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Transfer to ‘Feared’ Position May Support Retaliation Claim

An employer may be liable for retaliation under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act for transferring an employee, following her sexual harassment complaints, to a position she could not perform.


Christine DiIenno, who priced donated clothing for Goodwill Industries, was sexually harassed by her manager for two years. After DiIenno reported the harassment to Goodwill, she was transferred to a job processing and sorting clothing, with the same pay and benefits as her pricing job. Despite a doctor’s note documenting her phobia of “critters”—e.g. mice and insects—DiIenno was forced to process clothing which was infested with vermin. After breaking down, she took medical leave and sued alleging retaliation.


On appeal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit allowed DiIenno to proceed with her claim, holding that transfer to a job an employer knows an employee cannot do may constitute adverse employment action. DiIenno vs. Goodwill Industries of Mid-Eastern Pennsylvania, 3rd Cir., No. 98-1024, 11/27/98.


Impact:
Employers may not disguise retaliation, such as knowingly transferring an employee to a job that employee is unable to perform.


Source: D. Diane Hatch, Ph.D., a human resources consultant based in San Francisco, and James E. Hall, an attorney with the law firm of Barlow, Kobata & Denis, with offices in Los Angeles and Chicago.

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Can You Attach a Face to Every Name

If you’ve worked in a company with more than a handful of employees,then at some point you’re likely to have thought, “It’d be nice to be able to searchby a co-worker’s first name and instantly locate that person’s contactinformation right from my desktop.”

Their extension number, e-mail address, the correct spelling oftheir last name, who they answer to, what project they are currently assigned to, theirsecretary’s name, the department they are in …


All these bits of information are commonly needed by your employees day in and day out.


Now imagine being able to pull up their data as well as their photo! Having the powerto associate a name to every face in your organization is a powerful tool, indeed. Thistype of intracorporate networking can not only impact the way you see others, but the wayother see you, as well.


The InteractiveOrgChart (IOC) takes this functionality one step further and allows the user todirectly e-mail the individual (or the group of individuals) from that one centrallocation. Furthermore, users can travel throughout the intranet using URL buttons createdby the OrgChart. Add even more value by posting employee manuals and corporate policies onWeb pages that are accessible through the OrgChart. It shouldn’t be too hard to envisionEntraspan’s Interactive OrgChart creating a focal point for your corporate intranetas it has for so many others.


In addition, the Intranet OrgChart can impact the way you feel about your relationshipwithin the company. Visualizing yourself as a fundamental part of a larger whole lendsitself to a feeling of belonging and unity. Nothing promotes teamwork like employees whoappreciate, respect and depend upon one another.


And consider locating a familiar face on the corporate intranet’s organizationalchart and finally discovering that person’s name! The next time you encounter thatsame man in the elevator or that nice woman in line at the local deli, you’ll finally beable to greet them by name—never mind the fact they told you once before and you’veforgotten it!


The Interactive OrgChartfrom Entraspan, Inc. is a networkedenterprise application that attaches to your corporate database and displays selectedinformation to your employees through a browser. The information displayed is oftendefined by a human resource executive and implemented by your company’s databaseadministrator. Any amount of information (as much or as little) in your database can bedisseminated through the OrgChart. A free evaluation download is available tointegrate the OrgChart into your environment and get a first hand look at the many ways itcan empower your employees to be more self-sufficient, promote unity, and otherwisebenefit your organization.


You may wonder, “How do I offer different levels of information to differentusers?” The Interactive OrgChart allows for passwordprotection at the chart level as well as the individual level. What this means is thatthe CEO and HR executives may retain the power to see and edit all information, managersmay be able to view (but have selected editing ability) a subset of this information, andemployees may be able to view an entirely different subset and edit nothing.


In addition, multiple charts can be used to represent different types of data. Anemployee chart is simply the most common use, but it is only the beginning. Executives maywish to implement charts for succession management, product lines, facilities,suppliers/key clients, etc. The common thread between each of these password protectedcharts are that they’re used to display information that becomes progressively moresegmented. And if the OrgChart is incapable of delivering a feature that is specific toyour organization, then Entraspan is there to provide customization services.


The following is an inside look at how Dura Pharmaceuticals has implementedEntraspan’s Interactive OrgChart as their corporate solution. Dura employs manyremote salespeople, and therefore, their OrgChart has more people displayed on the chartthan those who access it. This corporate structure is the exact opposite of how auniversity might use the OrgChart to post a few hundred faculty for thousands of studentsto access.


One striking thing about Dura is their awareness of the importance of bringing theiremployees together as a family. One quick tour of Dura’s corporate office evidencesthis in that their corporate walls are adorned with portraits of their offsite accountrepresentatives.


Dura Pharmaceuticals


Company Background and IOC Administration:
Dura Pharmaceuticals provides pharmaceutical products with a respiratory concentration tophysicians and their patients nationwide. The company has loaded IOC on their server sothat all employees can access the graphical display from their desktops. About 900 nodesare currently being displayed and minimums of 25 people are thought to be accessing theapplication at any one time.


Problem Experienced:
Dura had two goals. They needed to provide up-to-date OrgCharts and they also neededto centralize the company’s personnel information. They also wanted individuals to beable to access their own information and interact with co-workers from one commoncorporatewide interface. Another important element was that this interface had to beextremely user-friendly so employees would not be burdened with having to learn a newprogram. This application had to be able to attach itself to the company’s existingOracle database and had to be able to be viewed through Internet Explorer 4.02. It had tobe able to work with Windows 95, Windows NT, HP, and Unix. However, Dura’s mostcritical need was to locate a mechanism that would allow employees to access real-timepersonnel information.


Substandard Solutions:
Dura had been using presentation software add-ons as well as a popular drawing programto write its charts. These chart drawing software tools could easily create connectedboxes and text, but neither of them had the capability to interface with a centraldatabase. Charts quickly became obsolete and useless. Not only did these charts oftendisplay misinformation, but they required hours to update. And as far as locating acentral interface to the personnel files, nothing existed. Employees had to go see HR orask around to get valid information into or out of the corporate database.


