Organizations need to consider many, but four main, factors in determining their compensation levels and practices:  1.  Performance — of the individual, team and organization; 2.  Internal equity — people doing similar work with similar qualifications need similar pay (it’s the law!); — 3.  External competitiveness — don’t stray too far away from the market or you’ll have trouble recruiting and retaining; 4.  and, as the study discovered, the ability of the organization to pay.  

If the company is struggling, not profitable, or the market is squishy  – employers should not enter into long term contracts promising higher pay and expensive benefits. 

The successful employee pay formula:  1.   rewards performance, 2.  is fundamentally fair and immaculately legal, 3.  recognizes external market conditions and 4.  is prudent and practical based on their own ability to pay.

(The statistics from the Mercy study are from an article by Stephen Miller from SHRM.)

To get help setting up a Successful Pay Plan with the Four Square Legs — call Karla at Wright Consulting.       

“Fox & Friends” has more than 1 million viewers nationwide and the largest morning cable show audience, particularly among policymakers and opinion leaders in Washington, DC.

To watch the 5-minute video, visit http://messaging.shrm.org/ct/E1qpfc51qRcH/

Begin the handbook with a welcoming statement to build a positive culture.  Keep legalistic words (such as:  whereas and forthwith and furthermore) out of the handbook.  Instead of listing all the do nots, describe the expectations and what ”to do”.  For any list of “do nots” there will always be another behavior, not on the list, that will inevitably surface, making the ”do not” list moot (sorry for the legal term).  Carefully choose words to avoid the “we vs them” culture. 

There should be clearly stated expectations against harassment and discrimination and also established steps to follow.  Good guidelines exist for this language.  However, the policy and procedures against harassment and discrimination should be kept in perspective.  Handbooks with many pages dedicated to this subject send the message “wow, this company has a problem”.  Be clear, be concise, be legal, be kind. 

Be careful when adding new wording for new laws.  A hastily slapped together and lengthy policy will stand out like a sore thumb and gives an impression that this is the MOST important policy.  Weave new policy generated by new laws in with other policies and practices. 

Supervisors like lists of actions subject to discipline; and they mistakenly think it will make their job easier.  It won’t.  Resist the list! 

Finally, don’t say you’re going to do something and then not do it.  If in doubt, leave it out.   Use words like “intend” or “may” to allow flexibility.  Arbitrary inconsistencies are bad, but the reality is there will always be the need for exceptions and flexibility.  Don’t mistake treating everyone exactly the same, regardless of circumstances, with fairness.  Fairness requires discernment and judgement.  Hard and fast rules with no room for recognizing the exception lead to trouble more often than not.  Managing from the heart will result in fairness; managing from the book will result in losing the good employees.  The fair manager will eventually have to say “no” to one to be fair to all.    

Contracts do have their place when two parties do not trust each other or do not know each other.  The handbook should be a communication tool that sets expectations, estalishes positive relations and builds trust.

The rule of thumb is for every fifty words of policy, there is one loophole.  So don’t try to build the perfect document with MORE words.  Build a document that sets standards and expectations, gives good guidelines and practical steps and information, sets a tone for a positive, respectful working environment for all and treats adults as adults — not felons or children.   

Bottom line, edit your handbooks for tone as well as for words.  Would an employee read the document and feel like a team member or would an employee read the document and feel like they need a lawyer?      

Workplace stress causes employee health disorders and increased accidents and mistakes at work.  Stress-related dysfunctional behaviors cause anxiety among coworkers resulting in disciplinary action, lowered productivity, contagious discontent among the workforce, and even violence.  These are high costs for employees and employers.

When practical, employers should consider offering additional self-care training and work life balancing seminars.  Perhaps some much needed downtime and fun get-togethers could help.  Offering alternative and flexible work schedules and offering an “extra” paid holiday to just ease the load and tension and show appreciation could be tried.  Communication is always key though to ensure employees know what the company is planning and the realities.  A company blog with employee feedback allows information to flow both ways.   

EAPs have been shown to be a worthwhile investment for employers.  In today’s uncertain climate, employees can seek assistance through EAPs for not only behavioral health issues but also for seeking financial, family counseling, stress mitigation support, improved work life balancing and planning and learning to deal with uncertainty. 

Many of the above ideas came from SHRM News, written by Pamela Babcock.   

Yesterday is history

Tomorrow is a mystery

Today is a gift

That’s why it’s called the present.

The majority of Iowa workers also believe they are treated reasonably by their employers.  When asked if employers have too much power over workers and take unfair advantage of workers, 62% of the respondents said no. 

