Compensable Factors - Human Resources

A HR manager can use two basic approaches to compare several jobs. First, he can take an intuitive approach. He might decide that one job is more important than another and not dig any deeper into the logic. As an alternative, he can also compare the jobs by focusing on certain basic factors the jobs have in common. Compensation management specialists call these compensable factors. They are the factors that established how the jobs compare to one another and that determine the pay for each job.
Some employers develop their own compensable factors. However, most use factors popularized by packaged job evaluation systems or by federal legislation. For example, the Equal Pay Act focuses on four compensable factors skills, effort responsibility, and working conditions. The method popularized by the Hay consulting firm focuses on three factors: know how, problem solving ad accountability. In 2004, WalMart instituted new wage structure based on knowledge, problem soling skills accountability requirements.
Identifying compensable factors plays a central role evaluation. A job is usually compared with all comparable jobs using the same compensable factors. However, the compensable factors used depend on the job and the job evaluation method. For example, the HR manager might choose to include ‘decision making’ for a manager’s job, though it might be inappropriate for cleaner’s job.
Preparing for the Job Evaluation:
Job evaluation is mostly a judgmental process one demanding close cooperation among supervisors, HR specialists, and employees and union representatives. The main steps include identifying the need for the program, getting cooperation, and then choosing an evaluation committee. The committee then performs the actual evaluation.

Identifying the need for job evaluation should not be difficult. For example, dissatisfaction reflected in high turnover, work stoppages, or arguments may result from paying employees different rates fro similar rates for similar jobs. Managers may express uneasiness with an informal way of assigning pay rates to jobs, accurately sensing that a more systematic assignment would be more equitable.

Next, since employees may fear that a systematic evaluation of their jobs may actually reduce their pay rates, getting employees to cooperate in the evaluation is a second important step. The concerned can tell employees that as a result of the impending job evaluation program, pay rate decisions will no longer be made just by management whim; that job evaluation will provide a mechanism for considering the complaints they have been expressing; and that no present employee’s rate will be adversely affected as a result of the job evaluation.

Next, choose a job evaluation committee. There are two reasons for doing so. First, the committee should include several people who are familiar with the jobs in question, each of whom may have a different perspective regarding the nature of the jobs. Second, if the committee is composed at least partly of employees, the committee approach can help ensure greater employee acceptance of the job evaluation results.

So the composition of the committee is important. The group usually consists of about five members, most of whom are employees. Management has the right to serve on such committees, but employees may view this with suspicion. However, a HR specialist can usually be justified on the grounds that he or she has a more impartial outlook than line managers and can provide expert assistance. One option is to have this person serve in a nonvoting capacity. Union representative is possible. In most cases, though the union’s position is that it is accepting the results of the job evaluation only as an initial decision and is reserving the right to appeal actual job pricing decisions through grievance or bargaining channels. Once appointed each committee member should receive a manual explaining the job evaluation process, and instructions that explain how to conduct the job evaluation.

The evaluation committee performs three main functions. First, it usually identifies 10 or 15 key benchmark jobs. These will be the first jobs to be evaluated and will serve as the anchors or benchmarks against which the relative importance or value of all other jobs can be compared. Next, the committee may select compensable factors although the HR department will usually choose these as part of the process of determining the specific job evaluation techniques the firm will use. Finally, the committee performs its most important function –actually evaluating the worth of each job. For this, the committee will probably use one of the following methods; ranking job classification, point method, or factor comparison.

Attitude..........!

Attitude ... !

Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate. He was always in a good mood and always had something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, " If I were any better, I would be twins!"

He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"
Jerry replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, 'Jerry, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.' I choose to be in a good mood.. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life."

"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested.

"Yes, it is," Jerry said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut way all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live life."

I reflected on what Jerry said. Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never supposed to do in a restaurant business: he left the back door open one morning and was held up at gunpoint by three armed robbers. While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body.

I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, " If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?"

I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place. "The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door," Jerry replied. "Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live, or I could choose to die. I chose to live."

"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness? " I asked.

Jerry continued, "The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the emergency room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read, 'He's a dead man.'

"I knew I needed to take action."

"What did you do?" I asked.

"Well, there was a big, burly nurse shouting questions at me," said Jerry. "She asked if I was allergic to anything. ' Yes,' I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breathe and yelled, ' Bullets!' Over their laughter, I told them. 'I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead."

Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully. Attitude, after all, is everything.

