Practical Performance Evaluation Tips

Performance Evaluation Tips: How to Motivate Management to Complete the Process

How do you get supervisors to get those performance appraisals done? Here are some ideas that may help.

Beware Employer: References Online Tell All

Your Secrets Are Out: Employees Share Online

By Bridget Quigg, PayScale.com

More and more, these days, employees are spilling the beans about their employers online. While Facebook isn’t the most intelligent place to comment on an employer, career websites, blogs, job listing sites and more are seeking the inside scoop from current and former employees of organizations. PayScale has covered one angle of this trend for many years, salary data. But, now we’re branching out and making more of an effort to reveal employees’ answers to the question, “What’s it like to work there?”

Co-Worker Quirks and Perks

Learning to Appreciate Quirky Co-Workers

I was taking a class one summer when the professor gave us an assignment and said those dreaded words, “This assignment will be a group project.” I balked, and his response to my eye roll was simple: “Life is a group project. There are contributors and there are slackers and that is something you just have to get used to.” That is when I realized that I have been participating in “group projects” my entire life, especially at work.

How to Identify Low Performance - Management Tips

Underwhelming: Sure Signs of Low Performance

How do you know if an employee isn’t reaching their goals, pulling their weight or just plain getting the job done? Identifying low performance can be tricky. And, training managers to do it is often challenging since every manager has their own personality and way of relating to their team. How can you simplify the task of identifying low performance and training others to do it well?

Where Does NLRA Apply?

Prohibiting Pay Discussion May Trigger NLRA Issues Q&A

Discussing compensation is considered a “concerted activity” and is protected under the NLRA, so rules limiting employees from talking about their pay may violate that law. Find out what the NLRA protects and how you can address this sensitive issue.

Becoming a Certified Compensation Professional

Becoming a Certified Compensation Professional (CCP)

By Bridget Quigg, PayScale.com

If you work in HR and want to find a way to advance your career, why not earn a Certified Compensation Professional certificate? This certification, offered by World at Work, requires you to pass nine tests and, as their website states, is a “mark of expertise and excellence in all areas of compensation.” Right now, several staff members at PayScale are working to earn their CCPs. We took a moment to interview one of them about how her process is going.

Unexpected Answer: Qualities of a Good Leader

Every Employee Needs the Qualities of a Good Leader

By Bridget Quigg, PayScale.com

How important is a manager to the success of a team of workers? The qualities of a good leader may be needed in more places than you’d expect. A recent study out of Sweden took a close look at whether or not it is worthwhile to simply train managers to be leaders or if every employee on a team ought to get leadership training. The study’s conclusion: lose the hierarchy and train the whole team.

Hiring? Funny Quotes for Your Friday

Hiring New Talent? Funny Quotes for Your Friday

By Bridget Quigg, PayScale.com

What can you say to attract the talent you need? Well, you can always use the classic combination of a job description and your list of needed skills and experience. Or, you could step outside the box and find a way to get to the point quicker.

Hotspots for Healthcare Industry Employers

Top Healthcare Industry Towns: Who’s Paying and Hiring Most

By Bridget Quigg, PayScale.com

Healthcare industry has one of the hottest job markets. The Bureau of Labor Statistics expects a total of 3.2 million new jobs in this industry between 2008 and 2018. But, are healthcare employers seeking healthcare workers by the hundreds in every town? Likely not. Some locations have greater demand than others.

How to Pay Remote Workers

How to Pay Employees Who Work Remotely

In my current capacity as Director of Professional Services at PayScale, I get the privilege of working with many different companies in many different industries to build their compensation plans. One of the most interesting observations that I’ve made in the recent months is how many companies, both big and small and from all different industries - tech to manufacturing - have employees who work remotely in home offices. And, paying these employees in different locations brings up some tricky compensation questions.