Lack of trust between employers and employees creates the need for workers to join labor unions.   It appears that in Iowa the employer - employee relationship is positive and trusting. 

Employers who DO take unfair advantage of employees will find themselves without a qualified workforce — the workers will go elsewhere where they are treated with respect.  There is NO competitive advantage to mistreat employees.  Maybe in the short term a few bucks are saved or something, but in the long term the economic advantage goes to the employers who do the right thing. 

Treating employees with respect is good business.  Looks like Iowa businesses are doing the right thing.

Wright Consulting helps employers do the right thing through their Workplace Harmony initiatives. 

Survey data taken from Des Moines Register, April 5, 2009 

Trustworthiness — encompasses honesty, integrity, reliability and loyalty.  Being trustworthy means keeping promises and doing one’s best not to deceive, even with white lies or statements that one migh defend as “technically true.”

Respect — The golden rule of treating others as you wish to be treated applies.  Be courteous, listen to others, and accept (don’t have to agree) differences.

Responsibility — Accountability, self-control and the pursuit of excellence.  We MUST get back to these qualities.  Also, being responsible means we must carefully consider the consequences of our choices BEFORE we make them.  Harsh words spoken can’t be taken back.  You can’t unrin a bell. 

Fairness — Playing by the rules and not taking advantage of others is fairness.  A fair person makes informed judgments without prejudice and does not blame others.

 Caring — Kindness, compassion, altruism — these are the heart of ethics.  Of course some ethical decisions inevitably cause pain, but the caring person acts to minimize hardship and to help others whenever possible.

Citizenship — Good citizens work to make their homes, businesses, jobs, associations and environment a better place.  We American citizens use the democratic process.  Good citizens know how their government works, know the laws that impact them and seek information to understand issues. 

The six pillars are so fundamental and yet so often abandoned when times are tough, people are nervous, change is everywhere and others are not treating you the way you want to be treated. 

Employees and employers will be better if the six pillars of character are sustained.    

Above information taken from:  SHRM Business Ethics Survey, Aliah Wright, SHRM Online’s Ethics and Sustainability Focus Area  

The category with the largest number of complaints was race, followed by retaliation, sex, age, disability, national origin, religion and equal pay act.

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act removed the “statute of limitations” or time limit for claiming pay discrimiantion.  As that possibility becomes fully understood, the number of complaints could rise even more. 

What can employers do?  They should continue to follow both the spirit and the letter of the fair employment laws — as always.  When layoff, demotion, pay decrease, job changes, training opportunities and termination decisions are made — make sure illegal criteria are not used to make these decisions that impact employees.   Audit practices and outcomes to be sure unintentional discrimination does not exist. 

(above data from SHRM.org website– contributors: Tahminicioglu and Grinberg) 

This legislation is sneaky and misleading.  The name says “free choice” but it is not.  It takes away the long held process of using both card checks and the private voting ballot for workers to decide if they want a third party — a labor union — to represent them to their employer.   This legislation called the “free choice” act is anything but a “free choice”.   It would take away the fundamental right of privacy.  Individuals should feel comfortable deciding the important question of whether or not to have a third party represent them — and they should be free from intentional or unintentional intimidation.    Most workers are opting out of a union work environment, believing unions limit their full potential and constrain their pay and upward mobility. 

Unions have served a good purpose in our work world in the past, and some still do provide useful standards and functions.  We have no reason to pass this unneeded legislation.

We are dangerously close to having this legislation.  Employer and employee apathy will result in passage of this legislation.    The National Labor Relations Act established the foundations for union organizing and it has served us well.  We should not change the process.   Currently private ballot elections are administered by the National Labor Relations Board after a union has acquired at least 30% of the covered workers’ authorization cards to hold an election.   The Board certifies the union as the official bargaining representative of the workers in the majority of votes during the secret ballot election are in favor of the union. 

This process works.  The Employee Free Choice Act, sponsored by Senator Edward Kennedy would amend the NLRA to allow unions to be certified after only the use of the “card check” process with NO voting ballot.    The non secret nature could lead to employees feeling pressured by co-workers or union organizers.  We need to keep the private voting ballot process. 

I hope this legislation is not railroaded through but I fear the tide is strong and it will be the law of our workplace land soon. 

Employers should not shrink from their workplace harmony strategies.  This is not a time for employers to think less about their work life balance issues and quality of workplace factors.  Employees can still leave employers and will.  The recession has definitely changed employer and employee perspectives about job security but the same motivators for job change exist although the percentages are shifting.  Employers should not neglect their recruitment and retention strategies because the unemployment rate is higher.

  statistics from article by Theresa Minton-Eversole at SHRM.org