To be effective as a health-care professional, you must become a mirror imageof the population.
The population of those who need nursing care is not made up of 84 percentwhite women. The nursing profession, however, is made up of 84 percent whitewomen.
Only 10 percent of the registered nurses in the United States are from racialor ethnic minorities, even though these individuals make up 28 percent of thenation’s population.
Furthermore, only 5.9 percent of nurses are men. Imagine the outcry ifphysicians, dentists, or clinical psychologists had only a 5.9 percent femaleconstituency.
Nursing, like all the other so-called “women’s professions” and workgroups, has been completely exempt from complying with affirmative-actionlegislation. Neither of the two major political parties has forced women to bedemocratic and to abide by federal legislation. The standard excuse is that itis too difficult to force women to be democratic, while it is comparatively easyto force men to abide by law and democratic principles.
The well-publicized nurse shortage is one of the outcomes.
In a study done at the University of Pennsylvania in the early 1960s, thedata showed that 97 percent of men in the profession worked full-time from thetime they graduated until retirement. Only 23 percent of women did likewise.
About 20 years later, a multidisciplinary research team from the Universityof Illinois replicated the study. The team found that 32 percent of women nursesworked full-time, as compared to 97 percent of men. The only exception was thatsome male nurses with associate degrees who aspired to a baccalaureate educationsometimes worked part-time during this period.
This data leads to the easy conclusion that if only one-third of nurses weremen, the nurse shortage would not exist. It would be even truer if 45 percent ofthe profession were males of all races.
What many nurses do not know is that Hippocrates, who was considered thegreatest scholar of his time, started education for both nurses and physiciansaround 400 B.C. Back then, all the nurses were men, because women were noteducated.
This gender-related double standard lasted for many generations, until theindustrial revolution opened up many other fields for men. Florence Nightingalearrived on the scene at about the same time. She wanted to be a scientist, not anurse. However, despite her wealth, she could not gain admittance to auniversity because she was a woman.
Nightingale expressed some of her anger toward men by limiting their role innursing while she was head of nursing at the St. Thomas Hospital in London inthe 19th century. More recently, the St. Thomas Hospital faculty had to workintensively for a number of years before they were able to recruit their firstmale student, in the early 1980s. Nightingale’s concept was so firmly embeddedin the hospital’s public image that prospective male students applied to otherschools.
Whenever the nursing profession decides to be democratic–as women insistthat historically male-dominated professions be–and admits men and women of allraces in proportion to the total population, the shortage will evaporate.
This showcase has dozens of ideas, from lattes to aromatherapy to perfect-for-anyone gift cards and customized music. All of it can be tailored for your budget and your employees’ preferences. There’s no reason not to start saying thanks—right now.
Bath & Body Works Eddie Bauer Starbucks OC Tanner Company MTM Jostens Recognition Terryberry Universal Music Group Bennett Brothers, Inc. JC Penny
Bath & Body Works 7 Limited Parkway East Reynoldsburg, OH 43068 P: (800) 688-7075 F: (614) 856-7913 E: corporategifts@bbw.com
Give the gift of well-being
As a business leader, you’re always looking for new ways to reward top clients and associates. Bath & Body Works has created a corporate incentives program that just may be the perfect solution: Bath & Body Works Gift Certificates. They’re a wonderful way to personalize your incentives program.
Bath & Body Works Gift Certificates allow their recipients to choose what’s right for them—from personal care to home fragrance in the colors and scents they prefer. There aren’t many gifts that do that. Giving Bath & Body Works Gift Certificates will reassure the recipients that their company recognizes and values their efforts. With over 1,600 stores nationwide, you can be sure that when you give our gift certificates, they’ll be put to good use. Everything in our stores is fresh and forever evolving to fit our customers’ lifestyles.
Eddie Bauer PO Box 97000 Redmond, WA 98073-9700 P: (800) 233-4174 F: (425) 755-4476 E: b2b@csc.eddiebauer.com W: www.eddiebauerb2b.com
Inspired Incentives
At Eddie Bauer we know what it takes to motivate people. We also realize that recognition can be challenging during the busyfourth quarter rush. This fall, why not choose simplicity by choosing Eddie Bauer Awards and Incentives?
