News
We’ve barely turned the page on the calendar, but October is definitely here. Signs of the season are everywhere. For those who live in the U.S., this time of the year means searching for a scary costume, making haunted trips to the pumpkin patch, and telling spooky ghost stories.
If you are an HR professional, the frost on the pumpkin means something entirely different. The fall season kicks off the time when employees will receive and complete end-of-the-year paperwork. This typically includes an open enrollment period, and often, compensation reviews.
Because of these activities, compensation-related adjustments will inevitably need to be made. We don’t have to tell you that this is a lot of work. If you are among those compensation managers who are still handling these crucial transactions manually (or by spreadsheet), the responsibility of completing these tasks in an accurate and timely manner can weigh heavily.
What Keeps Compensation Managers Up at Night
According to Oracle’s recent State of HR Analytics 2021 report, more than 55% of organizations continue to use spreadsheets to house employee data and less than half of HR managers report being proficient in gathering and keeping their people analytics data current.
Keeping data current is only a part of the problem. The thought of making a mistake in employee compensation is enough to keep even seasoned HR and Compensation managers awake at night. While employees may be willing to overlook small errors such as misspelling their last name in a company announcement, they are much less forgiving when it comes to the accuracy of their paychecks and total compensation.
With 64% of Americans living paycheck to paycheck, they are not willing to compromise when it comes to paycheck errors. It only takes one payroll mistake for employees to lose trust; in fact, 24% of employees will look for a new job after the first payroll mistake with another 25% choosing to leave after a second issue.
The Scary Ramifications of Poorly Managed Compensation Data
The possibility of making a mistake in an employee’s compensation is pretty scary, but these types of errors are shockingly common, especially for companies that still use spreadsheets to manage compensation activities. Various studies over the past few years report that 88 percent of all spreadsheets have “significant” errors in them.
Beyond payroll errors, compensation data that is inefficiently managed can also lead to the inability to stay on top of crucial business factors. Things like headcount, promotion tracking, and even DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) initiatives can be at risk when manual entries can’t keep up with the pace of activity. Upstream ramifications include employee disengagement, increased turnover, decreased productivity, and poor customer satisfaction.
Lean on Technology to Rest Easier
There are so many responsibilities that come with the Human Resources role, but there are ways to implement technology solutions to help reduce some of the stress surrounding compensation management. One of the first steps involves saying goodbye to managing compensation by spreadsheet. Implementing a robust compensation management solution can take away much of the burden and bring peace of mind, leaving time for other responsibilities that are inherent to the role.
In fact, there are many benefits to implementing a robust compensation management solution. If you need help making the business case for your organization, you can find plenty of justification in simply reducing the number of manual errors that can lead to employee dissatisfaction. Other reasons include operational, financial, and strategic, which we outlined in last month’s Complogix Blog. We encourage you to take a look!
If you are charged with managing compensation, and if worries about doing it effectively are keeping you up at night, it’s time to talk to someone about a compensation management solution. CompLogix can help. Contact us today for a complimentary demo.
News
CompLogix was pleased to see client Janel Lancaster featured in a recent article in American Healthcare Leader (AHL). She started as a compensation analyst for UNC Health in 2012 and is now the system executive director of total rewards, human resources data, and customer experience. UNC Health includes nearly forty thousand employees that serve the well-being of North Carolinians.
In the article, Janel attributes some of the success her team has had to CompLogix’s compensation management system.
“Our partnership with CompLogix has provided better communication to our leaders and impacted teammates regarding pay increases, incentive plans, and total reward statements,” she explains.
“It also allowed the compensation and benefits teams to focus on other aspects of not only handling the pandemic but their everyday duties as well, such as enhancing our programs and brainstorming creative strategies,” she adds. “They weren’t bogged down with the technical work [of] manually administering those programs, which is what we were doing in the past.”
> Read the full article in AHL
(Article by Taylor Karg, American Health Leader)
News
The list of desirable employee benefits may have changed, but the importance of communicating their total value remains an important recruitment/retention strategy.
It isn’t uncommon for employees to overlook just how much really goes into the total compensation package they receive in exchange for employment. After all, an hourly wage or a specific salary is the most obvious and direct form of compensation. Understandably, it is one that typically gets the most consideration when recruitment efforts result in a job offer and acceptance.
However, your company likely offers a number of indirect forms of compensation that enhance the long-term value of the offer and, in fact, add up to significant benefits for the employee. Taking time each year to evaluate what is important to your workforce, then following up by determining the feasibility of making those benefits available, can go a long way to not just recruit, but also retain talent.
Today’s Leveraged Job-Seeker
Today’s job seekers have more leverage than ever before to negotiate the most favorable compensation package possible. ZipRecruiter’s chief people officer Renata Dionello, stated that we are now in “the golden age of the job-seeker. Basically, there are a lot more open jobs being advertised than people seeking work – it’s an all-time record low ratio. That gives job-seekers enormous negotiating leverage.”
What is Indirect Compensation?
Simply put, indirect compensation pertains to all forms of non-monetary pay your company offers to employees. This definition is simple enough, but itemizing the types of indirect compensation that are attractive to job-seekers isn’t so clear cut. Things like common contractual features (negotiating time off or added sick time) is one example of an indirect benefit. Other employee benefits that have been part of the bargaining discussion for years include things like cell phones, company cars, pension plans, health insurance, life insurance, or childcare benefits.
Reimagining Employee Benefits
The list of potential benefits that today’s job-seekers want and many times expect has grown to include some non-traditional benefits that yesterday’s “nine-to-five” workplaces would have never considered. Some of these might include:
- Flexible scheduling or remote work options
- Adjusted scheduling (i.e. Summer Fridays off)
- Caregiver or eldercare benefits
- Paid sabbaticals
- An on-site gymnasium or gym membership
- Student loan repayment assistance
- A corporate kitchen or service that provides healthy, nutritious snacks and beverages
- Arranged transportation services to/from work
- Volunteer time off
- Paid maternity and paternity leave
- Child or pet adoption assistance
- A pet-friendly office space
Whatever Benefits Are Offered, it Pays to Clearly Communicate Their Availability
Determining just what benefits make sense for your organization begins with taking time to evaluate what job-seekers in your market want and expect, then determining if they can be feasibly offered as additional “carrots” above and beyond direct compensation given as a means to attract and keep talent.
Whatever indirect benefits you choose to offer, don’t forget the most important part is to let both prospective and existing employees know just how much your organization invests in them as a key member of your team. Using annual Total Rewards statements or benefits reports can help bring clarity to the types of indirect compensation available and their relative value.
When evaluating compensation management solutions for your business, make sure you choose one that is configurable enough to help your employees see the total value of the compensation and benefits you offer. Complogix has solutions to help bring transparency to both direct and indirect benefits, which can make all the difference in developing strategies to recruit or retain talent. Contact us today for a complimentary demo.
