Compensation Conundrums Multiply in 2015

Compensation Conundrums Multiply in 2015Compensation Conundrums Multiply in 2015Compensation Conundrums Multiply in 2015 RossheimIn the competitive environment of 2015, you may have to offer signing bonuses to lure top talent. Coming up with the cash may not be an issue, but what do you do about potential resentment among valuable employees you hired during the recent years of sluggish recovery, with no such bonus? Lets explore this and other pay conundrums as economic growth accelerates and compensationreturns to the front burner.Salary increases are stagnant. The more companies shift to variable or performance-based pay schemes, the less room there is in compensation budgets for old-fashioned annual raises that beat inflation.With annual base-pay increases projected to barely inch up to near 3 percent in 2015, were stuck in the world of cost-of-living salary increases plus variable pay, says Ken Abosch, a partner at human resources consulting firm Aon Hewitt.On the cusp of a power shift. Many expert observers arent convinced that labor market conditions have given employees enough leverage to bring about larger pay increases. We havent quite reached the point where power has shifted from buyer to seller, though were moving in that direction, says Abosch. Its taking longer to hire and some positions are hard to fill.Many employers are holding firm on pay strategy. With unemployment still hovering above pre-recession levels, the overhanging supply of labor in many skilled occupations continues to constrain pay increases, some say. The question for employers is, how long can they hold out?Were a number of years out from the recession and the job market is better, yet theres enough talent out there that organizations dont feel they need to change their compensation strategy, says Elissa Tucker, research program manager for human capital management at business research nonprofit APQC.Companies are saying, we will make substantial changes in comp only in those area s where we feel we have to.Recruiters Its a candidates market. Conversely, perhaps because theyre hired to turn up talent thats in high demand, recruiters tend to see candidates making lots of progress on pay.After many years of stagnation in the job market in terms of employee compensation, its finally an employees market, says Frank Green, president of staffing and recruiting firm ExecuSource.Retention worries could spur bigger pay increases. The prospect of having to give widespread, substantial pay increases just to keep workers has engendered twin worries employee retentionand profitability. The most important objective guiding 2014 compensation decisions was retaining top employees, chosen by 63 percent of respondents in PayScales 2015 Compensation Best Practices report.Workers big motivation to change employers. One pay-equity condundrum for employers Long-term employees who feel theyve fallen behind on pay. Companies havent kept up internally with comp, so 10 percent to 20 p ercent increases are common if you move to a new company now, says Green.Signing bonuses are back, like them or not. Sign-on bonuses are back in spades, says Sally Stetson, co-owner of search firm Salveson Stetson Group. Frank Green isnt happy to hear a candidate dig in her heels on getting a signing bonus.Were seeing signing bonuses, but theyre always difficult to negotiate, says Green. Clients want the signing bonus to come through us, so it doesnt roil internal staff who didnt get a signing bonus.The match game, redux. Employers are more determined than ever to hire the right employee, but theyd better be prepared to make an offer to the right candidate right now. More candidates are getting multiple offers at the same time, says Stetson. And companies are much more amenable to matching outside offers. Theres so much downtime if they lose someone. Other companies philosophically dont like to do it.Stock options have selective appeal. An equity stake in your employer still holds s trong appeal for some workers. Candidates want to be a part of something, and options can give them a tangible feeling for that, says Green. Options are more attractive to very young candidates who didnt live and work through the tough times of the 2008 financial crisis and aftermath.Millennials Show me some lovewith money. Brought up on positive reenforcement then wracked by recession, Millennials have a complex relationship with their compensation. Millennialshave a need for frequent recognition and feedback, so its likely that they expect pay to be feedback on their performance, says Tucker.Wanted Comp experts. With all the pay conundrums that employers face in 2015, professionals who understand both human and technical dimensions are in high demand.Weve seen chief HR officers compensation increasing, says Stetson. Which just shows that attracting and retaining talent is becoming a bigger issue for companies.

5 Critical Tips to Stand Out Using Your Resume

5 Critical Tips to Stand Out Using Your Resume5 Critical Tips to Stand Out Using Your ResumeYou know that most hiring managers only spend a few seconds scanning through resumes before deciding on whom to interview. The question is how can you stand out with yours, especially in a sea of other candidates? Its easier than you might think. Here are six top resume writing tips from the resume writing professionals at ResumeSpice to help you get there1 Make an impact with your branding statement.Want to create the best resume? Ditch the objective. Hiring managers know that your objective as a candidate is to get the job. Instead, use one line branding statement that summarizes your unique background in one (maximum, two) powerful sentences. Youre may need to customize the statement for each job. But, its the first thing hiring managers see, and a branding statement will go a long way in helping you stand out.2 Sprinkle in keywords.In todays world, resume scanning software, known as ATS sy stems, often filters out resumes before a hiring manager actually lays eyes on them. Thats why if you want your resume to even be seen its critically important that you use keywords from the job posting throughout it. Be careful not to keyword stuff your resume applicant tracking systems are smart enough to identify candidates that are gaming thei system. Just a few mentions will do.3 Be succinct.Being long-winded is easy. Being short and sweet and still persuasive will get you noticed by hiring managers. So even if you have to edit your resume a dozen times to make it as tight and articulate as possible, do it. It will pay off in the end with a top resume and more calls for interviews.4 Boast a little.Most people hate self-promotion. So youre certainly not alone there. And while no one wants to hear about how great you are at your next dinner party, you should boast (in moderation) about yourself on your resume. That simply means you should take an achievement-focused approach when discussing your current and past work experience. Rather than highlighting tasks, highlight accomplishments.5 Focus on facts and numbers.Nobody likes fluff and hyperbole, but especially hiring managers. Rather than filling your resume with a bunch of adjectives, focus instead on facts. Wherever you can, quantify your accomplishments with hard numbers, from dollar figures to statistics, percentages and time saved.Need more top resume tips and help crafting a resume that doesnt get lost in the crowd?Call in the experts at ResumeSpice at 832.930.7378. We can help take your resume from good to great so you stand out and get noticed by hiring managers.