Gift Cards and Award Certificates remove the stress of purchasing gifts for a wide range of tastes. They allow your employees, clients, and business partners to select from our classic clothes, gear, and great furnishings for the home.
Wallet-sized Gift Cards are available in denominations of $25 and $50. Award Certificates are available in any amount from $5 to $500. For further convenience and flexibility, Eddie Bauer offers three easy ways to shop: online, in catalog, and in our 500-plus stores.
Whatever the situation, Eddie Bauer Awards and Incentives fit the bill. After all, it’s about providing solutions that build your business. Let our experts help you manage your account, tell you about our discounts for larger orders, and offer valuable advice about how Eddie Bauer’s Gift Cards and Award Certificates can work for you.
Whether you want to say thanks, well done, congratulations, or let’s go team, the Starbucks Card is the perfect way to say it. And say it personally. It’s good for anything your clients, colleagues, or employees might like from Starbucks. Anyway they may like it.
O.C. Tanner helps organizations create powerful recognition experiences that build commitment, pride and performance.
By offering unmatched resources, thousands of name-brand recognition awards and the most sophisticated technology, O.C. Tanner can help create high-impact, meaningful recognition experiences for every person at your company.
For your company: Strategic alignment that helps tie recognition to corporate objectives
For your HR professionals: Powerful, simple recognition program administration and valuable print and web-based communication tools
For your managers: Effective award-presentation training tools
For your employees: The industry’s largest section of top-quality awards honoring service, performance, sales, safety, and other achievements
Thousands of Experts Create “The Recognition Experience” ™
For more than 75 years, O.C. Tanner has helped companies around the globe tie their employees’ achievements to company goals during powerful recognition events. O.C. Tanner’s client care and support is unmatched.
• Offices located throughout North America—so local support is never far away
• Program administration is managed through state-of-the-art automated systems—ensuring the right people get the right awards at the right time
• More than 2,000 experts assure you of top quality awards and support
Our team of professionals truly believes in the time-tested principle that Recognition…lifts the human spirit. We design and implement recognition programs that catch people doing the right things, honor significant performance and celebrate service milestones for many of the nations leading companies. Our recognition programs will impact your bottom line by strengthening your organizational culture and motivating your people to do great things.
About Us
MTM Jostens Recognition is the largest and most diverse recognition awards manufacturer and distributor in North America. Our manufacturing capabilities are unmatched in the industry with in-house design and one-of-a-kind symbolic awards and fine jewelry. This, combined with our expert abilities in program administration is our primary focus. We have over 100 years of experience and expertise through craftsmen and artisans who have created world-class product including Olympic medals, Super Bowl Rings and fine custom jewelry for Corporate America. We are a one-stop-shop for everything from custom symbolic awards, complete recognition programs, incentive programs, spotlight awards and more.
There are many recognition companies out there—why MTM Jostens Recognition?
Our pledge to you is to create a recognition program that … lifts the human spirit. This drives culture which in turn drives change and that adds to your bottom line. Our passion and focus is solely recognition. Our manufacturing capabilities make us the most unique and customer focused recognition company in the business. Our recognition consultants and customer service team are the finest in the industry. We are here to make a difference—let us show you how we can help drive your vision.
WWW.AwardChoice.com was intended to be the ultimate e-solution to employee recognition! Offering a sleek and thorough medium of promotion, it remains an efficient, cost effective yet accurate method of program administration. Employees with Internet access consider www.AwardChoice.com to be a user-friendly, yet empowering procedure culminating in their personal award selection. But, the fact that everything was seamlessly interfacing electronically didn’t stop Terryberry from improving upon perfection.
WWW. AwardChoice.com-Gold is sure to surpass the expectations of our customers worldwide! For those instances when only a hard copy will suffice, www.AwardChoice.com-Gold allows any award selection brochure to be downloaded and printed immediately facilitating the physical distribution of information at the touch of a button.
