Author: Site Staff

The Workforce Optimas Awards are a celebration of the power of human resourcesmanagement. Annually, Workforce recognizes HR programs that have made theirbusinesses better. The winners are selected in 10 categories: General Excellence,Competitive Advantage, Financial Impact, Global Outlook, Innovation, ManagingChange, Partnership, Quality of Life, Service, and Vision. The winning programsare profiled in the March issue of Workforce magazine with additional informationprovided at Workforce online.

It is with great pleasure that Workforce celebrates the winners of Optimas Awards 1999:

GeneralExcellence: Sears, Roebuck, & Co. HR has developed a landmark tool that’s helped prove the correlation between employee satisfaction and profits.

CompetitiveAdvantage: Buckman Laboratories Int’l, Inc. Buckman’s employees can enhance their performance at any time, from anywhere.

FinancialImpact: Humana Inc. HR built an in-house staffing agency, saving $12 million in recruiting costs in a single year.

GlobalOutlook: Molex. Inc. A global mindset helps shift emphasis from one area of the world to another during economic downturns, while still investing in the future.

Innovation: W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc. No decision-making hierarchies, no pre-determined channels of communication, and no defined jobs.

ManagingChange: Malden Mills Industries, Inc. A devastating fire destroyed three Malden buildings – HR created a special center to inform and retrain 1,400 displaced employees.

Partnership: LearnShare LLC Seventeen corporate partners have teamed up to exchange training material, share knowledge, and jointly fund new programs.

Qualityof Life: Fannie Mae Fannie Mae offers a wide range of benefits to help employees balance the demands of work and family.

Service: Valsper Corporation HR has created 12 job families that embrace the company’s 3,830 different jobs.

Vision: Cessna Aircraft Corporation Cessna’s 21st Training Program has become a model welfare-to-work initiative.

The statements below are designed as an initial assessment of how your organization,division, and/or department is doing at responding to the employee search forpersonal growth and development. The assessment is meant to guide your thinking,not to provide a definative quantitative appraisal of your progress. For eachquestion below, use the scale provided to answer how true the statement is ofyour work environment: 1 = not true, 2 = somewhat true, 3 = true

__ Managersin our company sit down with employees and discuss their developmentand the organization’s plans for their growth at least every six months. __ Employeesare often given the opportunity to be part of task groups and assignmentsoutside their core job responsibilities. __ Ourcompany has a career-development program that helps people becomemore aware of and responsible for their own career development. __ Employeesin our company have learning plans that identify what skills theywant to learn, and they have input into those plans. __ Thetraining programs in our company and the trainers who lead them focuson the application of the learning to personal as well as to professionallife. __ Transferringto a new project, assignment, or division in our company is an openprocess with few barriers. __ Duringtheir first year, new recruits are often pleased by the opportunitiesfor growth and/or interesting work. __ Theannual performance review is not the only opportunity to discuss developmentneeds. __ Ourorganization supports sabbaticals, when employees take a period oftime to achieve a personal goal. __ TOTAL

Score:

< 12

Take a full week’s management retreat for brainstorming policiesthat address these concerns.

13-17

You’re beginning to look responsive.

18-22

You are above average in meeting today’s workers’ needs, butthere is still room for improvement.

> 22

You are an inspiring example, and probably have the best workersand a strong bottom line to show for it.

Personnel Management Systems, Inc. (PMSI) focuses on the nuts and bolts of HR administration, providing outsourced human resources for small and medium-sized companies.

Today’s competitive business environment impels more companies to turn over portions of their overhead operations to specialists. PMSI is not a consultancy or advisory firm. The company has an 18-year track record of managing key administrative functions for clients, enabling them to focus exclusively on their core businesses while recognizing significant savings and increased expertise.

PMSI starts by helping clients determine the highest priorities among their human resources needs. Once those priorities are set, PMSI turns its attention to managing those functions for clients.

PMSI’s staff of nearly 50 HR professionals works with more than 100 different companies throughout the Pacific Northwest and Colorado. Headquartered in Kirkland, Wash., PMSI also has Washington state offices in Tacoma and Everett and one in Denver, Colo. Its clients span a range of industries.

To contact PMSI, visit http://www.hrpmsi.com,call 877/590-7674, or e-mail paulw@hrpmsi.com.

Founded in 1925 in downtown San Jose, CA, One Workplace (OWP) is a leading businessresource for the work environment. OWPprovides a full range of consulting, products, and services that assistcompanies in thinking about their workspace and how it relates to their people,culture, processes, and technology.

