Compensation Cafe

MAY 5, 2020

Comparing incentive plans to a pandemic response seems like a stretch, but great incentive plans are all about stretching. Stretching company performance. Stretching your compensation budget. Every good incentive plan project starts with a simple question. Stretching people's expectations. The list is long.

Planning Tools 72

Planning Tools Compensation Resources Company 72

Compensation Cafe

JUNE 11, 2020

You may have been involved in laying friends off, furloughing colleagues, cutting pay for executives, putting holds on merit increases, temporarily modifying incentive plans, marketing pricing for newly remote positions, all while working from a dining room table, teaching math, and cooking more food than an average holiday season.

Compensation 59

Compensation Planning Tools Resources Bonuses and Incentives 59

Compensation Cafe

JANUARY 3, 2019

It turns out that incentive compensation doesn’t just work, it can work too well at motivating the wrong behaviors. Make sure you design your incentive plan to reduce the possibility and rewards for cheating. Incentive plans are difficult to get perfect. This is where things went wrong. The truth will come out.

Planning Tools 76

Planning Tools Compensation Industry Strategy 76

Hppy

DECEMBER 25, 2023

You might need an aesthetician and cosmetologist, who, although licensed by a cosmetology board, are unlicensed by medical standards and can only perform spa procedures, such as facials. Competitive compensation : High staff turnover means you’re not paying your workers well and lack proper incentive structures.

HR Software 91

HR Software Video Recruiting Hiring Software Recruiting Software 91

Compensation Cafe

MAY 21, 2020

For at least a few decades, this has been the way of things in the world of compensation. Now is just such a time for compensation professionals. The current crisis has exposed the dusty corners of compensation practices. Do your incentive plans promote the decisions, behaviors, and actions that truly define your success?

Compensation 64

Compensation Planning Tools Conference Data 64

Compensation Cafe

AUGUST 20, 2019

Everything we do in compensation is communications. Change management should be the foundation of 90% of compensation communications. New incentive coming up next year? No wonder there can be so much frustration about the effectiveness of compensation communications. Here are three basics of our work.

Compensation 55

Compensation eBook Career Development Performance Management 55

Compensation Cafe

OCTOBER 2, 2019

Compensation programs can often be the same. Annual and long-term incentive plans are often not as well cared for. They just exist and perform as designed and we may not dig back into them more than every couple or three years. Other times we have been warned by managers or staff that a program is ineffective, or worse.

Compensation 40

Compensation Metrics Resources Data 40

Compensation Cafe

DECEMBER 17, 2020

Closing the books on merit increases may be on schedule, but there are always loose ends to clear up before you get slammed with Q1 bonus and incentive work. Margaret O'Hanlon, CCP brings deep expertise to discussions on employee pay, performance management, career development and communications at the Café.

Bonuses and Incentives 98

Bonuses and Incentives Time and Attendance eBook Compensation 98

Compensation Cafe

DECEMBER 31, 2021

I think it could raise some interesting questions about how compensation jobs and functions are defined and organized. . How quickly could you (compensation professional) get your head around the differences in skills, practices and behaviors needed? How is the compensation function in your organization structured?

Compensation 52

Compensation HR Software Analytics Planning Tools 52

Compensation Cafe

MAY 14, 2018

If you're an HR office of one, busily juggling everything from beneficiary forms to incentive awards, it's hard to believe that you share any pressures with other HR managers. Here are some of the compensation decisions typically made in a turbo-charged, highly fragmented setting like Healthy Gadgets'.

Compensation 45

Compensation Bonuses and Incentives Background screening Hiring Software 45

Compensation Cafe

FEBRUARY 5, 2019

Could it be that we are designing and communicating incentives for our highest performance all wrong? This study specifically looked at the impact of incentives on motor and neurological performance in high-pressure situations. The real question should be what this may mean for future incentive plan design.

Compensation 40

Compensation Study Strategy Course 40

Compensation Cafe

JUNE 20, 2016

This kid speaks an eloquent truth that every human resources and compensation professional must remember. When we make performance management purely rules-based the people who score best are often those who are the best at following the rules, not the best at building company value. Connect with Dan on LinkedIn.

Performance Management 64

Performance Management Planning Tools Compensation System 64

ATD Human Capital

MARCH 22, 2016

Performance management system failure most often comes down to a lack of clear purpose. However, a lack of alignment can also derail performance management systems. Is Performance Management Aligned? Managers are usually on the hot seat for failures. It cannot be a garbage can of different objectives.