Human resource professionals were the first to embrace online recognition, although they were certainly not to be the last. Savvy sales managers, trainers, and department heads have realized that accomplishments that get reinforced often get repeated. These middle managers were in need of a performance management tool that could be tied directly to desired company-wide outcomes such as increased sales or customer service. In addition to providing a continuous focus on organizational goals, a program was needed to emphasize the importance of each employee to the organization, and to influence their sense of loyalty while encouraging a supportive and engaging work environment. Introducing Points @ www.AwardChoice.com an online, maintenance-free employee motivation system perfect for employers of all sizes. As managers reward desired results by assigning predetermined points to efforts and outcomes, motivated employees accumulate and track their individual totals online while they pursue the award of their choice.
Management experts agree that employee recognition is an essential business decision while administrators insist that it be timely, cost efficient and effective. Terryberry is determined to offer you practically effortless, affordable and expedient ways to recognize your employees. Remember, employee recognition is not an expense—it is an investment in your company outcomes!
At Universal Music Group, the world’s largest recording label, we’re certain your employees and clients would love a free CD! So why not give them a CD from Universal as part of your next rewards program or promotion?
When you work with Universal Music Group, you’re working with the music industry leader. Our family of labels includes Island/Def Jam, Interscope, Geffen, A&M, MCA, MCA Nashville, Mercury Nashville, Universal Records, Motown, Verve Music Group, and Universal Classics, among many others. No other recording company can offer the variety of recordings available from Universal!
We offer a number of different options to make your next rewards program or promotion success! 1. Universal’s Music Rewards: Rewards certificates are only $10.50 (redeemable for one CD or two cassettes) and at that price, this rewards program can fit into any budget. Recipients can choose from over 750 titles from the most popular musical genres including Rock and Pop, R&B, Country, Jazz, Blues, Classical, Easy Listening, Soundtracks, and even Holiday music. 2. Custom Music Premiums: We manufacture custom CDs and cassettes for use as premiums and incentives. We’ll help you choose the best music and packaging design. You can even supply your own artwork! 3. Custom Music Retail: Retailers are looking to music more than ever as an ancillary product line to help promote their brand. Placed by registers or check-out, custom music CDs and cassettes are ideal impulse items and can make a significant contribution to your bottom line.
Call us today or visit our website to learn more about music rewards and promotions. We can even send you a brochure (pictured at right) lavishly adorned with stunning graphics and a FREE sampler CD! We think you’ll agree… Music is Universal.
Redemption: Recipients select a gift card and complete the prepaid postcard with name, address and gift selection. Easy online gift redemption is also available at www.ChooseYourGift.com
Expiration: Choose-Your-Gift® books are not valid after three years from date of issue.
Services: Name brand products, excellent value, quality service, and prompt delivery. Choose-Your-Gift® books are perfect for gifts, awards, and incentives. Available in 13 price levels from $16 to $1,000. Each 12-page book is a personal catalog with over 50 fine quality brand name products from which to choose. Price includes catalog, gift and shipping. Gift books are sent with inner gift and outer mailing envelopes. Order by phone, fax, mail or online. Full refund or credit made for all returned books.
Customization: Your company name can be imprinted on the front cover or beneath the message inside for an additional $45.
Whenever I flick on a light these days, I think about invention and pride. Ifind myself asking questions like, “What have I created today?” “What haveI done that’s meaningful?” “What am I leaving behind?”
It’s all because of my father, Clarence Terez. He’s 82 years old now,shaky from a stroke he had 10 years ago. But for 43 years, until his retirementin 1983, he worked as a mechanical engineer and machine designer for GE’s lampdivision. He and his colleagues invented machines that produced incandescentlight bulbs that brought light to homes and offices throughout the world.
My father’s house—the house he bought with my mother in 1953, the home Igrew up in—is going on the market next week. I’ve just made a final tripthere, walking through empty rooms. The place had been stuffed with itemsaccumulated from more than half a century, but my father chose to keep just ahandful of mementos. Among them: his official documents from the U.S. PatentOffice.