One Workplace’s Challenge

As an Executive Director of Human Resources, JeffreyCrocker had a primary mission: find an HRIS that consisted of a comprehensiveHuman Resources and Benefits module, payroll interface, and a full-servicetraining module. The objective was tofind an architecture that enabled HR to maintain the employee information in acentralized, shared, Web-native database. Othercriteria included finding a system that would support future needs as thebusiness grew.

During his search,Jeffrey read about NuView Systems, in an article published inHuman ResourcesExecutive Magazine. NuViewSystems, Inc., is an award-winning Web-native HRIS solutions provider.After meeting with NuView, Jeffrey found that they focused on solutionsand not just software. He was alsoimpressed with the emphasis on staying ahead of their competitors with bothdesign and technology. One Workplaceexecutive committee found that NuView’s MyHRIS was not only a superiorproduct, but could quickly give OWP a positive return on their investment.

Onceall of the potential solutions were identified, One Workplace created astrategic matrix. This allowed OWP toevaluate 20 different criteria, which were critical to their HRIS needs andrequirements. Jeffrey strongly emphasized his company’s mission for growinginto an HR solution rather than growing out off their existing HR package.

After an exhaustive evaluation and search process, One Workplace narrowedtheir search down to five finalists.  Fromthe beginning Jeffrey emphasized his desire for a product that would interfacewith ADP, their payroll provider. Initially, Jeffrey was not impressed with theoverall “look and feel” of MyHRIS. This was common feedback amongst clients and prospects, which led the enhancement of our newest version — MyHRIS 3.0. After two months, NuView Systemsultimately won the business of One Workplace by providing them with all thesolutions they had been in search of.

Ryan Thomas ofNuView was assigned as the Project Manager and conducted the implementation andcustomizations for One Workplace. Thedesired results were delivered on time and within budget. 

 

The Results

Ina recent meeting with Jeffrey, he discussed some of the most impressive aspectsof NuView Systems. He stated howimpressed he is by “NuView’s genuine commitment to partner with OneWorkplace in finding a strategic solution for their current and upcomingchallenges.” He appreciates NuView’s conservative style of under-committing and over-delivering,which is not typical. He also said“NuView helped him to understand the full potential of an HRIS solution.”

AnitaWagner, a Human Resources manager for OWP recently used MyHRIS to gatherinformation on current and previous employees. Shewas able to access all the information in a fraction of the time it would havetaken prior to utilizing NuView’s MyHRIS reporting tools.Another Human Resources manager supports the San Francisco and Oaklandoffices from her virtual office in Los Angeles. Without MyHRIS’ Web-native functionality, this would not bepossible. 

 

FastReturn on Investment (ROI)

Afterperforming all of the needed research on all the HR packages, the executivecommittee found the MyHRIS proposal to be significantly more cost-effective.In addition, they found it to be a superior product that would result ina return on investment.

OneWorkplace employees now have the ability to be proactive providers.They have the solutions that will “help with tomorrow’s challengesand put out today’s fires.”

Arecent testimonial by Jeffrey Crocker, which expresses his satisfaction w/NuView Systems –

“I did not want to hesitate in writing toyou to tell you how impressed we are with your company and MyHRIS. I have workedwith several members of your team, and I can’t say enough about theirprofessionalism, knowledge and customer service. I have attended numeroustraining sessions, as well as presented many ourselves, and I can honestly saythat I have never attended a training that was more meaningful, enjoyable andmemorable. The three of us who participated in the training have different skillsets technically and in the Human Resources field. Your trainer was able totailor the training to accommodate all of us and apply MyHRIS to our “reallife” Human Resources needs.”

Jeffrey Crocker, Executive Director of Human Resources,
One Workplace

Jeffrey’s goalwas to provide a cost-effective Human Resources Solution that would solve the HRchallenges for his company. One Workplaceemployees now have the ability to be proactive providers using the NuView MyHRISsystem. They now have solutions that will help with tomorrow’s challengeswhile putting out today’s fires.

CongratulationsJeffrey, you did it!

Credits 

One Workplace
JeffreyCrocker
ExecutiveDirector of Human Resources
1057Montague Expressway
Milpitas,CA 95035
Phone:408.263.1001
Fax:408.263.3322
www.oneworkplace.com

NuViewSystems, Inc.
DineenBartolo
MarketingManager
155West Street, Suite #7
Wilmington,MA 01887
Phone:800.244.7654
Fax:978.988.1263
www.nuviewinc.com

Vicious gossip, procrastination, seasonal staffing, and more — all in this month’s issue of Workforce! Subscribe now!

