MORE VACATION POLICIES TO HATE: One Week Off Every Quarter...

I'm on record as having a game plan for helping your company become a Great Place to Work.  See that Kinetix whitepaper here.

It's a PR game you have to play and the first part is easy if you have the means (Ferris Bueller reference for those of you who track these things) - you have to buy attention.  Write a check.

One of the easy ways to buy attention that stacks up towards a GPTW award is to give more vacation time then reasonable companies are inclined to provide.  That leads to big vacation packages, the no set vacation package (take it when you want it!) and all the other flavors that you've seen toward the GPTW goal, wished you could give, then gradually grew to hate because you work at a standard place that can't buy GPTW attention (or decides not to).

But one vacation policy recently caught my eye - a week off ever quarter in addition to the company's standard vacation policies at a startup called Quirky.  Notes from the CEO of Quirky:

"We’ve found that our cadence as a business is very centered around 90 day sprints. Retail seems to have 4 major seasons, our best products seem to be baked in 90 day time frames, the longest we can lock in tactical plans without completely guessing as to what products we will be talking about/investing in is quarterly.

Pressure slowly builds throughout these 90 day periods, culminating in an extremely stressful and magically productive final 2-3 weeks of a calendar quarter. It’s been this way for 3 years.

Historically, we’ve jumped right back into it. But beginning in 2013, the first week of every new calendar quarter will be lights out.

We are going to shut down the entire machine for 4 weeks next year. Instead of running for 52, it will run for 48.

This is a full, mandatory shutdown of all internal activities. Lights out. Deep breath.

Time for us to explore other creative interests. Relax without worrying about what we’re missing. Time for us to get our head back into the game. For some of us, time for us to clean our apartments, see the dentist, and buy a new pair of kicks."

I know. You hate it. "I got your kicks right here" is what you are saying. I hate these guys and gals too. For being small. For being edgy. Most of all for doing sh#t that puts pressure on everybody else.

But here's the thing.  This one actually makes sense. They're doing the smart business thing for their type of business.  

Software development shops run in what are known as sprints. The product team decides what's going into the next release, and the development team literally "sprints" across a defined period to get the roadmap features built. In shops like these, it's more than a 40-50 hour week to get it done - for the entire sprint period.

Shutting down at the end of the clearly defined sprint period is actually pretty smart and innovative.

So why I'd love to scream, "GIMMICK" from the top of my building like so many other countless vacation policies that are chasing the Great Place to Work designation, I can't on this one.

Shutting down once a quarter actually makes sense for a software development shop.

I highly recommend it if you have the means. (FBR)

Pampered Employees of Rich Companies With Workout Facilities: Watch the Path of the Towel...

Damn it feel good to have a workout facility at your company - right big/rich company employees?

Of course there are some hazards (email subscribers click through for the video):

"Hey Ron, great workout..." (exiting gym floor)

"You too, Steve..."

"Let's cool down and go plot the downfall of Google, Ron..."(Wipes faces, shares towel with Ron in sign of solidarity and man club membership)

"Word."

The HR Capitalist Guide for Dealing with ObamaCare!

ObamaCare - it's right around the corner.  It's either a great thing or the end of times depending on your polarized MSNBC/Fox News view of the world.  Wait - there are people somewhere in the middle?  Moderates?  Surely you jest.

Regardless of your stance, you still need to figure out how you'll absorb increased business costs (if you have them) related to ObamaCare.  Most of us have no clue what's going on.  

Never fear!  I'm here with the dummies guide for dealing with the cost of ObamaCare.  What can I say?  It just felt right to do this. Let's just say if you don't currently offer benefits to a large degree of your workforce or those benefits suck, you might need this dummies guide to ObamaCare.

Here's how it works.  I give 3 dummy guide coping mechanisms for the cost of ObamaCare below, then I give you a tasty example of people in the real world bracing for impact and making large statements before the election, brought to you buy this jaded article from Salon (not Fox News btw).

Lets' get this party started:

THE DUMMIES GUIDE TO DEALING WITH OBAMACARE - YOUR OPTIONS ARE AS FOLLOWS:

1. Don't accept the cost increases lying down - just cut some jobs (and service) and make sure you're vocal about why you're doing it.  Profits aren't going down in your company, jobs are going down. Homey don't play that.  Instead of taking the coming cost increases like a chump, you can cut some jobs and stay even.  Let's say not providing benefits is going to cost you an ObamaCare tax of 2K per employee.  You've got 2,000 employees you don't ensure, and you're going to take the surcharge/tax of 2K per (4M large).  The average salary at your company is 40K.  That means you have to cut 100 jobs to stay even.  If you do the layoffs on Friday, you can do what I think the guy below would do and deem the layoff day "Obama Friday".  

