The Compensation Cafe is pleased to present this special edition of the Carnival of HR, which we have dubbed the Big Tent of Total Rewards.
Why Big Tent?
in volunteering to host this special Carnival, we hoped to introduce our colleagues and readers to the ideas and perspectives of other HR bloggers. The unique value of the blogosphere is that you get a fresh, immediate, unfiltered (and yes, sometimes irreverent) take on the reward issues of the day. The posts we have to share with you today present a wonderful complement to our everyday Cafe content. While we typically focus on core compensation issues, the writers featured here today (most of whom are not compensation specialists) bring essential points to our attention and remind us of the many important questions that surround reward design. These broader aspects remind us that Total Rewards, done right, is a Big Tent -- and that it touches, and is touched by, a wide range of practices and considerations in the bigger organizational system. For this, and for those who share a sampling of their thoughts and ideas with us today, we are grateful.
Cue the Carnival.
Rewards and the Job. Suzanne Lucas, aka Evil HR Lady, spins a cautionary tale in Are You Biased Against Dirty Jobs?, warning about the risks of devaluing jobs that may not be considered high impact, but provide essential infrastructure. On a related note, Chris Young of the Human Capital Strategy Blog reminds us that The Best Employee Reward is the Job Itself.
Rewards and the Free Agency Reset. Fistful of Talent's Andy Porter throws out a radical idea for regularly testing the market value of employee skills in Why Your Company Should Adopt a Free Agency Period.
Rewards and the Law. Wage and hour law compliance is challenging - and critical - these days, and it is often the seemingly little things that trip us up. HR Compliance Guy Mike Haberman, who blogs at HR Observations, sounds a warning note in his post A Very Expensive Lesson in Not Following the Rules.
Rewards and Immediacy. Ben Eubanks of Upstart HR shares some wonderful lessons about reward timing drawn from his wife's classroom experience in Rewards and Incentives for Nine Year Olds. Take that, Alfie Kohn!
Rewards and the Importance of Acknowledgement. Jason Womack illustrates the power of acknowledging peoples' contributions, even in small and simple ways, in his post Building Acknowledgement into Your Day.
Rewards, When Acknowledgement is Not Enough. Acknowledgement and recognition are great, but sometimes it is also important to share the spoils of success with those who helped create them, says Tom Delaney of Brownie Points in his post The Shelf Life of "Thank You" and "Great Job".
Rewards and the Unexpected. Icicles forming in the Arizona desert? You almost have to wonder, as WorldatWork's Ryan Johnson's muses in his post Here's Something You Don't Often Hear from Business Leaders: "We're Overpaid".
Rewards, Intrinsically Speaking. Alex Raymond of Kapta Systems examines the drivers of engagement for today's workforce and highlights the important role that intrinsic and psychological rewards play in his post How to Increase Employee Engagement with Rewards.
A Reward within a Reward? In an insightful post about 401(k) plans, The 401(k) Match is Returning, But is it Effective? WorldatWork's Lenny Sanicola examines the role of the employer match in driving plan participation and savings levels.
Rewards ... or Not? John Hunter of the Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog challenges conventional reward practices in Motivation, Rewards, Performance Appraisal and Your Career, a post highlighting his responses to an interview with Dan Pink.
(When) Rewards Are Not Enough. In his post Sometimes the Answer is No, Paul Hebert of Incentive Intelligence reminds us that are simply some problems - and some people - that no reward effort can fix.
The Greatest (Reward) of Them All. Wrapping up the Carnival line-up, Wally Bock of the Three Star Leadership blog chides us not to overlook the "power tool" of employee rewards in his post The Most Potent Reward.
In closing, special thanks go out to all the bloggers who shared their posts with us, and to the Cafe's own Carnival team of Margaret, Chuck and Jim (without whom, this particular Big Tent would have never have been raised). The regular Carnival of HR schedule continues with the next edition going up in sunny Florida on September 26, courtesy of Heather Vogel, at the HR Whisperer. Submissions are due in to to heather at twovogels dot com by Monday, September 24th!
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