One day one of my team members huffed and puffed : “But Sandrine, this is boring !”. One employee had complained and said she was being discriminated against. She claimed she had been left behind during a job grading change (promotion) that had been implemented 4 or 5 years before for a specific category of…
Do we need job descriptions ?
June 19, 2012 by 5 Comments
I am often asked : “Do we need job descriptions ?” A lot of managers ask for them. Of course, these managers very rarely think of doing it themselves and writing down the description, maybe even with the input of the employees who hold those roles ! Why do these managers expect HR to write…
Case study – refusing to increase base pay further
June 17, 2012 by 8 Comments
I have created, over the years, a “swipe file” of C&B situations I have faced and how I reacted to them. The idea is that I keep a copy of the more seminal communication pieces I have written, mostly one-to-one, not the “all employees” emails that we all have to spend from time to time.…
Comparing salary ranges? Really?
June 14, 2012 by 2 Comments
I was recently approached by a well-meaning Organisation Development specialist working for a governmental organisation. This gentleman emailed me the following : “I have been requested to benchmark our salary grades with other (semi-)government entities. Therefore we are approaching some organizations to see what they can share with us. We are mainly interested in the…
Prepare a superb self assessment
June 12, 2012 by 2 Comments
As we approach mid-year, many companies have put in place a mid-year review for checking on progress against goals etc. These tips will help employees prepare for their self-assessment as well as managers who want to give advice to their team members on preparing for the discussion. Don’t hesitate to use the print button at the…
How to create a drop-down list in Excel
June 10, 2012 by 5 Comments
In this edition of Sunday Skills, I want to show you how to create a drop-down list in your Excel sheets. This is really useful when you are collecting information from multiple sources and you want to ensure that the data you collect is easy to compile and use for analysis. For example if you…
Are you constrained to say bonus is discretionary?
June 7, 2012 by 1 Comment
One of my recent posts covered the pros and cons of keeping compensation information confidential. There are positives to each side of the coin, but my view is that we should communicate as much as possible when it comes to Compensation and Benefits rules, entitlements and required contributions. There are too many drawbacks to not…
