Saying Goodbye to The Office

Last Thursday was the last episode of The Office and with it ends a great workplace comedy. Between Office Space and The Office, the American workplace has been characterized and made fun of in great detail. But the best part of both of them--especially The Office in its better years--was that it was so relatable to our every day lives.

I mean who hasn't had a boss like Michael Scott (or Bill Lumbergh, for that matter)? Who hasn't had a by-the-book, cooky co-worker like Dwight? And we've all sat in a group of cubicles where it felt like we knew who was the Angela who was the Oscar and who was the Kevin. One of the show's most frustrating characters for most HR folks was Toby as he was unable to create the type of order needed to control this office, but, in the end, that led to all the hijinks that occurred.

But where the show really shined was showing a group of co-workers who were forced to spend their weekdays together and how they not only got through that as a group, but made the most of their relationship. Early on in the series Michael refers to his co-workers as his family and that's really what everyone became. And aren't the best offices you've been in where everyone feels that close and really works together towards a common goal (even if on The Office, the common goal was sometimes to get out of doing the work)?

So while we must say goodbye to The Office (and for a few seasons, I think most couldn't wait for it to happen), we won't lose the references and lessons that came along with it. It could get extremely cringe-worthy like in "Diversity Day" or the barrage of "that's what she said" jokes, but deep down the show was a really sweet look in the good in us all and how we can get through something as mundane as selling paper when we're able to get along with our co-workers. If Dundler Mifflin taught us anything, it's that we all work best when we work together.

Effective Performance Appraisal Processes

The yearly task of carrying out employee performance appraisals can be an arduous task when considering employee attitude and the clarity of communication between the employer and the employee.  In this edition of Astronology, we consider the topic of performance appraisals, how they can be instrumental in monitoring employee performance and rewarding employees, and techniques to make the process more effective for all involved.

There are several different methods for conduct performance appraisals. One is not the best, nor is there a “right” or “wrong” option.  The most effective approach is the one that facilitates communication and professional growth while taking into consideration the number of employees in the organization, the types of jobs employees hold, and the organization’s culture.  The four most common performance appraisal approaches, according to The Houston Chronicle Online, are the following:

• Rating Scales: The employer establishes the key areas used in evaluation, such as job skills, teamwork, communication skills, reliability, and flexibility.  Reviewers rate these areas accordingly on a scale, such as three points, five points, or even 10 points.  There are additional customization options to consider when implementing this approach.  For example, certain evaluation criteria may weigh more than others, depending on the nature of the position being reviewed.
• Critical Incidents: In this approach, recordkeeping is key.  Managers create a detailed analysis of occurrences where the employee performed well and / or needs improvement. Some employers combine this method with a rating system to give a rating for each performance occurrence.  For example, the scale can include key areas such as teamwork or communication skills, with employees reporting detailed incidences of when the employee performed well or poor in these areas.
• Management by Objectives: In this highly collaborative method, employers and employees together create a list of specific and measurable objectives that are realistic and practical.  The employee then receives these items as goals to strive towards within the coming year.  During the scheduled yearly employee review both the employee and his / her manager assess if the initial goals were met, where success was had, and where opportunities for enhancement lie.
• 360 Degree Feedback: This is another performance appraisal method that is quite collaborative. A 360 degree feedback approach includes input about the employee from the employee’s fellow co-workers, internal and external customers, and management.  This process of gathering feedback can be done via survey or interview, depending on the scope of outside involvement and the number of items to be evaluated.  Such feedback is then consolidated based on demographic, such as co-worker or customer, and shared with the employee.  This approach provides a more rounded perspective on the employee’s overall performance throughout the review period.

When considering the use of a 360 degree review system, think carefully before implementing.  A 2011 SHRM article quoted a leadership coach stating, “I’ve seen departments blow up and employees leave companies because the 360 wasn’t handled properly.”  Feelings may be hurt, reviewers may feel overwhelmed, and a general lack of understanding may prevail.  However, such issues are not limited to 360 degree reviews.  Proper execution should be considered before implementing any performance appraisal method. If a manager only provides negative feedback, without balancing the review with positive comments where truly applicable, or positive encouragement towards achieving professional growth, the employee may perceive the review as unfair or biased.  Similarly, reviews with all praise and no areas of improvement can provide employees with an inflated sense of accomplishment that could backfire, leading to casual performance afterward.

