August in the Compensation Dept. -- Time for Fun!

If you manage a compensation program that is on a calendar year schedule, August is the calm before the storm. Q4 is a whirlwind of performance management, merit increase and incentive process work. And then in January, you start all over again.

We keep talking how much things are changing, but when it comes to administration, the steps still pretty much look the same, I bet. You know what's coming in the next four months. Why not take a minute to breathe, look around and decide where you really want to go with rewards and recognition that will take them far beyond business as usual.

The eternal question is: How can compensation along with the other parts of Total Rewards help your employees be more engaged, creative and productive than your competitors'? Will you deliver this time? Instead of scheduling more meetings, now is the time to have some fun and "sharpen the saw" as Covey used to say, before you are swept up in administrative details and don't have time to think.

Here's how you do it.

Chill. Everyone in your organization has been battered by the recession and we've learned in the past week or so what the economists and the Federal Government believe is in store for us in the next few years. Job growth is going to be as unreliable as AT&T cell phone coverage for the next two years or so.

If you are worrying that employees are ready to jump ship, you're probably looking at the wrong side of the coin. "Focus on how you treat the people you choose . . . employees themselves provide the clues . . ." to the innovations you can make. Are you listening to what they are telling you?

Read . . . for insight, ideas and inspiration to get going on real innovation. The quote above is from a really interesting summary of a speech given by Malcolm Gladwell for Towers Watson.  He talks about misguided recruiting and selection assumptions that are rampant in our culture. It's always fun to look at things from an angle that has never occurred to you before. (One of the reasons why so many people like "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"!) There's so much sound, predictive research out there, it's almost a professional lapse if your reward and recognition approach doesn't reflect it.

Need GPS for this road trip? Start with the research on the Web sites of the major consulting firms.

Go out for lunch. There are lots of companies in your neighborhood, no doubt. Do you know their Compensation or HR Directors? Odds are there are a few that you haven't met. Call one of them up and invite him or her for lunch. They'll be intrigued. You'll be able to talk shop with someone who isn't in your department. You'll learn something new. And it counts as networking!

Listen. A low-cost strategy for performance improvement. Towers Watson's research informs us of the power of manager-delivered recognition to boost employee engagement. How have your managers been doing? Are they still on your side? What kind of help will they need to do a good job on performance evaluation and compensation conversations this year?

Everyone is teetering under work/life challenges. If your time is so limited that you can't kick off your shoes in August, even for a bit, here's the place to focus.  Your managers will tell you -- have been telling you -- what it takes to deliver real innovation and what it will take to make it a success.

Margaret O'Hanlon is founder and principal of re:Think Consulting.  She has decades of experience teaming up with clients to ensure great Human Resource ideas deliver valuable business results.  Margaret brings deep expertise in total rewards communication to the dialogue at the Café; before founding re:Think Consulting, she was a Principal in Total Rewards Communications with Towers Perrin.  Margaret earned her M.S. and Ed.S. in Instructional Technology at Indiana University.  Creative writing is one of her outside passions, along with Masters Swimming.

Comments

[Chuck Csizmar]

Great piece, Margaret, and the first I've seen talking about August in the Compensation Department. "Calm before the storm" indeed! Lots of folks are away on vacation this month as well, recharging batteries before Labor Day. Few decisions are made here.

Btw, one consideration I'd add to your piece is to have lunch with your counterpart in Finance. The better you're able to work with these folks the more likely you can avoid the 4Q back-and-forth over next year's merit spend. You know what the employees should receive to remain competitive, while Finance knows what the company is capable of / willing to spend (affordability). If the HR / Finance discussion waits too long, any HR input will be marginalized.

[Margaret O'Hanlon]

Thanks, Chuck. Great point about Finance. A closer relationship will definitely pay off. Sooner rather than later -- thanks for reminding us!