Benefit strategies

Towers Watson survey suggests HR use of mobile apps rising slowly, but steadily.

In recent years, many employers have introduced flexible work practices to help employees manage their work/life balance, although Culturerx founder Jody Thompson said she believes that “standard flexible work programs are holding us hostage.”

It seems like an ideal opportunity to consider what you as an employer or an HR professional can realistically do to help stem the next tragedy. As you know, there will probably be more.

In this Q&A with EBN, author Edward Gordon puts the problem in stark relief and outlines the steps employers need to take to keep themselves and America competitive.

More than a third of survey respondents plan to make a change to their HR structure before the end of 2014. Towers Watson says that among those organizations planning change, 74% say it’s to improve operational efficiencies.

Companies look for low-cost ways to engage and reward employees meaningfully.

Only 56% of those in finance and 61% of those in HR say their company’s current ROI on rewards is acceptable, but they are divided on how much they will partner to fix the problem.

The co-founders of Recognition PRO recommend “a systematic behavioral approach” toward how an individual is integrated into a company and how they’re treated within the organization.

David Olson and Dr. Bob Nelson have spent years tracking incentivized behavior and corporate rewards, and, like the song says, the best things in life are free.

Total Rewards program offers employees a comprehensive look at everything that is included in their compensation, aiming to show workers the whole picture, because many only consider their base salary.

Employers should prepare for potential problems by drafting clear policies and thoughtful procedures on bring-your-own-device setups.

The author of a new book on global talent shares her five survival imperatives for organizations to retain the best and brightest employees.

Alexander Alonso, the vice president of research for the Society for Human Resource Management, says that while health care and retirement remain the most important benefits for workers, acquiring and keeping top talent requires more offerings.

Chief people officer Jeff Perkins says he took HR at NPR to a far more prominent and decision-making position, and that HR professionals always need to leverage opportunities such as new facilities or outgoing senior leadership.

Never before have there been so many investment options open to retirement plan sponsors and participants. Still, at a time when most employers are focused on health care reform, selecting said options requires great care.

PSCA’s Bob Benish and other experts address trends in retirement plan design, investments and consulting at the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries’ 401(k) Summit.

Perhaps few people are as intimately familiar with the 840-plus-page immigration bill as Rebecca Peters. The director and counsel for legislative affairs for ACIP, Peters has been following the act since its conception and, should it pass in its current form, she says it has lots of good news for employers.

However, just dealing with the current landscape (both in terms of importing and exporting wage-earners) can be challenging enough, even before reforms are taken into account.

Employers may have success in applying consumer advertising tents to HR talent management, says Towers Watson consultant Ravin Jesuthasan, who’s written a new book, Transformative HR.

Gen. Stanley McChrystal addressed benefits professionals at a MetLife event, saying leaders are always responsible, no matter what caused a problem in the workplace.