It’s essential to also remember that in order for any performance appraisal method to work, Human Resources and management need to be diligent and accurate in their recordkeeping. Moments of high performance, moments that lack professional performance, and disciplinary actions recorded for yearly review all help the appraisal team to achieve a well-balanced view of an employee and his / her contribution to organizational success.

               

When conducting a performance review with an employee, it’s essential to conduct homework first.  Begin with preparing the performance appraisal document. Some organizations have employees do self-evaluations to examine during the review.  Such an approach enables the reviewer to obtain both a better understanding as to where the employee feels his / her level of performance is for the year and the employee’s buy in.  Preparing a self-review also gives the employee time to prepare comments that he or she may want the opportunity to express, considering the privacy of such reviews.

For a performance review to be successful, it needs to become a way of working.  As such, always plan the next step: the follow-up action.  Follow up actions can include establishing new goals, discussing areas needing improvement and associated development steps, and when tied to salary increases, confirming the employee’s wage for the year. Schedule a follow up meeting for matters that can’t be resolved in the moment of the performance review.

Performance review need not be challenging from a technical perspective.  If you would like to learn more about your organization’s performance appraisal or performance management options, give Aston Solutions a call.  Our Web-Based Talent Management System Flare™ includes a performance appraisal module that will allow your organization to automate your performance appraisal in a web-based platform that will allow for easier performance review meetings!

“No matter your performance appraisal approach, it’s essential to take action and provide feedback to employees,” states National Director Michael Maciekowich.  “Performance appraisal is an essential part of the total rewards equation.  Those organizations not taking advantage of this opportunity to enhance performance risk disengagement and negative bottom line results.  In today’s competitive landscape, performance appraisals are essential to sustained organizational success.”

The Astron Road Show and Our Social Media

The Astron Road Show

With the end of April upon us, the 2013 Astron Road Show is beginning to take shape!  While our first official dates on the road won’t come until June, you can get a sneak peek by visiting our website!  We look forward to seeing you again this year at one of many upcoming HR related events.  Please be sure to let us know if you’ll be attending any of these conferences.  We’ll keep an eye out for you!

Connect with Astron on LinkedIn and Facebook

Did you know that Astron Solutions has a LinkedIn group and Facebook page?  We’d love to see you on these social media sites!  Please join us on LinkedIn and “like” us on Facebook!  We look forward to many conversations with you in these groups, and thank you in advance for your support!

Getting Paid Like a Superhero

You may feel like you're a superhero at work but are you being paid like one? Well 9GAG has a list of all the superheroes and what they're making per year:

So while Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne are occupying the 1%, Peter Parker, Clark Kent, and Steve Rogers are working hard to get by. Being Spider-man, Superman, and Captain America, respectively, doesn't hurt, though. And Thor, well, let's just say that he gets paid like a God.

This doesn't exactly jive with SimplyHired, however, who lists the average pay of a superhero as $71,000. But, as the website states, "average superhero salaries can vary greatly due to company, location, industry, experience and benefits." Let's just say that Clark Kent and The Daily Planet may have something to discuss next time he comes up for a performance review.

Harnessing the Power of Flare™

In November of last year, Astronology explored the basics of a Human Resource Information System, or HRIS. As we mentioned in that article, such technology can be beneficial in assisting with HR administration. It is also an effective tool for boosting efficiency & productivity, and removing physical paperwork off one’s desk.  In response to readers’ requests, in this Astronology article, we give you a closer look at Astron Solutions’ Flare™ and many of its different modules.

What is Flare™?

In short, Flare™ is a cloud-based framework that allows you to track your employees from their first days of work to their last days with your organization. You can customize your Flare™ suite to fit your organization’s needs. All data stored in the system is password protected and housed on secure servers with 99.9% uptime. You have the ability to upload employee information & reporting relations, and store an unlimited number of users and employees.  Some of Flare™’s most attractive features are the customizable modules and the individual, reasonable pricing per module. 