Performance Management 70

Performance Management Planning Tools System Bonuses and Incentives 70

Compensation Cafe

JUNE 2, 2020

If normal was so great, wouldn’t compensation philosophies state that they were designed to support hiring average talent to deliver average results? The continuation of remote work will lead to new ways to determine compensation for a position. Training will change and performance management will adjust with it.

Hiring Software 90

Hiring Software Compensation Planning Tools Tools 90

Compensation Cafe

MAY 11, 2022

Have you ever been asked by an executive or compensation committee to create a compensation solution for a problem that was poorly or incompletely described? Compensation is fraught with uncertainty. Incentive plans, short and long-term, cash and equity based, depend on a level of uncertainty. Talk about compensation.

Planning Tools 59

Planning Tools Compensation Resources Tools 59

Compensation Cafe

DECEMBER 5, 2019

What I'm talking about is giving employees enough information to understand how compensation decisions are made in your culture. It's time to accept that your job has changed from gatekeeper (limiting access to pay knowledge until employees are "ready") to educator (describing the nuts and bolts of salaries and incentives).

Payscale 78

Payscale Compensation eBook How To 78

Compensation Cafe

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

Grow metrics and goals work especially well for short-term-incentive programs and as interim measurements in long-term incentive programs. ACHIEVE This is what your CEO or other “boss-like figure” means by performance-based pay. They only want to pay people incentives if they have proven results.

Metrics 90

Metrics Compensation Coaching Immedis 90

Compensation Cafe

APRIL 26, 2019

Editor's Note: More than a few of us number nerds populating the field of compensation have a Classic deficit in the soft skills required to constructively explore and understand the territory and circumstances surrounding employee and organizational performance. . Here's where a shift in mindset and approach may help us.

Compensation 76

Compensation Background screening Groups Survey 76

Compensation Cafe

AUGUST 16, 2017

I think it could raise some interesting questions about how compensation jobs and functions are defined and organized. . How quickly could you (compensation professional) get your head around the differences in skills, practices and behaviors needed? How is the compensation function in your organization structured?

Compensation 49

Compensation HR Software Planning Tools Analytics 49

Compensation Cafe

SEPTEMBER 13, 2016

A friend of mine likes to say: “It’s not that incentive pay doesn’t work well, it’s that it works TOO well. When this happens, compensation professionals usually cry foul. 5,300 professionals and managers fired. It usually does exactly what it is designed to do, even if that wasn’t your intent.”. But that’s hard to do this time.

Hiring Software 40

Hiring Software Compensation Retirement Planning Tools 40

Compensation Cafe

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016

Today is a steaming jolt of quadruple espresso in response to the Wells Fargo incentive pay mess. Let me start with the fact that I have been interviewed a few times about this story and even I was surprised by my response to the question, “What companies in the financial world are considered to have good incentive programs?”

Wellness 40

Wellness Compensation Planning Tools Interview Software 40

Compensation Cafe

FEBRUARY 1, 2018

The 17 words listed align incredibly well with common incentive plan designs. A quick review of incentive pay basics. That leaves three that don’t fit our normal incentive models. These wishy-washy terms don’t communicate much about incentives or motivation and should probably (there’s that 70% word) not be used.

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Bonuses and Incentives Compensation Course Wellness 26

Compensation Cafe

MARCH 4, 2022

We make hundreds of small decisions like this every time we benchmark compensation, determine incentive pay levels, set goals, and decide on merit increase minutiae. Dan is a leading expert on incentive plans and equity compensation issues. Connect with Dan on LinkedIn.

Planning Tools 52

Planning Tools Compensation Benchmarking Data 52

Compensation Cafe

JULY 20, 2022

Editor's Note: Compensation and HR staff are spread mighty thin these days. It’s so practical that it applies to just about everything, including compensation. Compensation departments are increasingly asked to do more with less. Dan is a leading expert on incentive plans and equity compensation issues.

Compensation 52

Compensation Planning Tools HR Software Resources 52

Compensation Cafe

JANUARY 6, 2020

Although we are continually reminded to be alert for perverse incentives , little is usually said about the proper use of disincentives. It would seem that books could be filled with tips on how to use negatives in a positive manner and how to avoid abuses when using “punishments.”

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Bonuses and Incentives Compensation HR Software Compliance 52

Compensation Cafe

MAY 3, 2019

Editor's Note: We in HR and compensation are as susceptible to fads as our counterparts in other disciplines. And don't think compensation is immune from this derogatory label. Employees shoulder the burden of pay for performance, hating the carrot and stick. Flavor of the month.

