Compensation, Benefits

Is the 4-Day Work Week Better? Evidence Points to Yes.

Fri, 18 Feb 2022 12:54:19 -0500

From Japan to Iceland, countries all over the world are investigating the benefits of the four-day work week for improving employee well-being and productivity. In a study published by Autonomy, researchers tracked 2,500 employees who reduced their work week to 35 or 36 hours, but not their pay. The study showed that...

How to Intervene When a Manager Is Gaslighting Their Employees

Fri, 18 Feb 2022 11:52:56 -0500

“We missed you at the leadership team meeting,” our executive vice president messaged me. “Your manager shared an excellent proposal. He said you weren’t available to present. Look forward to connecting soon.” In our last one-on-one meeting, my manager had enthusiastically said that I, of course, should...

How employers can help as workers' mental health bottoms out

Fri, 11 Feb 2022 13:08:32 -0500

Amid all-time lows in mental health, employers are finding a new mandate to step up efforts to help struggling employees. “After two-plus years of pandemic ambiguity, employee burnout is emerging as the next widespread health crisis, while employers pour more resources and attention into...

3 ways to turn the Great Resignation into a Great Retention moment

Fri, 11 Feb 2022 13:03:42 -0500

Employees are switching jobs at record numbers. Workforces are also shrinking. Together, these events have created an environment in which business and HR leaders are having to play catch-up. While the roar of the “war for talent” has been heard for decades and tightening talent markets have been experiencing it in bits and pieces...

Is it time for the four-day workweek?

Fri, 11 Feb 2022 13:00:10 -0500

Again and again over the past several years, the same type of news has emerged from the business realm: a new company has made the switch to the four-day workweek. In 2017, Basecamp blogged about its "Summer Hours," or four-day workweeks between May 1 and August 31. Volt Athletics wrote...

10 Failproof Employee Engagement Ideas

Fri, 11 Feb 2022 12:48:36 -0500

No matter your specific business, if your employees aren’t engaged, your customers won’t be either and that is going to negatively impact productivity and your bottom line. Employees who are happy and excited about the work they’re doing have an infectious energy that makes people...

Employee benefits: Latest data shows what employers are offering now

Fri, 04 Feb 2022 10:03:54 -0500

While providing comprehensive employee benefits may be expensive, it’s well worth the investment to stay competitive with your peers and retain your best people. Other companies are offering employees a host of benefits. And they’re using them at significant rates...

Win The Employee Retention Battle At The Start Of 2022

Thu, 03 Feb 2022 16:55:31 -0500

Danni Rush, Chief Operating Officer at Virgin Experience Days and Virgin Incentives, explains what employers can do to keep their staff feeling valued amid a period of heightened employee dissatisfaction. Employee retention should be one of, if not the, biggest priority for any business. Although...

2022 may be 'watershed moment' for company culture, LinkedIn says

Fri, 28 Jan 2022 11:06:30 -0500

Flexibility may be one of the key trends to shape 2022 for HR, sources told HR Dive, which means employers may need to get creative. Letting workers pick their...

Are you ready? Here are the top regulatory concerns facing HR this year

Fri, 28 Jan 2022 10:13:49 -0500

Workplace safety ranks number one on a top 10 list of regulatory issues employers face for the balance of 2022 and beyond, a new report finds. According to the report, from Paychex, a provider of...

'Silent' Benefits: Not So Silent Anymore!

Wed, 26 Jan 2022 16:26:11 -0500

As a SHRM HR Knowledge Advisor, I’ve received many calls asking about how to find, attract and retain talent during this hot job market. Employers have been very creative in attracting talent—offering sign-on bonuses, remote and hybrid work arrangements, increased paid leave, and education reimbursement, to name just a few benefits. Some have considered...

12 New Approaches To Compensation

Wed, 26 Jan 2022 16:10:23 -0500

Higher compensation is part of the ransom for dealing with the pandemic for most American companies and industries. So salaries, wages, benefits and perks will cost them more—perhaps a lot more—in the year ahead.

Fight the Great Resignation by changing how you treat the workers who stay

Wed, 26 Jan 2022 16:00:50 -0500

Among the many 2021 pandemic-era trends, the Great Resignation received a lot of media attention for good reason. The number of workers quitting hit an all-time high in November 2021, with 4.5 million Americans leaving their jobs...

8 Keys to Re-engaging a Fatigued Workforce

Thu, 20 Jan 2022 16:09:14 -0500

Reading about how tired we are is fatiguing. So let’s try something different. We’re built to want to be part of something that’s meaningful. We’re eager to learn. We love wrestling with a challenge. It’s in our nature and we can’t help it. So instead of focusing on how everyone is depleted, why not appeal to our better selves? Here are things you can do to re-energize yourself and your team...

