Author: Site Staff

Here is a link to a chart showing the highest-paid human resources executives.

Two ways to drive business
FedEx, which dominates air package delivery, is trying to grab a bigger share of the ground business, which is controlled by UPS. The key difference: FedEx drivers are independent contractors, while UPS drivers are company employees. Here’s how the two companies stack up:
	FedEx Ground (A division of FedEx Corp.) Headquarters: Pittsburgh		United Parcel Service Headquarters: Atlanta
Drivers: 17,000		U.S. drivers: 74,000 (60,000 drive package delivery trucks)
Driver annual pay: $40,000 to $70,000		Driver annual pay: $50,000 (up to $70,000 with overtime)
Workday: 10 to 12 hours		Workday: Eight hours plus up to two hours overtime
Advancement: Contractors can own up to four routes, which can boost their annual income to $130,000 or more. Are not FedEx employees. Not eligible for promotions.		Advancement: UPS policy stresses promoting from within. It draws management candidates from the driver ranks.
Benefits: None. Contract drivers have the option of buying into a FedEx-run retirement plan.		Benefits: Health insurance (company pays 100 percent of premiums for drivers), pension, company-match 401(k), stock-purchase discount, holiday and vacation pay, overtime pay
Other employee costs to company: None		Other employee costs to company: Workers’ compensation insurance, unemployment insurance
Cost of truck leasing/purchase, fuel, maintenance, uniforms, equipment: Paid by contract drivers		Cost of trucks, fuel, maintenance, uniforms, equipment: Paid by UPS
Contracting process: Apply to company for a contract on a new or open route or buy an existing contract from another contractor. Existing routes can cost a few thousand dollars to more than $30,000. Company must approve contract transfers.		Hiring process: Employees typically start in part-time or package sorting jobs and apply for full-time driving jobs. The waiting list for a driving job is four to 12 years.
Initial training: Two-week course run by FedEx Ground includes safe driving, logistics, package handling, customer service and maintenance. Drivers paid to attend the course. Most contractors also ride along on a route with a veteran contractor before starting.		Initial training: Drivers undergo a month of instruction that includes 20 hours of computer-based and on-road training, simulated deliveries in a mock city, tests and evaluations by instructors. Drivers also face three safety-ride evaluations during the first 22 days on the job.
Ongoing training: Monthly Saturday-morning forums at FedEx Ground hubs to update contractors on safety, company operations and other developments. Attendance is optional. Billboard postings on safety at FedEx Ground hubs and newsletters also update contractors.		Ongoing training: Drivers are part of an extensive UPS safety training program that spends $38 million annually giving employees 1.3 million hours of safety training each year. There are 350 employees assigned to safety and training activities as well as 2,400 safety committees.
Sources: FedEx and UPS

There are nearly 25 million part-time workers in the United States, and they lag behind full-time employees in benefit coverage. But at Starbucks, where 64 percent of the staff is part-time, all employees working at least 20 hours per week have equal access to benefits.

Type of benefit	Percentage of U.S. part-timers with access	Percentage of U.S. full-timers with access
Retirement	27	68
Health care
Medical	20	84
Dental	13	56
Vision	8	35
Paid holidays	37	89
Paid sick leave	24	70
Life insurance	10	63
Disability insurance (short-term)	14	47
Bonus and stock options	28	52
Employer-assisted child care	8	16
Source: BLS National Compensation Survey, March 2004

Workforce Management, February 2005, p. 34 — Subscribe Now!

Selecting a pharmacy benefit manager is a serious undertaking for any organization, but when the organization is a third party administrator (TPA), the decision becomes exponentially important. Not only must the TPA ensure its own needs are met, it has a fiduciary responsibility to its clients, as well.

Employee Benefit Management Corp. (EBMC), headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, is one of the Midwest’s largest companies specializing in managing and servicing self-funded benefit programs. It also is one of the most experienced. That’s why, when EBMC seeks business relationships, it closely examines the value—and values—its collaborative “partners” can bring to the table.

Bottom-Line Requirements
“We had decided that we would leverage our entire book of business to one PBM,” says Ken Patrick, vice president, EBMC, “so seeking out a true partnership arrangement—and not a vendor relationship—was going to be at the top of our list. We were looking for a company that believed in the same business values we do—honesty, integrity, and flexibility.”

EBMC also wanted a PBM that would educate and enlighten them about the PBM industry. And that’s exactly where Walgreens Health Initiatives excels.

What differentiated Walgreens Health Initiatives from the other 12 companies that submitted a proposal—and won EBMC’s contract and confidence—was its willingness to thoroughly inform the TPA about how this PBM makes its money. Its sales professionals, in essence, served as consultants to EBMC, to help guide them through the world of PBM revenue streams.

It was, in fact, Walgreens Health Initiatives’ openness that most impressed EBMC, comments Dan Yount, Walgreens Health Initiatives sales manager. Beyond that, Walgreens Health Initiatives met EBMC’s requirements by offering trustworthiness, flexibility, and a patient-first philosophy.