But what’s included in Flare™?  Let’s dig deeper into some of the more popular modules.

Performance Appraisal Module

According to a 2011 SHRM poll, 98% of organizations reported that they have a formal employee performance evaluation process. Although you may have one in place, are your performance reviews completed on paper?  Why not cut time and resources with an online performance review system? With Flare™’s performance appraisal module you can eliminate the hard copy and streamline everyone’s work by having employees’ appraisals pre-populated with their job description and other desired demographics.  In addition, this module is designed with features to ensure all sections are completed prior to submission, to perform mathematical calculations for accurate scoring, and to check for potential legal issues.  Other user favorites include these features:

• Self-Reviews,
• HR approvals,
• Summary reports, and
• Electronic or traditional paper signatures.

Pay for Performance / Merit Increase Module

               

“While there are pros and cons to using a merit increase approach, in today’s world a majority of organizations attempt to link pay increases to employee performance,” explains National Director Jennifer Loftus.  “With limited merit increase budgets typically around three percent of pay, it’s essential that organizations make clear distinctions in pay increases between the high performers and low performers.”

If the thought of working with multiple spreadsheets and checking formulas makes you dizzy, however, consider Flare™’s pay for performance module.  In three easy steps you will be able to assign all employees with proper merit increases, meeting your merit increase budget and having the necessary reports for senior management. This module is able to calculate increases as a percent of base pay, lump sum, or a combination of both. Factors such as position in range and performance appraisal score can also be taken into consideration.

Job Description Module

               

According to Jennifer, “the Department of Labor is stepping up their investigations of wage and hour complaints.  One of your best defenses in an FLSA audit is up to date and accurate job descriptions.”

Need an accessible place to keep record of your job descriptions?  Need reminders to update your organization’s descriptions more frequently than every five to ten years?  Flare™’s job description module is for you.  This module allows you to design a job description template so all job descriptions are consistent in content type. Authorized staff can prepare draft updates to job description content to be approved by HR.  The Flare™ job description module also contains tests for FLSA compliance and a point factor job evaluation system to streamline your work and reporting systems.

Staff Advancement Monitor™

About 52% of respondents from the 2013 Global Assessment Trends report listed developing leaders as a top priority for their organization. Is leadership development a priority for yours?  If so, Flare™’s Staff Advancement Monitor™ module assists you in developing custom primary and secondary competencies and developmental activities for future leaders.  The results tracked in this module can be used for employee promotion recommendations.  Additional features include a listing of all participating employees, their mentors, and targeted goal positions.

Finders Keepers™

The 2013 Global Assessment Trends report also mentioned that 55% of respondents cite engagement of the workforce as a priority this year. Do you want to know if your valued employees are engaged with their work… or with your organization? Would you like to get opinions on where managers can make improvements? With the Finders Keepers™ module, you can! This module allows authorized users to create much needed customized surveys to gather employee opinions, new hire perspectives, and even exit interview data.  On-line, real-time reporting makes data analysis a breeze!

Total Rewards Statements

77% of organizations feel as though they communicate employee benefits effectively. If you want to ensure that your employees are aware of your organization’s reward program, consider Flare™’s Total Rewards Statement module!  With this module, you will be able to securely inform your employees of the value of their total compensation packages in real-time.  Information captured and reported by Flare™ in both narrative and graphic formats include and are not limited to salary, variable compensation, and benefit cost and value information.

Flare™ has many more modules for you to explore, including Applicant Tracking and On-Boarding, Time and Attendance, Pre-Employment Testing, Human Capital Audit, HRIS, and Learning Management System.  Are you curious to see where Flare™ could fit in your organization, and with your existing HR technology?  Reach out to Astron Solutions today and inquire about a demo!