You can see them yourself at the Patent Office’s Web site. There’s PatentNo. 2,997,186, Lamp Transfer Mechanism, invented by Clarence S. Terez, issued on August 22, 1961. There’s Patent No. 3,046,635, Lamp Base and BulbAssembly Apparatus, July 31, 1962. There are two other patented inventionsdeveloped with a colleague: No. 2,711,760, Top Wire Positioning Mechanism, June28, 1955; and No. 2,910,166, Electric Lamp Making Machine, October 27, 1959.
The official “inventor’s copies” of these patents are now tucked awayin a business folder. My dad has them at the assisted-living facility where henow lives. If you visit him, it’s almost certain that he’ll pull out thefolder and show you the prized designs. The stroke took away two-thirds of hisvocabulary, but his pride remains fully intact.
Most folks call him Terry—a nickname derived from his last name because henever was keen on his first name. He still has all of his hair, and most of it’sstill black, combed back with a small daily dab of Groom & Clean. He stillhas brown plastic-rim bifocals, the kind that make smart people look smarter.But his most prominent characteristics are a ready smile and warm personality.Long gone are the R.G. Dun Admiral cigars (he often started the day with astogie at breakfast), the pocket protector, and the well-sharpened pencil tuckedon top of his ear.
Terry was born in 1920 in the Polish neighborhood of Cleveland. TheDepression punctuated his early teen years, and he got a job picking vegetables,handing over a few coins each day to his mother. While the other kids kickedcans and played stickball, his idea of fun was building things. Give him severalpieces of scrap lumber, a few junk wheels, and soon he’d be coasting along ona scooter.
One time he built a complete boxing ring. He began it in the colder months,doing his pounding and sawing on the top floor of the family home. By summer,with school over, kids were ready to box—but the top-floor location made forsweltering conditions, and Terry’s mother wasn’t keen on having youngfighters traipsing in and out of the house. So he took it apart, sent it throughthe window piece by piece, and reassembled it outside.
In a high-school shop class, Terry’s creative mind and natural skillscaught his teacher’s eye. “You could get a job doing this,” the teachertold him one day. “Tomorrow after school I’m going to take you to GeneralElectric.”
The next day, the two drove together to a nearby GE plant in Cleveland. Terrystayed in the car while his shop teacher went inside, paving the way. Fifteenminutes later the teacher returned and invited him in.
Terry met a shop foreman, learned about an apprentice opportunity, and saidall the right things. Ten minutes later the teacher drove away, taking home GE’snewest employee.
When war came, Terry enlisted in the Army, where he worked as a mechanicaldesigner. After his discharge, he went back to work at GE in the lamp division,beginning a career designing machines to make incandescent light bulbs. Heattended college classes, but never got a degree.
He was always exercising his creativity, always building, ever sketching inthe pad he kept on a nightstand.
In 1955, Terry attended a GE-sponsored invention workshop. He still has hisdesigns and typed-up notes, all in perfect condition. There’s the sketch ofhis proposed baby-food-warming dish—a plug-in bowl perfect for all thosepostwar babies. And there’s his idea to equip mixers with a wire-bristleattachment—great for cleaning baby bottles in the days before dishwashers.Yes, Terry had kids on his mind. His first of four children had just been born.
After retiring from GE nearly 20 years ago, my father continued building. Hetook up clock-making, fashioning desk-size replicas of clock towers atNorthwestern University and the University of Michigan—two of his children’salma maters.
Lately, I’ve been thinking about his long-ago shop teacher, the one who sawthe builder in my father and led him to GE. I’ve been thinking about hismother, who by most accounts was a demanding woman of few words, but whononetheless indulged her son’s early creativity. I’ve been thinking aboutthat invention seminar my father attended in 1955—a little opportunity thatleft a big impression, big enough that he saved the notes for 47 years. I’vebeen thinking about all the young engineers my father coached over the years—theones who secured their first patents thanks to him.
I’ve been thinking about the pride my dad took in his work, pride thatstill glows like a high-wattage light bulb. And I’m left asking: What have Icreated today? What have I done that’s meaningful? What am I leaving behind?