An Ongoing Relationship
Walgreens Health Initiatives now covers more than 75,000 lives that are part of EBMC’s book of business. These lives represent 45-plus different groups headquartered in 11 states, including retailers, manufacturers, universities, hospitals, and other organizations with members in all 50 states. According to Patrick, “Most of our clients have now moved to Walgreens Health Initiatives. Several have or are going to implement more features being offered through their program, and we have been able to demonstrate value through being very competitive with our pricing. These are all the traits we expected from the beginning. Walgreens Health Initiatives is truly a partner in assisting us with managing our clients’ health costs.

“The Walgreens Health Initiatives team—from marketing to the technical side—has exceeded our expectations. It is very refreshing in this day to have a very good feeling of trust in one of your key partners,” Patrick says.

Food services giant ARAMARK Corporation improved the recipe for its labor management processes when it implemented Time America’s HourTrack system. “In the foodservice business, managing labor properly a key part of being able to grow profitably,” says Dominic L. Boffa, CIO and Vice President, Information Technology, ARAMARK Campus Services. Based in Philadelphia, ARAMARK Corporation is a world leader in providing awardwinning food and facilities management services. The company’s 200,000 employees serve clients in 18 countries.

Seeking Improved Labor Management
Executive management helped spearhead the search for a nextgeneration time and labor management system for the company’s Campus Services division, composed of 400+ college and university clients nationwide. “We identified the processes and tools needed to effectively manage labor costs and improve customer service,” says Mr. Boffa. “The effort included labor ‘champions’ from all our regions who brought their best practices to the table. These best practices formed the basis of our revised workflow and processes.”

ARAMARK chose to work with Time America, Inc. (OTCBB: TMAM), a leading provider of time and labor management solutions. ARAMARK Campus Services selected Time America’s HourTrack system “based on the company’s flexibility and dedication to customer service,” says Michael Tuno, Project Lead, Information Technology, ARAMARK Campus Services.

“Time America helped us develop a bidirectional data transfer between HourTrack and our existing payroll applications. The company’s implementation team also helped develop the custom reports we needed. Since then, we’ve implemented HourTrack at many other accounts, and are using the time and attendance, workforce scheduling and strategic reporting functions.”

Key Benefits
By selecting HourTrack, ARAMARK has reduced payroll expenses by better managing employee schedules and reducing overtime, according to Mr. Tuno. The company also eliminated many manual calculations, resulting in more time for its office staff to focus on other areas.

“This new system and processes have given us the tools to predict and plan our labor more effectively based on customer needs and have given us the data to measure performance on a monthly basis,” says Mr. Boffa. “Labor management reporting has become a key financial metric.” Another key benefit, according to both Mr. Boffa and Mr. Tuno, are their happy “clients” at ARAMARK locations nationwide.

One such location is West Chester University which has 275 employees and serves approximately 900,000 meals per year. “The biggest change we’ve seen is that now the managers can help with different aspects of labor and payroll that I used to handle on my own, allowing me to spend more time using other tools in the system,” says Lauren Saar, Administrative Assistant, ARAMARK at West Chester University.

Lessons Learned
In the two years since ARAMARK Campus Services began utilizing HourTrack, it has installed the system at accounts ranging from 50 to 450+ employees. “The processes and systems we implemented allow us to plan for the right mix of labor to support our operations cost-effectively says Mr. Boffa” “This translates to better customer service and an efficient application of labor. Improved payroll/timekeeping is a positive byproduct of those processes and systems.”

HourTrack is a trademark of Time America, Inc. All other trade names are the property of their respective owners.

At Costco, Treating Workers Well Costco Wholesale Corp.’s reputation for top pay is borne out by the numbers. Average hourly pay at Costco is 45 percent higher than the U.S. retail industry average of $10.99, and the company also offers other generous benefits.
Company	U.S. and total employees	Average workers per U.S. location; percent FT	Hourly wages for U.S. workers	Average hourly wage	Health care insurance	Retirement
Costco	83,700 U.S. 110,000 total	200-250; at least 50 percent FT	$10-$18.03	$16.72	Insures 58.8 percent of U.S. workers	401(k) with up to 9 percent match of eligible annual pay after one year and 1,000 hours; company also matches 50 cents per dollar for first $,000 employee invests annually
Wal-Mart	1.2 million U.S. 1.6 million total	350-450; about 74 percent FT (Sam’s Club figures not included)	Not disclosed	$9.68; higher in some urban areas	Insures 41.6 percent of U.S. hourly workers (Sam’s Club figures not given)	401(k) with 4 percent match of eligible annual pay after one year, 1,000 hours
Source: Costco, Wal-Mart, and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Who’s Who in Relocation The relocation sector consists of firms specializing in employee relocation assistance as well as spinoffs of holding companies that are primarily household goods movers and real estate brokerage firms. Most offer a full cafeteria of services from transportation to intercultural training and spouse/partner assistance. These services may be arranged for in-house or subcontracted.
Company	Core Business	Revenue for most recent four quarters	No of moves (2004 unless noted)	Percentage of moves that are domestic
	Global mobility solutions for companies and military (subsidiaryof Cendant Corporation, travel and real estate service providers)	$468 million	115,000	78%
	Transportation, relocation, record management and logistics specialists	$300 million	46,859	49%
	Global relocation and assignment management	$45.4 million	29,163	80%
	Global mobility management for companies and military (subsidiary disclose disclose of Prudential Financial Services)	Would not disclose	45,000	Would not disclose
	Relocation, delivery network and transportation services (2003)	$1.6 billion	224,626 (2003)	89%
	Relocations, household moving, warehouse and logistics management and transportation services for companies and military	$174 million	48,000	63%
	Transportation and relocation	$1.9 billion	374,075	93%
	Relocation, assignment management, related finance services, business process outsourcing (part of the Weichert group of real estate and finance companies)	$70 million	26,000	80%
Source: Companies

