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The Business of HR
Even now, your great people are being approached with respect to other interesting opportunities. There are thousands of jobs open at this time. Simply take a look at any job posting site, or peruse Executive Search firm websites. If you are not thinking about securing your people now, you should be. This will only become more important as the economy improves. Following are a few suggested do's and don'ts as you begin this new year.
Do:
1. Ensure you've identified what the key business drivers and keys to your ongoing success are and the talented members of your organization who are being counted on to ensure this success.
2. Ensure that you are maintaining open communication with these individuals and with those who would step in to fill their shoes were they to leave. Do so by holding regular business updates; attending their team and department meetings; and through informal corridor conversations by creating the opportunity for such chats to occur.
3. Ensure that these individuals are fairly compensated. Even now, with [...] read more »There is never a good time to let staff go, however, with the economy in recession and revenues slipping most everywhere, your firm too may be facing a situation where you have to reduce opex to reflect lower revenues, and simply cutting discretionary spending won't get you where you need to go. You may have decided that you need to reduce staff to get there. It's the Holidays though. How can you let people go at this time? How can you not? Earlier blogs have explored alternatives to cutting staff as well as what good firms do in terms of termination processes. This is simply a call for action; albeit with humanity and caring.
Human Resources professionals and Career Transition experts have
different opinions around when is the best time to deliver the
ultimate in bad news to employees. Some will suggest never doing
this on a Friday, since the employee will then have a weekend to
spend in turmoil, without access to Company HR, Career Transition
professionals, Legal counsel, and often-times with many questions
remaining unanswered. Others will suggest never doing this on a
Monday, since often-times, terminated employees will be let go
immediately, meaning that they then have the rest of the week,
besieged by phone calls [...] read more »
Even amidst the recent carnage in the stock markets, newspaper business sections have still found the time and space to trumpet the spate of class action lawsuits filed against such name organizations as KPMG and CIBC. Whether an employer or employee, here's what you should know about the situation.
Canada has two sets of employment standards governing many
aspects of employment [...] read more »
The Holiday Season is supposed to be a time for colleagues to kick back and celebrate. It is supposed to be a time for employers to give thanks for the year that is ending and convey positive wishes for the year to come. Why then is it that at this time, more than any other, the stress levels amongst Executives, HR, Finance, and the general employee population often-times tend to increase? More importantly, what should you know in order to go forward with confidence into the holidays?
First of all, who in Companies is responsible for taking care of holiday festivities?
In many organizations, that task falls to either the CEO's Executive Assistant or to the Head of HR. Fortunately, they are usually able to count on the support of a social committee comprised of a cross-section of volunteers from throughout the Company. The Social Committee has broad freedom to plan events, with of course some ground rules already spelled out regarding e.g. budget $ available to spend; eligibility; and the handling [...] read more »It is considered conventional wisdom that executive bonuses, within a "pay for performance" framework, drive alignment and business results that meet or exceed Corporate expectations. Too, that larger prospective bonuses drive even greater performance. Does the research though back this up? Interestingly, a recent study by a professor of behavioural economics at an esteemed American University, found the opposite to be true. Where bonuses were non-existant to low, performance was the same as for those with medium sized bonuses. For those with larger bonuses, performance actually declined as compared with those in low to medium sized bonus categories. What should we make of this?
These are difficult times for many employers. While what I'll
call a crisis of confidence started in the financial services
sector, [...] read more »
Six months ago, Companies were poised to grow salaries aggressively, based on: a) rising demand for talent b) tightened supply of experienced and proven performers c) increasing revenues and profitability. Some industries and markets were under even more pressure to pay more than others.
What should Companies do now that the tide has turned, and: a) we're in a recession b) cash is king c) unemployment is rising?
The current reality is what it is. Companies are having to
re-think their Opex and Capital spending budgets in the face of
declining revenues and projections [...] read more »
"The golden rule of organizational design is that structure
always follows strategy"
-Anonymous
Too often, organizations take shape based on the strengths and personalities of the leaders. While with strong leadership, these structures can be made to work, on occasion during the good times, and more often during tough times, the weaknesses are exposed.
Why? Because organization charts drawn up separate from and in many cases without thought being given to how these align with and actively contribute to the longer-term [...] read more »During these recessionary times, with a fluctuating Canadian dollar, it may be tempting for Canadian technology companies to cut performing staff to reduce cash burn; before taking this step however, leaders would be well advised to consider alternatives, since the negatives associated with staff reductions are substantial and long-lasting.
When revenues decline, or the forecast is one of future declines in revenues, companies must ensure that they continue to keep opex in line with revenues to protect operating profits and maintain the confidence of various stakeholders (including banks, customers, and shareholders).
As a result, oftentimes, Company leaders [...] read more »Employee Benefits, depending on your orientation, constitute either one of the biggest costs or the biggest investments an employer makes and therefore merit a bit of strategic thinking before introducing or making changes to these.
Benefit dollars, expressed as a percentage of Base Pay can range from between 12 % to greater than 25% and can be used to fund such offerings [...] read more »Isn't it ironic that in a day and age where we as employers say
we understand that our one true competitive advantage, in market
segments where competitors abound, is our people, we still talk
about "managing" performance.
Somewhat akin to the search for the holy grail, consulting firms sell to willing buyers, systems and processes that are promoted as being the answer to an organization's performance needs.
CEOs and/or HR leaders champion new performance management systems, and organizations spend countless dollars and management and employee time in implementing these.
And the results are????? [...] read more »
Somewhat akin to the search for the holy grail, consulting firms sell to willing buyers, systems and processes that are promoted as being the answer to an organization's performance needs.
CEOs and/or HR leaders champion new performance management systems, and organizations spend countless dollars and management and employee time in implementing these.
And the results are????? [...] read more »
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Recent Posts
- Securing Your People For The Good Times Ahead
8 hours ago - Holiday Season & You've Made The Decision To Reduce Staffing Levels-Now What?
1 second ago - Do Class Action Lawsuits Regarding Overtime Have Your Attention? What To Do?
1 second ago - Happy Holidays? Navigating The Tax & Psychological Shoals To Have Fun One & All
4 days ago - New Research On The Link Between Executive Bonuses & Performance
12 days ago
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