Share the knowledge – November 2011

Once again I want to share with you some of the best articles, news and blog posts that I read during the month. I’m covering general Compensation & Benefits, compensation articles that are more closely linked to the Middle East region, and some general articles that relate to management, leadership, governance or social media.

I hope you enjoy this reading !

Some of the best or most relevant Compensation & Benefits, performance management, HR and/or global mobility articles that I came across recently :

• “How evil are you ?”, despite its provocative title, is great at explaining how, in uncertain times, we use other people’s behaviour as a guide to our own. The author cleverly links it to recognition schemes, explaining that peer to peer recognition schemes can help reinforce (but not fix) a culture by signalling to the organisation what are the desired behaviours and achievements.
• A fabulous post on the role of the Compensation Manager in today’s economy, and how despite flat increase budgets and bonus pools, Compensation need not get to sleep :
• A leaked whitepaper reveals intentions of the European Commission with respect to pensions (requires free registration)
• This article shows that sometimes, recognition programmes (and intentions) can go bad…
• Here is a great article on the importance of communication in HR
• A light approach to some of the biggest trends in HR
• The International Labour Organisation warns of an impending , deeper jobs recession… It will take at least 5 years to return to pre-crisis employment levels 
•  An interesting, if a bit dark and cynical, approach to the impact some companies have on HR

For those of you who are interested in GCC and MENA articles, here are some regional pieces :

•  A new Head of Global Benefits for Aon Hewitt in Dubai
  
• A reaction from a Dubai-based expat journalist on the possible introduction of mandatory pensions for expats in Dubai
•  … And apparently employers are also not very happy about the idea…
• … While here we find some more “technical” views on what the Dubai pension scheme could look like, as well as some of the challenges, such as the related impossibility (at least at the moment) to get a long-term residence visa even for home owners
  
• The pension debate also exists in South Africa
• Another piece on the challenges of nationalisation of jobs in the Gulf. It contains a few interesting stats on workforce composition, as well as a comment from UAE about a possible subsidization of positions for Emiratis in the private sector in order to try and bridge some of the pay gap which makes private work lees attractive to locals (2-page article).
  
• … and the IMF expects massively larger numbers of unemployed GCC Nationals in the coming years due to the mismatch between their skills and what the private sector needs, as well as the continued attractiveness of the higher pay and lesser work hours in the public sector.
• Wage growth poses a “real danger” to the government budget in Kuwait, as per their Finance Minister. Read this very candid and detailed account of the costs of salaries an social welfare in Kuwait.
• Abu Dhai offers a model for  healthcare for all in the UAE
  
• In Bahrain, a new pension fund has been established to deal with military and security personnel to stop classified information being leaked
• For those of you who want a recap of the recent commitments from GCC governments in order to improve the situation of their citizens (and reduce the risk of tension spreading from the rest of the Arab world to them)
  

Best of the rest:

• This BCG Perspectives article (requires free registration) details how to get employees to solve problems, which is needed in the face of the ever increasing complexity that most organisations face.
• A description of why sometimes, defining home is difficult for an expat. I liked this short but “real-life” article…  And for me, home for the time being is the UAE. I went back to France (where I was born and raised) for 4 years after living in Rome and London, and then a second time for one year after living in Turin and Dubai. Both times were difficult for me as I recognised my country, but felt disconnected from other people’s lives – and I itched to go away and be exposed to the great cultural richness of being outside of my cultural expectations. Yet when I’m abroad I always look forward to the time I spend back in France…. But for vacation only 🙂
• A great post taking you step by step through a real-life example of how to better show data using Excel. I absolutely love this demo as I can imagine many ways to apply this kind of approach to data in Compensation & Benefits !
• Interesting perspective on how Courts in the USA are trying to maintain a delicate balance between the need to have some regulations and control on executive pay especially as a fallout of the global crisis on the one hand, and the need for Boards and companies to decide their strategy to exec compensation by themselves on the other hand.
  
• The price of ethics ? Sharlyn Lauby raises some very valid points.
• Not enough skirts in the boardroom… do I need to say more ? This article points to certain diversity measures to give more opportunities to females at the top of the organisation – some of these can be adapted to push for the growth of local Nationals in the GCC as well…