4 reasons why failure can lead to spectacular success

4 reasons why failure can lead to spectacular success4 reasons why failure can lead to spectacular successI grew up with a strong dislike for the f-word. It wasnt a word I was comfortable using, and I dont think Im the only one. After all, failure is bedrngnis comfortable for any of usWhen I graduated from college, I worried that I might not land the perfect job or that I wouldnt get everything right the first time around. Like most people, I looked at failure as The End, proof that either I wasnt good enough, or that my plan wasnt a sound one.We all know that failure happens to everyone. The only thing that separates people who succeed from those who dont is a proper understanding of what failure means. If you associate failure with defeat and despair, you will give up or take steps to avoid it at all cost. If, however, you associate failure with growth and improvement, you will use it as a springboard for future success.On the other hand, a ton of failures will not automatically le ad to success. Its the relationship you have with those failures that makes the difference. If you fail and do not learn from the experience, the future only holds more dramatic failure. The opposite is also true if you fail and learn from it, the future will hold success.Here are 4 reasons why failure can lead to spectacular success1.Produces ScrappinessMany leaders are allergic to the idea of failure. They cannot tell the difference between an iteration that didnt work, and defeat. Ego may be part of the reason because success, unfortunately, can create big heads.However, many hard-working entrepreneurs believe failure creates success.Shark Tankinvestor Barbara Corcoran said she looks to invest in individuals who come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds for that very reason.My bias toward the poor person coming up is theyre usually hungrier. Theyre more injured. They have more to prove, Corcoran said on an episode ofBusiness Insiders podcast,Success How I Did It. So theyve had a few bumpy endings and theyre used to failure, and, my God, whats more important in building a business than failing?How To Make It Work For You Read up onCarol Dwecks researchon growth mindsets. Its the idea that we can grow our brains capacity to learn and to solve problems. There are two ways to think about a problem thats slightly too hard for you to solve 1) are you not smart enough to solve it or 2) have you just not solved it yet?2. Teases Out The ScientistScientific experiments are built on this simple concept make an assumption, experiment, prove it wrong, and continue until you cant prove it wrong. Scientists are not afraid on being wrong on their way to being right.This is the same idea behind neuerung. The innovation curve of a startup reflects how a company learns based on trial and error. Too often we only hear about the success of Google and Facebook, but the more common story is about the entrepreneurs who fail multiple times before they nail it.How To Make It Work For You Look at each failure as an iteration that you closely examine for why it didnt work. Once you understand how to change the potential outcome next time, try again. The key is to understand how you can modify your approach so you change the outcome.3. Demands ReflectionThis is something I learned in the FBI Academy If youre succeeding all the time, youre not pushing your limits. Every new agent was pushed to the point of failure. At first I thought Id joined a bunch of sadists. Eventually I came to understand that failure would be part of complex investigations. Often, agents need to circle a case several times before they discovered the soft underbelly. This meant several failures before the solution could be found and the case solved.Part of the discovery lays in identifying whether the mistakes or failures are a product of our own weakness. I had good success on a couple of my first counterintelligence cases so, I figured Id approach my next few cases the same way. Gue ss what? They were failures. Those failures demanded that I take a hard look at my weaknesses. In my situation, my failures were a result of a lack of confidence in myself. I was afraid that I wouldnt be successful unless I used the same approach, but the context was different in the later cases.To move forward, I had to reflect on what had happened, and work on how to resolve the situation. I needed to evolve and develop more confidence in my own abilities. It was painful, but because those moments of pain were so important, I didnt rush through them. I stayed with them and explored them because I needed to build a foundation for improvement.How To Make It Work For You Write down your mistakes or failures and connect the dots. Identify the weakness that stands in the way of you getting what you want. You may have several, but dont go beyond the biggest three. The important thing is to get those impediments out in the open.4. Generates A Can-Do AttitudeLife deals you a bad hand. Wha t are you going to do? Move toward the challenge, cry like a baby, run away, or do nothing?ur reaction to failure is a test of character and it says a lot about us. Always remember that it doesnt matter what youve been given, what matters is what you do with it. Since we have layers of fear, often our first response is to exaggerate the situation and interpret lifes challenges as a crisis. We become cautious, retreat, and hope for things to get better- all on their own.Parents who over-protect their kids from adversity reinforce that way of thinking. They swoop in and come to the rescue. As a result, their kids never have to analyze how to work it out for themselves. They do not have the opportunity to develop their strengths to compensate for their weaknesses.People turn shit into sugar all the time. There are certain types of people who experience childhood struggles, like poverty and strife, and go on to incredible achievement. They learn to be resilient because what is in front of them is all they care about, so they work with it.When you make yourself aware of certain difficulties that are inevitable, you can prepare yourself mentally for confronting them head-on. Soldiers and athletes appreciate the preparation it takes to mentally and physically meet the challenges ahead of them. They know it can be ugly, daunting, and grueling, but they are equipped.How To Make It Work For YouThe middle of a crisis is not the time to learn how to handle lifes challenges and overcome failure. Train ahead of time so that when they do show up, you will have cultivated courage, confidence, and discipline.