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An E-newsletter for TEA Members
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 February 18, 2010 - Volume 30, Issue 3
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| HR Conference - Save Your Seats! |
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Building Dimensions in HR: Social, Legal & Informational
March 10, 2010
8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Prince Conference Center at Calvin College
The field of Human Resources constantly evolves in order to keep pace with economic, social, legal and informational changes that affect our organizations. This year's conference highlights trends in social networking, legislative changes and the latest research in HR practices.
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| HRG March 2010 Event |
HR Legal and
Legislative Update
(Note date/time change)
7:30 a.m. - 9:45 a.m.
Watermark Country Club
FEATURING: Peter Kok and Friends from Miller Johnson
Mark you calendar and watch for more details.
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| Save the Date!!! |
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TEA's 70th Annual Meeting and Luncheon
12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Prince Conference Center at Calvin College
Guest Speaker: Arthur Johnson, Chairman and CEO of United Bank of Michigan, Chairman of the American Bankers Association
Mark you calendar and watch for more details.
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| FROM THE PRESIDENT...COMPENSATING EMPLOYEES |
Recent studies have found that employee dissatisfaction is at an all-time high, and that, surprisingly, pay is towards the bottom of the top reasons employees stay with an organization. The way people interact with peers, the way they are treated by management, and their overall satisfaction with the job are far more critical than pay (and/or benefits) in regards to employee retention. Having developed more than 300 Compensation Administration programs during my 20+ years with The Association, I've found that:
1) Internal equity is much more important than external
competitiveness when it comes to creating a satisfied workforce. Some of the best organizations I've worked with pay
employees slightly below market averages BUT they underpay ALL
employees including their management team. A similar sense of
contentment is generated by organizations that pay all employees at or
slightly above market rates. Dissatisfaction (causing high turnover,
negative employee relations and difficulty in hiring new employees)
almost always results when one group of employees is paid differently
in relation to market than another. 2) Strong merit pay systems tend to attract and retain high
performers (and over-achievers) while tenure-based systems
tend to attract risk-averse employees and retain mediocre
employees. When definitive goals and objectives can be established
AND FULLY COMMUNICATED with employees, potentially linking
additional pay and/or bonus to the accomplishment of those goals,
employees willing and able to go the extra mile will step forward.
Systems that pay all individuals equally, regardless of the results they
demonstrate, tend to equalize abilities, often at an "average" level. 3) Organizations without an objective means to establish a job's
value or worth which links that value to defensible
compensation practices tend to pay employees more based on
who they are than what they contribute. Whenever employers make pay decisions based on who is in the
job rather than on what the job does for the organization, favoritism
and inequity (whether real or imagined) will begin to destroy
internal employee relations. 4) Effective Compensation Administration is 70% communication
and 30% structure. When employees are involved in the development
of a system, are told what is happening along the way, understand
what is being measured and feel invested in the process they are much
more apt to believe in the fairness of a system than if they are kept in
the dark throughout the program's development. 5) Consistency is more important than accuracy. Employees who
know (and trust) that you will be fair and equitable (not necessarily
equal) in your treatment of employees will become a big part of the
organization's ongoing success. When employees doubt management
credibility, or see the inconsistent application of policies or practices,
they become more a part of the problem than the solution.
6) Pay is part of the equation when it comes to compensation
administration. Benefits, working conditions, flexibility,
autonomy and the freedom to learn from mistakes are all far
more critical in creating an environment that will attract
quality employees and retain a highly competent workforce.
7) Don't get fooled into thinking that business has established a
"new normal" in regards to paying people at reduced rates.
While such a practice may be "penny-wise" in that it will generate a
handsome profit while things are turning around, it will prove to be
"pound-foolish" when high-performers leave for different jobs once the
employment picture improves.
8) Compensation Administration IS NOT a static science. Pay
ranges should be updated regularly to reflect changing market
conditions. Pay rates should be adjusted regularly based on an
organization's ability to pay. Recognize employee performance, linking
some demonstrated action to each pay adjustment.
Give us a call if you'd like to discuss your compensation strategy - or if you'd just like to talk about where you compare to market. We're here to help as you build towards a stronger future!
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| Introducing New TEA Partner |
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Return On Integration, Inc. (ROI)
Return On Integration, Inc. (ROI), an advisory and consulting company, specializes in working with businesses that are planning a management transition, including mergers & acquisitions, leadership successions, and downsizing. For TEA members, ROI is offering a no obligation, free initial consultation as well as a 20% discount on all ROI services. More information.
Call or email George Pulos. Cell 630-878-1057, Toll Free 1-877-764-7641 or email george.pulos@att.net.
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| Welcome New Members |
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 The new members listed below represent employers within the West Michigan area who have joined the ranks of those committed to strong, positive employee/employer relations. It is a pleasure to welcome these new members into our family:
*Alloy Exchange, Inc.
*Autocam Corporation.
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| Membership Services Survey Results |
Thank you to the 133 members who participated in this survey. We value your input and will strive to become an even better resource to you based on the suggestions and recommendations you've made.
See results here. |
| Dave's Deliberations - Newly Formatted Blog |
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 Check out our President's newly formatted blog where he will be providing weekly posts on a particular HR topic, current event or "relevant rambling." You may access the blog from the homepage of our website (within the header) or copy and paste http://theemployersassociationgr.blogspot.com/ into your web browser. He welcomes your comments and feedback.
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| Call TEA First... |
Providing practical solutions to Human Resource-related issues BEFORE they escalate into legal problems.
