Author: Stephen Bruce, PhD, PHR

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March Madness ‘Office Pool’ for Laid-Off Workers Lets Them Join in Fun

While laid-off workers really miss their paychecks and benefits, downsized employees are down about something else this time of year—missing the March Madness office pool.. However, outplacement solutions provider RiseSmart® is busy collecting brackets of participants in its second “RiseSmart Challenge,” an alternative program that serves as a fun way to help unemployed workers take […]

Employee depression and work accommodation Q&A

Dealing effectively with employees who have depression and work restrictions can be challenging. This is especially true when the doctor’s note implies that an accommodation is needed that seems unreasonable. What can an employer do? In a recent CER webinar, Patricia Eyres gave us some guidance on how employers can react in these situations. Here […]

SMART Goal-Setting—Key to Pay for Performance

Making Sense of Goals and Objectives Neelman offers the following suggestions for making goals and objectives truly helpful: Make performance management an important aspect of a manager’s evaluation. Limit evaluations to critical goals that employees can impact. Three to five goals is usually most appropriate. No more. Goals should enhance the employee’s performance in his […]

Super Safety Training Sessions Part 2: Techniques

To liven up that safety meeting, remember this refrain: Personalize, relate, repeat, rephrase, and for goodness sakes, be enthusiastic! “How do I make my safety training meetings more effective and memorable?” That’s the question our training experts get repeatedly. Yesterday, we began to answer it, using guidance provided in the BLR® program, Safety Meeting Repros, […]

Where’s the Public’s Breaking Point on Exec Pay?

Shareholders are voicing their disapproval over excessive executive pay. HR managers need to know the public’s “breaking point” for each pay element, says consultant Kurt Fichthorn. Fichthorn, who is vice president in the Philadelphia office of the Hay Group, offers the following chart to clarify what employers want and how it compares to what the […]

Comp Philosophy? Yes, You Must Have One

Yes, it’s worth the time and focus on your compensation philosophy, because it is the basis for everything you do in compensation. You need to get it to paper so execs, managers, and employees understand, says Rizzuti. Rizzuti, who is a principal and senior consultant with Compensation Resources, Inc, in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, […]

Super Safety Training Sessions, Part 1: Preparation

Imagine two training rooms, side by side. Both host safety training meetings. In Room A, the instructor drones on and on, doing all the talking, while trainees check their watches, look longingly at the exit, or just slouch at their desks with a 10,000-yard stare in their eyes. When the session breaks, there’s a dash […]

Exec Rewards: Use Total Comp or Miss by a Mile

Base executive pay decisions on total direct compensation and you are likely to “miss the market by a mile,” says consultant Kurt Fichthorn. To understand the importance of a total remuneration perspective, look at this table that reflects information about your CEO’s compensation, says Fichthorn, vice president in the Philadelphia office of Hay Group. CEO […]

Employers Have Opportunity to Boost Retirement Savings With Auto-escalation

Employers could use auto-escalation as a way to encourage 401(k) participants to increase their contributions and reduce the number of employees missing out on matching contributions from the plan sponsor. That’s the finding by WorldatWork and the American Benefits Institute, which said that nearly a third of U.S. retirement plan sponsors they surveyed think more […]

How the Wizard of Oz Can Help Us Be Better Managers

Here’s what Oswald said: Recently, an adaptation of The Wizard of Oz was released. If you’re like me, you grew up watching the 1939 classic. The new film got me thinking about those wonderful characters created by L. Frank Baum. There’s the Cowardly Lion, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and, of course, Dorothy. Each one […]