—[EXECUTIVE EDUCATION]— SNAPSHOT
U.S. Providers Lead Ranks of Custom Executive Education Providers
American schools lead their European and Asian counterparts in both the Financial Times’ and BusinessWeek’s list of top custom executive education providers. On the Financial Times listing, 11 out of the top 20 providers are based in the U.S., while from Business-Week’s list, 15 out of the 20 top-ranked custom executive education programs are located here.
Financial Times May 2004	BusinessWeek October 2003
1. Duke Corporate Education 2. IMD (Switzerland) 3. Columbia 4. London Business School (UK) 5. Harvard 6. IESE (Spain) 7. INSEAD (France/Singapore) 8. Stanford 9. Thunderbird (US/France) 10. Babson 11. UNC: Kenan-Flagler 12. Pennsylvania: Wharton 13. Ashridge (UK) 14. Instituto de Empresa (Spain) 15. Esade (Spain) 16. HEC Paris (France) 17. Virginia: Darden 18. Northwestern: Kellogg 19. Center for Creative Leadership 20. Ipade (Mexico)	1. Duke Corporate Education 2. Harvard 3. IMD (Switzerland) 4. Pennsylvania: Wharton 5. INSEAD (France/Singapore) 6. Virginia: Darden 7. Center for Creative Leadership 8. Northwestern: Kellogg 9. Michigan 10. Babson 11. Columbia 12. Thunderbird (US/France) 13. Stanford 14. London Business School (UK) 15. Dartmouth: Tuck 16. Indiana: Kelley 17. Ashridge (UK) 18. Toronto: Rotman (Canada) 19. Case Western Reserve 20. NYU: Stern

Thisoverview of Sun’s “iWork at Sun” program explains what drove the development of the program and how the company measures its impact.

Michigan-based ER-One, a physicianowned emergency medicine management group, provides physicians and other clinicians for hospital emergency.

ER-One is an umbrella company over two smaller divisions and employs approximately 180 total employees. The organization provides clinicians to local hospital emergency rooms so one division is made up of physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants; all licensed, highly educated, and highly compensated. The second division is made up of support personnel; billers, coders and administrative staff. ER-One works out of five clinical sites and two administrative locations throughout the state.

Brainard Joins ER-One as First-ever HR Professional
Pat Brainard, director of HR for ER-One, was the first human resources professional hired to work at ER-One. She entered a situation in which electronic records were non-existent, there were limited records of clinicians, and only a homemade Access database was available as a reference.

Brainard’s Search for a HRMS Begins
Brainard immediately began looking for a human resources management system. She needed one that could integrate multiple company locations and varying job positions and skills. A search on Google.com introduced Brainard to Ascentis Corporation, creator of HROffice.

Brainard needed to solve multiple broad-stroke problems, including accuracy of information, compliance issues, ease of access to data and being able to report on it, and organization and consistency of data. ER-One needed to track:

• Benefits enrollment, correspondence and associated fees.
• Billable dollars as related to hours worked as a measure of productivity.
• Continuing medical education expenses.
• Contract specifications and expirations.
• Educational details—medical school, residency, and fellowship.
• Eligibility to work at specific sites—credentialing.
• Licensure and special training—board certification(s).
• Performance appraisals.
• Salary information with bonuses and administrative stipends.
• Status of recruits within the application and credentialing processes.

ER-One and Ascentis partnershiptimeline, HRMS search ends
Brainard was hired in November, researched multiple HRMS’s, decided upon HROffice, had her secretary manually collect data from paper files and the legacy ER-One database, and was completely utilizing HROffice as her HRMS by the following February.

Specific ROI
Specific ROI dollar amounts are difficultto calculate since Brainard was newand didn’t experience the previous manualprocedures for long. However, somebasic estimates, considering some of thereporting functions, indicate an initial savingsof more than $6,000. More importantly,ER-One has significantly decreasedits risk exposure and improved its strategicposition. This will result in realizedgains with recruitment and retention.

Brainard’s final thoughts onHROffice
“Just because HROffice is not as convoluted as some other databases, itdoesn’t mean it isn’t as powerful andeffective. In fact, it has proven to bemore powerful than I anticipated andyet always remains simple to use.

The staff at Ascentis is a pleasure towork with. Technical support consistentlyresolves issues in a timely fashionand helped expand my use ofHROffice reporting features. I wouldhighly recommend both the companyand the products to any small or midsizedorganization.”