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| GAUGING ENGAGEMENT |
The Gallup organization recently published results from a study on employee engagement. It appears that over 42% of current employees in the workplace are either not engaged or actively disengaged. What does that mean in terms of employee behaviors and practices? The "not engaged" employees are productive but not psychologically connected to their organizations. They are going through the motions of doing the work but don't necessarily derive meaning from what they are doing. The second group: the"actively disengaged" are psychologically absent and contagiously unhappy with their work situation. These employees wait for Friday all week long. They miss opportunities and connections as they are struggling to get through the week.
If we view this in terms of the total employee experience, what have we done as employers to create this breed of disengaged workers? When an employee begins the search for a new job they have high motivation to make a change, to do something different, to make an impact. We see this motivation and we seemingly value their skill sets and hire them. For a period of time they are engaged, committed and enjoying the job but then the malaise, the boredom, the disconnection with supervision sinks in and the reality of "this is just another job" begins and works its negativity through not only that employee but gets transferred like a communicable disease to others. As supervisors we are too busy most of the time to understand what is happening while it takes place. We deal with it later through disciplinary action or other such measures. If we know that this disenchantment or disengagement occurs, why don't we do something to circumvent it from happening? Most of the time our supervisors are not trained enough to pick up the cues and if they do see what is happening they may not have the skill sets to be able to work on engagement.
Fall out from disengagement spills out onto the customer base as well. Do you really want your disengaged employees connecting with your customers? What messages are they delivering? Lack of engagement costs your company more than we first realize. We may lose employees slowly in an economy like this but what will happen when we shift into a period of lower unemployment and strong hiring patterns? We'll be depleted of workers and we will then scramble to hire without thinking about what caused the attrition.
Engaged employees are much more likely to work together, have managers who listen to their suggestions, feel that their opinions are heard, are communicated with and given feedback on changes and are involved in conversations about continuous improvement. Disengaged employees are much more likely to feel that mistakes are held against them and shortcuts are being taken.
Now is the time to look at how engaged your employees are and build solutions to help supervisors and managers "re enlist " those workers through better employee relations, coaching, the creation of a motivational environment. I don't know about you but I would rather have engaged employees on my team than those that are struggling to get to Friday.
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| MANDATORY OSHA REQUIREMENT |
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From TEA's Informational Services Department
OSHA mandates that employers log and keep on record work-related injuries and illnesses that occur at work. The recordkeeping requirement is mandatory and not optional. The MIOSHA 300A Notice must be posted from February thru April.
Click here for forms. (MIOSHA forms are also located on our web site under HR Resources/HR Toolkits/MIOSHA forms.)
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| FROM THE AGE OF AQUARIUS TO THE AGE OF CUSTOMER SERVICE |
Zappos is an online shoe store. Big deal, right? Actually it is a big deal. I have ordered shoes from Zappos for two reasons - they carry the size I need and you can send them back without paying shipping - either way! I order several pairs, try them on in the comfort of my home, return what doesn't work and I love it - and they have a 365 day return policy. While shoes aren't unique to Zappos, their service is. They just sold the company to Amazon for close to one billion dollars. Amazon is another customer-centric organization that is doing quite well.
The age of customer service is upon us. It behooves us all to pay close attention or risk falling behind on the one thing that can still differentiate us from our competitors.
If customer service is not your first, second or third priority, you better face the fact that it isn't a priority at all. Customer service is both a process and a product. Design it like you design your products. Determine the attributes of excellent service, identify what barriers you face in developing excellent service, and establish what staff must do to accomplish excellent service consistently. Remember - what gets measured, gets done.
I occasionally get pushback from people who don't think selling is part of customer service. Selling in the traditional sense is certainly not something most of us relish. Helping people buy, however, is a different story altogether. Providing information that enables a customer to purchase is a fine attribute and one that can help both the company and the customer. Who could argue with that?
In establishing your attributes, put yourself in the "shoes" of your customer (both internal and external) and decide what's most important to them. Keep it simple - 5 attributes will work just fine. Train and measure these attributes and watch your team transform your organization. It worked for Zappos!
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| SOME SIGNS OF LIFE IN AREA EMPLOYMENT |
If we were to judge the likelihood of an upturn in the local jobs market by what we see and hear in the local news media, there would be little optimism about employers adding staff any time soon. Yet in spite of the continued "doom and gloom" painted by newspapers, business journals, TV, and the Internet, we do see signs that things may be improving, at least within the TEA membership. I make it a point whenever I make contact with any of our members to ask the question, "how does your business look this year?" With very few exceptions, the answer comes back with responses that range from "we're holding our own" to "business is picking up" to "business is really getting better." Similar comments are being made to others on the TEA staff and, encouragingly, many are coming from the manufacturing sector. One of our members has informed us they have hired 300 employees over the last 3 months, in positions that include hourly operators, office support, engineers, and managers. More commonly, we hear about the need to hire one or two people, again ranging from hourly, to administrative to management positions.
Another sign that the job market is improving can be seen with the number of recruitment ads we are placing for our members in the Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo and Muskegon newspapers, which are also seen on MLive.com. While nowhere near the numbers that were placed in 2008 and before, there has been a definite uptick in this activity with some of our members. Related to recruitment advertising is the increase we are seeing in the number of pre-employment tests being ordered by our members, as well as some non-members. While I am not predicting a dramatic surge of employment activity, all of the above makes me cautiously optimistic that the worst is over and we can look forward to moderate job growth in the region.
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This newsletter is published at 5570 Executive Parkway SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan as a general information service to all members and offers data from many sources. It is not designed to render legal advice or opinion. Such advice may only be given when related to actual situations. Our staff can assist you in interpreting and applying this information to your needs. For questions or replies to this newsletter, email pmollica@teagr.org.
NOTE ABOUT SAFEUNSUBSCRIBE: If your company is a TEA member and you unsubscribe, you will no longer receive ANY TEA e-communications. If someone else should be receiving this information, please email pmollica@teagr.org and we will update our records. |
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