The Reason IOC Was Deemed To Be a Better Solution:
What makes the Interactive OrgChart different is just that—it’s interactive!At first glance, it’s often thought of as a tool to draw OrgCharts, but IOC isn’t adrawing tool at all. It’s more correct to say that it is a database management tool thathappens to display its data in a very appealing and user-friendly OrgChart structure. Ituses bright colors and employees pictures to provide a logical and easy way to interactwith otherwise boring text files. The key element is that people are attracted to theproduct so they use it, and by doing so, current, accurate and uniform information isconsistently and easily accessible to them.


Main Benefits that IOC Provided:
For Dura, the key benefit is that employee information has finally become centralized.Now the company’s database is updated through IOC, and both are updated in tandem.Personnel information has been unified and accurate information is now being disseminatedthroughout Dura. As a result, overhead was reduced because tedious rewrites were no longernecessary.


Unexpected Benefits that IOC Provided:
IOC “pulled together the Dura community, making it possible for people to attacha name to a face.” When larger companies decide to include photos in their OrgChartas Dura has, executives and employees alike generally respond with enthusiasm. They findthey no longer smile benignly at that same individual in the elevator—rather, theysay, “Hi Bob!”


Jason Liebrecht
Dura Pharmaceuticals
Systems Analyst/Webmaster
http://www.durapharm.com

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Sample ‘Love Contract’ Letter

Dear [Name of Object of Affection]:


As we discussed, I know that this may seemsilly or unnecessary to you, but I really want you to give serious consideration to thematter as it is very important to me. [Add other material as appropriate].


I very much value our relationship and Icertainly view it as voluntary, consensual and welcome. And I have always felt that you feel the same. However, I know that sometimes an individual may feel compelled to engage in or continue a relationship against their will out of concern that it may affect the jobor working relationships.


It is very important to me that our relationship be on an equal footing and that you be fully comfortable that our relationship is at all times fully voluntary and welcome. I want to assure you that under no circumstances will I allow our relationship or, should it happen, the end of our relationship, to impact on your job or our working relationship. Though I know you have received a copy of [our company’s] sexual harassment policy, I am enclosing a copy [Add specific reference to policy as appropriate] so that you can read and review it again. Once you have done so, I would greatly appreciate your signing this letter below, if you are in agreement with me.


[Add personal closing]


Very truly yours,
[Name]


I have read this letter and the accompanying sexual harassment policy, and I understand and agree with what is stated in both this letter and the sexual harassment policy. My relationship with [name] has been(and is) voluntary, consensual and welcome. I also understand that I am free to end this relationship at any time and, in doing so, it will not adversely impact on my job.


[Signature of object of affection]


SOURCE: Teresa Butler, Littler Mendelson, Atlanta, 888-LITTLER


The information contained in this article is intended to provide useful information on the topic covered,but should not be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion.


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HR Education So … Where to Begin

If you haven’t decided on HR certification or graduate school, you’re not alone. It’s certainly confusing to figure out which program is best for whom—and why. Ultimately, you’ll have to assess your current level of HR competencies, your employer’s business imperatives and your short- and long-term career goals, not to mention your available time and financial resources.

PHR (Professional HR)

Objective:
To provide certification for the HR generalist at the operational/technical level.
Who will benefit:
Entry-level HR professionals, students and recent college graduates pursuing the HR profession, and HR professionals who want to round out their basic HR competencies.
Who issues it:
The Human Resource Certification Institute (http://www.shrm.org/hrci).
Time it takes to prepare for the exam:
Self-paced.
Costs:
$285 for Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) members; $325 for non-members.

SPHR (Senior Professional HR)

Objective:
To provide certification for more experienced HR professionals on more strategic and policy level competencies.
Who will benefit:
More senior level HR professionals or those who’ve been in the profession for more than several years.
Who issues it:
The Human Resource Certification Institute (http://www.shrm.org/hrci).
Time it takes to prepare for the exam:
Self-paced.
Costs:
$285 for Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) members; $325 for non-members.

University/College Certificate Programs in Human Resources Management

Objective:
To provide HR professionals an academic program in human resources management that covers basic HR competencies, such as fundamentals of HRM, recruitment, retention, compensation, training and development and HR information systems.
Who will benefit:
Current and future HR professionals seeking to prepare for increased responsibility and promotion, and wanting to matriculate in an academic institution.
Who issues it:
Colleges and universities nationwide.
Requirements:
Usually 6 to 10 courses, taken over a period of time appropriate for each student.
Costs:
Depends on the institution. Some may charge between $175-300 per course. Others may charge a flat fee up to $2,000.

HRM Professional Development Leadership Program Certificate

Objective:
To provide HR professionals with change-management leadership skills, such as understanding business process, team behavior, communication and developing analytical skills.
Who will benefit:
Mid-level HR professionals in the federal government.
Who issues it:
The International Personnel Management Association (IPMA). Visit http://www.ipma-hr.org
Time to complete requirements: The program is conducted in five sessions.
Costs:
$900 for federal section members; $915 for IPMA members; $1015 for non-members.

CERP (Certified Employee Relations Professional)

Objective:
To provide certification of HR professionals who have achieved competency in the use of the Internet and knowledge of employment law.
Who will benefit:
Any HR professional who wishes to document his or her competencies in technology and employment law.
Who issues it:
Positive Employee Relations Council (http://www.perc.net/PHRC.html).
Time it takes to prepare for the exam:
Self-paced.
Costs:
$95.


Workforce, May 1999, Vol. 78, No. 5, p. 76.


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New Pay Programs Boost Retention

Everywhere you look these days,there’s another book or article discussing employee retention. It seemswe’re all looking for the silver-bullet solution to retaining valuable staffin this highly competitive labor market. And it’s no wonder – according to theU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) as of March, unemployment is at 4.2percent, a trend toward the lowest level in over 25 years. 


    While experts debatethe effectiveness of retention strategies ranging from “nurturing growthenvironments” to stock-option plans, HR professionals must find practicalsolutions to keep talent not only retained, but committed and motivated toachieve necessary business results. Doing so means accepting the fact that bothenvironment and money impact employee decisions about where they work and howwell they perform their jobs.