From Salon:

"Applebee’s New York CEO says he’ll ax jobs because of Obamacare.

Zane Tankel, the CEO of Applebee’s New York restaurants, is another so-called “job creator” who’s threatened to fire employees and freeze hiring. As he told Fox Business News, “We’ve calculated it will be some millions of dollars across our system. So what does that say — that says we won’t build more restaurants. We won’t hire more people — exactly the opposite of what the president says.” Sorry, but that’s on you, Mr. Tankel.

When asked if he would start relying more heavily on part-time workers, he said, “I’m sure all our people are watching this right now, so I don’t want to make any commitments one way or another. I just want to say we’re looking at it, we’re evaluating it, if it’s possible to do without cutting people back, I’m delighted to do it. But that also rolls back expansion, it rolls back hiring more people, and in a best-case scenario we only shrink the labor force minimally.”

 2.  You can cut everyone who doesn't receive benefits to part-time status.  Sure they've got bills to pay, but you've got 2K per head tax/surcharge to avoid.  What could possibly go wrong?

From Salon:

"Red Lobster and Olive Garden parent company may rely on more part-time workers.

Darden Concepts, the parent corporation of Red Lobster and Olive Garden, may start using more part-time workers who would likely not be eligible for employee-sponsored health insurance plans, according to Salon’s Natasha Lennard, who cites a report by MSNBC’s Ned Resnikoff:

[T]he company overall could come to rely more on part-time workers. Those new employees would likely not enjoy the same health benefits that all employees currently do. “Today we offer health care to all of our employees,” said Rich Jeffers, [a spokesperson for Darden]. But under the Affordable Care Act, which sets minimum standards for the health care being provided, “we can’t offer that.”

3.  My personal favorite - you can itemize the tax/surcharge on every customer's bills, reminding everyone of why the cost of the goods/service has risen with every transaction.  You know this game - you're renting a car or checking out of a hotel, and you see 4 different line items for special taxes that that the local government did to stick it to visitors to the city.  Why not itemize the cost of ObamaCare?  If you stand back and look at it from a distance, it's elegant in it's simplicity.

From Salon:

"Denny’s/Dairy Queen franchise threatens “Obamacare surcharge,” reduced employees hours.

John Metz, who owns Hurricane Grill & Wings and dozens of Denny’s and Dairy Queen franchises, has threated to slash his workers’ pay and impose an “Obamacare surcharge” at his restaurants.

“If I leave the prices the same, but say on the menu that there is a 5 percent surcharge for Obamacare, customers have two choices. They can either pay it and tip 15 or 20 percent, or if they really feel so inclined, they can reduce the amount of tip they give to the server, who is the primary beneficiary of Obamacare,” Metz told the Huffington Post. “Although it may sound terrible that I’m doing this, it’s the only alternative. I’ve got to pass the cost on to the consumer.”

Terrible, yes. The only alternative, not so much."

OK - BIG DISCLAIMER.  I included the Salon clips because it was nice background for my dummies guide list.  I don't have knowledge of the labor practices of any of these companies, but I do know life in the mosh pit of the economy is tough.  I think these execs have a right to freak out a little bit.  As far as Salon's commentary, I'm amused that Salon doesn't think that Denny's or Dairy Queen doesn't have the right to itemize the cost of ObamaCare on it's menu.  Interesting in that option that the person hurt most might be the person who lives on tips.  Talk about unintended consequences.

Strange days, indeed.

Performance vs. Potential: Brat Pack Movies and bswift

Performance vs. Potential – it’s the only way to look at who’s a star and who’s a scrub in your organization.  You can also use it for lots of other purposes, namely comparing the relative merits of Brat Pack movies starring Molly Ringwald.  With a little James Spader thrown in for good measure.

You’re not following me?  I was up yesterday at the bswift Annual Conference in Chicago, where I spoke about The 9 Faces of HR – a primer on how to morph the performance/potential grid to evaluate HR teams and HR candidates you’re thinking about hiring.

Here’s one of my slides – Using Performance vs Potential to evaluate Brat Pack movies:

Breakfast Club – c’mon.  Performance is measured by box office and critical acclaim, potential measured by whether you want to watch it with your kids when they get old enough.  Breakfast Club wins that hands down.  I’ll let you rant in the comments whether I’ve got Pretty in Pink and 16 Candles in the wrong spot.  But St. Elmo’s Fire?  That was one hyped up movie, but let’s face it – no one is waiting until their son or daughter turns 16 so they can watch that piece of crap with them and bond.