Retaining Talent: Tech’s Starring Role In The Great Resignation

Thu, 20 Jan 2022 13:41:16 -0500

We’re in the middle of a major shift in the workforce. The pandemic caused a massive change from shared office space to remote work. As people spent time at home—and as they faced a multitude of intense stressors and even direct loss—they reevaluated what’s important when it comes to their careers. Because of this...

Here's how leading-edge companies are redesigning for hybrid

Fri, 14 Jan 2022 12:43:55 -0500

From the moment in August 2019 that Heyward Donigan became CEO of Rite Aid Corp.—operator of nearly 2,500 drugstores nationwide, in a highly competitive sector—she was thinking of radically shaking up the workplace. High on her list of concerns was...

Top Ten HR Trends For The 2022 Workplace

Fri, 14 Jan 2022 12:13:31 -0500

As we enter 2022, changes in how we work, where we work, who we work with, why we work, and the technologies we use are in continual flux. Many of these changes started prior to the pandemic, were accelerated by it, and have become permanent aspects of the workplace. Just as I have done in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021, here is my countdown of what you should include on your HR roadmap for 2022...

How to deliver layoff news compassionately

Fri, 14 Jan 2022 11:56:33 -0500

Layoffs are never easy. But in some cases, leadership can do such a poor job of delivering the bad news that it attracts the attention of the wider public. Mortgage lender Better.com is the latest such company to find itself a target. On Dec. 3, CEO Vishal Garg invited 900 employees to...

Destigmatizing talking about mental health in the workplace

Fri, 14 Jan 2022 11:36:03 -0500

The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on mental health and wellbeing. Over the past two years, the prevalence and severity of mental health conditions has surged, affecting individual employees and entire organizations. As of this past summer...

Strategies to help employees and teams thrive post-pandemic

Fri, 14 Jan 2022 11:14:04 -0500

The last 18+ months have taught us many things including how critical wellbeing and resiliency are not only for individual employees but to organizations and businesses. The stress, isolation, and shift for many employees to work remotely due to the pandemic has taken its toll. Nearly half of...

4 benefits working parents likely need now

Fri, 14 Jan 2022 11:04:48 -0500

Working parents are far more susceptible to stress and burnout than their childless counterparts. In fact, full-time working mothers experience 40% more chronic stress than working women with no children, and it was recently reported that 9.8 million working mothers in the U.S. are suffering from burnout.

Are your company’s 1099s and W-2s error-free? 4 best practices

Fri, 13 Dec 2019 01:00:00 -0500

Of all the strict IRS requirements your finance team strives to meet at year-end, accurate 1099s and W-2s hit the top of the list. The good news is...

Managing office holiday party risks: Mistletoe no-no’s

Thu, 05 Dec 2019 04:00:00 -0500

The office holiday party season is in full swing. And employers who don’t want to suffer the old adage that “no good deed goes unpunished” would be wise to manage holiday party risks by considering these key suggestions from an employment law expert...

5 Ways to Fine Tune Talent Acquisition with an Eye on Recession

Thu, 05 Dec 2019 03:00:00 -0500

Will the global economy go into recession in 2020? That’s the worry on so many minds. News headlines reflect that concern with stories of trade disputes and that wonky-sounding inverted yield curve. The validity of those fears is...

How to Align Sales Commissions to Your Sales Cycle

Thu, 05 Dec 2019 02:00:00 -0500

I recently wrote an article that talked about the alignment of incentives and outcomes. That sentiment is never truer than in how we compensate salespeople--who, we know, are typically coin operated. The whole idea is to...

Single vs. Married Employees' Benefits Aren't Equal

smiller@shrm.org — Thu, 05 Dec 2019 00:00:00 -0500

Nearly all U.S. companies—90 percent—offer benefits of greater value to employees who are married, according to a new analysis. Disparities between single and married employees' benefits result in significant monetary inequalities, according to...

2020 pension plan limits released by IRS: Your new numbers

Wed, 27 Nov 2019 03:00:00 -0500

IRS just issued new pension plan limits for next year. And the overwhelming majority are going up over this year’s numbers. The year-end updates just keep on coming...

Eggnog With a Splash of Paid Time Off

Thu, 14 Nov 2019 16:43:36 -0500

Providing employees extended time off at the end of the year is one way to add a bit of holiday cheer. Office closures during the holidays — typically the days between or immediately around Christmas and New Year’s Day — can...

What Do Your Employees Truly Want? A Recent Study Examines 11 Million Employee Responses to Find Out

Fri, 01 Nov 2019 03:00:00 -0400

In a time of highly competitive war for the best talent, employees who may have previously been hesitant to express dissatisfaction are doing so in the most direct way possible -- by...

Social Security taxable wage base for 2020 released

Thu, 24 Oct 2019 00:00:00 -0400

The Social Security Administration (SSA) just issued the taxable wage base for 2020. And it’s higher than what was predicted back in the spring. The magic number Payroll needs...