Editor's Note:  There are a lot of reward terms out there and they aren't always universally understood. Leave it to Dan Walter to illuminate this challenge with his Classic humor! We all wish we were better at communicating. We create presentations (decks) and plan summaries (SPDs). We... Read More

Those of you working at “pre-IPO” companies need to learn more about Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs). SPAC s are also known as “Blank Check” or “Reverse Merger” companies and provide a rapid path to becoming a publicly-traded company. This can create amazing opportunities,... Read More

Editor's Note: Today, via Jim Brennan's Classic post, we look at rewards that don't ... or (worse) create problems and inequities of their own.  Bet you have examples of your own to share! When adding a new maxim to my ever-expanding list of Brennan’s Laws, I rediscovered this... Read More

Most of us start to feel a shade uncomfortable once we step away from our comfort zone, from whatever it is within our normal environment that we're accustomed to doing, behaving or surrounding ourselves with.  We're creatures of habit, and feel that those habits came to us honestly,... Read More

Editor's Note:  Are you rolling into the New Year on autopilot?  Not so fast, says Chuck Csizmar, in this Classic cautionary post. A new business year brings with it both the end and the beginning of the company’s annual management incentive plan cycle. While the left hand is busy... Read More

Compensation wisdom and a terrific quote from none other than Maya Angelou! She says: Human beings are more alike than unalike.  Whether in Paris, Texas or Paris, France, we all want to have good jobs where we are needed and respected and paid just a little more than we deserve. I call this... Read More

A recent conversation about management participation in a compensation review brought to mind a client project where we made a big bet on involving managers. I was engaged to conduct a review of the company's compensation and benefits practices.  Managers in one particular division had... Read More

Need more proof that carelessly designed incentives can do more harm than good?  Check out Wikipedia's list of perverse incentives.  Perverse incentives, by definition, are those that produce unintended negative consequences.  A few laughs and some solid food for thought. A couple of my... Read More

The path to value creation, according to many in the private equity sector, is through return on invested capital (ROIC).  Indeed, they tell us, the best way to create real value in a businessis by making smart capital investment decisions. This should interest us, as HR and reward professionals,... Read More

Many HR and reward programs today operate on a competency-based platform, where the fundamental building block is a set of core competencies (defined in the WorldatWork glossary as behaviors, attributes or skills that are predictors of personal success). Recently revisiting a Harvard Business... Read More