But I digress – had the time to take in most of the bSwift conference (check them out, pretty cool brand and some great people) and it was a unique opportunity to get back into what’s going on with Healthcare, Wellness, etc.  Top line of what I learned:

• Like the guy in Jaws, “You’re going to need a bigger boat”:  If ObamaCare goes through, you better have someone to help you figure it out.  Period.
• We've got some OPTIMISTIC people related to the GOP winning back everything in November.
• People are still actively trying to find ways to make their workforce healthier.  Wellness is very much in play.
• Companies aren’t afraid to go to the “stick” instead of the “carrot” when it comes to you finding your motivation to get with the program.
• A $25 per month penalty for not getting your screenings complete is interesting – seems like I could buy a lot of behavioral action (if not change) for that amount – itemized on your paystub, of course.
• If Financial worries are one of the biggest causes of stress among your workforce, why not include a financial education/counseling play in your wellness program?

And the biggest thing I learned: I won’t do another speaking gig without mandating that I come out to the theme from St. Elmo’s Fire.  It just seems like the over-the-top, "we’re going to rule this planet once we figure out who we are", totally Gen-X thing to do.

That’s right Gen Y – we once thought we were special too.  Keep thinking that, it's cute.  Here's some lyrics from the song your GenX boss is humming today after she reads this post:

"Growin' up
You don't see the writin' on the wall
Passin' by
Movin' straight ahead you knew it all
But maybe sometime if you feel the pain
You'll find you're all alone
Everything has changed

Play the game
You know you can't quit until it's won
Soldier on
Only you can do what must be done
You know in some way
You're a lot like me
You're just a prisoner
And you're tryin' to break free..."

Wow.  Really?

Really.

Performance vs. Potential: Brat Pack Movies and bswift

Performance vs. Potential – it’s the only way to look at who’s a star and who’s a scrub in your organization.  You can also use it for lots of other purposes, namely comparing the relative merits of Brat Pack movies starring Molly Ringwald.  With a little James Spader thrown in for good measure.

You’re not following me?  I was up yesterday at the bswift Annual Conference in Chicago, where I spoke about The 9 Faces of HR – a primer on how to morph the performance/potential grid to evaluate HR teams and HR candidates you’re thinking about hiring.

Here’s one of my slides – Using Performance vs Potential to evaluate Brat Pack movies:

Breakfast Club – c’mon.  Performance is measured by box office and critical acclaim, potential measured by whether you want to watch it with your kids when they get old enough.  Breakfast Club wins that hands down.  I’ll let you rant in the comments whether I’ve got Pretty in Pink and 16 Candles in the wrong spot.  But St. Elmo’s Fire?  That was one hyped up movie, but let’s face it – no one is waiting until their son or daughter turns 16 so they can watch that piece of crap with them and bond.

But I digress – had the time to take in most of the bSwift conference (check them out, pretty cool brand and some great people) and it was a unique opportunity to get back into what’s going on with Healthcare, Wellness, etc.  Top line of what I learned:

-Like the guy in Jaws, “You’re going to need a bigger boat”:  If ObamaCare goes through, you better have someone to help you figure it out.  Period.

-We've got some OPTIMISTIC people related to the GOP winning back everything in November.

-People are still actively trying to find ways to make their workforce healthier.  Wellness is very much in play.

-Companies aren’t afraid to go to the “stick” instead of the “carrot” when it comes to you finding your motivation to get with the program.

-A $25 per month penalty for not getting your screenings complete is interesting – seems like I could buy a lot of behavioral action (if not change) for that amount – itemized on your paystub, of course.

-If Financial worries are one of the biggest causes of stress among your workforce, why not include a financial education/counseling play in your wellness program?

And the biggest thing I learned: I won’t do another speaking gig without mandating that I come out to the theme from St. Elmo’s Fire.  It just seems like the over-the-top, "we’re going to rule this planet once we figure out who we are", totally Gen-X thing to do.

That’s right Gen Y – we once thought we were special too.  Keep thinking that, it's cute.  Here's some lyrics from the song your GenX boss is humming today after she reads this post:

"Growin' up
You don't see the writin' on the wall
Passin' by
Movin' straight ahead you knew it all
But maybe sometime if you feel the pain
You'll find you're all alone
Everything has changed

Play the game
You know you can't quit until it's won
Soldier on
Only you can do what must be done
You know in some way
You're a lot like me
You're just a prisoner
And you're tryin' to break free..."

