BTHR Solution's Viewpoint: News Notes and Nonsense from the HR World

February 2012

BTHR Solutions

Interesting Trends for 2012

8 Ways To Improve Your Retirement Plan

Mercer Issues Checklist on Action Items For Employers With Globally Mobile Employees

Employers Increase Reliance on EAP Services to Deal With Difficult Employee Situations

Dental Industry Hopes for Health Care Reform Changes

Colonial Life Survey Shows Personal Benefits Counseling Improves Understanding

FEATURED: BTHR President Sam Gruenbaum Featured in BusinessInsurance.com Article

The Most Outrageous Late Excuses

In addition to the typical traffic delays and weather issues, here are some of the more outrageous excuses employees have for being late for work:

• Cat had the hiccups

• Distracted watching the Today show

• Employee mistakenly believed she won the lottery

• Angry roommate cut the cord to phone charger so the alarm didn't go off

• Thought commute time counted toward his work hours

• Fox stole the car keys

• Leg was trapped between the subway platform and the train (true!)

• No intention of being at work before 9am... Start time was 8am

• Job interview at another firm ran late

• Had to take a personal call from the state governor (true!)

Read the rest...

Featured Job

HRIS Manager
Central Connecticut

The HRIS Manager is responsible for managing all HR Systems globally. Some relocation assistance is available for this position.

Qualifications:

• 3-5 years of HRIS administration/management experience

• Strong understanding of systems & technologies

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• Strong project management skills

• Strong experience with SAP

• Experience with SuccessFactors and Org Plus software preferred

• BA/BS Degree

See the full job description

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Interesting Trends for 2012
by Sam Gruenbaum, President, BTHR Solutions

Over the last few months, there has been a streak of positive economic news. Since last September, the BLS monthly jobs reports have suggested a strengthening labor market and key measures like the unemployment rate and the number of job seekers per job opening are all moving in the right direction. With over 240,000 jobs created in January 2012, the positive news continues into this year.

At BTHR Solutions, we've seen positive changes in our market as well. Lately, more of our clients want to add permanent staff members to their team. Some are choosing to go the contract-to-permanent route, while others are jumping in with both feet to try to lock up the best candidates right away. This is a great development compared to the last two years of the recession, when permanent job opportunities essentially dried up. READ MORE

Laurie Kiricoples: Our February 2012
Spotlight Employee

This month we shine our Employee Spotlight on Laurie Kiricoples, a seasoned pension specialist with over 20 years of general HR and benefits experience. "My passion is pension plans," says Laurie. "Very few companies offer pension plans today and many are frozen and/or outsourced. I worked at two large companies as a permanent full-time employee for 10 years each so I feel very fortunate that I have continued to work in an area I love through contracting."

Currently, Laurie works as a pension consultant on a contract with Sappi Fine Paper in Boston, managing changes to a complex set of pension plans for Sappi's various employee groups. "Laurie's expertise is so valuable," says Jane Holland, Sappi's corporate benefits manager. "We requested her specifically for this project because we knew from her prior placement with us that she was definitely the right person for the job. Laurie picks things up so quickly; she is a great team player and will do whatever needs to be done. And she does it all with a great sense of humor." READ MORE

8 Ways to Improve Your Retirement Plan
If you want to maintain integrity in your fiduciary relationships, it's time to find the courage to make changes to your plan that will benefit long-term employees for years to come. READ MORE

Mercer Issues Checklist on Action Items For Employers With Globally Mobile Employees
The beginning of a new calendar year is an opportune time for employers to take a careful look at their overall global mobility strategy. READ MORE

Employers Increase Reliance on EAP Services to Deal With Difficult Employee Situations
Harris, Rothenberg International (HRI) issued a new workplace insight noting an increase of 120% in management referrals and fitness-for-duty evaluations over the past four years. READ MORE

Dental Industry Hopes For Health Care Reform Changes
The dental industry continues to advocate for health care reform changes to allow children to maintain family dental coverage, dental home. READ MORE

FEATURED: BTHR President Sam Gruenbaum Featured in BusinessInsurance.com Article

As a pioneer in the employee benefits communication business, BTHR Solutions president Sam Gruenbaum lends his expertise to a recent BusinessInsurance.com article, providing a strategy to help employers reach a diverse employee population.

Sam's advice from the article:

"First, provide an introductory message to all employees via managers' memos, emails, workplace meetings, etc. Then, to provide an in-depth look at the benefits plan or changes, make the information available in a multitude of ways, allowing employees to engage in the method they prefer. Emails and postings on company websites are universally accepted as a way to get employees' attention, but employers should "always recognize that some people won't look at anything electronic," said Mr. Gruenbaum. "You want hard copies of information, fliers and postcards. It starts to seem redundant, but redundant is useful."

Most effective, he said, are employee meetings, whether voluntary or involuntary. "The face to face is critical," he said. Can't afford the face time? "Technology can simulate this with online chats during enrollment. Or employers can set up a phone center" staffed with HR representatives."

Reinforcing Sam's theory about the effectiveness of face-to-face benefit meetings, a recent Colonial Life survey shows personal benefits counseling improves understanding. The survey results reflect the collective opinion of more than 15,000 workers in the United States.

• Less than 19 percent of employers think their employees have a very good understanding of their benefits. And nearly 5 percent think their employees know nothing at all about their benefits

• 98% of employees believe having annual one-to-one benefits counseling sessions is important, with 63 percent saying it's very important

• 96% who take part in individual benefits counseling sessions say they better understand their benefits

• One-to-one benefits counseling shows an overall employee satisfaction rate of 94%

Sources:
BusinessInsurance.com

ColonialLife.com

Phone: 888.89.ERISA info@BTHRsolutions.com
www.BTHRsolutions.com