Kamis, 21 Oktober 2010

Women in the Workplace

The past few months, two somewhat conflicting reports about women (and their looks) in the workplace have come out.

In August, Reuters reported that attractive women were being overlooked for certain jobs. The study by the University of Colorado Denver Business School published in the Journal of Social Psychology concluded "Attractive women faced discrimination when they applied for jobs where appearance was not seen as important. These positions included job titles like manager of research and development, director of finance, mechanical engineer and construction supervisor."

Then, earlier this month, the New York Post reported that skinnier women earn significantly more than those who are of average weight or classified as obese. The study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology found that "being 30 pounds below the average American female weight of 164 pounds can result in roughly $10,719 more in annual salary -- above the average woman's pay of $40,000. Being 30 pounds overweight can mean making $9,873 less than average." I think that this may be more of a case of skinnier people being more energetic, healthier, and confident than the case of discrimination, but it is interesting indeed.

Lastly, the EU parliament voted in favor of a number of measures to strengthen maternity protection in Europe including a 20-week full maternity pay for new mothers according to HR Magazine. The proposal also contains "rules employers will be banned from dismissing pregnant workers until six months after the end of their maternity leave."

Selasa, 19 Oktober 2010

Astronology - 2011 Compensation Budget Forecasts

Astron Website Top

Astronology

Volume XI

Issue 17

 

October 19, 2010

Dear Andrew,

Astron Solutions provides high-quality, low-cost, innovative human resources consulting services to organizations like yours. Call us for advice, innovative program design, and user-friendly Web/PC based software.

 

Fact or Fiction

 

Car Horns beep in the tone of F.

FACT!

American car horns beep in the tone of F. That's helpful to know if we need to tune an instrument!

Today's article focuses on the cash compensation element of total rewards. However, total rewards encompasses so much more. What are some of the fun and unusual things your organization does to keep your employees engaged and motivated? Perhaps you have a company band, excluding any company cars? Please share with us some of your favorite total rewards offerings, and we may feature you in an upcoming issue of Astronology!

 

2011 Compensation Budget Forecasts

mandollarsIt's that time of year again - time to begin setting compensation budgets for 2011. As we move towards the fourth quarter of 2010, we are left with mixed messages regarding the state of the US economy. In one case, the stock market has returned to the 11000 levels, and companies are reporting record profits. On the other hand, unemployment is stuck at 9.5% or higher. It is evident that many organizations have "re-tooled" in terms of staffing, and have discovered that they can provide their goods and services with less staff. If you add in the uncertainty surrounding healthcare reform and its impact, one can clearly understand why it is very difficult to make predictions for 2011 with any confidence.....more

 

Have a Question?

If you have a topic you would like addressed in Astronology, or some feedback on a past article, don't hesitate to tell us!  Simply reply to this e-mail.  See your question answered, or comments addressed, in an upcoming issue of Astronology.

Looking for a top-notch presenter for your human resource organization's meeting?  Both Jennifer Loftus and Michael Maciekowich present highly-rated sessions on a variety of compensation and employee retention issues.  For more information, send an e-mail to info@astronsolutions.com.

 

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Copyright 2010, Astron Solutions, LLC

ISSN Number 1549-0467

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Kamis, 14 Oktober 2010

Back to New York and Collaboration

After spending the week at a conference in Richmond, Virginia, I'm in a cab heading back to Manhattan. The conference I went to was the "Global Compliance, Legal and Government Relations" conference for my company. Two takeaways that I want to share on the blog are "Cool-aboration" and the "GFC".



"Cool-aboration" was a fun term for a presentation about collaborating with others. While most companies preach this, the conference had a big difference to talk about: actually listening to other people. When we discussed the great things each group had done the past year, it was all because of collaborative efforts--but even more important it was the communication and the listening of our associates that allowed for these great things to continue. Being able to feed off others and work with them in a collaborative manner is a sign of a great organization.



The other term I used above--the "GFC"--was a term I learned that the rest of the world was using for this recession which either stood for the Great Financial Crisis or Global Financial Crisis. But the important takeaway here was to understand the impact of Dodd Frank and other international regulations to your organization. Just because you are not located in your European office does not mean that what they are doing there doesn't effect your job, especially if you work in Human Resources and deal with employees' whistleblowing or executive compensation.



Although there were many other things I took away from the conference, those are two that I wanted to share here on the Astron blog. Although many companies are already thinking about it, some "cool-aboration" is always needed to make sure good policies and procedures are implemented and enforced.



-Andrew
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