From A(ctuary) to Zzzzzzz, the Best and Worst of Jobs (200 of them)

I like to post about the best and worst jobs sometimes to give you an idea that either you're not alone in liking or disliking your job or to make you feel like maybe you're suffering from a case of "the grass is only greener on the other side". But the tough part of most of those rankings is that you get a top 5 or so to choose from and most professions rarely fit into the list. Well how about 200 jobs, in order, with a searchable format? Well CareerCast.com and the Wall Street Journal have just that for you in this post.

Spoiler alert:

Top 3

1. Actuary
2. Biomedical Engineer
3. Software Engineer

Bottom 3

1. Reporter (Newspaper)
2. Lumberjack
3. Enlisted Military Personnel

The 4th worth job is actor, though, to be honest, I'm not sure that you'll see Tom Cruise, Robert Downey, Jr, or Anne Hathaway complaining too much. Though, I guess you may see the Anne Hathaway crying a lot, but she'll probably be winning prestigious awards while doing so.

The Top Two Reasons for Turnover

A 2010 Deloitte Shift Index survey indicated that about 80% of workers hate their jobs. Such a statistic can be alarming for every organization. With dissatisfied employees lies the high probability of constant turnover, a formidable challenge organizations try their hardest to avoid.

By means of a collection of over 14 years of exit interview data, Astron Solutions has compiled a list of top reasons why employees leave their places of employment for seemingly greener pastures. In this issue of Astronology, we will explore the top two reasons for employee turnover, and techniques you can use to avoid losing your employees.

Reason #2: Dissatisfaction with the Supervisor

Dissatisfaction of employees with their supervisors is a serious concern for all employers.  Inevitably, personality clashes will happen.  However, an overall cohesive environment is needed to keep everyone happy.  A large contributor to this dissatisfaction is lack of communication.  An NBRII article mentions, “The biggest problem with any relationship is lack of communication. And that extends beyond the personal life and into the work life.” Employees may be shy about speaking of concerns they may have, especially if those concerns may run against the grain and contrary to what a superior would like to hear. Something must be done to encourage this type of honest communication before it is too late. Conducting yearly satisfaction surveys is an excellent way to promote this communication.

Reassuring employees that their thoughts will be completely anonymous will allow employees to speak up on the matters that most concern them.  Designing a survey to include employees’ thoughts on their direct superiors will allow for more honest views and feedback. An anonymous survey will also give each supervisor a starting point to address, and hopefully correct, issues that fall squarely on the supervisor’s shoulders. Besides allowing employees an opportunity to voice their opinions, it is also important for the employer to communicate to these employees that their opinions have been heard, are being considered, and there will be action taken. Employees need to know that their opinions matter…that the employee matters to the organization.  Not sharing a high level overview of the survey results with the employees, on the other hand, is an excellent way to breed additional discontent among employees.

Reason #1: Change of Career Objectives

The number one reason employees leave an organization is for a career change. Ironically, many of your employees may not be aware of their opportunities that exist right within your organization.  Are you continually communicating the opportunities for growth that employees have with your organization? During the annual performance appraisal process, do all leaders take the time to find out where the employee sees himself in the future?  Do all managers jointly set career development goals with employees?  These approaches can facilitate employee retention among individuals who think it is necessary to change employers to move up the corporate ladder or onto a different career path. 

Employee mentoring is another valuable approach for keeping employees on track with their career goals, giving them valuable reasons to stay with an organization. There are many options to mentoring, ranging from project-oriented mentoring, formal (structured program) mentoring, and even informal mentoring (schedule and monitoring designed by mentor and mentee). These programs are affordable, as the mentors are employees with experience in the organization and the profession for a minimum number of years. Although some employees will leave despite one’s best efforts to support their career objectives, taking the initiative builds trust.  Providing the chance to map out an employee’s goals, and using the assistance of the organization in order to achieve these goals, can be an enticing incentive to stay. 

Is your organization experiencing turnover woes?  “Even in an uncertain economy, employment opportunities await top talent – talent your organization can’t afford to lose,” explains Jennifer Loftus, National Director for Astron Solutions.  “All organizations must proactively continue to re-recruit their employees every day.  If not, another employer will!”  If you need assistance with your employee retention game plan, Astron Solutions offers consulting and services and various areas such as:

• Compensation Review
• Incentive/Variable Compensation Programs
• Performance Appraisals
• Employee Communications
• Succession Planning
• Exit Interviews

Reach out to us and schedule a complimentary consultation today!