I’m not a particularly passionate person. Oh sure, I haveinterests. I’minterested in cooking. I’m interested in hiking. But I’m not what you’dcall a fanatic. I don’t tape the Food Network, nor do I intend to hike all 54of Colorado’s 14,000-foot mountain peaks so I can brag about my conquests atdinner parties. Fact is, I find fanaticism strange.
I once attended a slide show given by an avid rock collector who describedvarious pieces in her collection as “droolers” and “show-offs.” Afteradvancing to a slide of a rock with sparkling purple crystals, the collectorslumped in her chair. “Ohhhh,” she said. “This one could win a pageant.”Afterward, I invited friends to stone me to death if I ever got like that.
But lately, I’ve been interested in people with passions. I want to knowwhat drives the urge to, say, collect Roman coins, or trace the family historyback to Charlemagne, or tie flies for hours on end in some dank basementworkshop.
In a quest to find out where this kind of passion comes from, I recentlyattended the 22nd annual National Barbie Doll Collectors Convention–a place I’dnormally not be caught dead at–where a thousand men and women from all overthe world had gathered for four days of doll shopping, workshops, and socialevents. My first meeting was with Debbie Baker, convention co-chair, who has3,000 Barbies in her personal collection.
“So tell me,” I asked, “what is it about Barbie that makes you sopassionate?”
“We love the dolls. We love the clothes. And pink.We really, really love pink.”
Debbie tapped her long pink fingernails on the table and gazed into thedistance. “Those of us who love Barbie light up whenever we see anything to dowith her,” she explained. “We love the dolls. We love the clothes. And pink.We really, really love pink.”
Believing that such a consuming passion had to be based on more than a color,I talked with other collectors.
I spoke with Brenda Blanchard, a retired schoolteacher from Carson,California. “I like Barbie because she doesn’t talk back,” she noted.
I chatted with George Marmalejo, a veterinarian from Hayward, California, whoenjoys the sense of community that comes with being a Barbie aficionado. “Whereelse can I be surrounded by 1,000 people who don’t think I’m nuts when Ispend $100 on doll clothes?” Conventioneers also told me about pajama partiesin the hotel rooms where guests bring their favorite dolls and sip strawberrymargaritas.
I heard about a fashion show in which 50 lucky people got to sashay down therunway wearing their favorite Barbie outfits.
I was invited to a competition in which people entered treasured pieces oftheir collections in an effort to earn prize ribbons. The rules of the contestwere stiff. A doll dressed in “Sparkle Squares,” for instance, would not bejudged against “Jump into Lace.”
I took all this in with the detached amusement of an outsider. Then I talkedto Judy Stegner, a 43-year-old collector and single mother from Fort Worth,Texas, who told me how she had met her Barbie friends. In the process, sheforever changed my opinion of doll collectors.
“It was Thanksgiving night in 1998, and my son said: ‘Mom, there’sprobably a chat room where you can talk with other Barbie people.’ I looked athim like he was crazy. I mean, I didn’t know anything about the Internet orchat rooms. He had to do everything. He found a site, logged me on, even gave memy screen name. I was online talking to Barbie people until two in the morning.I’ve met great people on the Internet. I never could have made it withoutthem.”
I asked Judy what she meant and learned that just 10 months after her17-year-old son introduced her to the Barbie chat room, he was killed in thehighly publicized shooting at Wedgwood Baptist Church in Fort Worth. He was heronly child.
Upon hearing about the shooting, her online Barbie friends coalesced into a full-time, round-the-clock, on-callsupport team. They sent her money. They sent care packages every day. Theyraised thousands of dollars for a tuition-assistance fund that Judy establishedin her son’s name. They contacted Mattel, which sent Judy a special Barbiecollectible and a handwritten note on the first Christmas after her son’sdeath.
“Let me show you something,” Judy said, jumping to her feet. She grabbedher tote bag, pulled out a quilt, and unfolded it on the cushioned bench infront of us. The quilt, which was made to honor her son’s life, featured 18hand-sewn panels contributed by her Internet friends. Judy used to have thequilt hanging on a wall, but now she curls up with it while watching televisionor reading a book.
