Across the U.S., employers and the agencies that help them fill jobs are feeling increasing pressure to raise pay for workers with special skills. Although … Read more
Weekly Wrap: Expecting a Solid Raise in 2015? Don’t Hold Your Breath
For five years now, I have been writing stories based on consultants and analysts projections of what kind of raises businesses are planning to give … Read more
Believe It or Not, Promotions Are Also Viewed as Workplace Rewards
Promotions are a form of reward, even though they don’t always jingle like direct cash. A jump in title status alone is sometimes enough to be strong … Read more
5 Signs That You Aren’t Paying Your Employees Enough
I was reading an article recently, it was one of those “Best Places To Work” type of articles. Since I run a company, I’m always looking out for good ideas … Read more
Are Wages For Workers Starting — Finally! — to Show Some Growth?
A news story about optimistic pay trends claims to find signs of an impending upsurge in base hourly rates. Conceding that this is not the consensus … Read more
Skilled Worker Shortages Are Slowly Starting to Push Pay Upward
Reports from the Federal Reserve say that a shortage of skilled workers in a variety of trades are showing up here and there across the U.S., putting … Read more
Here’s Why Women (and Men) Really Do Need to Ask For a Raise
Last week, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella gave some spectacularly bad advice to a group of women at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing … Read more
Is it Really Time to Say Goodbye to the Merit Matrix?
Bill Kutik hates the merit matrix and I suspect he is not alone. The merit matrix is not dead — not yet, with recent WorldatWork research confirming … Read more
Pay and Performance, or What Withholding an Increase Can Do
More pay might not change behavior, but withholding an increase sometimes will. “That’s the last straw! I’m going to fire him,” said the irate mayor as he … Read more
2015 Salary Survey: It’s Another Year – and Another Mediocre 3% Increase
Is the U.S. economy really improving? Some people want to think it is, but if you look at the early projections for 2015 salary increases and consider such … Read more
The Problem When You Have a Pay-For-Pulse Compensation Strategy
Picture the scene: Your company doesn’t have enough money in the annual merit spend budget to grant more than an average 2 percent increase to … Read more
The State of Employee Pay: Is It Really a Fact Employees Are Underpaid?
Forbes.com calls itself, “Information for the World’s Business Leaders.” A must-read for most serious business people, it has never been … Read more
How Will We Pay With Open Salaries and No Performance Reviews?
There are a number of movements afoot in the world of work that promise to impact the way we pay people. Two in particular may well converge to provide the … Read more
A New Fad: States, Local Governments Hiking the Minimum Wage
By Gregory Hanscom A centerpiece of President Obama’s current legislative agenda is raising the federal minimum wage. While many doubt a bill raising the … Read more
Spreading the Peanut Butter: Across-the-Board Pay Hikes Are a Bad Idea
“Spreading the peanut butter” is a term used by one of my international clients to describe a general increase, the granting of an … Read more
Remember Your Pay Structure? It’s Likely You’re Not Doing Enough
You’ve seen your company’s want ads and heard the pitch from your recruiters; you offer competitive pay to qualified candidates. That’s … Read more
Sometimes, A Little More Raise Can Make a Lot of Difference
You just received an above average performance rating from your boss, which naturally put a large smile on your face. But, that was subsequently wiped away … Read more
Comp Study Says Companies Are Expecting Good Things in 2014
PayScale has just released its 2014 Compensation Best Practices Report, and I was asked to take a look because (full disclosure) PayScale is a client. … Read more
Compensation: It’s a Lot More Than Just the Cost of Labor
A quiet revolution has been unfolding over the past 20 years or so. There was a time when an employee’s salary was highly confidential. Employees were told … Read more
Is This The Worst Thing You Can Ever Do to an Employee?
Editor’s Note: Sometimes readers ask about past TLNT articles. That’s why on Fridays we republish a Classic TLNT post that some of you have requested. What … Read more