Employee Benefits Driving Corporate Performance -- A White Paper

In today抯 economy, companies of all sizes are facing a number of challenges that require urgent action. Health care costs are rising, pension obligations are growing and top talent is becoming increasingly difficult to recruit in the rebounding job market. Among the most significant business trends, competitive pressure on American workers is increasing at a rapid pace as offshore business process outsourcing (BPO) becomes more effective in performing traditional American jobs at much lower costs. The fundamental challenge for human resources managers is to re-invent employee benefit programs to deliver higher performance at a lower cost.

The process of re-inventing employee benefit programs begins by developing a portfolio of employee benefits that maximizes total economic value for employees, while minimizing employer investment. In other words, there are a number of very attractive and financially rewarding benefits that employers could provide their employees. One of the most effective, yet highly underutilized, benefits is the employee discount program.

Few employers offer their employees an employee discount program, even though it抯 economic value to employees is very significant, while it抯 cost is very low. These programs are either developed and maintained by internal human resources staff, or outsourced to managed employee discount programs (such as www.EmployeeHelper.com). Based on case studies conducted by EmployeeHelper.com, companies that have deployed managed employee discount programs with a wide variety of negotiated discounts, the net effect for employees can be equal to a compensation increase of over 5%.

Considering the fact that employee discount programs are basically free for employees and their employees, the use of this program is expected to grow significantly across the marketplace. In an economy where competitive advantage is becoming increasingly tied to human capital, enhancements to employee benefits represent a growth opportunity for all business.

Please visit http://www.employeehelper.com for more information about employee discount programs.

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Employee Performance Reviews ?Dealing With Disagreements

What do you do when an employee disagrees with something you抳e written on their performance review? How can you prepare for this and deal with it effectively?

Start by listening to figure out the source of the disagreement. Is it an issue of fact (you wrote that the employee received a customer satisfaction score of 79 but the employee says that his score was actually 83), or is a matter of judgment (you wrote that the employee抯 customer service skills were unsatisfactory; she feels that her skills are terrific)? If the disagreement involves an issue of fact, get the facts and make any corrections necessary. If it抯 a matter of judgment, ask the employee for additional evidence. Then determine whether that evidence is weighty enough to cause you to change your mind, revise your judgment, and amend the rating that you assigned on the employee抯 performance review.

Most of the time, you have a reasonably good understanding of the areas where disagreements are likely to pop up in the course of the performance review discussion. Before beginning the discussion, re-read the review you wrote and try to spot the areas where you and the individual may not seem eye-to-eye. Then ask yourself, 揥hat am I going to say when George disagrees with my assessment that his performance on the Thompson project just barely met expectations??If you抳e taken to time to review the appraisal you抳e written for potential hot spots, and given some thought to how you抣l respond, you抮e much less likely to be caught off guard.

During the employee performance review discussion, start with your higher ratings and move toward the lower ones. Be prepared to give additional examples besides the ones you抳e included on the formal written appraisal. Refer back to the informal conversations you have had with the individual over the course of the year.

Of course, if you haven抰 had on-going, informal performance review discussions with the individual over the course of the appraisal period, then it抯 much more likely that disagreements will surface during the review. That抯 one more reason for scheduling periodic, 揌ow抯 it going??discussions with each person on your team.

As soon as a disagreement pops up, switch into active listening mode. 揂ctive listening?involves allowing the other person to clarify both the facts and feelings about an issue so there抯 nothing left under the surface. For example, using phrases as simple as, 揟ell me more . . .?or, 揥hat else can you share with me about that . . . ??or, 揜eally . . . ??can encourage people to talk more about their perceptions. Simply nodding without saying anything encourages people to expand on what they have said. It抯 not at all unlikely that the employee, allowed a sufficient chance to think aloud about what you have written, will end up saying, 揧eah, I guess I see what you mean.?

In dealing effectively with employee performance review disagreements, remember what your objective in the discussion is ?and what it isn抰. Your objective in a performance review discussion is not to gain agreement. It is to gain understanding. If the employee agrees with you, that抯 great. But particularly if your appraisal is a tough-minded assessment of the fact the Charlie抯 contribution toward achieving your department抯 objectives was only mediocre, you抣l probably never get him to agree. That抯 OK. What you want is for him to understand why you evaluated his performance the way you did, even if his personal opinion is different.

Finally, if you have several employee performance reviews to deliver, don抰 start with the individual whose performance was the worst and where disagreements are the most likely to arise. Start with the easiest ?your best performer ?and move toward the more difficult. In this way, you抣l build your skills and become more comfortable with the performance review process. Remember the advice that John Dillinger, the 1930抯 public-enemy #1, once provided: 揃efore you rob your first bank, knock off a couple of gas stations.?