Features Gossip Poisons Business. HR Can Stop It Whisper campaigns can ruin a workplace. Here are the steps that HR can take to squelch malicious gossip and clear the air. By Samuel Greengard   The HRMS Tune-Up: Keep Your System Running Smoothly Even if HRMS maintenance isn’t one of your formal duties, knowing about backups, upkeep, and long-term troubleshooting can save you time, trouble, and money. By Sarah Fister Gale   Retention Strategies That Respond to Worker Values What do employees value? If you know that, you have the key to building a retention strategy that doesn’t rely solely on raises. By Pam Withers   A New Model for Controlling Health-Care Costs In an expert’s view, some cost sharing is critical to success. Employees who pay for some care with their own money are more likely to ask, “Is this necessary?” By Mary S. Case Departments Between the Lines Giving up gossip.   Mailbox “At will” isn’t the solution • Recruiter-proofing The Buzz Intranets that help keep the goodwill of downsized employees • The toll on caregivers • Raw Data: Overworked America • Well Done: Culture shifts   On the Contrary Creativity leads Shari Caudron on a merry chase, staying just out of reach while her deadline looms.   What Works What does it take to motivate people? It depends on the people. Tom Terez illustrates with a tale of two inspired businessmen.   Dear Workforce: HR gently addresses a boss’s bad behavior. • Assessing whether you need a mentor, or a coach. • Forms for a smooth work flow.   Legal Insight Pension investment counseling that won’t bring a lawsuit. • Resolving a bereavement-leave issue. • A high price for a discriminatory insurance policy.   Small, Medium, Large Seasonal shifts and unexpected staffing needs can catch a company short-handed. Here is how three organizations meet their needs for specialized peak-period help.   Think Twice It’s not easy being a green company. But Todd Raphael shows how an attitude of environmental responsibility can make your company a place that people want to work.

Summary

This legislation (H.R.2070) seeks to amend the FairLabor Standards Act to make certain inside sales employees who use the telephone,fax, and computer to make sales from an employer’s establishment exemptfrom the minimum wage, recordkeeping and overtime compensation requirements.Technical provisions of the bill are substantially similar to legislation introducedlast year (H.R. 1302). The following factors are requirements under the proposedlegislation for an inside sales representative to be considered exempt fromthe FLSA overtime, minimum wage and recordkeeping provisions:

1. the employee has specialized or technical knowledge related to productsor services being sold,

2. the employee’s sales are predominantly to persons or entities to whomthe employee’s position has made previous sales, or the position does notinvolve initiating sales contacts,

3. the employee has a detailed understanding of the needs of those to whomthe employee is selling;

4. the employee exercises discretion in offering a variety of products andservices,

5. the employee receives base compensation, determined without regard tothe number of hours worked, of not less than 1.5 times the minimum wagemultiplied by 2,080, and in addition to the employee’s base compensation,compensation based upon each sale attributable to the employee,

6. the employee’s aggregate compensation based upon sales attributable tothe employee is not less than 40% of 1.5 times the minimum wage multipliedby 2,080, and

7. the employee receives a rate of compensation based upon each sale attributableto the employee which is beyond sales required to reach the compensationrequired above, which rate is not less than the rate on which the compensationrequired above is determined.

Status
This legislation was introduced in the House by Rep.Patrick Tiberi (R-OH) on June 6, 2001 as H.R. 2070 and referred to the Educationand the Workforce Committee. The House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Workforce Protectionsapproved the bill by an 8-6 vote on June 27. The bill has bipartisan support, led by Rep. RobertAndrews (D-NJ), ranking member of the Education and Workforce Subcommittee onEmployer-Employee Relations, and is expected to be included in the House versionof a minimum wage package.

Impact
The proposed legislation is a mixed blessing. Typically,employers welcome amendments to the FLSA, as the statute generally is perceivedas not in line with the modern workforce. Specifically, new technologies havetransformed the roles of many outside salespeople such that today they conductmore and more business on-site and risk losing the current “outside”sales exemption. The proposed exemption for inside sales personnel will encouragemore time spent trying to achieve sales, with a commission pay structure insteadof an overtime pay structure. This could increase sales, which in turn wouldgenerate more employee income via commissions.

From a design and implementation perspective, however,the legislation contains a number of potential problems:

• Tying the base salary requirement to the minimum wage;

• The exemption does not allow for any commission threshold;

• The proposed law excludes salespeople who typically make cold calls. Anyensuing employer policy would need to distinguish between these classesof sales personnel, which it may or may not already do.