    Aon Consulting’s1998 America@Work survey of 1,800 U.S. employees measures critical factors thatemployees weigh when making employment decisions. Results of the survey supportboth sides of the retention equation. On the intrinsic or environmental side,opportunities for learning and growth top the list of reasons why employees staywith their employers. On the extrinsic or more tangible side, meaningful rewardsand recognition of performance are highly correlated with employee commitment.In fact, salary and benefits are viewed as two of the most important factorsaffecting employment decisions.


    So if you thinkmoney is a secondary issue in employee retention, think again. Of thosesurveyed, all things being equal, 25 percent would leave their current jobs foran increase of 10 percent or less, and more than 55 percent would leave for lessthan or equal to 20 percent. Pretty staggering data, isn’t it? It’s evenmore disconcerting when you consider not only base-pay increases, but theendless barrage of signing bonuses, stock options, employment contracts andspecial deals companies use to lure away the best and brightest in today’smarket. It certainly supports the need to give serious consideration tocompensation design and practices. After all, your primary goal is to make toptalent think twice before walking out the door.


 


New pay programs send a powerfulmessage.
   Traditionally, compensation systemshave been designed to attract, retain, motivate and reward employees by beingexternally competitive and internally equitable. Unquestionably, these are nobleintentions. However, the actual plan design that’s in place at manyorganizations was originally conceived in the 1950s, when the world of worklooked very different than it does today. It was a time when fairness wasdefined as “sameness,” when employment was for a lifetime, and whenfollowing procedure was far more critical to success than innovation and gainingcompetitive advantage.


    Today, compensation systems mustsupport the mission and culture of the organization, and communicate toemployees what is important, why they are important, and what their role is inensuring the ongoing viability of the organization. Compensation systems areincredibly powerful communication tools to apply to a workforce looking foranswers to the fundamental questions, “Why am I here?” “What am Icontributing?” and “How (well) am I being recognized for mycontributions?” Basically, if employees feel good about the answers to thosequestions, they stay; if they don’t, they go.


    But how do you keep key talent fromjumping ship? The most important step is to recognize that carefully designedpay practices can have a significant impact on making your company a place wherehigh-performing employees want to work. And just in case senior management wantsto make sure there’s a good business reason to change “the way we’vealways done it,” tell them this: In a study of major Fortune 100 companies,organizations using strategically designed pay systems performed better thantheir traditional-pay counterparts based on financial objectives such asearnings per share, return on assets, profit per employee and cash flow (The NewPay: Linking Employee and Organizational Performance, by Jay R. Schuster andPatricia K. Zingheim, Jossey-Bass, 1996).


    If you want compensation to be aneffective part of your retention strategy, you must move beyond the reactionary“just throw money” method of using pay to keep people. You know the drill:Critical employee gets juicy offer from competitor; crazed manager insists youfind way to counter; somehow you do, so the employee stays (for a while!) – andthen it all happens again.


    For pay to be a preventative measurerather than a reflex, reward systems must be designed to align employeeperformance with business performance. Employees need to understand what thecompany expects of them, why the company expects it, and the potential rewardsthey can earn when performance expectations are met. Taking this approach to paydesign provides an ownership context for employees – they know they’reimportant to the ongoing success of the company and, if they do their part,they’ll share in the success they helped create. For high-performingemployees, these are pretty good reasons to stay.


 


New pay programs call for patience andcommitment.
   Designing the right pay program foryour organization can be the key to high performance and big bottom-linereturns. But before you jump into a full redesign, consider this: Introducing anew pay program is really about culture change. Culture change is aboutreframing and redefining corporate values, and communicating these new valuesover and over again, with the ultimate goal of changing the behavior of theentire organization.


    How long does this take? On average,about two years from implementation. Though you might start to see results inthe first year, the momentum kicks in when employees begin to see the return onnew behavior motivated by the program itself. Much of the success and cycle onreturn will depend on how much time and effort was invested upfront to make theprogram a success.


    New pay programs aren’t a quick fix,and the initiative requires total commitment from the key stakeholders.Unfortunately, corporate patience runs short, and companies tend to pull theplug on new programs or start tinkering with the design if they don’t see areturn in the first six months – a deadly mistake when it comes to employeemotivation, one that undermines the entire mission of the redesign. So, if youwant the redesign to work, invest time into getting a good design in place,implement it and leave it alone. It’s not unlike investing in the stock market- you have to look at the long-range returns and trust the process.


   Ifyou’re wondering what the process should look like and where to begin,today’s most effective plans are designed in stages that typically include thefollowing steps:

  1. Identify critical business priorities and the talent required to achieve results. (In some companies, it’s specific groups of employees, and in others, strategic compensation efforts are focused on the entire workforce.)
  2. Assess competitive-market pay practices to use as a benchmark to identify what you can and can’t do to compete in the marketplace.
  3. Conduct focus groups to understand employee perspectives, and encourage partnership in designing reward plans.
  4. Select a reward plan design that will be most effective in meeting your overall objectives.
  5. Develop the specific reward plan (with employee participation) that will most effectively motivate employees to achieve desired business results, and acknowledge their contributions.

    If you’re concerned that your companymay be dealing with too many priorities to develop and commit to a formalretention strategy – compensation-based or otherwise – you’re not alone.Additional data from the previously cited Watson Wyatt survey indicates thatonly 35 percent of the 397 U.S. employers surveyed have a formal retentionstrategy. Instead, retention strategies appear to be evolving in stages, withcompensation playing an important role.


    Two compensation-based approachesappear to be emerging in the workplace: 1) Overall, companies are seeing thevalue of designing pay systems to support business goals, thereby engagingemployees in the business and rewarding them based on their contributions tosuccess, and 2) Companies are developing compensation-based retention strategiestargeted at specific employee groups critical to achieving specific businessresults.


