It's that time of year, when thoughts turn to… compensation planning. In just the last two weeks I’ve seen a few different survey announcements about trends, including this one that found:
“After prioritizing retention of talent for 2015 compensation planning, 51 percent of employers now consider cost management to be their main focus in the coming year.”
In an unscientific assessment, I would say that half the surveys I’ve read say employers are swinging towards greater cost management, while the other half says the opposite with employers ramping up focus on retention activities.
Without the benefit of a survey behind me, my recommendation is this: Focus on your employees as humans in need of acknowledgement, praise and support, especially as the year draws to a close. ‘Tis the season when we all begin to reflect on what we’ve experienced and accomplished in the last 12 months. As leaders, join in that process.
One way this is being accomplished is through a complete re-evaluation of the role of performance management in an organization. The topic has been much in the news in 2015 with more and more companies turning from the traditional, annual approach to more frequent feedback mechanisms less fraught with anxiety and pressure for everyone involved. Long a method for assessing salary increases, bonuses, and other compensation elements, new approaches to performance management provide a much more complete picture upon which leaders can base those decisions.
More to the point, simply engaging in more frequent and intentional conversations around goals, desires, achievements and plans helps managers and direct reports chart a path forward that both develops the employee’s career and furthers the aims of the organization. Exceptional managers seek out as much information as possible to inform these conversations. Not least among these sources of information is frequent, timely and specific recognition from the crowd – peer recognition from those who are often closest to the work. This gives managers far more visibility and ability to “catch someone doing something good.”
Then, as the year draws to a close, those insights of excellence throughout the year can fuel a powerful, personal and deeply meaningful expression of appreciation for all that has been accomplished, together.
What can be more powerful than thanks? As we wind up 2015, take a moment and think about those that made your year better, made you more effective in your own work, or simply made your experience of work more enjoyable. Who are you going to thank?
As Globoforce’s Vice President of Client Strategy and Consulting, Derek Irvine is an internationally minded management professional with over 20 years of experience helping global companies set a higher ambition for global strategic employee recognition, leading workshops, strategy meetings and industry sessions around the world. He is the co-author of "The Power of Thanks" and his articles on fostering and managing a culture of appreciation through strategic recognition have been published in Businessweek, Workspan and HR Management. Derek splits his time between Dublin and Boston. Follow Derek on Twitter at @DerekIrvine.
Image "Two Thousand And Fifteen Blocks Show Year 2015" courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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