• The proposed law implies that sales incentive compensation plans wouldhave to be uncapped with no decelerator.

• In the event the new employee isn’t at 100% efficiency, you’d have to givethem higher commission rates to account for the difference

• Saying that sales employees have to be paid for “each sale that isattributable to the employee” sounds as though it removes the potentialto use a bonus-based pay plan.

The bottom line is that it could be a painful pieceof legislation for organizations. There are many companies that have sales incentiveplans for inside sales representatives. Very few of these plans meet the parametersset out in the proposed legislation. In order to take advantage of the exemptoption if the legislation were to be implemented, companies would need to evaluatetheir compensation plans and determine whether they could meet the test foran inside sales exemption while still supporting their business goals.

To learn more

• View a pressrelease from the bill sponsor

• Read the subcommittee’s press release

• View this bill.Enter the bill number, “HR 2070,” under “Search by bill number.”

Source: HewittAssociates

The Workforce Optimas Awards are given annually in 10 categories.

Competitive Advantage
HR has developed a program to help forge or maintain a winning edge over theorganization’s competitors.

Financial Impact
HR has designed a program to effect a change that results in cost savings orincreased revenue.

Global Outlook
HR has created a program or strategy to help the organization succeed in theworld marketplace.

Innovation
HR has seized the opportunity to expand or improve its role in the organization.The innovation marks a departure for the winning company and often for the HRfield.

Managing Change
HR has successfully developed a program in response to the changing businessenvironment.

Partnership
HR has developed or implemented a program in partnership with another constituency,either within the organization or outside of it.

Quality of Life
HR has taken a proactive approach to improving employees’ quality of life whilebalancing the business needs of the organization.

Service
HR has developed a program to help another constituency within the organizationmeet its business goals.

Vision
HR has anticipated internal and/or external trends that will affect the organizationand it has responded proactively.

General Excellence
The General Excellence award is given to the organization whose HR departmenthas met the standards established for at least six of the other nine categories.

What makes a Workforce Optimas Award winner?

Winners Achieve Tangible Business Results
All of the winning organizations share some characteristics.In each company,

• The HR department is an active participant in helping the organizationachieve its business goals.

  
  

• The HR department understands the business issues surrounding the organizationand respond accordingly.

  
  

The mission of Workforce is to provide the HRtrends and tools that produce business results. The Optimas winners representthose organizations where HR professionals have looked at the trends and issues,developed the HR programs, implemented the HR tools and produced the desiredbusiness results.

How Workforce Optimas Awards Candidates Are Identified
First, HR professionals nominate their own HR departmentprograms and initiatives. The nomination form must be submitted by September19, 2003 to be considered for a 2004 Workforce Optimas Award.

In addition, Workforce editors spend monthscollecting information to identify other organizations that have the potentialto be winners. The data come from numerous sources: newspapers, business magazines,books, conferences and events, broadcast media, academics, previous winners,consultants and other HR professionals.

How Workforce Optimas Award Winners Are Chosen
 In the fall, the Workforce editorial staffmeets to determine the finalists. The editors use the following criteria todetermine the winners:

• Is there a clearly identified business issue?

  
  

• Are there quantifiable data that help clarify this business issue?

  
  

• Is there a strong HR component to the solution of the business issue?

  
  

• What is the HR program and how does it address the business issue?

  
  

• What are the quantifiable business results of the HR program?

  
  

• What are the non-measurable results that have a pay-off to the organization?

  
  

• Are there “tools” developed to support the HR initiative thatcould be adapted by other HR professionals?

  
  

• Does this HR initiative serve as a model for other HR departments?

  
  

• Does this HR program demonstrate the power of HR to have an impact on thebusiness results of the organization?

  
  

• Has the program been in operation a minimum of two years?

  
  

Once the candidates have been reviewed, the editorsnarrow the field to finalists in each category. Then the review startsanew. Through telephone interviews with key participants in the organization,a review of additional materials and other processes, the editors learn as muchas they can about the finalists. In the end, they reconvene to select the 10winners.

These winners are notified in December and announcedin Workforce the following March. They are also invited to participatein the Workforce Optimas Awards ceremony in March.

If you have questions about the Workforce OptimasAwards, contact Carroll Lachnit, Editor, at carroll@workforce.com.

