Adoption Benefits Increasing in Prevalence

Adoption assistance is becoming an increasingly popular benefit.  This trend is addressed in an article "Adoption Policies that Work for Your Company" in the January 2008 issue of WorldatWork's workspan magazine.

The article notes that adoption assistance benefits vary substantially, and outlines example policies offered by companies on the 2006 listing of Working Mother magazine's Top 100 companies (of which 92% offer some adoption assistance policies):

Abbott Laboratories - Up to $10,000 in adoption reimbursement with no limit on number of adoptions per family; two weeks' paid leave for travel and bonding with child.

Avon Products Inc. - $10,000 average adoption reimbursement; eight weeks of fully paid leave for adoption (same as birthmothers receive).  Secondary caregivers (including dads) are given two weeks of paid leave following the birth or adoption of a child.

Bank of America - Up to 26 weeks of parental leave, with eight of those weeks fully paid (for all new moms with at least 1 year of service); up to $8,000 in reimbursements per child.

Eli Lilly and Co. - Up to 64 job-guaranteed weeks off (15 months), with one fully paid (after one year of service); $10,000 average adoption reimbursement.

Fannie Mae - Resource and referral service to investigate adoption options; $10,000 average adoption reimbursement; four weeks of fully paid leave for new adoptive parents.

Timberland Co. - $12,000 adoption reimbursement; two weeks of fully paid leave for new adoptive parents.

Verizon Communications/Verizon Wireless - $10,000 in adoption reimbursement; adoptive parents can phase back into work on a reduced schedule and keep full benefits.

Our Work and the Opportunity to be a Blessing to Others

The Career Encourager has a beautiful post worth checking out with a brand new year practically upon us - Blessed to be a Blessing reminds us of how the work we each do provides us with opportunities to be a blessing to others, and tells the story of how a deli employee reinforced this lesson for her and her family.  A wonderful message and an encouraging lesson!

New Internet Executive Pay Comparison Tool Unveiled by SEC

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has launched a new online tool that enables instant comparisons of what 500 of the largest public U.S. companies are paying their top executives. 

By tagging the executive compensation figures in SBRL, the computer language of interactive data, the SEC has created a new online tool to help investors more efficiently view Summary Compensation Tables and certain other data in the proxy statements of large companies.  Investors can quickly glimpse the total annual pay as well as dollar amounts for salary, bonus, stock, options and company perks.  They can instantly compare those executive compensation figures with other companies by sorting according to industry or size.

While the tool appears to be designed with investors in mind, it also holds promise for those charged with analyzing and developing executive compensation programs and policies - especially to the extent that the SEC expands the database beyond this initial set of 500 very large organizations.  Here's hoping.

Carnival of Human Resources

For many of us, it is the time of year for reflection and reconciliation.  I find myself with so much to be thankful for this year.  With this in mind, I have decided on a theme of thanks and gratitude for this 23rd edition of the Carnival of HR!  And looking at all the terrific posts featured in this Carnival - how could I be anything but thankful!

The purpose of performance management, according to my favorite definition, is to create an environment where successful performance is a high probability outcome.  What could be more important?  And, yet, is there any program that poses greater challenges to Human Resources?  For this reason, I am always grateful for the wisdom and insights of those both within and outside the field of HR on this topic.  HR Thoughts reminds us of the importance of preparation and honesty in this process with the post A strong performance evaluation does not just happen.  To help us keep perspective and representing the opinion of many, John Hunter of Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog quotes Deming and shares the results of a British study in his post Performance appraisals are worse than a waste of time.

At its heart, performance management is really about effective management, and I am especially thankful for those who share practical, actionable wisdom and information about people leadership in their blogs.  Wally Bock of the Three Star Leadership Blog helps clear away the fog from the (not necessarily helpful) distinctions between management and leadership in his post Does it matter if we call something management or leadership?  Wally reminds us of the critical things these people must accomplish, regardless of what we decide to call them.  And Ask A Manager tackles the daunting challenge of asserting authority as a brand new manager - dispensing helpful advice and tough love to a reader who is struggling to make her team perform in the post New managers and authority.