******

You have 2 choices now:

1. Crib about your daily life and what are you doing and be unhappy . . .

2. Enjoy every moment of your life & give in your Best . . .

Keep Smiling Always...

******

What is Maturity ?

When you see someone behaving in a manner that is unbecoming, or even juvenile, do you think to yourself, “He needs to show some maturity and stop acting like that”? But what do we mean when we say someone needs to show maturity – and even more so, are we mature in our own lives?

To get a better understanding of maturity is let’s take a look at some of the qualities of maturity and see how they relate to our lives and our actions. I am curious to hear if you agree with these or if you judge maturity in an entirely different light.

Maturity is the ability to control anger and settle differences without violence or destruction.

How often do we let anger and destructive habits taint our responses to a situation? As stressful as any situation may be, we need to learn how to resolve them without turning towards anger and potentially destructive behavior.

Maturity is patience.

It is true what they say: the best things in life often take time to come to fruition. We have to be willing to pass up immediate pleasure or rewards and realize that sometimes the best solution to a problem is to go for the resolution that gives us long-term gain. We may not get what we want today, but in the long run we will grow our lives in a multitude of ways.

Maturity is the capacity to face unpleasantness and frustration, discomfort and defeat, without complaint or collapse. Life will present us with any unpleasant situations. Sometimes we will not only face frustration, but also defeat. We must learn that no matter how difficult or unpleasant the situation may be we should face it without complaint or giving up on it altogether. Life is about learning and we can learn a lot from the situations we face that may put us in situations where we would rather not be.

Maturity is humility. The hardest words in the English language to say are “I’m sorry” and “I was wrong”. Yet, these words are growth words – they grow you as a person. There are times when you will be right in life, despite what others have said. Instead of rushing to say “I told you so,” realize that everyone has a different view of reality. You don’t need to gain satisfaction by gloating about an outcome. People will respect you when they see that you are willing to admit your mistakes, and when you are big enough to just let things go.

Maturity is the ability to make a decision and follow through. Doing be a talker, be a doer! So many people have good intentions but they never follow through on them. Don’t spend your entire life thinking of all the ways you can do things and then end up doing nothing.

Maturity means dependability and coming through in a crisis. When you say you are going to do something, do everything in your power to make it happen. If you find out you cannot do something you said you were going to do, be sure to let the other party know why and explain alternative options. Get organized in life so that people learn that they can depend on you and know that when you say you will do something they can guarantee that what you say is golden.

Maturity is the art of living in peace. Know that there are some things in life we simply cannot change and be accepting of that. Also know that there are opportunities to change things in this world. With this knowledge you can have the courage to go forth and help bring about change for the better. Have the wisdom to know when you can make a difference and when you must be accepting of what is presented to you despite how you feel to the contrary.

Maturity is a trait that can change our lives in untold ways. What impression will you leave upon others?

Retention Strategy

Retention is directly proportional to the Organization Culture, so make sure that organization has a conducive culture for employees to operate.

1. Offer fair and competitive salaries. Fair compensation alone does not guarantee employee loyalty, but offering below-market wages makes it much more likely that employees will look for work elsewhere. In fact, research shows that if incomes lag behind comparable jobs at a company across town by more than 10 percent, workers are likely to bolt. To retain workers, conduct regular reviews of the salaries you offer for all job titles — entry-level, experienced staff and supervisory-level. Compare your department's salaries with statistically reliable averages. If there are significant discrepancies, you probably should consider making adjustments to ensure that you are in line with the marketplace.

2. Remember that benefits are important too. Although benefits are not a key reason why employees stick with a company, the benefits you offer can't be markedly worse than those offered by your competitors

3. Train your front-line supervisors, managers and administrators. It can't be said often enough: People stay or leave because of their bosses, not their companies. A good employee/manager relationship is critical to employee satisfaction and retention. Make sure your managers aren't driving technologists away. Give them the training they need to develop good supervisory and people-management skills.

4. Clearly define roles and responsibilities. Develop a formal job description for each title or position in your department. Make sure your employees know what is expected of them every day, what types of decisions they are allowed to make on their own, and to whom they are supposed to report.

5. Provide adequate advancement opportunities. To foster employee loyalty, implement a career ladder and make sure employees know what they must do to earn a promotion. Conduct regular performance reviews to identify employees' strengths and weaknesses, and help them improve in areas that will lead to job advancement. A clear professional development plan gives employees an incentive to stick around.