    One company that has made a commitmentto the new pay approach is Chicago-based OEI Business Products. In a time whenBLS cites average tenure for wage workers at 3.6 years, and managers andprofessionals only slightly higher at 4.8 years, OEI enjoys an average tenure of8.5 years. Amy Schuett, director of HR at OEI, attributes their success to acompany culture that is relationship driven and committed to promotion andgrowth from within. In addition, the company uses a variety of performance-basedcompensation programs that tie employee rewards to company success.


    Managers and professional staff at OEIearn annual bonuses based on a formula that rewards their contributions to ROA(return on assets) and achievement of specific business goals. The salesforceparticipates in an incentive plan that pays out based on achievement of specificvolume and profit objectives, and reflects competitive industry performance.Several of OEI’s manufacturing operations base incentive awards on achievementof specific productivity and efficiency improvements. While not its directintent, OEI has created a retention culture that provides rewards based onemployee contributions to business results, which is supported by management’scommitment to internal promotion and growth opportunities.


    While OEI has taken a companywideapproach to strategic pay design, our research indicates many companies taketheir first steps towards strategic pay in a somewhat piecemeal fashion – forinstance, when they have specific business needs to address and critical groupsof employees to retain.


    For example, Mel Warriner, principal ofEugene, Oregon-based consulting firm The Company Tribe, tells us his new ventureclient, Car Wash Partners, developed an innovative approach to attracting andretaining on-call employees to handle fluctuating staffing levels. The companypartnered with local colleges offering part-time employment to students – withan added retention benefit. Students who worked specified hours of on-call shiftwork over the course of a year were not only paid for their hours worked, butalso received a $2,000 scholarship.


 


Measuring the results of new payprograms.
   So how do you measure results? If theobject of the new plan was to attract and retain employees, look at time-to-filland turnover ratios, and build the compensation question into exit interviews.If the object was to increase sales productivity, look at trends in data ofrevenue growth, sales-call activity, new account openings and so on. Go back tothe objectives, and that’s where you’ll find results – and remember thatchange takes time.


    For example, SAS Inc., a Cary, NorthCarolina-based software development firm that ranked third on Fortune’s listof “100 Best Companies to Work For” (January 1999) looks to retention ratiosas a key indicator of program results.


    David Russo, director of humanresources at SAS, believes the company enjoys a turnover rate of less than 4percent because of employees know they are an integral part of the team thatdrives the company’s success. Russo reported SAS provides a myriad ofinnovative employee benefit programs, and is committed to providing acompetitive total compensation package. Russo believes offering a competitivebase salary is the cornerstone of good compensation practice and critical toattracting and retaining talent. In addition, SAS uses performance-based bonusesto recognize individual contributions across all levels of the organization.


 


Tying it all together.
   Research done by Sharon Jordan Evans,co-author with Beverly Kaye of the upcoming book Love ’Em or Lose ’Em -Getting Good People to Stay (Berrett-Koehler, 1999) reiterates the importance ofstrategic pay. She confirms that the top reasons people stay with companies aregrowth and learning opportunities, and because they feel recognized and rewardedfor their contributions. She believes employees who are fully engaged in thebusiness aren’t thinking about other jobs. “What we all want is a job thatmakes us want to get up in the morning where we’re happy, productive andappreciated for what we do,” states Jordan Evans.


    So what’s the bottom line? The era oflifetime employment is over. As HR professionals, the smartest thing we can dois to create a retention culture that engages high-performing employees in doingmeaningful work for as long as the relationship is mutually rewarding. Recognizethat both money and environment have an impact on where people choose to work.Take an integrated approach to designing reward, recognition and developmentpractices that will help your company become an employer of choice.


Workforce, May 1999, Vol 78,No 5, pp. 36-40  SubscribeNow!

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Specialized Certificates Offered to HR

They read like alphabet soup. You can barely keep track of what each acronym means. Here’s a quick rundown of some additional specialized and general HR-related certificates available today:


CEBS (Certified Employee Benefits Specialist):
A 10-course curriculum designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of employee-benefit principles and concepts. Individuals earn the professional designation of Certified Employee Benefit Specialist upon completion of the program. Available through colleges, universities and the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP). For more information, visit http://www.ifebp.org.


CBP (Certified Benefits Professional) and CCP (Certified Compensation Professional):
The American Compensation Association offers a dual-track program for either designation. Both require a passing score on nine examinations, including three common core exams in total compensation management principles of accounting and finance, and quantitative methods. Dual-certification candidates with no previously earned CBP or CCP certification credits are required to pass 15 exams. For more information, visit http://www.acaonline.org.


CEAP (Certified Employee Assistance Professional):
This exam is given by the Employee Assistance Certification Commission. It is designed to demonstrate knowledge at the professional level of EAP work. For more information, visit http://www.eap-association.com/index1.htm.


HR Generalist Certificate Program:
SHRM’s two and a half-day seminar provides a basic overview of all the functional areas of human resources: compensation, administration, employee benefits, employee and labor relations, training and development, and staffing. It’s aimed at HR specialists desiring a generalist knowledge for career advancement, HR professionals in need of a broad-based technical refresher, and HR managers in small organizations desiring a broader perspective. For more information, visit http://www.shrm.org/seminars/hrgeneralist/htm.


Workforce, May 1999, Vol. 78, No. 5, p. 74.


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Stop-gap Measures for the IT Staffing Crunch

Desperate employers are sick of the technical staffing shortage. First, there weren t enough IT workers to fill the openings. Now there aren t enough technical recruiters to fight over the limited talent that exists. It s a frustrating situation that leaves many of us cursing the strides of technology.


But like it or not, technology will continue to progress at breakneck speed, and at least for the immediate future, the IT staffing shortage will continue to be the bane of every recruiter s existence. A sad reality, certainly, but before the crying towel gets too soggy, take comfort in two things: the shortage won t last as long as you think, and you can ease the pressure through a variety of stop-gap measures.


Sure, there are alarming reports that indicate this “IT crisis” has legs—statistics that suggest it will run forever and exhaust everyone s resources. The “Help Wanted 1998” study released by the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) and the Virginia Polytechnic Institute indicates there are currently 346,000 vacant IT jobs nationwide, with an average of 90,000 openings being added yearly.