“Barbie people everywhere are really giving,” Judy explained, teary eyed.
“Why do you think that’s the case?” I asked.
Judy said it’s because Barbie dolls are about having fun, and when you’rehaving fun you’re not stressed and can naturally be more giving. “We allhave things that make life hard,” she said. “Anything that allows us to playis a good thing, and I don’t know why people are so critical of Barbiesometimes. I tell you what: that’s something our group never allows. Beingcritical, I mean.”
“Do you sit down and play with your dolls?” I asked.
“It’s total therapy for me to play,” she admitted. “After my sondied, I could lose myself for hours.”
It’s been six weeks since I attended the Barbie convention, and I’ve beenthinking about Judy Stegner ever since–not only because her story was sopowerful, but also because she shed some warm, glowing light on a world that hadbeen completely foreign to me. And because it was so foreign, I’d criticizedit. Barbie??? I thought before the conference. These people should get a life.What I learned is that Barbie collectors do have lives–rich and supportiveones at that.
Although the conference did teach me about passion–Barbie passion–it alsotaught me something more, and that is to not be so quick to judge others who dothings that I find odd. This doesn’t mean I plan to invest in doll clothes,mind you, but I’m certainly not as likely to criticize people who do.
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A downturn in the economy can have a ripple effect on your company’s employee benefit packages. A company’s worsening profit picture can force you to offer enhanced early retirement packages or to decrease matching contributions to its 401(k) plan.
How you communicate these and other employee benefit changes can make the difference between the company winning or losing in court.
Decreasing future pension benefits As a means of dealing with slowing profits, companies may decide to reduce the rate at which its employees earn future pension benefits. In this way, the company may be able to reduce its required contribution.
While generally, you don’t have to communicate to employees amendments to plans, such as Section 401(k) plans, until well after the plan year in which the change is adopted, a different rule may apply in the case of pension plans.
Specifically, if the company decides to amend its pension plan to significantly reduce the rate at which employees earn benefits in the future, including early retirement benefits, employees, as well as any union representing the employees, must be notified within a reasonable period of time before the effective date of the amendment.
While what constitutes a “reasonable period of time” has not yet been defined by statute, companies will likely wish to give at least 30 days prior notice. The notice must be written so that the average participant can understand the effects of the amendment. This means, among other things, that the notice should not unduly minimize the effects of the amendment, notwithstanding the fact that telling employees bad news in a softening economy is not easy.
Although it may be difficult in some instances to determine whether a future reduction constitutes a “significant” reduction requiring the notice to be provided, as a practical matter, companies should provide the notice whenever they are amending a pension plan to decrease future benefits. The result of not providing the notice when it should have been issued is a $100 a day per participant penalty, or, possibly even nullification of the amendment.
Possible enhanced severance packages Once a company actually amends or adopts a program covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, employees must be advised in writing of the amendment’s or plan’s — as applicable — provisions. However, an evolving area of the law may require a company to disclose potential amendments or enhancements in order to avoid a fiduciary breach. This issue becomes particularly important as more and more companies contemplate providing enhanced early retirement or severance packages in order to reduce their workforces by voluntary terminations.
More and more courts are ruling that once a company has given “serious consideration” to such enhancements, HR professionals, and others in the company to whom employees would generally direct their benefit questions, must make sure that they do not mislead employees.
This is important because typically the employees inquiring as to possible enhanced severance programs are those who would likely qualify for the early retirement or enhanced severance package and who are afraid to retire lest they lose out on the increased benefits.
These court rulings mean, for example, after management has given serious consideration to implementing an early retirement program, an HR professional may be forced to reveal the fact as to the existence of the deliberations if asked by employees. While HR is not required to be a soothsayer and predict the outcome of those deliberations, he/she cannot disavow that enhancements may be adopted. Rather, the HR professional should respond that management is considering making changes but have not yet made a final decision.
This standard has been held to apply even if the HR professional being asked is truthfully unaware of management’s deliberations. This means then, that in order for a company and its officials to avoid potential fiduciary liability, HR, as well as any employees who are likely to be the persons to whom employees would direct benefit questions, will need to be apprised as to the existence of these deliberations.
