Metrics

Develop the 3 business skills that CEOs want most

05/26/2009

More than ever, top execs are seeking HR professionals with business skills to help shape organizational strategy. Here are the top business skills that experts and surveys say executives want in HR professionals …

Ask 5 questions before implementing knee-jerk training cuts

05/04/2009

Cutting training willy-nilly just to save money can create more problems than it solves. During economic downturns, companies need efficient, targeted training programs to improve productivity. And effective training positions companies to prosper as the economy recovers. To examine training programs and avoid eliminating those that do work, ask the following questions:

After AIG debacle, it’s time to review your bonus plan

04/07/2009

Bonuses have gotten a bad name lately. But the howls of outrage that followed news of AIG execs’ huge retention bonuses shouldn’t be the death knell of pay for performance. Here are 10 tips for making your bonus system work in today’s economy.

Make sure employees understand the value of their benefits

01/05/2009

Boosting your benefits communication during troubled economic times can help your organization retain good employees and ease their worries so they can focus on work. The key: Show employees the value of their benefits.

How to manage pay-for-Performance in today’s harsh new business environment

09/05/2008

If your organization has plenty of employees, but not enough of the skilled workers critical to surviving a down business cycle, you’re going to have to change your compensation plan. Three changes pave the way—finally!—for a pay-for-performance system that works.

Proving the ROI of wellness programs just got easier

08/28/2008

Every employer seems to be jumping on the wellness bandwagon in an effort to curb health care costs. But it’s always been hard for HR to prove its wellness investment is worth it. Reason: the inability to nail down a return on investment (ROI) on wellness programs. Now, a host of new approaches and tools have come to the rescue …

3 Keys to Creating ‘Employee Lifetime Value’

08/12/2008

Savvy business people have long focused on customer lifetime value—the gains to had from cultivating lifelong relationships with customers eager to patronize them again and again. Here are three keys to nurturing those same kinds of relationships with employees—and reaping the same kinds of rewards.

Measure effectiveness to make sure flex plans work for you

08/01/2008

Your organization wouldn’t offer flexible work arrangements like flextime and compressed workweeks if managers didn’t believe the benefits—better employee engagement, recruitment and retention—outweighed the costs. Still, a recent survey by Hewitt Associates found that few organizations have formal and consistent policies in place to manage their flex programs …

It’s time to revamp the way you calculate turnover

07/01/2008

There’s a big difference between losing three slugs versus three stars in your department within a month. Yet, at most organizations, those losses would be calculated the same—as an overall percentage of employees—when figuring turnover rate. The problem: Such a simple metric doesn’t account for performance differences among departing employees …

Backup care: It’s not just for kids anymore

06/06/2008

Unscheduled absences can throw production into a tailspin. Often, those absences occur when an employee’s child care arrangements fall through. But increasingly, workers also must stay home to care for spouses or parents who need help after surgery or because a regular caregiver is unavailable …