Dramatic statistics like these catch everyone s attention. However, both logic and history suggest this information may be overstated. For example, IMS programmers were scarce in the early 80s, and the shortage triggered similar alarms that suggested the problem could potentially paralyze the business world. But when IBM introduced their first relational database only a few years later, suddenly the market was glutted with IMS programmers.


Many expect a similar scenario with COBOL programmers, who ve been in high demand for Y2K projects that will wane significantly after the bulk of the project work is completed in the next 12 months. History tells us that every business condition is cyclical, and the IT staffing shortage is a predictable dynamic in this process.


So how should HR be responding to this current but potentially short-term problem? The best advice is to take action through a number of strategies that will help ease the current pain, but don t completely restructure your internal systems around what will likely be a temporary shortage.


Cast a global recruiting net for ITworkers.
One way to increase the supply of IT workers is to look outside of the United States. You can enlarge the talent pie by bringing skilled professionals into the country from overseas. The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service issues H-1B visas, which allow “specialty occupation” workers to enter the United States for employment.


Specialty occupations—jobs for which no U.S. citizen is available because of the supply and demand imbalance—include such professions as information systems and engineering specialists.


There are two good things about H-1Bs. First, they allow you to travel the globe while you identify technical professionals who want to work in the United States. Second, the H-1B is valid only for the employer who arranges it. If you bring a technical professional into the country and he or she decides to jump ship, it s likely that the ship he or she will have to jump on is the one that s going back to the home country. If the person wants to come back, he or she has to start the immigration process all over again. As a result, most H-1B visa holders demonstrate remarkable loyalty.


History tells us that every business condition is cyclical, and the IT staffing shortage is a predictable dynamic in this process.


There are some drawbacks to H-1Bs, too. First, the overseas trip can take you away from your job for several weeks, is expensive, and you may very well come home empty handed. If you recruit for two weeks, a lot of time goes by after you come home, wait through the 6 to 12 week Immigration and Naturalization Service processing time (if the INS isn t backlogged), make the offer and wait the customary four-week European notice period. Candidates often fall out of such a lengthy process. Your company s business conditions may also change mid-stream, leaving you with overseas help you may no longer need.


Then, in September 1998, the biggest problem with H-1B visas was that there weren t any. Visas are allocated on a first-come, first-serve basis and the 65,000 visas allotted for 1998 had been used up by May. In October, however, Congress passed a budget bill that significantly increased the H-1B allotments for 1999, 2000 and 2001.


According to the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), a Washington, D.C.-based national bar association of more than 5,200 attorneys who practice and teach immigration law, reported that as of February 28, 1999, 81,000 of the 115,000 H-1Bs available for fiscal 1999 had been used.


The AILA went on to say that approximately 10,000 H-1B petitions were being approved each month and they believe that 35,000 H-1B petitions are pending with INS. These figures suggest that the 1999 allotment will run out in May again, four months before the beginning of the new fiscal year when more will be available.


Don Allen, COO of the Pro4 Division of Glovia International, an El Segundo, California-based software company, has relied heavily on the H-1B process for recruiting IT talent. Ninety percent of Pro4 s software developers are on H-1Bs, having come from Japan, Korea, India, Russia, Mexico, Ireland and Britain.


“There s great competition for H-1Bs. We ve been successful because we have been diligent,” says Allen, referring to working the applications through the INS. “On the other hand, employees who are on H-1Bs often want you to sponsor them for permanent resident status, so the $3,000 cost for the H-1B visa can grow to $9000 to $12,000 when you add the cost of the Green Card.”


Outsourcing IT work overseas has risks and rewards.
On the other hand, your IT department isn t the only place where your company s IT work can be done. While there are many overseas workers who want to come to the U.S. to work, there are just as many who want to stay home and take on outsourcing projects.


The ITAA reports that 16 percent of the companies in its “Help Wanted 1998” study outsource some of their IT work overseas. This practice isn t without its challenges. The individuals doing the work are on the other side of the planet, which means you relinquish a lot of control over the project, and communication can be a big issue, especially with a workforce that s typically asleep when you re awake. Then there are potential language and cultural barriers to work through.


As daunting as these challenges seem, they can be successfully managed, and the payoffs can be big. For instance, work done in India, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia or several other countries can cost as little as half the cost of doing the same work in your IT department.


Outsourcing IT work overseas can also have a positive and dramatic effect on recruiting. Ed Trainor, CIO at Los Angeles-based Paramount Pictures, adopted a clever strategy. He explains, “We attempted to outsource the less interesting and challenging mainframe work to India. We kept the new technology and interesting development work here. When we recruited locally, we recruited mostly for those jobs, and that gave us a competitive advantage in the labor market.”


Recently, partly because they reduced their dependence on the mainframe systems that generated most of the work sent to India, Paramount ended its outsourcing program.


Trainor strengthened the company s recruiting position by sending a significant portion of the less desirable work to India, which made it easier for his recruiter to do her job. Not only could the recruiter sell candidates on good pay, modern technology and the glamour of working on the Paramount lot, but she could also promote the fact that the less interesting work had been sent elsewhere, leaving mostly the leading edge, career-enhancing work to be done in-house. This was a very attractive package for many candidates.


If you can t find em, train em.
Since a global search isn t a feasible option for many organizations, the best way companies can ease the technical talent shortage is to increase the supply of capable individuals who are trained in the required technologies.


The problem companies face with training is that as soon as old technology programmers are trained in particularly popular software, they become very valuable and become the targets of headhunters. Companies either prolong their agony by refusing to train—thus continuing the shortage—or they train and watch some of their newly trained employees leave. However, training may be coupled with retention. Your training investment doesn t have to walk out the door.


When you have IT workers, how do you keep them?
Of course, turnover is the killer. The impact of trained, knowledgeable and productive IT employees taking their skills to a higher bidder is severe.