A Break from the Regularly Scheduled Program

I was about to post another article but I felt like it would be bereft of duties not to send our sympathy, thoughts, and prayers from the entire Astron Solutions community to the people of Boston. As a New York-based company, we certainly know the horror that accompanies terror attacks and we understand what you're going through right now.

There is a lot of rivalry between New York and Boston but as Jon Stewart elegantly said on The Daily Show, it's a sibling rivalry and we love you like brothers. Here's to hoping the people who committed these acts get brought to a swift justice and those who are injured are healed just as quickly.

And now we will do the best thing we know how--go on with the regularly schedule program since we won't let anyone stand in the way of being who we are or destroying our way of life. Stay Strong Boston--New York carries you in our hearts

Attracting the Best Candidates

A few years back, when the economy was really looking poor and the job market was in shambles, a headhunter friend of mine told me that it was the best time to be hiring. Granted, they weren't so happy about the situation, but companies didn't have to be all that great at recruiting or impressing candidates as many highly qualified candidates were looking for jobs. Instead of trying to pick from the bottom of the barrel, they were able to choose from highly skilled candidates for even the most junior of jobs.

Well the tide has turned and some of those companies are now having a harder time finding those qualified candidates to fill their top positions. They can find someone right out of college to be an analyst but managers and VPs are harder to come by nowadays. Sure the headhunter is happy as he no longer has to impress his clients with lavish dinners and nice seats at the Yankee games, but now the onus is on both of them to attract the best and the brightest. And some of that attracting has to start with your social media presence.

Recruiter.com has some advice on how to impress candidates. The first has to do with social media:

Did you know that a whopping 24 percent of Millennials said that a company’s social media policy would be a key factor in accepting a position? This particular group puts a huge emphasis on their gadget and social media freedoms, so create your social media policies with this in mind and make it known. Until just recently, social media policies didn’t even exist, and now people are accepting or rejecting job offers based on them! Who cares if other companies aren’t doing it, tweet your policy, Facebook it, include it in job listings. Like it or not, this is a major factor today. This is a cost-free and really simple bullet for your recruiting arsenal. Companies like Coca-Cola and Apple make theirs public and so do all these companies.

Career Cloud looks at one company, in particular, that does a great job of social recruiting--GEICO. This one ad caught their attention and with good reason--they take advantage of both in-person recruiting as well as a strong Twitter presence. "Job hunting has never been more complex and time consuming. If you help people understand it better and teach them, you can use it as a branding opportunity & recruit them at the same time."

There are certain jobs that you can post and sit back and let the resumes roll in but the best job postings that result in the best candidates are now going to involve some instances on social media on your end. The key is to make sure that your social media presence is clean, professional and fun. But most of all, it should be another avenue to differentiate yourselves from your competition in the job market.

The Do's and Don't's of Resume Building

A lot of people offer advice on resumes but the truth is for the most part, they are suggestions: a resume is your own voice to a potential employer. So whether you have the perfect template for your resume or put it on pink paper with a nice scent and maybe a video, well, own it. But there are some pieces of advice I think are helpful. Two recent articles put it in good terms.

From Brazen Life:

A recruiter will glaze right over large chunks of text on a resume because paragraphs don’t stand out. List your accomplishments in bullets to improve the chances of catching the recruiter’s eye. If you submit most of your resumes through online applications, you may be tempted to write in paragraphs because bullets don’t always copy well into form fields. Don’t give in to this temptation! 

It's hard for some people to keep it short and sweet but each job should be able to be broken down into quick bulletpoints. Save the paragraphs for the cover letter.

And from US News and World Report on red flags on a resume:

Grammatical or spelling mistakes. Mistakes can get your resume immediately tossed, because they convey to an employer that you don't pay attention to detail. Employers assume that you've polished your resume more than you will most documents, so if you have mistakes in it, they assume your work will have even more errors.

