Tag: HR

Sorry, You Didn’t Get the Promotion

If Mike (less successful as a salesperson but more qualified for sales manager) gets the promotion, how do you minimize the risk that Sara (the superstar salesperson who was less qualified to be manager) will be upset? (Go here for the first part of the story.) Janove, author of the  The Star Profile, suggests that […]

Avoid Peter Principle Promotions with Star Profile

Janove created the "Star Profile" to provide a basis for mutual understanding between direct reports and their supervisors. One of its benefits, outlined in Janove’s book, The Star Profile, is that it helps management avoid dreaded "Peter Principle" promotions. Peter Principle Promotions Dr. Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull‘s 1968 book, The Peter Principle, theorized […]

Health Insurance—What Are Best Employers Doing to Control Costs

For years, BLR has surveyed HR and benefits professionals to find trends in benefits. We appreciate your participation in our monthly series of brief, targeted benefits surveys. Today’s survey topic: Health Insurance. (We’ll publish the results in a future issue.) Please participate in this brief survey and we’ll determine what employers are doing with this […]

Where’s My Raise?—How to Handle Tough Pay Conversations

Teresa Murphy and David Wudyka have some ideas about how to make those conversations go a little better. Murphy is the principal consultant for HR Partner Advantage, an HR advisory firm based in Raleigh, N.C. Wudyka, SPHR, MBA, BSIE, is the founder and managing principal of Westminster Associates, a Massachusetts-based human resource and compensation firm. […]

401(k)s Under Assault — What Are Best Employers Doing?

For years, BLR® has surveyed HR and benefits professionals to find trends in benefits. We appreciate your participation in our monthly series of brief, targeted benefits surveys. Today’s survey topic: 401(k) Plans. (We’ll publish the results in a future issue.) Please participate in this brief survey and we’ll determine just how employers are handling their […]

The $6.9 Billion E-Mail

‘Innocent’ little e-mails and text messages can cost companies billions, wreck promising careers (of politicians and HR managers), and cause untold hassles.

Dealing with ‘I-Deals’—Managers’ Special Arrangements with Individual Employees

I-deals are idiosyncratic “deals” that managers make with individual employees. They’re hard to stop, but it’s worth trying, says Greene, who is CEO of Reward $ystems Inc., in Glenview IL. Greene’s remarks came at the recent 2011 World at Work Conference in San Diego. Idiosyncratic “Deals” With Individuals/Groups Competitive talent markets increase the pressure to […]

Comp Policies? They’re for the Other Managers, Not Me

And to make matters worse, compensation policy-making and enforcing has gotten harder, says Greene, CEO of Reward $ystems Inc., in Glenview IL. Greene’s remarks came at the recent 2011 World at Work Conference in San Diego. Why is policy making tougher today? People are more mobile, and they’re onsite and offsite Critical skill shortages exist […]

How To Avoid Termination-Related Lawsuits

Terminated employees will rarely bow out gracefully and say, “Yes—I completely understand why you’re making this decision.” Best-case scenario, they go quietly. Worst-case scenario, you wind up defending a nightmare lawsuit. Ill-considered and hasty terminations are particularly problematic. They spell lawsuit time and time again. Yet most of those lawsuits are avoidable — if you […]