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I do not know about you, but I put in a lot more hours when I work remotely. No commute, no dress code, no make-up required. Having the computer staring at you every time you walk by your office makes it so easy to do “just one more thing” and next thing you know, your work day is 10, 11, maybe 12 hours plus. With that said, I have been hearing a lot about employers looking to cut back on compensation and benefits since employees are now getting the extra “benefit” of working from home full-time due to the pandemic. As you may have noticed, I do not subscribe to that approach.
I am witnessing burn out on the part of employees. I hear and see the exhaustion with my clients. Dedicated employees are dedicated employees regardless of where they are working. Employees are not just working long hours, but managing their household without any assistance. Cleaning services have been canceled. Lawn services terminated. Going out to eat a thing of the past. Child care eliminated. All those services that allow employees to work longer since those tasks have been taken care of are no longer an option with fear of contracting COVID. Therefore, employees are juggling more now than ever even with the “luxury” of working from home. I would suggest that employers consider offering more support during this difficult time. I am not referring to financial support. Rather, recognizing that employees may need some in-kind rewards. My clients are doing things like providing extra PTO, purchasing gift cards for favorite take-out restaurants, sending gift baskets of games for the kids to keep them busy, and offering care packages full of sweet treats. Additionally, managers are taking care of their teams by ending the work day early and engaging in a game of virtual trivia. Employers recognizing the toll the pandemic has taken on employees will only build loyalty and result in employees working even harder. When I had my first child, I ventured into the world of consulting. I would visit clients when needed, but the bulk of work was performed in my home office. My father-in-law and I debated on occasion the effectiveness of working from home. He is very traditional and felt the quality of the work would suffer without being in a formal office environment. That was until he broke his leg almost at his hip bone and was put on bed rest for 3 months during the healing process. During that time, he worked from his recliner chair. He realized that he worked longer hours and got more done because there were fewer distractions (his children were grown at the time). That experience completely changed his mindset and he became much more flexible with his workforce. I urge employers to focus on whether the work is getting done opposed to assuming employees must not be working as hard from home and therefore cuts must be made. Employees appreciate flexibility and understanding that they have personal lives outside of work. Employers that recognize that and take care of employees holistically will reap the benefits of a loyal workforce that will work even harder.
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 Job Descriptions vs Job Postings - How They Differ and How They Compare9/9/2020
0 Comments Is a job posting the same as a job description? Do I need both? Why? If you are a Compensation professional, you probably get asked these questions frequently. A job description and a job posting are not the same. A job description documents the responsibilities associated with a job. It is the document that is typically used for compliance purposes. Essential Functions (also known as primary responsibilities) document what is required to perform a job successfully meeting ADA requirements. Job descriptions can also contain the FLSA exemption classification meeting Department of Labor requirements to evaluate jobs as being Exempt or Non-Exempt. Lastly, physical requirements and working conditions documented in a job description will satisfy ADA documentation requirements regarding conditions that an employee encounters or is exposed to during the course of performing the job. Best practice is to also include information that assists Compensation in mapping the job to survey data and grading the position such as supervision of direct and indirect employees, financial responsibility, education, experience, licenses/certifications, knowledge, skills, and abilities. Competencies can be included that help managers assess performance. Job level responsibilities support managers creating development plans for their employees. Recruiters use the information in the job description to obtain an understanding of the requirements of the job to help them find qualified candidates and develop interview questions. Job postings are used to advertise the position to potential candidates. They are based off the job description and even use content from it such as the job summary, essential functions, education, and experience. However, a job posting has additional information on the company in order to sell the company, it’s culture, and growth opportunities. I recommend you checking out JDXpert which is an online job description software that takes the hard work out of writing job descriptions and job postings! JDXpert allows you to create job descriptions online and complete the editing process using assigned workflows. Additionally, you can set-up templates that automatically pull information from the job description into the job posting and provides interview questions based on the competencies selected. Don’t allow hiring managers to talk you out of creating a job description and just using a job posting. The job description should always come first to ensure that all relevant information has been provided for the job for both compliance and HR purposes.  The Comp Chick, aka, Jennifer Peacock has more than 25 years of diverse experience in human resources ranging from consulting to corporate HR leadership. She started The Comp Chick blog as a way to show her peers that Compensation doesn't have to be boring or difficult.
This season of thanksgiving has me doing a great deal of reflection on what I appreciate – particularly in my professional life. If I could boil it down to one word, it would be relationships. During our careers, so much emphasis is put on networking and many of us get so involved in our work that it is difficult to find the time to maintain relationships as we move through our career. However, those connections that you have made through the years are the key to your success. I began my career working for a defense contractor during my senior year of college – a job shared with another student. I interviewed for an HR job not even understanding what HR really did, but the hourly rate looked really good! I was a Communications major specializing in Public Relations. I realized that in many ways HR was internal PR. The field was a good fit for me. I was fortunate to be part of an HR and management team that embraced my youth and willingness to learn. That experience taught me so much more than just the role of an HR Generalist. More than what they taught me was how they treated me with respect as a co-worker and colleague and never minimized my lack of experience. This was the foundation of how I would network and build relationships throughout my career. While there, I developed good relationships with external recruiters that led me to my next role. Over the next several years, I had a couple more HR Generalist roles, each increasing in responsibility, when I realized my preference for the more analytical pieces of HR (compensation, benefits, HCM systems). After working my way up through the HR ranks for a credit insurance company, my boss left and took a promotion with a regional bank. He offered me a position managing the Compensation, Benefits, and HRIS team for his new employer. I quickly accepted that role and worked hard to prove he made the right decision in giving me that opportunity. That relationship formed in 1997 has led me to every opportunity since in both corporate roles and consulting. Over 20 years of work! Not only have I found my network to be important in my own career, but I have also found it to be important in accomplishing my day-to-day work. I communicate to my clients that IT and Finance are instrumental in getting things done in corporate HR. Finance (particularly if Payroll is in that department) has a great deal of overlap with HR and can provide critical data to create the full picture when analyzing compensation-related issues. IT is a great partner with HCM implementations and it is always nice to have a resource in your back pocket when your laptop is on the fritz! Those relationships take time to build via the development of trust, respect, and mutual benefit. It doesn’t happen overnight and every relationship can be unique. You have to work at them and let them grow, but the benefits far outweigh the exerted effort. I would like to thank my network for believing in me and being great partners (and friends) throughout my career: Bob Laggini; John Reing; Anne O’Connor; Don Berman and the HRTMS team; Melissa Gray, Rachel Herrera, and Will Evans at ADP; and Lyn Harper at Mercer. All of you have believed in me/ICS and have supported me through references, referrals, and overall support. I appreciate all of you! |
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