In order to determine when the potential for liability exists, it is necessary to know when companies enter the “serious deliberations” stage. Serious consideration occurs when: (1) a specific proposal; (2) is being discussed for purposes of implementation, (3) by senior management with the authority to implement the change.
In order to have a specific proposal, it is not necessary that the choices have been narrowed to only one option nor is it necessary that the proposal being considered actually be the one ultimately implemented. Rather, it is sufficient if there is a specific proposal that is sufficiently concrete to support consideration by senior management for the purpose of implementation.
The requirement that the specific proposal be discussed for purposes of implementation means that management can still participate in the fact gathering stage, such as discussing options with outside consultants, without necessarily triggering the “serious consideration” stage.
Finally, the fact that under a company’s by-laws, only its board of directors has authority to actually implement such a program does not mean that you will not have “serious consideration” until the proposal reaches the board. It is likely that the third requirement is satisfied if the proposal has reached management with the authority to present it to the board.
While most courts have not gone so far as to rule that a company has an affirmative obligation to advise all potential employees that might be affected by the change of the existence of deliberations, at least one court has held that a company can in effect, obligate itself to do so.
This might arise, for example, if an employee who has heard rumors of an enhanced severance package stops by the HR office to inquire. If, at the time, management has not given serious consideration to such a change, the HR professional can answer in the negative without concern for fiduciary liability. If, however, the employee then asks the HR professional to keep him advised of any change in the answer, the HR professional must use extreme care in answering.
If the HR professional’s answer can be interpreted as agreeing to do so, at least one court takes the position that the failure to advise the employee if management begins serious consideration could again expose the company to fiduciary liability.
The deteriorating investment vendor One of the issues that may arise when the economy turns downward is the solvency of various investment providers. This issue might arise, for example, if the company’s Section 401(k) plan allows participants to choose to invest among various investment options, including a fixed income investment, such as a guaranteed investment contact.
If the company learns that the investment advisor’s solvency may be in peril, the company must decide what must be told to participant/investors and when. Several recent cases have arisen alleging the failure of companies and plan fiduciaries to timely and/or sufficiently advise participants.
While there is no direct statutory guidance, the standard being used by the courts is whether the company and/or plan fiduciaries provided employees with enough information with sufficient expediency to allow participants to attempt to protect their investments. For example, if company officials learn through articles in financial publications that the vendor may be experiencing financial difficulties, the company and/or plan fiduciaries will need to follow-up by discussions with the vendor, research in other financial publications and possibly through the assistance of qualified third-party advisors, such as accountants or other financial specialists.
The company should also determine what — if any — means exist for extricating participant funds; for example, whether individual or bulk-transfers are available under the terms of the contract. This information should be complied in a short time frame and ultimately made available to all potentially affected participants.
If participants have the right to transfer some or all of their investments, the communications should also remind participants of any transfer or surrender options. As a practical matter, company and plan officials communicate in a manner that allows employees to protect themselves but without causing a panic or run on the investment that might only serve to exacerbate the problem.
Summary When the economy slows, companies will often make changes in their employee benefit packages designed to increase their profits. These types of changes can themselves require special communications to employees. In order to avoid potential litigation, it is necessary to know what has to be communicated and when.
This article is prepared in summary form and is not to be construed as legal advice or opinion on any specific fact or circumstance.
H R professionals have asked me: “ERPs seem like a good idea, so why isreturn on investment so low?”
Resistance kills many of these new systems. A proposedenterprise resource planning system may hold great promise, but the plannersoften fail to consider how the users are likely to view this “improvement.”ERPs take away the old tried-and-true ways of working. Even though some of thesecobbled-together systems aren’t all that good, people understand them. Whenthey are asked to give up what they know and what they can rely on, you oftenget resistance to using a new software system.
ERPs also threaten the fragile balance of power andcontrol. The old system allows departments and some individuals to control thetype of information that gets out–and control the way data gets disseminated.The new system eliminates all of that and can be threatening.