Though pay is important, money isn t the primary reason technical employees leave or stay. Other matters—matters related to the work itself, the workplace and your management—are often more important. Cathy Shepard, performance and rewards practice leader for Mercer Consulting Group s Los Angeles office, describes the bad news. “Responding to talent shortages with pay can be done quickly, but it s expensive. Changing other attraction and retention factors can help you avoid some costs, but the fixes take a long time and a lot of effort. While pay is a quick fix, it does not retain employees over the long haul. Challenging and career-enhancing projects, good management and quality of work/life takes longer, but has a better probability of improving employee retention.”


Many studies have been done about retention, and they all say the same thing: career development opportunities, challenging work assignments, high-quality supervision and leadership, and good work environments are what attract and keep high-tech talent.


Compensation strategies that don t affect position evaluation or base pay will produce less regret when the shortage is over.


What can you do about career-development opportunities? You would think that the silver lining of turnover would be that it creates promotional opportunities. But Shepard points out, “Without extensive training, companies are reluctant to promote employees to positions they may not be entirely prepared for. When they have turnover, they go to the outside to try to hire candidates they view as already trained.” And if your turnover is low, ambitious employees will leave before they are promoted.


Plus, Shepard points out, flatter organizations mean fewer promotional opportunities. What companies can offer instead of promotions are challenging and career-enhancing projects. But do this only if you have leading-edge technology and interesting projects. If you don t, you have a problem.


Unfortunately not every company is in a position to offer glitzy projects and cutting-edge technology. And the CIO is unlikely to respond to the recruiting staff s request for a PeopleSoft or Oracle conversion so they can offer candidates “sexy” work. So what are your options?


  • You can embark on major selection projects to help you hire people who like you and your organization s work.
  • You can embark on a major management-training project to help your IT management move from a bits-and-bytes orientation to a people-sensitive orientation.
  • You can embark on a major quality of work/life intervention to fix whatever is wrong with your environment.
  • Or you can whip some quick money fixes on the problem while you re working on the other stuff.

Pay interventions could provide a good short-term band aid.
The most important thing to consider when applying a pay fix to the technical staffing crunch is this: The shortages are temporary, remember? Before too much time goes by, client/server, Windows , Oracle, PeopleSoft and all the other critical skills will be abundant.


If you reevaluate all your technical positions and regrade them today, you ll have a mess in a few years. Abundant talent means technical pay will return to normal. Your technical jobs will be misgraded, and you ll be having an unpleasant discussion with your technical employees about why they shouldn t expect a merit increase for their remaining years with the organization—or at least until your pay structure catches up to their inflated, and no longer market-justified, salaries. Here are some pay interventions you won t regret later:


Signing Bonuses:
These average 8 percent of salary, according to several unpublished Mercer studies. Retention bonuses average 8.5 percent. Some companies are combining them. All or part of the signing bonuses will be paid out only if the employee stays for an agreed-upon time. Others pay out gradually over the agreed upon period.


Short Term Incentives and Product Bonuses:
Short-term incentives average 12 percent of salary, according to Mercer. Some are tied to group performance or project completion, others to individual performance and some to the performance of the entire department.

Hot Skill Bonuses:
One of the most intriguing pay options, hot skill bonuses can be separated from pay in employees minds by paying quarterly. Surveys can be done quarterly to gauge the demand for hot skills, and the results can be used to vary the amount of the bonuses from quarter to quarter. As the skills become less hot because more people have them, the bonuses gradually drop to zero. Making training available to employees who don t have the hot skills will help avoid staff discontent on the part of those who are not receiving the bonuses.


Aggressive IT Merit Increases:
Though this may be the first solution in many people s minds, moving pay higher in the range will produce a backlash later on when some employees pay is red-lined and others increases are close to zero because they are so high.


Whatever you do, remember: Compensation strategies that don t affect position evaluation or base pay will produce less regret when the shortage is over.


If you re a high-profile employer of choice with lots of aggressive and smart recruiters, you re probably coming out on top in the recruiting game, and maybe even having some fun doing it.


But if you re an average company, you re probably just holding your own. So take a look at all of your options, and remember, if it helps you keep your recruiting ship afloat, a short-term fix might not be such a bad approach.


Workforce, May 1999, Vol. 78, No. 5, pp. 58-58.


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Is It Time to Be Recertified

Once you obtain your HR certification—either the PHR or SPHR designation—remember that you must be recertified every three years, according to Alexandria, Virginia-based Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI). The requirement helps to ensure that human resources professionals stay current on industry trends.


To fulfill the recertification requirement, you must either take the current version of the PHR or SPHR exam—or complete 60 contact hours in some form of HR activity. The six categories and types of accepted activities are listed below:


Continuing education:
Seminars, conferences, college coursework, video conferencing and audiotaped seminars.


Instruction:
teaching a class or making educational presentations in one’s organization.


On-the-job experience:
Implementing some type of new program in the organization—i.e. a new benefits plan or new performance appraisal plan.


Research or publishing:
Conducting research on an HR topic or writing a report on the HR field—i.e. periodical article, or an HR-related document.


Leadership:
Responsibility in a local HR organization or chairing a committee.


Professional membership:
Membership in Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), and other kindred organizations, such as the American Compensation Association (ACA) or the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD).


Source: Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI).


Workforce, May 1999, Vol. 78, No. 5, p. 80.


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Traditional Pay vs. Strategic Pay

Traditional Pay vs. Strategic Pay

Traditional Pay Strategic Pay
  • Supports command and control management and traditional job hierarchies.
  • Designed with business objectives and strategic plan.
  • Driven by duties and responsibilities in job description; focuses on tasks.
  • Motivates and rewards critical behaviors; focuses on contribution.
  • Highly structured design with little room for flexibility.
  • Flexible design adapts to changes in business priorities.
  • Tightly controlled communication, “need to know” basis only.
  • Openly communicates shared vision, performance expectations and success.
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Certification Enhances HR’s Credibility

Scan the classified ads, and you’ll notice a significant trend. Employers increasingly are requiring human resource directors and managers to be certified, according to Sandra K. Deming, an HR consultant in El Segundo, California.


