Horizon Point Consulting

Category: Human Resources

We know HR. Read our Human Resources blog archives for stories and best practices from our work with real clients and personal experiences in the world of HR.

  • Your Local Wage Survey is a Gold Mine

    Your Local Wage Survey is a Gold Mine

    Does your area have a local wage and/or benefit survey? Do you participate? You should! Here’s why and how. 

    National wage reports are helpful to study the big picture of economic growth, but these reports might not (probably don’t) reflect the small picture of your business in your community. Further, a 2021 study found that U.S. workers may get 19% less than federal estimates:

    Some tools, like CompAnalyst and SHRM, offer comprehensive data (for a hefty fee) that can be helpful in determining pay ranges and comparing company wage data to industry benchmarks. We use resources like these for some larger compensation analysis projects. Even still, we use data from the local wage survey to further validate and strengthen our recommendations. 

    Community-based benchmarks are critical for organizations to attract and retain talent. Our area is heavy in aerospace and defense contractors, and the competition for talent is fierce. Many of these organizations rely almost entirely on the local wage and benefits survey to drive compensation decisions year-to-year. This year especially, organizations are looking for real-time information about how the wage and benefits landscape has changed in the last 6-12 months. 

    Now, I’ll drop a note here to acknowledge that companies with multiple locations throughout the U.S. and/or multinational operations might have more limited local decision-making power. We work with many multinational organizations in our community, and the local wage and benefits survey is the most impactful resource for local leaders to demonstrate the need for changes to their top leadership. It might take longer to move the needle, but starting with meaningful, local data goes a long way. 

    In support of my argument that local wage and benefit data is invaluable, we regularly receive questions from businesses, chambers of commerce, economic development agencies, local governments, etc., about wage trends in our area. This data is not just for wage decisions in individual companies; this data is used in city and county economic and workforce development decisions. 

    Below is a snapshot from a report we recently provided for the local chamber. They wanted to know if there had been an increase in median hourly wages, particularly in manufacturing.

    The wage and benefits survey we administer annually collects aggregate data for Production, Maintenance, and Warehouse positions. Comparing the local wage data as of 01/01/2020 with local wage data as of 01/01/2021, we were able to discern if and how much hourly wages grew for these job categories. This information helps business and community leaders make informed decisions to attract and retain people and their families. 

    So here’s my point: local wage surveys benefit you personally

    …as an employee who wants to be paid fairly 

    …as an employer who wants to attract and retain talent 

    …as a citizen who wants to live in a thriving community 

    If you hold a role at your organization with influence over internal compensation decisions, or even if you don’t, I encourage you to participate in local wage surveys on behalf of your organization. When more businesses participate, the data is more robust and meaningful for individuals, organizations, and communities. 

    If you aren’t sure if your local community offers a wage/benefit survey, a good place to start is your local economic development agency (EDA) or chamber of commerce. For our readers in North Alabama, you can learn about our work with local wage and benefit surveys here.

     

  • Inflation and Competitive Wages – What do these mean to You?

    Inflation and Competitive Wages – What do these mean to You?

    Are your company’s wages in line with the market? Inflation is often the topic of conversation in the news and in everyday conversation. I recently read an article about Social Security increases, the largest in more than a decade, is on the horizon; you can check the article out here: Social Security Cost-of-Living Adjustment Could be the Highest in 13 Years.

    What does that mean for individuals? It means you should know your worth, or rather, know what the going rate is for your role. I’m currently working on a wage compensation study and researched the Consumer Price Index to ensure rates were on track. It is currently 5.4%; that’s considerable. Here are a few free sources you can use to dig into wage data:

    O*Net – (enter job title, scroll down to Wage & Employment Trends, enter zip code)

    Salary.com – (look for “Individuals” What am I worth? Enter job title & location)

    What does this information mean for companies? Just this week, I’ve received more than one request for a proposal from companies wanting a compensation study. I’ve also had more than one conversation about how hard it is for companies to find employees. One way to combat that issue is to ensure you are paying at least the going rate for the positions you are seeking to fill. If you’d like to learn more about how Horizon Point can help with this, let us know! In the meantime, check out this case study from our website: Regional Wage Survey Case Study.