Consult the following tables for the pros and cons of the varioustraining modes:

Instructor-LedClassroom Training
Pros	High quality delivery Immediate Q & A Leverage student questions
Cons	Costly student/trainer expense Costly one-to-few training Training often too soon/too late Trainer must be knowledgeable of multiple applications
Best for:	Multiple students of similar skill level Training in single location Observable performance Interpersonal skills/feedback Highly interactive knowledgesharing
Worst for:	Students of widely-varyingskill levels Training for largesystem/process rollout Consistency across learnergroups

AsynchronousWeb-Based Internet/Intranet Training
Pros	Just-in-time training No travel costs Self-paced learning Remedial training at no cost Consistency Possible increased retention Easily distributed/updatedtraining materials
Cons	Self-directed motivation canbe problematic Lack of classroomcollaboration May be viewed as “done onyour own time”
Best for:	Basic training Students in multiple locations As part of instructor-ledtraining course
Worst for:	Observable interpersonalskills/feedback Real-time knowledge sharing

Synchronous(real-time) Web-Based Internet/Intranet Training
Pros	High quality delivery Immediate Q & A Leverage student questions Rapid, low-cost content
Cons	Cost-per-student higher thanasynchronous training Network connection needed
Best for:	Basic training Students in multiple locations Highly interactive knowledge sharing Hands-on application training
Worst for:	Students of widely-varyingskill levels Observable interpersonalskills/feedback

For more information, visit the Trainingforum.

Copyright © 2001 The Hurwitz Group forInstruction Set, which is solely responsible for its content. All rightsreserved. No part of this report may be reproduced or stored in a retrievalsystem or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior writtenpermission.

A successful security strategy is a compromise between several competingcosts, values and risks. Costs are relatively easy to balance because they aredirectly comparable numbers. High initial implementation costs may be offset bylower maintenance and administration costs.

    Risks and values are somewhat more difficult to precisely quantify inmonetary terms and may come down to the judgment of management and HRprofessionals. The following are some of the costs, values and risks you shouldconsider.

Implementation Costs

These are the initial costs of planning, projectmanagement, hardware, packaged software, development tools, consulting,maintenance support, contract labor, internal development resources, validationand initial data loading from the first day of the project through the first dayof production operation. These costs vary widely with the size of theorganization, performance objectives and the authentication and access controlchoices made.

 

Cost of Maintenance

These are the software licensing, software and hardwaremaintenance and system support costs required to keep the system in operation onan ongoing basis. These costs also vary widely with the size of theorganization, the performance objectives and the authentication and accesscontrol choices made.

 

Cost of Administration 

These costs are those personnel costs for HR and ISprofessionals who maintain the security system. If the integrity of personneland access control data is in question, reliable execution of access controlrules is not possible.

 

Risk of Improperly Granted Access 

This is the financial and business lossexposure to the corporation of confidential information falling into the wronghands. Some areas to consider are business losses by exposure of operationalinformation to competitors, employee morale, productivity, personnel costsrelated to improper release of compensation information and litigation costsfrom the improper release and use of confidential personnel information.

 

Risk of Improperly Denied Access 

Nothing is more frustrating than beingdenied access to information you need to properly do your job. Improperly deniedaccess can prevent: a product from shipping; a customer service representativefrom satisfying a customer; an HR representative from taking care of acomplaint; or, an employee from accessing his own benefits information. Thepossible costs here are from business losses and decreased workforce morale andproductivity.

 

Risk of Litigation Exposure 

Personnel information is, by its very nature,private and confidential. It is the responsibility of HR professionals tosafeguard employee privacy by controlling access to personnel information. Abreakdown in this area and the resulting misuse of this information can exposean organization to significant litigation expenses and monetary damages.

 

Value of Improved Access to Information 

Information can empower people. Thevalue of this may be difficult to quantify in dollars, but improvingin-formation access makes employees more productive and generally increases jobperformance and satisfaction. Employees are happier and more motivated when theyfeel they have been given the best tools to perform their jobs. These effectsmay be cumulative and, in some cases, can transform an organization.

 

Value of Court-Tested Non-Refutability 

Even with the best security, thereare cases where employees attempt to misuse their privileges. Personnel actions,because of their impact on employees’ careers and the possible financialincentives for misuse, sometimes lead to litigation. The investigation of whathappened and who is responsible requires a reliable audit trail for personneltransactions and strong authentication to tie the audit log to the correctusers.

None of this has much value if it is so easily countermanded that it can’tstand up to courtroom scrutiny. The stronger the authentication the better.Digital certificates are currently considered a best practice and have legalprecedent to support their proper use for authentication and digital signing.

By Robert H. Fortenberry, Information System Consultants. From IHRIM’s”e-Work Architect: How HR Leads the Way Using theInternet.”

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