We all owe particular thanks to our colleagues who help keep us aware of and ask us to contemplate future trends that impact HR.  Michael Haberman, author of HR Observations, urges us to focus on the future in his post Book review: Future, Inc. - How businesses can anticipate and profit from what's next.  Michael calls upon us to take the key points from this book and apply them today to help lift the work and impact of HR to a more strategic level.

Richard at Workplace Horizons reminds us that, in the face of a shrinking pool for talent, we have a valuable resource to note and be thankful for.  In his post A different view of the future talent pool, he introduces us to the nearly 250,000 talented men and women who leave the armed forces every year to rejoin the labor market.

Kris Dunn, the HR Capitalist, fearlessly addresses the Google-envy in all of us (what?  you don't have matchbox 20 concerts on your corporate campus?).  In his post Here's another reason you don't have Google's employment brand ... Kris helps us see and be grateful for the invaluable real-life skill and experience that the rest of us, who have to "grind it out" on a daily basis, have to offer.

And the compensation blog space has become less lonely of late, thanks to John Markson, author of The Pay & Benefits Guy.  John joins the Carnival with a great submission, sharing advice on the balancing act we all face in navigating tricky compensation decisions in his post The OTOH Quotient.

Lest we forget (and its easy for us HR folk, embroiled as we are in all issues workplace), the Career Encourager reminds us that we must be thankful for employment itself in her post The Blessing of Work.

A late, but very relevant post has been submitted and added to the Carnival, courtesy of Alvara Fernandez of the Sharp Brains blog.  Alvara's post, Enhance happiness and health by cultivating gratitude features an interview with Professor Robert Emmons, who studies gratitude for a living and has just published a book called Thanks: How the Science of Gratitude can make you happier.

And a final addition:  For an increasing number of HR professionals, talent management in China has become a reality that must be addressed.  Given this fact, we are grateful for information and guidance on hiring, retaining and motivating workers in China.  Frank Mulligan, author of Talent in China shares a very informative post on the Downside of China's Miracle Economy.

Last but never least, an HR Carnival themed on gratitude would be remiss without special thanks to Evil HR Lady, who keep this particular showcase on track and on schedule!

The next edition of the Carnival of HR will be hosted by Ask a Manager on January 9!!

Calling All HR Blogs: Next Carnival Here on December 26!!

The next Carnival of HR will be hosted here by yours truly on December 26.  I invite and welcome all submissions; please forward them to me by the December 23.

Thanks in advance for helping make the next Carnival round a success!

Complementary Global Compensation Planning Report Available

Towers Perrin has made its 2008 Global Compensation Planning Report available free for the downloading.  The report, which reflects the responses of over 4,000 companies in over 60 countries worldwide, provides information on 2007 and projected 2008 salary movement and key economic indicators such as inflation, gross domestic product increase and unemployment rate.

A wealth of information and a great resource - yours for the taking!

Additional note to this post:  Towers also has this report available in a "tech sector only" version for those in those industries.

Annual Holiday Bonuses Dwindling in Popularity

63% of companies will not award holiday bonuses this year, according to the 2007 Holiday Study released by Hewitt Associates.  The study, which reflects the practices of more than 350 organizations, reveals that 53% of the organizations surveyed have never offered a holiday bonus and 10% have discontinued their programs.

Of those who have eliminated holiday bonuses, the following top reasons were given:

• Cost (50%)
• The development of pay for performance programs (37%)
• Difficulty in administering (16%)

Those who continue to provide holiday bonuses say they do it for the these top reasons:

• Say thank you and show appreciation (69%)
• Boost morale (16%)
• Maintain tradition (11%)

A few other notable findings from the survey:

• Of those 35% that will offer a 2007 holiday bonus, 42% will provide gift cards, 41% will award cash, 25% will provide a gift of food, and 20% will give some type of catalog gift.
• For those holiday bonusing organizations that give gift cards, the average amount is expected to go up to $52 this year, from $37 last year.