Wow.  Really?

Really.

Your BMI is 35: Should You Pay More For Healthcare?

My son had a baseball tournament this weekend.  On both Saturday and Sunday, I made the choice to go to a park and get a run in while all the other folks packed up and went to lunch between games.  I still got something to eat, I just decided to use the time to get some exercise while there was maximum supervision (read: free babysitting) around to watch the kids.

I didn't really want to get the run in.  I still did.  My point?  I tried.  Once it's done, they can't take it away from you.  Whether I'm 170 pounds or 270, the fact that I got some exercise and do it consistently (run/walk - who cares?  Just get the heart rate up) matters.

Here's why it's on my mind.  It really doesn't matter who owns healthcare - employers or the government - because the issue is the same.  Most of the healthcare issues we face as a country are self-inflicted.  Check out this line of thought and stats from a recent column by Geoff Colvin at Fortune:

"At the beginning of the 20th century, the top causes of death in the US were communicable diseases - flu, tuberculosis - curses that could strike any of us.  Today, the top causes are mostly the result of the way we live - coronary artery disease, hypertension, diabetes and some cancers.  We spend 50% of our health care costs on diseases caused mostly by the way we behave.

If Americans behaved just a little differently, our health care costs could settle down to the sustainable growth rate that matches the economic growth.  We don't need a nation of triathletes.  We just need to smoke and drink less, walk a little more, eat a few more vegatables and lose some weight.  More than 90% of Type 2 diabetes, 80% of coronary artery disease, 70% of stroke, and 70% of colon cancer are potentially preventable by that combination of moderate behavior changes, reports Harvard epidemiologist Walter Willett."

My friend Dawn Burke had a post up recently on Fistful of Talent called "This HR Fatty wants to give someone a fat lip", where she rightfully blasts a company's announced decision not to hire anyone over a BMI of 35. 

I agree with her - that's stupid.  Lots of very talented people have weight problems, and if you start eliminating those people from working for your company with an imperfect measure like BMI, you've played yourself.

But - based on the data above, which is certainly accurate, why should everyone pay the same for healthcare?  Why is that a right?  More from Colvin:

"Why don't we act healthier?  Part of it is economic - we bear ever less of the costs of our unhealthy behavior.  In 1960 we paid 56% of our personal health care costs out of our own pockets, in 2010 we paid 14%."

You're kidding me, right?  No wonder people don't care.  

I'm not saying that only people who are thin deserve a right to pay less for heathcare, I'm saying that people who try ought to pay less.  You've got a BMI of 35+ but there's an improving trend in all the wellness stats (blood pressure, blood glucose, resting heart rate - help me out here wellness types...)?  You should pay less, regardless of your BMI, or what the world thinks about how you look.  You're controlling what you can, perhaps within a god-given genetic profile.  

But... You're very overweight and don't even TRY to talk care of yourself?  The same wellness stats point to a 5-year trend that indicates you've got a high probability of exploding on Thursday?  Why wouldn't you pay more?

I don't get it.  It's a basic accountability factor, and we won't reverse the trend related to healthcare costs until people who don't try (and then end up high risk) have to pay more.  Lots more.

And that issue is the same whether ObamaCare becomes a reality - or not.

We've Recently Started Training Our Managers: A 3.1% Surcharge Has Been Added to Your Invoice...

Can you imagine the backlash you'd get if you added that title to the bottom of all your invoices to customers?

"We've Recently Started Training Our Managers:  A 3.1% Surcharge Has Been Added to Your Invoice"

Of course, you'd never do that.  But I was in San Francisco last week and saw the following footer on a menu at a place I was dining.  Take a look and we'll talk after the jump.

You could never pass along that cost to your customers in that direct of a fashion.  San Francisco did.  

To be sure, there's merit to what they're trying to do - provide healthcare to everyone.  I'm conflicted about the whole universal healthcare approach.  I'd love to think the government could get costs down and properly manage the program, but there's just this one little problem...

The track record of the government (local, state and national) at managing programs in a progressive, customer-focused fashion leaves a little something to be desired, and of course, their ability to keep costs down makes me feel the same way.

If they don't manage it right, most people don't seem to understand that one of two things is going to happen - cost of care (taxes) is going to go up, or quality of care/quality of the plan is going to go down.

