Two years of Compensation Insider !

2 years of Compensation Insider !Two years ago on this very day, I launched Compensation Insider and published my first post.

As many of you know, I am deeply interested in Compensation & Benefits, and am involved in many ways beyond work : I have subscribed to many HR and C&B blogs, attend webinars even late at night, read any book that can help me improve my knowledge and mastery, and participate in networking events where I’m always happy to learn as well as share ideas.

All well and fine… but something was missing for me.

I wanted to be able to reach more people, independent of whether I was in the same room as them. I’m only helping one business at a time. Granted, these companies have thousands of employees in tens of countries spanning continents.

Still, I felt there could be a better way to leverage my experience and offer support to more people at the same time.

I love the Middle East, and the feedback I get is that many people in the region are eager to understand more about “true” Compensation & Benefits, to help bring regional companies and organisations to the next level of modern HR. I get a lot of questions when I speak at networking events, and I remember how difficult it was to find reliable advice, tips and tools whenever I needed some information in the past.

So 2 years ago I decided to start this blog, in the hope that it contributes a little to the debate and forwarding of ideas on this ever-changing topic. It turned out to be a perfect way to reach many people at the same time, and help them find comprehensive answers to their questions on Compensation & Benefits all at the same place.

And I also benefitted, for I made a lot of new friends thanks to the blog, I learned new skills too, and writing has helped me clarify my thoughts and opinions on many topics…

For my regular readers, you have surely noticed that I was less active here lately. Many things happened : I resigned from my corporate job as Head of Performance & Reward for a highly visible semi-government organisation in Abu Dhabi, and went off to work on a long-standing dream of mine.

I am now officially the owner of a boutique International Compensation & Benefits training and consulting company based in Dubai and named The Bardot Group – how original 😉 !

In the past few months I have designed my service offerings, starting with traditional consulting and training, as well as public speaking. I have also engineered a new approach for busy Hr professionals to get C&B support, through my innovative coaching/retainer approach which offers access to my knowledge and experience in a flexible, hands-on manner.

I have continued to coach clients on Compensation & Benefits as well as career matters. I have spoken to a few conferences (see the recaps here, here and here) and am preparing to participate to 4 more conferences : 2 in Abu Dhabi in September, one in Dubai in October, and a final one in Bahrain in October too. Maybe I’ll see you there ?

I have published an article in a very serious C&B magazine called Compensation & Benefits Review and prepared guest posts and interviews for other, more informal publications, some of which are yet to come online. I have submitted a number of proposals for some C&B consulting projects in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Singapore and Qatar – please keep your fingers crossed for me 🙂 ! And to be honest, I also took a little bit of time off to enjoy my friends and family back in Europe.

So as you can see, unfortunately the blog took a back seat during these few months, but as of now, I will be back to a more regular publishing schedule.

I have redesigned my editorial calendar, which is a big word to say I try to plan some of my writing in advance.

I will keep offering technical tips from time to time, answering Reader Questions on a regular basis (don’t hesitate to send me yours !), providing a bit of career advice, and of course writing on all things C&B, performance management, emiratisation/nationalisation, employee engagement, international mobility and Compensation Committees/governance.

Readers who get the blog by email will now automatically receive an exclusive “Shisha Café” feature, where I will share the best of curated content related to HR and C&B in the MEA region.

It will replace the now-defunct Share The Knowledge section I used to write once a month. Shisha Café won’t be published on the blog and/or the RSS feed, and will only be sent out to my email subscribers. If you’re an email subscriber already, you don’t need to do anything to receive it. If you’re a casual reader or RSS subscriber, well then please use the subscription boxes at the bottom or top right of each page to submit your name and email, and you’ll receive Shisha Café as well as my regular posts by email.

Beyond the paid training and coaching that I offer, I am also thinking of producing some new forms of free content through audio and maybe even video… yes it’s true, at some point you will get to hear my French accent !

These various means of communication are my way to continue contributing to the expansion and knowledge of the HR and Total Rewards community in the Middle East. I hope you will stay onboard, and enjoy the ride with me.

Thanks for your continued support, and for spending a bit of your precious time on my site !

Sandrine

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Comments

  1. Dear Sandrine,

    Many congratulations on your website anniversary.

    Lots of insightful, well-written articles, conveying a true sense of passion in the rewards field and the MEA region.

    Keep up the good work!

    Very best,
    Elie

    • Sandrine Bardot says

      Thanks a lot Elie ! Coming from you, these words mean a lot to me (really).
      I’m here for the long haul, and hope I will continue to reach out to more and more HR and Total Rewards experts. Until we reach the sun (or the boardroom) !

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