Video Recruiting 40

Video Recruiting Compensation eBook Career Development 40

Compensation Cafe

FEBRUARY 24, 2015

Every compensation professional who has ever worked on an incentive plan has struggled long and hard with figuring out exactly what was to be accomplished, how it could be measured, what levels of achievement were good enough, what levels were actually good and what levels were truly great. Dan welcomes connections on LinkedIn.

Bonuses and Incentives 40

Bonuses and Incentives Compensation Planning Tools Compliance Training 40

Compensation Cafe

NOVEMBER 27, 2019

The recognition of each of you reading this post, and anyone who has ever read a post on the Compensation Café. He has three metaphors for every occasion and is a leading expert on incentive plan and equity compensation issues. This post is about recognition. Writing for the Comp Café is one of my favorite things.

Compensation 59

Compensation Industry Resources Bonuses and Incentives 59

Compensation Cafe

DECEMBER 10, 2014

You may have already completed performance appraisal discussions, but performance should certainly be part of the discussion when 2014 increases and bonuses are covered with employees. Providing managers with prompts that can help them articulate their thoughts, especially if they find themselves in a tough spot.

Bonuses and Incentives 45

Bonuses and Incentives Compensation eBook Performance Management 45

Compensation Cafe

JANUARY 23, 2018

But this is how many companies view targets for their incentive plans. Too often, plans are designed this way because of a misunderstanding of incentive pay. The basic premise of pay for performance is this: targets and quotas are meant to require effort. No one would be impressed if you made a bullseye, not even you.

Planning Tools 63

Planning Tools Compensation Interview Software Industry 63

Compensation Cafe

APRIL 27, 2018

Zingheim, the winners of the prestigious WorldatWork Keystone Award and authors of some of the top selling books in our field. Our recent study of large, challenged financial institutions (“Compensation and Human Resource Practices During Crisis: Which Solutions Add Value?”, Schuster and Patricia K. Zingheim, Ph.D.,

Compensation 58

Compensation Interview Software Certification Planning Tools 58

Compensation Cafe

FEBRUARY 23, 2015

Even as tradecraft veterans increasingly endorse open transparency in reward systems and recommend robust communications about compensation as the desired best practice, the consensus actua l practice is moving away from that ideal. Confusion about compensation is spreading. No bonuses, either! Both possibilities are bad.

Bonuses and Incentives 40

Bonuses and Incentives HR Planning Compensation HR Software 40

Compensation Cafe

NOVEMBER 7, 2016

If your open enrollment is on autopilot by now, your to-do list is probably loaded with performance review implementation steps and soon to be bulging with budgeting, merit increase and incentive award activities. And the managers use them.) Yes we're closing the books, but what have we learned ?

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Compensation Assessment Software Performance Management Planning Tools 49

Compensation Cafe

FEBRUARY 20, 2015

Did you think we''re just standing on a soapbox when we say that we believe that, "Everything we do in compensation is communication?" the best Comp book I''ve seen and I recommend you get a copy." Download our popular eBook, Everything You Do (in Compensation) Is Communication, at www.everythingiscommunication.com.

Bonuses and Incentives 40

Bonuses and Incentives Compensation eBook Performance Management 40

Compensation Cafe

SEPTEMBER 5, 2019

Just a few months ago the last compensation professional on earth was terminated by their corporate overlord. People must be attracted, motivated and even retained (except for those poor saps from the compensation department.) AI, “Oh and equity compensation in the form of a perfectly blended mix of 63.3% AI responds, “$192,314.18

HR Software 40

HR Software Hiring Software Onboarding Software Planning Tools 40

Compensation Cafe

DECEMBER 3, 2014

Part 1 of this series argued that employee compensation has become a stagnant field. Organizations would be more effective and employees would be more engaged if at least half of benefits dollars were converted into cash, especially incentive opportunities. First, benefits go to all, regardless of performance. Ledford, Jr.,

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Bonuses and Incentives Planning Tools Compensation System 63

Compensation Cafe

FEBRUARY 13, 2015

Is time wasting, as a product of poorly structured (and perhaps poorly incented) management undermining your reward program? Would they receive a poor performance review that would reduce their pay, bonus, or promotion potential? Are you ready to become famous for getting results -- with your compensation programs?

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Bonuses and Incentives Compensation Study Performance Management 40