I sometimes get asked: “Why do I need a compensation professional? Can’t I just do an online search for the information I need and then a comp project by myself?” Well… You certainly could try digging for answer(s), but even if you eventually find useful information, applying it to your situ...
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At Total Reward Solutions, we are frequently asked about the cost of doing a compensation study. So, let’s take that on its face and give some parameters: The study cost for each organization varies based on its number of job titles, number of employees, how many locations have employees, and how ...
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It has never been more important to communicate compensation with employees than it is today. In order to attract, retain, and motivate employees, it is important to have conversations about compensation as well as to conduct compensation training and education with employees. Several states have e...
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It’s perhaps easy to understand that employee compensation has a Return on Investment (or ROI). After all, you pay your employees, they work for that pay, and their work delivers value when your company’s goods and services are sold for profit. Cause and Effect. ROI. Simple, right? But what a...
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It’s a critical question for any company to answer: Does your organization view employees as an investment or an expense? If you regard your employees as an expense, you probably don’t need to read the rest of this article. However, if you see them as an investment, does your organization truly ...
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The longest journeys tend to beg the question: “Are we there yet?” Certainly, the quest for pay equity has been a long journey indeed – for women, people of color, and others in pursuit of a level playing field for compensation. It’s a worthy and necessary destination that officially began i...
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Family businesses will always be vital to the economic landscape. But because nearly every successful or growing family business also employs non-family workers, managing the operation is a balancing act that requires extra due diligence when it comes to fair and effective employee compensation prac...
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When it comes to fair and effective employee compensation practices, pay transparency and pay equity should be top priorities. In fact, according to WorldatWork, these are likely to be two of the most important responsibilities in human capital in the next 2 to 3 years. Unfortunately, even though pa...
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Differences abound between transactional and strategic human resources, but even if the distinctions are clear to HR generalists, these terms get a little fuzzy when it comes to employee pay matters. Nonetheless, it’s important to understand the distinctions as these can be important to establishi...
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At Total Reward Solutions, we offer a broad range of employee compensation and total rewards services for organizations of all sizes. Oftentimes, smaller companies have a single person in charge of HR compensation programs while larger companies have sizeable employee populations that require more c...
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At Total Reward Solutions, we find ways to help clients rise to employee compensation challenges in good times and bad. That’s one reason so many clients consider us their trusted partner for compensation solutions, year after year. Another reason is that we offer a broad range of services, includ...
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This changes everything! Or does it? In the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic, with U.S. and global economies in free fall, businesses are asking, “What will this do to the employment market as we navigate through and beyond this crisis?” It’s a reasonable question. Unfortunately, it’s a rea...
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It’s a challenging time. When a pandemic like the coronavirus outbreak leads to COVID-19 infections, serious illness and even death, we are all impacted. Lives change. At home and at work. Indeed, for many U.S. corporate workers, the home is the workplace now, and employee interactions take place ...
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When employers need to maintain or add to their workforces, an age-old question emerges: Which is better -- recruiting or retaining workers? In other words, is it more cost-effective to keep your current talent pool versus accepting turnover as a fact of business and focusing more on attracting, hir...
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It seems like executive compensation is always in the news, especially during national election cycles. The issue is controversial: Why are top corporate executives paid so much? Indeed, how much executive compensation is too much? How much is too little? Most important, how much executive compensat...
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Gender pay inequality shows little sign of ending soon (the Women’s Policy Research group says it will take until 2059 before women earn as much as men for equal work), but the new Ms. Monopoly® game by Hasbro is at least bringing the issue into the spotlight. The game is controversial, to say...
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When it comes to your organization’s compensation programs, none is more important than your base pay program. A base pay program provides structure and organizes your jobs so you can attract and retain talent. It establishes a baseline for merit pay, salary range variations, and regulatory compli...
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It seems only natural from one year to the next to take a quick glance in the rearview mirror even as we focus on the road ahead. For me, personally, and the entire team at Total Reward Solutions, 2018 was a pivotal year in our escalating success. We accomplished much, served many, and feel blessed ...
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Compensation ROI (the Return on Investment of your company’s compensation and total rewards policies, programs, and practices) is often misunderstood and underappreciated. In fact, most employers and Human Resources professionals tend to view employees as an expense – a necessary evil, if you wi...
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“Understanding how to use compensation and total rewards as a competitive advantage has never been more important!” This statement, from the Foreword by United Way of Central Indiana’s Chief Talent Officer Nancy Ahlrichs, helps explain why I wrote my new book: Compensation Sense 101 – Common...
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