How to turn a conversation about a promotion increase into a negative

How can a promotion have a negative impact on employee motivation ? Don’t mess up on the salary increase and try to skimp on a few euros !

Reader Question – When shall I review salaries for staff on Fixed Term contract ?

Tips for deciding when to review salaries for staff on fixed-term contract, whether they are employees or external.

How do I give an increase to an employee who has reached the maximum of his salary range ?

How do I give an annual salary increase to an employee who has reached a maximum salary ceiling in his or her notch or position ? A question from James at HR Toolbox… but one which I have also heard from clients and past colleagues as well. It can happen quite easily that someone reaches…

How low salary is not low cost (always)

In Dubai where I live, and in other GCC countries, many organisations rely on cheap (imported) labour in order to manufacture, distribute and sell their products. A lot of HR Directors don’t necessarily believe in this “cheap cheap cheap” approach, but they struggle to get heard by the leadership team, and they often ask me…

Do you have questions about the Cost of Living reports ?

A few weeks ago I introduced the Cost of Living Reports for the UAE, Qatar, KSA and an overall GCC report. The reports are very comprehensive and include sections on: accommodation costs (very detailed by accommodation type and area in the Dubai and Abu Dhabi) education health transport and travel costs household goods and utility…

2013 Compensation best practices [infographic]

It’s my birthday today, and I want to share with you a “gift” in the form of quick infographic from Payscale.com. It covers best practices in Compensation & Benefits for 2013 and is interesting for companies in all countries even though the study is based on US organisations. I strongly suggest you get the full…

Out-of-the-box thinking for designing merit matrices

Are you using a merit matrix for deciding salary increases for the employees in your company ? Then you are already familiar with the traditional “bands” or “ranges” of comparatio (basic pay compared to midpoint of the salary range associated with the grade of the employee – the position of the employee in the pay…