  • The Cost of Sexual Harassment

    The Cost of Sexual Harassment

    EEOC reported sexual harassment claims have ebbed and flowed for years now. Some years it’s up and some it’s down. The “MeToo” movement gained momentum in 2017 and for the two years following we saw a rise in EEOC sexual harassment claims. Now the numbers are starting on the down curve again; I’m sure in part due to the pandemic and move to remote workforces. But being remote doesn’t protect any organization from the threat of sexual harassment situations. 

    A 2019 study conducted by Deloitte aimed to estimate the cost impact of sexual harassment on organizations. By creating a model algorithm to determine the average cost based on total cases, Deloitte estimated that in 2018 workplace sexual harassment cost organizations $2.6 billion in lost productivity and $0.9 billion in other costs, or an average of $1,428 per victim. 

    Sexual harassment in the workplace can have a huge impact on the organization, including increased absenteeism, decreased employee morale, higher turnover, and management time to investigate claims. Sexual harassment can have a major psychological impact on victims, causing such symptoms as anxiety, depression, insomnia, or headaches. All of these symptoms can in turn have a major impact on an employee’s ability to perform the duties of their position. They can also have a major impact on the employer’s insurance costs, as employees who suffer such symptoms often need to seek medical assistance to alleviate them. 

    In addition to the costs mentioned above, employers who have to fight claims of sexual harassment through the EEOC or the courts will spend a great deal of time collecting evidence, consulting legal counsel, and fighting the claim in EEOC mediation and/or court. Punitive and compensatory damages could cost an organization between $50,000 and $300,000, depending on company size. 

    There are multiple options available to employers to help them ensure their employees, and their leadership is trained on sexual harassment including online training that can be purchased on a per person license, LMS training modules that can be purchased for a flat fee, or outsourced training. 

    Currently, 18 states have some form of regulation on sexual harassment training for employers. Many employers opt-out of training because it’s not required in their state. Others put off training thinking “It would never happen here” or “I can’t afford training”, but it can happen in any organization and the cost of providing training annually is much less than the potential cost of not providing training. 

    To find out more about Horizon Point’s sexual harassment training, view our course outline.  

  • 6 Steps for Planning and Implementing Effective Extended Leave

    6 Steps for Planning and Implementing Effective Extended Leave

    Earlier in the week, our post was a reflection on why I will be taking a walkabout, or an extended amount of time away from work this fall.  Each person on our team will be taking four to six weeks off at some point within the next six months.  

    Whether it is taking time for intentional rest, reflection, and/or deep work or going out on maternity or extended sick leave, stepping away from anything at work requires preparation beforehand in order for the time away and the people providing support during the time away to be a success. Here is a roadmap for doing so: 

    1. Plan/proactively discuss with your team the timing of your absence and the roles and responsibilities they will have while you are away.  You can read more about my team’s discussion on the timing of my absence in the last post, but the next step in this for me has been thinking through and communicating with them about who will do what while I’m out. We will do the same as each person takes leave. Some things are natural, given that many of the projects I work on and the people I work with have at least two of our team members providing support.  There are some things where you may be the only person with a knowledge base for execution, so planning proactively gives you the time to provide cross-training, introductions, information, and or tools needed for success. 

    2. Communicate proactively with the external contacts you interact with regularly that you will be out with.  For the past two weeks, I’ve emailed or called every client and/or potential client that I interact with to let them know that I’m going to be out, for how long, what this means in terms of what they should or shouldn’t expect from me (for example, I will not be checking email during this time), and who their new point of contact will be on our team.  I will say that in doing this, EVERYONE I’ve talked to has been supportive and encouraging in taking the time away.  They are appreciative of the heads-up and connection(s) with our team for the project to continue in my absence. 