6. Offer retention bonuses instead of sign-on bonuses. Worker longevity typically is rewarded with an annual raise and additional vacation time after three, five or 10 years. But why not offer other seniority-based rewards such as a paid membership in the employee's professional association after one year, a paid membership to a local gym after two years, and full reimbursement for the cost of the employee's uniforms after three years? Retention packages also could be designed to raise the salaries of technologists who become credentialed in additional specialty areas, obtain additional education or take on more responsibility. Sign-on bonuses encourage technologists to skip from job to job, while retention packages offer incentives for staying.

7. Make someone accountable for retention. Measure your turnover rate and hold someone (maybe you!) responsible for reducing it. In too many workplaces, no one is held accountable when employees leave, so nothing is done to encourage retention.

8. Conduct employee satisfaction surveys. You won't know what's wrong ... or what's right … unless you ask. To check the pulse of your workplace, conduct anonymous employee satisfaction surveys on a regular basis. One idea: Ask employees what they want more of and what they want less of.

9. Foster an environment of teamwork. It takes effort to build an effective team, but the result is greater productivity, better use of resources, improved customer service and increased morale. Here are a few ideas to foster a team environment in your department: • Make sure everyone understands the department's purpose, mission or goal. • Encourage discussion, participation and the sharing of ideas. • Rotate leadership responsibilities depending on your employees' abilities and the needs of the team. • Involve employees in decisions; ask them to help make decisions through consensus and collaboration. • Encourage team members to show appreciation to their colleagues for superior performance or achievement.

10. Reduce the paperwork burden. If your technologists spend nearly as much time filling out paperwork, it's time for a change. Paperwork pressures can add to the stress and burnout that employees feel. Eliminate unnecessary paperwork; convert more paperwork to an electronic format; and hire non-tech administrative staff to take over as much of the paperwork burden as is allowed under legal or regulatory restrictions.

11. Make room for fun. Celebrate successes and recognize when milestones are reached. Potluck lunches, birthday parties, employee picnics and creative contests will help remind people why your company is a great place to work.

12. Write a mission statement for your department. Everyone wants to feel that they are working toward a meaningful, worthwhile goal. Work with your staff to develop a departmental mission statement, and then publicly post it for everyone to see. Make sure employees understand how their contribution is important.

13. Provide a variety of assignments. Identify your employees' talents and then encourage them to stretch their abilities into new areas. Do you have a great "teacher" on staff? Encourage him/ her to lead an in-service or present a poster session on an interesting case. Have someone who likes planning and coordinating events? Ask him to organize a departmental open house. Know a good critical-thinker? Ask him/ her to work with a vendor to customize applications training on a new piece of equipment. A variety of challenging assignments helps keep the workplace stimulating.

14. Communicate openly. Employees are more loyal to a company when they believe managers keep them informed about key issues. Is a corporate merger in the works? Is a major expansion on the horizon? Your employees would rather hear it from you than from the evening newscast. It is nearly impossible for a manager to "over-communicate."

15. Encourage learning. Create opportunities for your technologists to grow and learn. Reimburse them for CE courses, seminars and professional meetings; discuss recent journal articles with them; ask them to research a new scheduling method for the department. Encourage every employee to learn at least one new thing every week, and you'll create a work force that is excited, motivated and committed.

16. Be flexible. Today's employees have many commitments outside their job, often including responsibility for children, aging parents, chronic health conditions and other issues. They will be loyal to workplaces that make their lives more convenient by offering on-site childcare centers, on-site hair styling and dry cleaning, flexible work hours, part-time positions, job-sharing or similar practices. For example, employees of school-age children might appreciate the option to work nine months a year and have the summers off to be with their children. 17. Develop an effective orientation program. Implement a formal orientation program that's at least three weeks long and includes a thorough overview of every area of your department and an introduction to other departments. Assign a senior staff member to act as a mentor to the new employee throughout the orientation period. Develop a checklist of topics that need to be covered and check in with the new employee at the end of the orientation period to ensure that all topics were adequately addressed.

18. Give people the best equipment and supplies possible. No one wants to work with equipment that's old or constantly breaking down. Ensure that your equipment is properly maintained, and regularly upgrade machinery, computers and software. In addition, provide employees with the highest quality supplies you can afford. Cheap, leaky pens may seem like a small thing, but they can add to employees' overall stress level.