One manufacturing plant spent millions on an ERP, and keptthrowing money at the technical parts of project, with no success. What theyfailed to see was that the technical problems they faced were minor compared tothe human reactions against these changes.
Why people react to change Plan for the human part of the ERP. There are three major reasons why peopleresist a change. They don’t get it, they don’t like it, or they don’t likeyou. Any one of those can stop the ERP dead in its tracks. What you need is theopposite of all three: people need to get what it’s all about, they need tolike it and be willing to take part in making sure it is a success, and theyneed to have confidence in you.
Create strategies that speak to people in their own language to help themunderstand why these changes are critical to your organization. Spend a lot oftime building the case for the change before you get into the often mind-numbingdetails of the ERP process itself. The attention to “they don’t get it” isnecessary but not sufficient for success. You must attend to the other twoissues as well.
If people react against the change, find out why. Usually, it’s because offear. In some cases, people are afraid that the new ERP will cost them theirjobs. If that’s the case, why would they support it? You must find ways toengage people to help you address the downside of the change. If people areafraid, for example, that the new system will not allow them to customize and beas responsive to customers, invite them into the planning to ensure that the newsystem provides the features they need.
If they don’t have confidence in you or your team, you must do everythingyou can to demonstrate that you are worthy of their trust. This probably won’thappen overnight. One meeting won’t do it. You’ll have to prove yourselftime and time again. It’s not easy, and working on these issues can beexhausting, but it may be the only game in town if you really want people tomake a commitment to you and the new system.
Peggy Phillips learned the importance of ERP training the hard way. Two years ago Xilinx rolled out a self-service HR application to the company’s 2,600 employees with only fleeting efforts directed at training. “We held informal sessions telling people that we would show them the new system if they wanted to see it.”
The rollout team did little front-end needs assessment, so they had no idea what employees wanted or were capable of doing. For example, Phillips’s team assumed that managers wanted self-service options and that they understood how to perform administrative tasks such as documenting internal transfers or approving salary increases. It turned out that the human resources staff was handling all of those transactions and managers had no interest in taking them on. “It was challenging to get people to use the system and in the end was not accepted.”
Now the company is in the middle of an ERP rollout, and Phillips is determined to learn from the past. “This will be even more challenging than the HR self-service tool, because it’s going to change everyone’s roles and responsibilities,” Phillips says. She has a dedicated team to handle all training and communication needs related to the ERP software. “We are focused on teaching users about the processes, not just how to use the technology.”
This is especially critical since the company went with a generic version of Oracle’s enterprise application, an off-the-shelf system with little customization. That meant that all of Xilinx’s work processes, such as how to track performance reviews, change job titles, or transfer employees, had to be re-engineered to match the fields in the off-the-shelf tool. “With that level of change, there is going to be a lot of discomfort, but we are managing it by showing users the benefits,” she says.
In all of the ERP training her team offers, which is a combination of Web-based and classroom-based courses, users learn what the new processes are and why it’s important to incorporate them into their daily routines. “Context is key. It’s not enough to tell them to do these transactions or even to show them how. They have to see the benefit,” she says.
Because the system is self-service, many tasks that were formerly performed by HR now are the responsibility of managers and employees. “At first it just looks like more work,” she says, “so we talk a lot about the impact it will have on their productivity and benefits.” For example, managers are now expected to fill out Personnel Action Notification forms to alert management to changes in employee salaries or job titles. In the past HR had taken care of PANs, and Phillips began to receive complaints from managers about the added work. She responded by pointing out the dramatic reduction in turn-around time that would come from the new system. Inner-office mail delays and multiple sign-offs meant the old PANs took four to six weeks to be completed; now they take 48 hours. “By framing it properly, they can see the payoff to using the new process and they support it.”
If the benefits of the new system are not enough to encourage employees to take on extra work, Phillips points out how not using them correctly will cause them to suffer. For example, when managers put off filing an internal employee transfer, they continue to pay the transferee’s salary even if that person is already working in another department. “Most managers understand the value if you put it into financial terms,” she says.
