2020 has been a year of polar opposite reports about compensation from our clients. Some have implemented hiring and pay freezes, even laid people off, while others have more business than they know what to do with and are concerned they are losing people because their wages are not competitive with the market. So, what do you do if you are concerned about the market competitiveness of your wages? First, decide if you haven’t already, what your wage strategy is. Do you want/need to lead, lag, or meet the market? Knowing your destination before you take the journey is important.
One of the questions I often help employers work through is can they terminate an employee. And too often I hear “But we’re in an at-will state” or “we’re an at-will employer”. At-will employment is often misinterpreted to mean that an employer can terminate an employee whenever they please, and while at-will employment policies do state that the employee or employer can terminate employment at any time, with or without cause, and with or without notice, there are limitations to that on the part of the employer. First, all states are at-will employment states. Some states have added legislation that
When I was a recruiter, interviews started off with a little overview of the organization. I’d tell them a little bit about what it was like to work for our company and also cover information about how the interview and hiring process worked before launching into questions. I often had the chance to sit with hiring managers interviewing candidates as well. The difference in how the hiring manager handled the first part of the interview related to information about the company was always interesting. Some said very little if anything about the organization or their department and/or team, while
Last week I had the privilege of leading a workshop in partnership with the Huntsville-Madison Chamber of Commerce to discuss Business Continuity Planning with leaders in our area. The Covid-19 Pandemic caught many organizations unprepared and they have struggled through how to keep their business going during this time. One reason for the lack of preparedness is misconceptions organizations have regarding Business Continuity Planning. Misconception #1: My organization doesn’t have the time to create a Business Continuity Plan. And besides, we’ll never need it. Yes, Business Continuity Planning takes time. It’s not something you can create overnight. And it takes
I often glance at what people take note of when they are a part of one of our training sessions. Not the notes or handout questions we make them fill in, but the notes where they turn over to a blank handout page or pull out their own notebook and jot things down. The notes people take because they want to make sure they remember something. The times when people say, “Can you go back to that slide for a minute please?” And then they start furiously writing. We also get feedback from all participants at the end of each