19. Show your employees that you value them. Recognize outstanding achievements promptly and publicly, but also take time to comment on the many small contributions your staff makes every day to the organization's mission. Don't forget — these are the people who make you look good!

Violence in the Workplace Prevention Policy

Zero tolerance
This company has a policy of zero tolerance for violence. If you engage in any violence in the workplace, or threaten violence in the workplace, your employment will be terminated immediately for cause. No talk of violence or joking about violence will be tolerated.

“Violence" includes physically harming another, shoving, pushing, harassing, intimidating, coercing, brandishing weapons, and threatening or talking of engaging in those activities. It is the intent of this policy to ensure that everyone associated with this business, including employees and customers, never feels threatened by any employee’s actions or conduct.
Workplace security measures
In an effort to fulfill this commitment to a safe work environment for employees, customers, and visitors, a few simple rules have been created. These are:
· Access to the company’s property is limited to those with a legitimate business interest.
· All employees and employee vehicles entering the property must display company identification.
· All visitors and visitor vehicles must register and display identification while on the property.
All weapons banned
The company specifically prohibits the possession of weapons by any employee while on company property. This ban includes keeping or transporting a weapon in a vehicle in a parking area, whether public or private. Employees are also prohibited from carrying a weapon while performing services off the company’s business premises.
Weapons include guns, knives, explosives, and other items with the potential to inflict harm. Appropriate disciplinary action, up to and including termination, will be taken against any employee who violates this policy.
Inspections
Desks, telephones, and computers are the property of the business. We reserve the right to enter or inspect your work area including, but not limited to, desks and computer storage disks, with or without notice.
The fax, copier, and mail systems, including e-mail, are intended for business use. Personal business should not be conducted through these systems. Under conditions approved by management, telephone conversations may be monitored and voice mail messages may be retrieved in the process of monitoring customer service.
Any private conversations overheard during such monitoring, or private messages retrieved, that constitute threats against other individuals can and will be used as the basis for termination for cause.
Reporting violence
It is everyone's business to prevent violence in the workplace. You can help by reporting what you see in the workplace that could indicate that a co-worker is in trouble. You are in a better position than management to know what is happening with those you work with.
You are encouraged to report any incident that may involve a violation of any of the company’s policies that are designed to provide a comfortable workplace environment. Concerns may be presented to your supervisor.
All reports will be investigated and information will be kept confidential.
[The following additional provisions deal with programs that, in general, are limited to larger businesses with a substantial workforce. They may be included, as applicable.]
Training programs
As part of its commitment to preventing workplace violence, the company has established training programs for all employees. Training will be included as part of your orientation. Thereafter, you will be scheduled for annual refresher training during the month that you initially joined the business.
Please be advised that training is mandatory and attendance will be taken. If you fail to attend training or make-up sessions, you will be subject to suspension without pay until training is completed.
Education offerings
In order to promote a peaceful working environment, we encourage supervisors and employees to enroll in courses to learn more about working with each other. Courses covering communication, problem solving, building effective working relationships, stress management, and related or similar course topics are supported by tuition reimbursement, offered by our training department and, where appropriate, supported for attendance at outside seminars.
Employee assistance program
The company provides an employee assistance program (EAP) for all full-time and part-time employees. This EAP offers services to these employees and their eligible dependents. While we receive periodic reports on the number and types of visits or calls made to the EAP, we do not receive information about individual contacts with the EAP.
You are encouraged to use the EAP whenever you feel the need for guidance in coping with life’s difficulties. If you have difficulty handling drugs or alcohol, the EAP can provide information on treatment. The EAP is a confidential service to be used when you need help.
Violence prevention team
We have created a violence prevention team to create and implement our workplace violence prevention program. The team will also handle the consequences of any incidents of violence that we experience, providing assistance to employees and information to the media. The team will take the steps necessary to continue or resume business. We believe that a multidisciplinary approach is best suited to handle workplace violence problems.
If you have suggestions for ways to improve the safety and security at work, please pass them along to a team member or leave a suggestion in any one of their mail boxes.
Incident management
In the event of a major workplace incident that affects, or has the potential to affect, the mental health of our workforce, we will provide initial counseling and support services to you and your immediate family members.
As the crisis passes and support systems are put into place for individuals affected by the incident, the company will make every effort to return to normal business operations. A reasonable effort will be made to notify employees, customers, stockholders, and others who need to know of the status of business operations directly whenever possible. In cases where direct contact is not possible or practical, an effort will be made to communicate through the news media and other available resources.