A few years ago at work we were asked to create new name tags. Instead of using our actual titles, we were supposed to come up a creative or funny description of what we do. I’m not very good at funny; I’m just not right-brain creative enough. So I used “Earnings Educator” hoping I’d at least get some points for alliteration. But I really do like the title, I still think it’s an uncannily accurate description of what I do, or at least, should be doing.
It’s my job to educate when I hear comments like “it’s all about cash, no one cares about total rewards.” Maybe they don’t care about it right now, but companies spend a significant amount on money on those other benefits. If we can explain to people how much more the company is spending, it helps to bring the total pay package into context.
It’s also my job to educate when a manager comes to me and says, “Joe is going to be working overtime, so we need to make him exempt.” This is one of those issues that can be extremely expense and risky if we get it wrong. So I educate about what it means to be exempt, and ask questions about how I can help with the job organization so that we can limit required overtime if it’s not in the budget.
Another area where I find that I do a great deal of education is around market data. Employees don’t always understand where it comes from, so they don’t always trust the market data. If we can explain how we complete our surveys, how they’re aggregated, and how we validate our market data (e.g. checking with our Recruiters, using multiple sources, etc.); then the employees are much more likely to accept that data. Of course there’s always the performance piece, and that can be a bit trickier since studies have shown that as many as 90% of people believe they perform in the top 10%. Talking about individual performance isn’t actually our job in HR though, that’s the manager’s job. However, educating the managers on how to provide immediate and ongoing performance feedback about job performance does frequently fall into our realm.
There are also the meetings with the executives and the compensation committee. While these folks generally have a better base-level of knowledge, they don’t have time to be experts on every subject. It may fall on us to educate senior management about how our compensation programs fit into the bigger picture. And it certainly is our responsibility to show how the money spent on compensation plans will support the business in achieving its objectives.
So what started as honestly a bit of folly has come to be a daily reminder to me of what I should be doing. “Earnings Educator.” It wasn’t the most creative title that ended up on a name tag, but it may have had the largest impact in the long run.
Darcy Dees, CCP works as the Compensation Manager for Rock Bottom Restaurants, Inc., headquartered in Louisville, CO. She has worked with RBR for nearly 10 years helping to develop many of the compensation and performance management programs the company uses today. She spends what little free time she has hiking and reading.
The opinions expressed here are the personal opinions of Darcy Dees. Content published here is not monitored or approved by Rock Bottom Restaurants, Inc. before it is posted and does not necessarily represent the views and opinions of Rock Bottom Restaurants, Inc.
Image: Creative Commons Photo "Einstein's theory of relative blackboard longevity" by thepatrick
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