Through the Professionals In Human Resources Association (PIHRA), Deming attended an eight-week study program once a week that prepared her for the Senior Professional Human Resource (SPHR) examination. A measurement of competency, growth and achievement, the Professional HR (PHR) and SPHR designations signify that an individual has mastered the basic human resources body of knowledge: management practices, general employment practices, staffing, HR development, compensation and benefits, employee and labor relations, and health, safety and security. “By taking the exam and continuing to recertify, I ve kept my skills at the leading edge,” says Deming, who took her first test in 1992. “I felt it would offer me HR credentials right off the bat.”


The Human Resource Certificate Institute (HRCI), run by the Alexandria, Virginia-based Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), maintains the nationally recognized standards set by those who work in the human resources profession.


Clearly, today s business world demands a higher level of HR and business competency than ever before. Without advancing your career through certification and eventually even a master s degree in business administration, organizational development, human resources management or leadership, your chances of being taken seriously as a business partner are nil.


For example, in order to be considered a strategic player today, you ll need to understand how HR initiatives impact business results. This requires a basic knowledge of finance and general business management. Without these competencies, it s difficult to operate at a higher organizational level, at which quantifying HR results is a requirement and speaking the same language as other senior managers is expected. Let s be honest — calculating the return on outsourcing the recruitment function requires a lot more knowledge than figuring out the cost of the company holiday party.


But whether or not you actually decide to pursue a master s degree, HR competencies have changed. You should at least consider obtaining your professional or senior human resource certification. Says Dave Ulrich, professor at the School of Business at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and author of Human Resource Champions (Harvard Business School Press, 1997): “Certification is a marvelous opportunity for entrants to the HR profession. It assures them that they are grounded in the basic knowledge and facts for making HR successful. In addition, HR professionals must learn the business. How they learn is open to debate, but acquiring an MBA is one good way. Without understanding business, HR professionals will continue to focus on activity, not outcomes.”


To be sure, today s business world is a new playing field for HR. Expectations are high and business issues are complex a new and evolving set of sophisticated skills are required to keep HR on top of their game.


In fact, you may have already recognized the need to boost your base of knowledge. According to HRCI, there are 33,000 HR professionals who currently hold a PHR or SPHR certification. Approximately 65 percent of HRCI s professionals have obtained the former, 35 percent, the latter.


Also, a Workforce survey conducted among our readers in 1998 revealed that 56 percent of respondents had obtained one form of HR certification. And 67 percent said they believed HR certification gives human resources professionals more credibility among corporate peers and other senior managers. Nevertheless, 96 percent also said their current employer didn t require certification in order to be hired, perhaps explaining why the numbers of those certified aren t higher. According to some HR professionals, these are surprising statistics that appear to be changing.


In another survey conducted by the Bureau of National Affairs (BNA) in 1997-98, accreditations have been earned by 37 percent of 286 HR executives (HR directors or vice presidents) surveyed. The SPHR held by 17 percent of those surveyed remains the most common certificate among HR officers. Eleven percent of the BNA s Personnel Policies Forum members have obtained their PHR designation.


A major change in HRCI eligibility requirements.
Effective January 1 of this year, HRCI announced a major change in the eligibility requirements for its two certifications: the PHR designation, which focuses primarily on day-to-day administrative and technical aspects of human resources; and the SPHR designation, which is a more strategic and policy level exam. According to Jill McDermott of HRCI, candidates for either the PHR or SPHR exams now need only two years of exempt HR-level experience. Before, an individual seeking the PHR certification needed four years of exempt HR level experience. And individuals seeking the SPHR certification were required to have eight years of exempt HR experience.


The change, she says, is in response to the explosive growth in the human resources profession and the growing trend of placing non-HR executives with extensive general management experience into senior HR positions. “We ve received a lot of feedback that [employers] want people with more practical experience,” McDermott says. For instance, some business professionals outside HR often have experience related to mergers and acquisitions, downsizing, staff development, financial analysis or performance improvement programs expertise that is highly valued in HR s new role.


“Prior to this year, individuals were able to substitute education for part of the experience requirement,” McDermott says. For example, an individual could substitute two years of experience with a bachelor s degree and three years with a master s degree. “Now, education can t be substituted for experience,” says McDermott, which makes a minimum of two years experience in HR mandatory for certification.


HRCI does not endorse or recommend a particular book or course of study to prepare for the exams. Individuals are thus advised to select a method of study that fits their personal situation. However, SHRM and other organizations, such as PIHRA, offer preparation materials for the exam. The four-hour exam covers the basic disciplines of HR described above.


Exams are offered two times per year (May and December) in major cities around the country. The exam also is offered at the SHRM Annual Conference and Exposition. Assessment Systems Inc. (ASI), based in Philadelphia, administers the HRCI exam at a cost of $285 for SHRM members and $325 for non-members.


Recertification also is required every three years to keep HR current on industry issues and to further the practitioner s education in the field. Individuals can either retest, which means taking the most current version of the exam, or participate in 60 contact hours of HR-related activities. The cost to recertify is $75.


So is it worth it? “In my experience here at HRCI, I ve found that companies increasingly do look for certified professionals in HR [because it ensures a base line of competency],” says McDermott. With HR s role becoming more and more challenging and critical to the organization, few would argue the value of continued education.


Public employees can obtain a leadership certificate.
A program for mid-level public personnel professionals is the HRM (Human Resource Management) Professional Development Leadership Program. It was established several years ago by the Federal Section of Alexandria, Virginia-based International Personnel Management Association (IPMA), which serves HR professionals working in federal, state or local government.


The program s objective is to provide human resources professionals with a broad understanding of management issues. Due to government downsizing activity and attrition, IPMA s board of directors saw the need to “grow the next generation of federal HR managers,” says Sarah Shiffert, senior director of association services. “The goal is to help mid-level HR become true business partners, rather than gatekeepers.”


“The goal is to help mid-level HR become business partners, rather than gatekeepers,” says Sarah Shiffert, senior director of IPMA services.


