Does this title sound vaguely familiar? If so, dear reader, you've got a great memory.
In 2009, the first year of Compensation Cafe, I closed the year by passing along some great reads I had run into. I thought it might be time to recycle the idea because there's so much going on. It's a few days past gift giving, but just in time for your 2018 compensation resolutions.
Radford Perspectives: Technology and Life Science sectors' Talent and rewards trends in 2017 and beyond. You don't need to be working in these sectors to benefit from the assessment this report provides of the future for Dodd-Frank provisions that impact executive compensation. But the thought I want you to notice from this report-- no matter what your industry-- is this, "In our 2016 Radford Perspectives Report we introduced the concept of industry convergence-- the notion that every company is becoming a technology company to some degree-- and its effect on the hiring and rewards landscape. . . technology and life sciences companies [are] beginning to compete with general industry firms for the same types of skilled jobs . . ." This has certainly been my observation over the last year. If you're in general industry facing stiff competition for talent from technology companies, why not prepare to turn the tables on them by checking out this report?
What the final tax reform bill approved by House and Senate means for compensation is a valuable synopsis for all practitioners who want to stay up to date. The impact of these changes is going to unspool over a long period, but the best place to start is by getting as good a briefing as possible.Topics covered include the expanded definition of "covered employee" and how it applies to deductible executive compensation; changes to compensation programs for tax-exempt organizations; private company equity grants; and changes to exclusions for employer-provided benefits.
There's good news from Gallup. " . . . 55% of Americans volunteer that they would have no gender preference for a boss if they were taking a new job." There's a lot more in this article to notice and think about. I'll leave you with another teaser: "Since the early 1980s, the preferences among both men and women for a male boss have each fallen by 50%." These numbers are such (suprising) great news, I read the article a few times. It's an amazing cultural shift, but has it found its way to your place of business, do you think?
Please do not imagine that this last reading suggestion is political in any way. The New York Times editorial, "What I Was Wrong About This Year," is a valuable cautionary tale for anyone who deals with communicating numbers for a living. Human beings are built to misunderstand numbers; we've got the research to prove it. The writer bemoans, "I used to believe that the best response was explanation and context . . . But now I think explanation is doomed to failure . . . People need a story that forces them to visualize . . ." Ever walk out of what seemed like a good meeting, only to find out that your numbers were misunderstood? It's worth taking a look at this essay and the research it discusses.
Margaret O'Hanlon, CCP brings deep expertise to discussions on employee pay, performance management, career development and communications at the Café. Her firm, re:Think Consulting, provides market pay information and designs base salary structures, incentive plans, career paths and their implementation plans. Earlier, she was a Principal at Willis Towers Watson. Margaret is a Board member of the Bay Area Compensation Association (BACA). She coauthored the popular eBook, Everything You Do (in Compensation) Is Communications, a toolkit that all practitioners can find at https://gumroad.com/l/everythingiscommunication.
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