In yesterday’s Advisor, we covered the basics of dealing with tough compensation questions. Today, more tough questions, and an introduction to a unique 10-minute training system.
Today’s tips are again from a recent BLR webinar featuring Teresa Murphy and David Wudyka.
Murphy is the principal consultant for HR Partner Advantage, an HR advisory firm based in Raleigh, N.C. Wudyka, SPHR, MBA, BSIE, is the founder and managing principal of Westminster Associates, a Massachusetts-based human resource and compensation firm.
Complaint: “I can’t live on what you’re paying me!”
You can’t fall into the trap where you are responsible for individual employees’ finances, says Murphy. Don’t assume any responsibility for an employee’s personal budget. You can commiserate with him or her, emphasize that you did all that you could do to provide a raise, etc., but, at the end of the day, if you’ve done all that you can do as the employer, it’s the employee’s job to make his pay stretch or not, Murphy says.
If this employee is truly someone you’d rather not lose, swing into retention mode right away, particularly in search of non-monetary rewards or benefits you might offer to keep him or her.
Complaint: “I’m making less than my direct reports!”
Often managers get trapped by this comment and respond without having the facts. Confirm the accuracy of this claim before you do anything, says Murphy. If you have a supervisor who’s honestly making less than his or her direct reports—and there’s no business reason for the discrepancy—you could have a serious problem on your hands, especially if the supervisor is in a protected employment class.
If pay mistakes were indeed made, fix them as soon as possible. Point out any extenuating circumstances that led to the disparity. For example, if the supervisor’s direct reports earned more recently due to larger-than-usual commission payments, that’s a valid reason for the pay differences.
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Complaint: “I’ll have to start looking for other jobs!”
When you hear this one, decide upfront if you’d like to retain this employee, Murphy says. If so, you can focus on meeting his or her pay demands, finding benefits changes or other non-salary compensation to bridge the gap, or offering non-monetary improvements such as flextime.
Try to pin down exactly what this valued worker is seeking to stay on the job—you may be surprised many times to find that it’s not always about a huge pay bump, says Murphy.
On the other hand, if the employee in question is an average performer —or a "problem child" you wouldn’t miss—then the threatened departure may indeed be a blessing in disguise.
"You need to do what’s best for you," is a good response for such employees.
Two Final Thoughts for Training
Remind your supervisors and managers that if they feel put on the spot, or are made uncomfortable by questions such as those mentioned above, they don’t need to give an answer right away. Just say, "I hear you, let me investigate and find out." And then you must follow up and get back to them in a reasonable time, Murphy says.
Make sure that your supervisors and managers understand that when troubling questions and issues come up in conversations with employees, they should always alert HR.
Compensation training is important, but it’s one of, what, a couple dozen things your people need training on? Training is critical, but it’s also demanding. To train effectively, you need a program that’s easy for you to deliver and that requires little time from busy schedules. Also, if you’re like most companies in these tight budget days, you need a program that’s reasonable in cost.
We asked our editors what they recommend for training supervisors in a minimum amount of time with maximum effect. They came back with BLR’s unique 10-Minute HR Trainer.
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As its name implies, this product trains managers and supervisors in critical HR skills in as little as 10 minutes for each topic. 10-Minute HR Trainer. offers these features:
Trains in 50 key HR topics under all major employment laws, including manager and supervisor responsibilities, and how to legally carry out managerial actions from hiring to termination. (See a complete list of topics below.)
Uses the same teaching sequence master teachers use. Every training unit includes an overview, bullet points on key lessons, a quiz, and a handout to reinforce the lesson later.
Completely prewritten and self-contained. Each unit comes as a set of reproducible documents. Just make copies or turn them into overheads, and you’re done. (Take a look at a sample lesson below.)
Updated continually. As laws change, your training needs do as well. 10-Minute HR Trainer provides new lessons and updated information every 90 days, along with a monthly Training Forum newsletter, for as long as you are in the program.
Works fast. Each session is so focused that there’s not a second’s waste of time. Your managers are in and out almost before they can look at the clock, yet they remember small details even months later.
Evaluate It at No Cost for 30 Days
We’ve arranged to make 10-Minute HR Trainer available to our readers for a 30-day, in-office, no-cost trial. Review it at your own pace and try some lessons with your colleagues. If it’s not for you, return it at our expense. Click here and we’ll set you up with 10-Minute HR Trainer.
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