    3. Start saying “no” based on your scheduled time away.  In the past two weeks, I’ve said “no” to more things than I have in a long time.  Both personal and professional.  It really helps you realize how much stuff you say “yes” to without even thinking about it.  “Yes, my calendar is clear on the date you asked to meet with me, so yes, I’ll meet with you” happens a lot without a thought about whether or not the meeting is necessary or if you even want to meet with that person.  We commit to things without thinking about them and then wonder why we can’t find the time to do the most important things. It’s pretty liberating and reflective to take back your time. 

    4. Set guardrails and systems around being able to maintain your no and the margins the time away should provide.  I know my email will be a problem for me. It is the mechanism in which I say yes to most things because most things come in the form of calendar invites via email or requests for this or that via email.  So, for me, I will not be checking and responding to emails while I’m out.  To ensure I do this, someone on my staff will be changing my email password for me on the day I go out.  She will also check the box once a week to make sure there are no emergencies she and the team need to tend to (this will help me maintain my sanity of not checking it) and I will set up an out of office reply explaining that I’m out, points of contact for specific needs, and when I will return.  You may not need to go to the extreme of getting someone to change your password (if you do, you have a lot more self-control than I do, because checking email is such a habit for me), but know yourself well enough to deploy the guardrails needed for maintaining the integrity of your leave. This may mean deleting social apps on your phone, disconnecting your wifi (or getting someone to change your wifi password), or setting standard times around the do not disturb feature on your phone.  Figure out what you need and solicit any help needed to do so. 

    5. Reflect on what these planning exercises are telling you. As mentioned earlier, delegating responsibilities to others may help you realize they need to be cross-trained on a certain task or function to be successful.  Saying no because you’re going to be out may help you realize you need to say no indefinitely to certain things.  It may be telling you that you have a problem with your social media or email usage and need to get a healthy grip on it.  All these planning items can help you succeed in an absence and the reflection on them can help ensure long-term success upon your return. 

    6. Reflect on the purpose of your time away and what you hope to accomplish in taking it.   Before you go out, write down two or three things you want to focus your time on while out and post them for yourself in the form of yes or no questions you will see every day. Mine are: 1) Did you rest and restore today? 2) Did you read/research and write/create content today based on your purpose? 3) Did you play with your kids today?  Don’t overload yourself with more than three to four questions.

    Framing the questions in the second person as “you” has been shown to be helpful in training the brain to eliminate “chatter”. It gives your brain a word that naturally offers more grace than using the first person “I”.  Like the book, Chatter states, “Doing so (using ‘you’ to refer to yourself) is linked with less activation in the brain networks associated with rumination and leads to improved performance under stress, wiser thinking, and less negative emotion.” Some questions you may have if you’re recovering from surgery or bringing a newborn home may be: Did you rest today?  Did you do something to help your body recover today? Did you refrain from checking work email today?  You know what you need, so customize the questions for you. As you begin to heal and or accomplish what you want while you’re out, your questions may change. 

    Finally, you may not be at liberty to decide if and when you get to take an extended time away from work.  But if you are a person in a role where you can impact policy at your workplace, consider how you might drive the conversation around the need for people to take more than a standard week or less of vacation annually and what business results it might achieve.  At the very least facilitating dialogue around how you can provide autonomy by structuring work differently (four day work weeks, hybrid work arrangements, mental health days, etc.) in order to impact workplace wellbeing and productivity could lead to substantial gains in recruitment and retention.  If you’d like more information on the research related to this, see our previous post on readings for reflection.

  • The Best Way to Retain and Recruit Top Talent in a Post COVID Environment

    The Best Way to Retain and Recruit Top Talent in a Post COVID Environment

    I could tell before he opened the door to the car that something had gone wrong at school.  My ten-year-old gets in the car, sits down, and scowls.  I ask him what’s wrong and he doesn’t answer. I ask his sister what is wrong and she says she doesn’t know. 