Not every job requires you be a good writer but it shows that you don't give a hoot about your work if your most personal document--your resume--can't be given the care needed.

Most of the real do's and don'ts with resumes are common sense but some of them require a little more thought. Make sure that as a resume writer that you are following a format that you would want to receive as a potential hiring manager and if you're a hiring manager, understand that not every resume needs to be cookie cutter to be accepted

Compensation 106: Variable Pay

The final feature in our Astronology six part series is here! In this issue of Astronology, we will discuss variable pay. WorldatWork’s 2012 Compensation Programs and Practices Survey found that 84% of organizations use some form of bonuses or incentive compensation to reward employees. With the popularity of variable pay, there also come questions, such as: what are the pros and cons of some different variable pay design options?  Does one variable pay design fit all?  Should the variable pay design change over time?  We will explore these questions and more in our final Compensation Practice Basics article.

Variable pay is a form of compensation that typically is earned by accomplishing specific goals, and is not equally paid throughout the year. It is also referred to as “performance pay.”  Variable pay is used to “recognize and reward employee contribution toward company productivity, profitability, team work, safety, quality or some other metric deemed important.”  When it comes to variable pay, one size does not fit all.  Variable pay can take one of several forms, including the following:

• Incentive
• Profit sharing
• Bonus
• Holiday bonus
• Deferred compensation
• Cash
• Goods or services

Many organizations look to variable pay during uncertain economic environments. It is easier for employees to accept and understand a reward that is tailored to one’s personal performance and the organization’s overall performance, than to understand low or no salary increases. As such, many organizations in both the for profit and non-profit worlds have issued employees bonuses instead of annual salary increases in order to retain their top-performing workers.

The practice of variable pay has also fostered an increase in productivity. Employee engagement increases as workers become highly engaged in achieving goals to receive rewards. Employees take a larger role in the responsibility for their work outcome, which also drives commitment to the organization.

Some drawbacks related to variable pay can include execution. If a variable pay plan focuses on quantity, the end results can be a lack of quality. Tangible measurements become more valuable than innovative techniques or genuine customer satisfaction. While an increase in performance is always welcomed, if not careful a variable pay plan could result in outright cutthroat competition…thus ruining an organization’s cohesiveness.

As there are different forms of variable pay, every organization that wants to include it in their compensation mix must consider their individual circumstances. It is suggested that a task team should be appointed to consider variable pay as an option. When planning and designing the program this team should consider the following:

• Identify if more than one plan is needed based on employee groups,
• Identify plan participants,
• Determine how to encourage the entire organization to success through positive communication,
• Determine how the plan will be funded, and
• Determine the plan’s key aspects, weightings, and measurement methodologies.

Once a plan has been selected, thoroughly develop the modeling criteria, methodologies, and formulas. Create a document that outlines the plan, policies, and procedures. In non-profit organizations, ensure that the maximum potential payouts have been included in the organization’s budget to address the legal and tax considerations.  Conduct focus group sessions to determine if the plan is easily understood by employees, while paying close attention to the motivation the focus group members demonstrate. If needed, revise the plan based on the focus group results.  Ensure that focus group members understand that the payouts from the plan are at risk – not a guaranteed payment that employees can rely on to pay the mortgage or other critical bills. 

This task team and focus group approach should be revisited every few years.  Variable pay plans generally have a window of greatest effectiveness.  Once employees have achieved the targeted goals, it may be time to revisit the plan or eliminate it altogether. 

As with every new initiative in an organization, it’s important to have full cooperation with all of its members. In order for this to happen, clear communication must be made on the full details of the variable pay. All must be able to understand how this new system will work, how it will benefit them, and what is expected of them once the new pay variable plan goes into effect.

Are you considering introducing variable pay to your organization or updating an existing plan? Need some help getting started? Astron Solutions is here to help! We offer compensation consulting and can assist in introducing a variable pay plan through our cloud-based Talent Management system, FLARE™.  Please contact us today with any specific questions you’d like us to explore with you!