*HR Benchmarking: A new report from Best Practices LLC evaluates Human Resources performance among 78 Fortune 500 companies using 300 metrics across six functions: Staffing,
Benefits, Relocation, LOA/FMLA, Workers Compensation and Medical Services. Below are key findings:
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Benchmarked companies spend an average of $126 per employee for medical services administration;
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Many companies found that most new hires rate as average or above average in performance during their first 90-180 days, while nearly all found only 25% performed below average
during that period;
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Benchmarked companies spend an average of $859 on administrative costs for each domestic relocation or assignment, while the average cost for an international relocation was
$8,668, including tax administration; and
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Almost half of domestic mobility budgets and FTEs are allocated to Policy Management, while another 18% goes to planning/consulting services.
Source: Best Practices, LLC
*Money Isn't Everything: Money may be the main concern of administrators worried about time wasted with office betting pools, but it may not be workers' main motivation for
participating. The Spherion Workplace Snapshot survey suggests camaraderie may be more important:
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Of the 44% of U.S. workers who have participated in an office pool, 45% cite office camaraderie as their primary reason for joining;
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36% named "to win money" as the primary reason, 15% said "for the love of sports," and 2% cited pressure from coworkers;
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75% of those who have participated say they have never spent more than $20;
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17% of have spent between $50 and $99, and 4% have spent $100 or more;
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26% of workers say they have watched or followed sports events on the computer during work this year;
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51% of men have participated in an office pool, compared with 36% of women; and
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11% of men and 5% of women have called in sick to watch or attend a sports event this year.
Source: Spherion Corporation
*Defining Diversity: Organizations are aware of diversity issues and view them as important to the bottom line, a report shows, but only about one-third of companies have an
official definition of diversity. The 2007 State of Workplace Diversity Management Report asked HR professionals and diversity practitioners to evaluate their approach to the
issue:
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52% said that "to a large extent" diversity practices create a work environment that allows everyone to contribute all they can to the organization;
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49% said the practices achieved appropriate representation of racial and ethnic groups;
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48% said that to a large extent, the practices enhanced the ability of people from different backgrounds to work together;
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Companies with 99 or fewer employees are the least likely to have an official definition of diversity;
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Public/government organizations are more likely than private non-profit and for-profit groups to have official definitions; and
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75% of HR professionals said that leveraging the diverse talent of the workforce was extremely important to their organization and that they would like to see greater emphasis
made on the positive relationship between diversity and business results.
Source: Society for Human Resource Management
*Sync Up: CEOs and their senior executives aren't quite on the same page in terms of business priorities, according to a report from business advisory firm Dissero Partners. 50% of
115 senior executives surveyed named focus and alignment as the company's top priorities, while CEOs are primarily concerned with excellence in execution, top-line growth and
consistent execution of strategy by their leadership teams. Given the discrepancy, it appears that the senior executives concerned about corporate alignment were on the money.
In addition, fewer than half of employees understand their company's strategic goals, and only 43% believe there is ever any follow-through on planned strategy shifts. CEOs and
executives actually agree that their primary task is to set and execute strategies to generate profitable growth.
Source: Dissero Partners LLC PRN