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Archive for February, 2009
How to Never Get a Job Again
Feb 27Jason Seiden’s article How to Job-Proof Your Recession is fantastic. The author of How to Self-Destruct: Making the Least of What’s Left of Your Career calls people on the carpet for making stupid choices while times are tough.
Here are 10 easy ways to make sure that this recession flat out crushes you.
I know, I know, everyone wants to find a job during these tough times.
But do they…. really? The tactics I see people using seem almost guaranteed to result in failure… so, in the spirit of How to Self-Destruct, here is a checklist you can use to make sure you are doing what you can to job-proof your recession.
After all, if you roll with it and let the wave of prosperity carry you along when times are good, it should hold that you should ride the wave of destitution when times are tough… right?
Well, regardless of your answer to that last question, follow this advice to maximize your free time in ‘09
Check out what Jason says. And take three minutes to listen to what he has to say about career destruction.
Sabotage
Feb 26Person 1 in our office: What’s that called when someone tries to stab you in the back by not sending you a meeting notice?
Person 2 in our office. Corporate America.
Person 1 in our office: I meant “sabotage.”
Big laugh.
***************
For those of you who thought “Beastie Boys,” here’s the video for Sabotage.
Are You Telling Employees to Save More in Their 401(k) Plans?
Feb 26What are you saying to your employees about saving in their 401(k)? Do you find it hard to give them good advice about saving for retirement when you’re scared yourself? How do you counteract the advice they’re getting from all their friends and relatives to save money under their mattresses?
These are the questions we wrestle with in HR communications today. Getting it right is the only way. We don’t need to wake up 20 years from now and have a retirement savings gap that’s as big as a house.
Two Opposing Views on Pay Transparency
Feb 25I’ve been doing a lot of reading about pay transparency in the past few weeks. I get Google alerts. I watch for Twitter hashtags about it. I read blog articles. (I’ll be getting to those later this week.) There’s a lot of information out there. I have a personal view about what will happen if we end up with a demand to expose everyone’s pay to everyone else that I’ll get to a bit later.
For Pay Transparency
Meanwhile, here are two opposing views about pay transparency. The first one comes from KnowHR commenter, Elandra, who is for shining a bright light in dark corners:
I am fascinated by these comments. I participated in the survey and vigorously defend my position that pay transparency should be adopted in all organizations. The justifications for not blowing open the salary books point to a workplace that is tinged with fear of accountability, perhaps incorrect practices that have been historically adopted and never challenged, and an environment where pay is not an indicator of performance.
What are we all so scared of?
If a person is being overpaid or underpaid, why can’t this be addressed in an open way? We’re already seeing the scoffing of huge executive payouts/bailouts, why should it be any different no matter what level you’re at in an organization?
Against Pay Transparency
On the other hand, incentive expert Paul Hebert writes in Fistful of Talent about the downside of pay transparency in an article about capping CEO pay:
Talk about unintended consequences. One of the reasons cited for the huge salaries and pay packages available to top executives is in fact greater transparency caused by the disclosure requirements in Sarbanes-Oxley. Congress enacted the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 in response to a spate of highly publicized business failures and corporate improprieties. The issue they said was a lack of oversight and transparency. I don’t want another Enron and can see why more transparency was needed but, some of the requirements of SOX may be what is driving CEO pay issues. Specifically, once I can see what others get paid – that’s what I want. The highest salary now becomes the minimum salary and I want more than the minimum.
Pay Transparency Survey Results: Part 2
Feb 24Our KnowHR Pay Transparency Survey got 609 responses. In addition to answering the four questions that we wrote about yesterday, we got several written responses to our questions, “If you opened the books on everyone’s pay and everyone knew what everyone else was paid, what problems would you anticipate?” and “Do you have any other comments about pay transparency?” We’re rolling those responses up into a little eBook. Meanwhile, I though you might like to see a few responses and get your reaction. (I wrote the headlines; the respondents wrote the…responses.)
Pay Transparency: Ripping Off the Band-Aid on Pay-for-Performance
I think the main problem is just the initial shock of it and the uncomfortable conversations that may occur when people realize what their peers are making. On the other hand, once you have done that, it should make conversations about pay for performance, ranges, etc., easier because people will have visibility into where they are in the range versus their skills and abilities. But, ripping off the band aid would hurt.
I Fought the Law, and the Law Won
People with less experience would expect the same pay rate as those more experienced. You’d spend a lot of time defending who got paid what and why. Potential for lawsuits is much greater.
How Much Does Bozo the Clown Make?
Loss of plausible deniability. There is a difference between knowing some bozo is making more than me and thinking some bozo is making more than me.
How About if My Peers Set My Pay Every Year?
Unless people have a full understanding of what each person’s role is; and just what they contribute to the organization, it could lead to a lot of loss time due to people lobbying for raises; comparing themselves to others; wasting time focusing on what they are worth rather then spending time working. The only way I could see it work would be if pay was dynamic- i.e. switched each year based on feedback from peer group. Otherwise people will sense inequities based on seniority, special skills sets, etc…
They Say You Want a Revolution
Have you heard of the psychological experiment where a professor asks a classroom of students what percentage of the general population is jerks? The consensus answer is say, something like 35%. Then the professor asks the class which of them are jerks and about 5% of the classroom self identifies? I think you can see where I’m going with this. This would open a Pandora’s box of problems based on the fact that everyone sees themselves as better than average. Context: I work in IT. I think this would apply to most professional environments.
I’m just dazzled with the responses. These are just five of many. I’m working now to put them in broad categories. I want you to be able to read all of them. Thanks a million to those of you who participated in the survey. If you response isn’t above, it’s coming soon. What would you like to say about pay transparency? Just click on that little comment ballon at the top right and let us know what you think.
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