I think we need more messages like this one to remind us what we're paying for, and what we're getting.

And I agree - $62.95 for the Lobster is crazy.  Fish and Chips looks to be the best option.

Tuition Aid - Who Offers, How Much and Of Course, Payback's a #####...

Is the economy heating up?  The conventional wisdom is that companies are sitting on hoards of cash and not hiring, but if Tuition Aid is any indicator, companies expect the competition for talent to increase.  As a result, they're offering up benefits designed to lock people in with increasing frequency.

Case in point: Tuition Aid...

From the the newly released Benefits USA 2011/2012 survey results:

"The rate at which companies are offering tuition reimbursement to all of their employees is rapidly increasing. In 2009, only 34.9 percent of employers offered tuition reimbursement to all employees. This increased to 45.3 percent in 2010, and again in 2011 to 51.7 percent.

The amount companies are willing to reimburse employees for their education varies by industry as manufacturing and distribution companies average a reimbursement maximum of $4,689 per year. Utilities employees may receive reimbursement up to $4,227, while companies in banking and finance reimburse employees an average $3,869 each year. Healthcare organizations offer $3,104 annually for reimbursement, while those in hospitality offer the lowest reimbursement maximum, $2,757.

Sixty-five percent of organizations impose work requirements on employees receiving tuition reimbursement. On average, employees are required to work 15 months, post-reimbursement. In addition, nearly 87 percent of employers have course requirements which must be met in order to be reimbursed for education." 

Did you cut Tuition Aid in 2008?  Might be time to bring it back....

Don't be a @$@$: A Great Way for Acquiring Companies to Deal With Large Amounts of Banked PTO

Last week, I ran a post called, "Ask the Capitalist: Is This Acquiring Company a Bunch of Pricks?  Simple theme - acquiring company comes in, buys the other company and says "none of your existing vacation and sick time banks are going to transfer to our company".

Obviously, that company's in a situation where they're not worried about organizing/unionization, etc.

However, there's a real cost to rolling those hours over into the new company, since the acquiring company will have to account for the future liability - today - via the P&L statement.  CFO and Controller skills needed.

Still, it begs the question - if you're an acquiring company and you want to be graceful but don't want the financial baggage associated with the huge PTO banks owned by the employee base you're inheriting, what do you do?

You find the middle ground, Marge.  A sharp reader of the Capitalist had the obvious answer in the comments section of that post:

----------------------------------------------------

Kris—

"My dad's company was acquired a few years ago, and while he had to go with the new company's PTO plan, his accrued sick time was thrown into a special bank of time to be used for salary replacement in case of FMLA, STD/LTD, or extended bereavement. It came in really handy twice."

--------------------------------------------------------------

Bingo.  Accrued time thrown into the special bank to be used for salary replacement not covered by your STD plan in the case of FMLA leave.  I'm no CFO, but I bet the P&L impact of this is much less, and just as importantly, you look like you actually give a $##t as the acquiring company.

Which is where you want to be.  Simple answer that is a nice middle ground....

Tuition Aid Programs: They Look Great on the Company Brochure, But Are Hard as #*#* to Use...

Hi Kris - 

I'm a benefits manager in Atlanta and I'm looking for some best practices related to Tuition Aid Programs offered by companies across America.  What do you have for me?

-J

-------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Hi J - 

Thanks for the note - I browsed around for a bit and didn't find anything very interesting... My experience would tell me the major program components that serve as levers to differentiate a tuition aid program would be the following:

1. The amount available annually - $$$
2. What's eligible for reimbursement - what type of programs qualify for reimbursement?  Wide open or only job related?
3. Eligibility - how long do you have to be at the company to get the benefit?
4. Performance Required for Payback - do you need an "A" or a "B" to get reimbursed?  If so, how are non-traditional classes treated?
5. Payback agreements - How much time do you have to be with the company until you clear the requirement to pay back the reimbursement granted by the program? 1 year, 2 years?

I think the last point is the most important lever.  Tuition Aid is one of those things that looks great on the company brochure, but it's hard to use.  People have kids, are trying to live their lives, etc., so only the most ambitious take advantage of the program.  With that in mind, looking at traditional penetration rates of the program is the best practice when trying to budget, and payback agreements will help give your leadership some piece of mind that the folks who use the benefit are the ones most likely to stay.

Easy to promote, hard to use.  A cynic would call it the perfect company benefit - drives positive good will but most folks will never utilize it ...

Sorry I can't help more than that - and remember...stay thirsty my friend.