    I’m afraid to have to tell him that we are now headed to do something that he does not like to do, which is to go to reading lessons.  He loves his reading teacher, but he just hates to read.  Especially when he is in a bad mood. 

    Sister goes to reading too, but for the exact opposite reason.  She loves to read, so when she goes to reading she gets to do something she likes. 

    I try to think of a way to tell him he has reading for the afternoon without World War III breaking loose. I remember a podcast by the Neuroleadership Institute that I had recently listened to about how to return to the office well. In it, it talked a lot about the value of giving people autonomy, of giving people choices. 

    So, I asked my son, “Would you like to go to reading first or second?” 

    “Second!” he says “Definitely second.”  

    I drop sister off at reading and take him home for a snack and a little break. His mood begins to change, and by the time I take to reading, he is happy.  His belly is full, he got to make a choice- a kind of choice that is usually made for him- and he was able to hit the reset button. 

    Mission accomplished.

    Can it be this simple at work? Can just giving people choices over things make a difference? The research and brain science says it sure can. 

    Take for example studies (here is one in particular) that cite workers given the autonomy (permission) to decorate their own cubicles saw up to a 25% increase in productivity. 

    COVID has exacerbated the need for autonomy at the office for two reasons 1) Many of us have tasted autonomy in work by being able to work from home (or from anywhere) and we don’t want it stripped back. Taking autonomy away activates all kinds of stress in the form of a threat response. 2) COVID created a lot of stress from uncertainty, where there weren’t a lot of choices, and people need to be able to step back from that stress. One way to do this is to allow for choices or continue to allow choices around where, when, and how work gets done.  These reasons and responses are two sides to the same coin.

    So what can you do as a leader to help cultivate autonomy at work?:

    1. Guide by principles not by mandates.  The first thing to think about is making increased autonomy a driver in your decision-making as an overarching principle of when, how, and where work gets done and then go from there. It’s not a mandate of: Everyone must work from home now! Instead, different industries and situations may govern different ways of offering autonomy, but it can be present in any workplace at any time. Going to one extreme that seems to offer autonomy may actually limit people’s choices by making a mandate based on what one segment of your workforce wants, but isn’t reflective of what all want.  Doing this actually fosters the opposite of autonomy by limiting choice and control through a one size fits all approach. Create guardrails for decision-making to allow for autonomy instead of one-way streets. 
    2. Ask people what they want.  In order to determine what autonomy might best look like at your place of work, ask people what they would like to see when it comes to having choices over their work.  Is where, when, or how the work gets done a priority for your workforce? How can you design principles that support those needs?
    3. Experiment based on the research.  Based on the global body of research out there and the research gathered from your workforce, design an experiment that increases the opportunity for choices for your employees.  Decide your hypothesis (for example: If employees are allowed to work from home or at a place of their choosing outside of the office two days per week, productivity and satisfaction will increase), then decide how you are going to measure to see if your hypothesis is correct (for example, how will you measure productivity and satisfaction if you aren’t already?). Then, run the experiment for a period of time and see what outcomes are achieved. If you have favorable results, expand the choice offerings throughout your workforce.  If not, try a different hypothesis and experiment. 
    4. Don’t be afraid to change. What may work now, may not work in the future. Be in tune and open to change by listening to your employees and having a learning mindset through experimentation. Then, don’t be afraid to change if needed to continue to foster autonomy at work. 

    Resisting the urge to command and control as a leader at work (and as a parent) pays dividends. It always has, but it is increasingly needed as leaders think about how to effectively transition after COVID in order to continue to retain and recruit top talent.  Because top talent does have choices, and they will exercise the need to have it by going elsewhere if you don’t foster autonomy at your place of work. 

    How do you and how will you foster autonomy in work?