Watching this trend over the past decade or so, I have seen a lot of organizations eliminate the year-end or holiday bonus because they believe it flies in the face of their desired "pay for performance" philosophy.  My take?  I don't believe that driving and rewarding performance and showing appreciation are mutually exclusive goals.  You just can't accomplish them with the same vehicle.  You need to honest, clear and up-front about the intent and purpose of different reward practices.  That, I believe, is where some organizations found themselves in a troubling spot - trying to convince everyone that the year-end bonus was "pay for performance", a thank you and gesture of appreciation, and everything else rewards should be all wrapped up in a $200 check. 

Call me old-fashioned, but I hope this trend doesn't indicate that thanking and showing appreciation to employees is going out of style.  I can understand, in these days of heightened cultural sensitivity, why some would feel that the year-end holiday season isn't the most appropriate target time for this gesture.  Perhaps the trend simply reflects employers finding other better ways to let employees know that their efforts and contributions are valued. 

Here's hoping!

A Primer on Delivering Base Pay Globally

More and more HR and compensation professionals are finding themselves in the position of developing and implementing global compensation programs, as their employers expand internationally.  The December 2007 issue of WorldatWork's workspan magazine includes a terrific primer on developing base pay policy in a global environment. While it is certainly important to establish and set all policy in alignment with an overall compensation philosophy, it is also key to understand and account for local practices and influences. 

In the article, author Adam Sorensen provides an overview of some of these critical local considerations, including:

• Government Mandates: Many countries have specific laws that impact the design and delivery of base pay, including minimum salary, standard workweeks, negotiation, employee representation and mandatory communications.  HR practitioners should also keep in mind that, once implemented, some types of rewards can become legally protected entitlements.
• Base Pay Elements:  The definition of base pay varies signficantly by country.  Items such as nondiscretionary bonuses, differentials and allowances for transportation and meals are common elements of base pay in many parts of the world.  Definitions of base pay can also impact other elements of total rewards (e.g., retirement contributions, variable pay, merit increases, etc.) that are linked to base pay calculations.
• Pay Frequency:  In some countries, annual base pay is spread over more than 12 months, which reduces monthly salary payments while allowing employees to collect the remainder in periodic "bonuses."  Such bonuses should not be confused with variable pay or pay at risk because they are considered part of base pay.  Companies should understand how different pay frequencies will impact their salary budgeting and administration practices.
• Pay Progression:  Pay proression practices also vary around the world.  Automatic base pay progression is still common in areas with strong union influence, but pay for performance is becoming more prevalent.  Also, the range spread within a salary grade and/or the difference between grades may be significantly larger or smaller depending on the market practices in a particular country.
• Market Data:  Reliable market data is critical to competitive positioning of base pay.  Unfortunately, the availability and validity of market data varies dramatically worldwide.  While local market data may be available through a variety of formal and informal sources, practitioners should use caution when interpreting and applying the data because differences in methodology may lead to inaccurate conclusions about local market practices.

National Median Total Cash for Small Business CEO is $276,327

Finding solid executive compensation data appropriately scoped for small businesses can be - in my experience - like looking for the proverbial needle in the haystack, so I was interested to learn of the annual Small Business Executive Compensation Survey published by Salary.com, and thought it worth mentioning here.

This year’s survey covers 12 executive positions and includes data from 2,237 organizations, representing an average company size of 92 employees and a broad range of industries, geographies and ownership structures.

A few summary statistics, featuring national median total cash (base salary plus any short-term incentive), courtesy of Salary.com:

More information on the survey can be found here.

More on Paying Fundraisers Based on Contributions (or not)

Kris Dunn, author of The HR Capitalist, one of my favorite blogs, has a great reaction to my recent post on fundraisers being prohibited from pay based on contributions.  Read his post (What? Non-Profit Rainmakers Can't Be Paid for Making it Rain??) and join in the blog-o-debate!