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Employee Performance Reviews - Dealing With Disagreements

What do you do when an employee disagrees with something you抳e written on their performance review? How can you prepare for this and deal with it effectively?

Start by listening to figure out the source of the disagreement. Is it an issue of fact (you wrote that the employee received a customer satisfaction score of 79 but the employee says that his score was actually 83), or is a matter of judgment (you wrote that the employee抯 customer service skills were unsatisfactory; she feels that her skills are terrific)? If the disagreement involves an issue of fact, get the facts and make any corrections necessary. If it抯 a matter of judgment, ask the employee for additional evidence. Then determine whether that evidence is weighty enough to cause you to change your mind, revise your judgment, and amend the rating that you assigned on the employee抯 performance review.

Most of the time, you have a reasonably good understanding of the areas where disagreements are likely to pop up in the course of the performance review discussion. Before beginning the discussion, re-read the review you wrote and try to spot the areas where you and the individual may not seem eye-to-eye. Then ask yourself, 揥hat am I going to say when George disagrees with my assessment that his performance on the Thompson project just barely met expectations??If you抳e taken to time to review the appraisal you抳e written for potential hot spots, and given some thought to how you抣l respond, you抮e much less likely to be caught off guard.

During the employee performance review discussion, start with your higher ratings and move toward the lower ones. Be prepared to give additional examples besides the ones you抳e included on the formal written appraisal. Refer back to the informal conversations you have had with the individual over the course of the year.

Of course, if you haven抰 had on-going, informal performance review discussions with the individual over the course of the appraisal period, then it抯 much more likely that disagreements will surface during the review. That抯 one more reason for scheduling periodic, 揌ow抯 it going??discussions with each person on your team.

As soon as a disagreement pops up, switch into active listening mode. 揂ctive listening?involves allowing the other person to clarify both the facts and feelings about an issue so there抯 nothing left under the surface. For example, using phrases as simple as, 揟ell me more . . .?or, 揥hat else can you share with me about that . . . ??or, 揜eally . . . ??can encourage people to talk more about their perceptions. Simply nodding without saying anything encourages people to expand on what they have said. It抯 not at all unlikely that the employee, allowed a sufficient chance to think aloud about what you have written, will end up saying, 揧eah, I guess I see what you mean.?

In dealing effectively with employee performance review disagreements, remember what your objective in the discussion is ?and what it isn抰. Your objective in a performance review discussion is not to gain agreement. It is to gain understanding. If the employee agrees with you, that抯 great. But particularly if your appraisal is a tough-minded assessment of the fact the Charlie抯 contribution toward achieving your department抯 objectives was only mediocre, you抣l probably never get him to agree. That抯 OK. What you want is for him to understand why you evaluated his performance the way you did, even if his personal opinion is different.

Finally, if you have several employee performance reviews to deliver, don抰 start with the individual whose performance was the worst and where disagreements are the most likely to arise. Start with the easiest ?your best performer ?and move toward the more difficult. In this way, you抣l build your skills and become more comfortable with the performance review process. Remember the advice that John Dillinger, the 1930抯 public-enemy #1, once provided: 揃efore you rob your first bank, knock off a couple of gas stations.?

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Employee Performance Management

Fixation of compensation or wage rates for different categories of employees in a company is an important task of management. The employees are not only concerned with the wages received but also concerned with the level wages received by same level of employees in similar organizations. Hence wage structure may be considered very important. The relative wage-rules must be fixed carefully, because they have implications for promotion, transfer, seniority and other important personnel matters.

Wage plan should possess certain fundamental characteristics if the long term interests of the worker, management and the consumer are to be served. The wage plan must be linked with the productivity of the workers. Unless higher pay scales of workers are linked in some way to the productivity of workers, a wage plan will not be fair either to the management or to the consumers.

Basic wage for each job classification should be related to skill job requirements of job. Due consideration should be given to such factors as skill, length of time required in learning, versatility required and working conditions. In all fairness to management, the plan should usually result in a reduction of unit cost of manufacture, making possible lower prices and higher profits.

In all fairness to the consumers a share of higher efficiency should be passed on to them by way of lower price. This will be possible when there is reduction in cost due to higher efficiency. Thus the wage plan must ensure that all participate share the gains of higher productivity. The wage plan should include an incentive system for the efficient workers. The system should ensure higher pay to the workers who perform work at higher level of efficiency. The wage plan should guarantee minimum wage to protect the interest of workers against conditions over which they have no control.

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