According to Shiffert, some of the competencies for becoming a business partner include understanding business process, clients and organizational culture, team behavior, communication, creating a risk taking environment, possessing good analytical skills, and being able to link HR to the organization s mission and service outcome. The program design includes:


  • Projects assigned to expand research, organizational, analysis and presentation skills.
  • Leadership seminars that focus on critical personal, communication and change management skills.
  • Classroom training provided by management experts from various federal agencies who discuss policy issues with practical application.
  • Visits to various organizations or legislative bodies to gain an appreciation for their perspectives on management issues.

Those who should consider this program are mid-level HR specialists (GS-11 through GS-13 levels) who want to enhance their professional development, advance in their careers and develop change management skills. Says Syrena West, an HR professional in the U.S. Department of Defense: “The program provided an opportunity to hear what people are doing in all disciplines in personnel from inside and outside the government. It was an experience of growth for me.”


The program is held in the Washington, D.C. area in five separate sessions. Participants outside Washington, D.C., are responsible for their own travel, food and lodging, which aren t included in the tuition fee. Program costs are $900 for members of the Federal section, $915 for individual and agency members of IPMA without Federal Section membership, and $1,015 for all others.


To obtain more information, visit the IPMA Federal Section Web site at http://www.ipma-hr.org/mbrshp/federal to download the application.


PERC certificate emphasizes Internet competency.
One of the lesser-known certification programs is the (CERP) designation. It s awarded by the Atlanta-based Positive Employee Relations Council (PERC), a network of 1,100 individuals in professional employee relations, legal or management positions around the world.


The CERP designation is awarded to HR professionals in the United States. The basis for certification is a minimum of five years experience as an HR professional (two years of university equals one year of experience), satisfactory completion of an exam testing Internet usage and a 40-question competency exam focusing on employment law. To test Internet competency, individuals are asked to demonstrate they can conduct HR-related research over the Internet for example, accessing URLs (Internet addresses) and sites that provide information on the AFL-CIO, drug testing and state and federal labor laws. In addition to testing Internet competency, true-false tests are given to assess knowledge of labor laws.


One essential difference between the SHRM and the CERP certification is the Internet knowledge required by the latter. SHRM certification is considered by many to be the most prestigious and most widely recognized, while CERP provides a more specific and less expensive route (less than $100).


One reason for its relative anonymity is the fact that it s limited to PERC network subscribers, and recognizes only those HR professionals who are proficient in the use of the Internet. As the need for intranets and electronic interactivity between management and employees become routine, more emphasis will be placed on new-age technology competencies. HR professionals who want to establish their techno-literacy may be interested in pursuing the CERP designation. A subscription fee of $95 is required, and includes:


  • Application fees for CERP designation
  • A subscription to the electronic newsletter for information regarding HR issues and articles
  • A free $79.95 CD-ROM entitled, “People Who Lead People,” an interactive management development computer-based training system
  • Use of PERC s employee-opinion survey instrument
  • Free downloads and other electronic goodies.

For more information on CERP certification, visit PERC s Web site at: http://www.perc.net.


Certificate programs in HR management offer another route.
Perhaps you ve always dreamed of obtaining a college degree. But for some reason, you weren t able to matriculate. Rather than, or in addition to, preparing for HRCI s certification, you can enroll in one of many certificate programs in human resources management available nationwide. These programs are typically offered as extension courses through local universities.


For example, University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) Extension s Department of Business and Management offers 13 courses in HR management, including four online classes. The courses are designed to provide HR staff with the knowledge and practical skills one needs to meet today s competitive business environment, according to Patricia Hunt, head of the UCLA program.


Upon completion of a sequence of courses, a student can earn a certificate in human resources management. Or if matriculated as an undergraduate, the classes can be credited toward a bachelor s degree. The following courses are included in the curriculum:


  • Elements of Human Resources Management
  • Financial Aspects of Human Resources Management
  • Recruitment, Interviewing and Selection
  • Design, Implementation and Administration of Employee Compensation
  • Design, Implementation and Administration of Employee Benefits Programs
  • Employee Relations and Legal Aspects of Human Resources Management
  • Human Resources in a Business, Organizational and Management Context
  • Building a Future-oriented Human Resources Department
  • Human Resources Development.

Online courses include: Elements of HR Management; HR Development; Design, Implementation and Administration of Employee Compensation Program; and International Human Resources Management.


According to UCLA s HR faculty, the program offers students grounding in the major areas required of a personnel generalist. It also provides exposure to leading practitioners in the field, practical applications, convenient schedules (evenings and weekends) and group discounts for three or more employees from a company enrolling in the courses.


Those who are considering certification through extension courses should keep in mind that it requires more time and cost commitment.


However, those who are considering this option should keep in mind that it requires more time and cost commitment. Unlike the SHRM and CERP certifications, one isn t required to pass a test, but must complete all the requirements of each course. In terms of costs, college or university certificate programs in HR are much more expensive. Instead of paying a flat examination fee, you pay approximately $345 per course, which adds up when you multiply that by nine courses ($3,105).


Because the courses are offered through extension programs, students can test the waters by taking one course as a standalone. Upon getting a better feel for the program and faculty, you can then decide whether to matriculate or not.


Although HRCI s PHR and SPHR certificates are more widely known, Deming still recommends considering a university certificate program. The former, she says, is more respected than the university programs. However, the university programs provide more in-depth learning. “The training you get through [SHRM and PIHRA] is not for university credit. They help you study specifically for a test.”


How to choose what s best for you.
Whether you seek an HR professional certification or a certificate in HR management from a university, assess your goals, needs and resources. Many of your colleagues may have one or both. Talk to them and ask what were their goals and benefits at the time they sought their certifications and certificates. What s good for them at one time may not be good for you now.


Speak to your HR colleagues to assess your skills matrix. By knowing your current areas of strengths and weaknesses, you ll be able to determine which program best suits your needs. And if you have time and cost restraints, those factors will also determine which path you pursue. Consider your long-term career goals, as well. If you want to climb the corporate ladder, professional certifications and college degrees are standard fare. Says Deming: “The key is to have enough options.”


Workforce, May 1999, Vol. 78, No. 5, pp. 71-80.