Editor's Note:  Dan Walter tackles the Classic holiday get-together question, offers some thoughts from the Cafe contributor team as well as his own tips, then opens the floor for YOUR thoughts.  How do YOU answer this question? The holiday season is now in the rear-view mirror and everyone... Read More

Happy New Year Dear Readers! As we ring in 2022, we are also closing a chapter in the life of the Compensation Café.  After serving up straight talk, original thinking, and caffeinated conversation on everything compensation since we opened for business in April 2009, this site has published its... Read More

Editor's Note:  The process of writing job descriptions doesn't have to be a pain in the behind, says Chuck Csizmar.  In this Classic post, he shares some practical tips and strategies for working with managers to get 'em done! After enough gloom and doom about managers hating job... Read More

Editor's Note:  Is our profession, are our jobs truly designed for success in the age of continuous disruption?  What are your thoughts on this Classic question? Some fascinating work is being done around navigating human capital risk and uncertainty.  I think it could raise some... Read More

These final days of the new year approaching is a metamorphosis of old and new.  It is significant as it creates that one defining moment each year when we reflect, revaluate, and re-set, or (simply put) conduct the annual performance review.  This is a typical process adopted by most... Read More

Is there a clear place and purpose for ambiguity in rewards? In a Board level conversation once, I found myself part of a debate about the need for clarity in executive rewards. On the one hand, I had a chief executive expressing a preference for a more structured and clearly communicated... Read More

Recent research by global consulting firm McKinsey & Company suggests that employers do not fully understand why employees are leaving. As their article Great Attrition or Great Attraction? The Choice is Yours notes: Companies are struggling to address the problem, and many will continue to... Read More

If we truly want our work to have impact as compensation and HR professionals, one of the area many of us could stand to improve is our willingness to give the gift of attentive listening to those who seek our help.  In considering some of the listening lessons my own work experience has taught... Read More

If there is one universal lesson that we learn as we gain experience in the discipline of employee compensation, it's that there is a knee jerk tendency -- from front line supervisors to senior managers -- to assume that all employee issues can be resolved by throwing money at them.  And so... Read More

Performance management has evolved enormously over the years I've been involved with these programs. When I think about the situations where I saw performance management program have a real and tangible impact on the organization's success, however, there is one common factor.  What they... Read More