Thursday, December 18, 2008
[IWS] Watson Wyatt: MANAGING EMPLOYEE REWARD 2009--10 PRINCIPLES [17 December 2008]
IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Watson Wyatt
Ten principles for managing employee reward in 2009 [17 December 2008]
http://www.watsonwyatt.com/news/press.asp?ID=20262
UK December 17, 2008 - With general uncertainty about what the economic future holds, the need for organisations to keep a tight focus on employee reward strategy will be more important in 2009 than ever before, according to Watson Wyatt.
"In times of rapid change and uncertainty, HR professionals need to be flexible but they must also remain focused on the underlying principles behind their approach to managing reward and talent," said Carole Hathaway, head of strategic reward consulting at Watson Wyatt. "Stressed organisations could be in danger of making employee reward decisions that they come to regret if they abandon too readily the principles that underpin their people strategies."
Watson Wyatt sets out 10 key underlying principles for organisations when managing reward in a recession:
* Focus on key talent
Focus limited resources on keeping and rewarding your key talent. These are the people you need most now to get you through the difficult times and later when the economy recovers.
* Be careful what and who you cut
Don't make harmful short-term cuts. Conduct strategic workforce planning to understand your current and future talent requirements, and ensure your business has the necessary resources and skills for the upturn.
* Ensure performance management is understood
Ensure your performance management process is effectively understood by your employees and delivered well by line management. It should not be seen as simply a process for identifying and culling underperformers, but instead as a way to raise performance throughout the organisation.
* Don't abandon bonuses
Don't abandon performance pay and bonuses but instead target them on your top performers and refocus them on realistic but stretching targets that will promote the right behaviours in this new environment.
* Review sales targets
Review sales targets and territory strategies to focus your sales force on the largest opportunities. For many businesses, now is not the time to reduce investment in sales a recent Watson Wyatt survey found that 85 per cent of companies are looking to maintain or increase their total sales investment in 2009.
* Look for cost savings
A review of business processes, HR policies and tax and administration could reveal untapped efficiencies. Examples include shorter working weeks, changes to travel policies, and salary sacrifice for pensions contributions, where savings can come through within a few months of implementation.
* Promote the total reward message
Keep communicating the value of your total rewards. A tendency to focus on base salary means that employees generally underestimate the full value of their total reward package. Ensure employees know just how valuable their total reward package is to them.
* Review executive reward
Review executive compensation to ensure the package is aligned to shareholder requirements, but still retains key executives.
* Don't damage your employer brand
Don't harm your employer brand by not delivering on your employee value proposition the moment things get tough. Live it through tough times and you will maintain an engaged and productive workforce.
* Keep talking
Be as open as you can with employees about your current HR and reward strategies. Silence breeds fear and reduces employees' engagement with the organisation. Employees know you don't have all the answers or can offer guarantees about the future.
"The rapid deterioration in the economic outlook creates a huge test for the robustness of HR strategies that were largely formulated in the good times, and often implemented with limited regard to integration with existing processes," said Carole Hathaway. "However, those organisations that have gone furthest towards integrating their reward and talent strategies are likely to be best placed to come through the recession with a productive and engaged workforce."
AND MORE....
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Watson Wyatt
Ten principles for managing employee reward in 2009 [17 December 2008]
http://www.watsonwyatt.com/news/press.asp?ID=20262
UK December 17, 2008 - With general uncertainty about what the economic future holds, the need for organisations to keep a tight focus on employee reward strategy will be more important in 2009 than ever before, according to Watson Wyatt.
"In times of rapid change and uncertainty, HR professionals need to be flexible but they must also remain focused on the underlying principles behind their approach to managing reward and talent," said Carole Hathaway, head of strategic reward consulting at Watson Wyatt. "Stressed organisations could be in danger of making employee reward decisions that they come to regret if they abandon too readily the principles that underpin their people strategies."
Watson Wyatt sets out 10 key underlying principles for organisations when managing reward in a recession:
* Focus on key talent
Focus limited resources on keeping and rewarding your key talent. These are the people you need most now to get you through the difficult times and later when the economy recovers.
* Be careful what and who you cut
Don't make harmful short-term cuts. Conduct strategic workforce planning to understand your current and future talent requirements, and ensure your business has the necessary resources and skills for the upturn.
* Ensure performance management is understood
Ensure your performance management process is effectively understood by your employees and delivered well by line management. It should not be seen as simply a process for identifying and culling underperformers, but instead as a way to raise performance throughout the organisation.
* Don't abandon bonuses
Don't abandon performance pay and bonuses but instead target them on your top performers and refocus them on realistic but stretching targets that will promote the right behaviours in this new environment.
* Review sales targets
Review sales targets and territory strategies to focus your sales force on the largest opportunities. For many businesses, now is not the time to reduce investment in sales a recent Watson Wyatt survey found that 85 per cent of companies are looking to maintain or increase their total sales investment in 2009.
* Look for cost savings
A review of business processes, HR policies and tax and administration could reveal untapped efficiencies. Examples include shorter working weeks, changes to travel policies, and salary sacrifice for pensions contributions, where savings can come through within a few months of implementation.
* Promote the total reward message
Keep communicating the value of your total rewards. A tendency to focus on base salary means that employees generally underestimate the full value of their total reward package. Ensure employees know just how valuable their total reward package is to them.
* Review executive reward
Review executive compensation to ensure the package is aligned to shareholder requirements, but still retains key executives.
* Don't damage your employer brand
Don't harm your employer brand by not delivering on your employee value proposition the moment things get tough. Live it through tough times and you will maintain an engaged and productive workforce.
* Keep talking
Be as open as you can with employees about your current HR and reward strategies. Silence breeds fear and reduces employees' engagement with the organisation. Employees know you don't have all the answers or can offer guarantees about the future.
"The rapid deterioration in the economic outlook creates a huge test for the robustness of HR strategies that were largely formulated in the good times, and often implemented with limited regard to integration with existing processes," said Carole Hathaway. "However, those organisations that have gone furthest towards integrating their reward and talent strategies are likely to be best placed to come through the recession with a productive and engaged workforce."
AND MORE....
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
# posted by SBasefsky : 7:59 AM
