job descriptions, my response is, “How can you not make time?” </p>

Successful Employee Incentive Plans

Building a successful employee incentive plan is especially important during a recession – if plans aren’t built on bedrock, they’re not likely to support the business results you need during an economic earthquake.