Watch an interview with Charles Grantham, Ph.D.,
Work Design Collaborative |
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WorldatWork Sponsored Research: Flexible Work Arrangements for Nonexempt Employees
Charles Grantham, Ph.D.,
Work Design Collaborative
Jim Ware, Ph.D.,
Work Design Collaborative
Jennifer E. Swanberg, Ph.D.,
Institute for Workplace Innovation, University of Kentucky
July 2009
Work is evolving at a dizzying speed in the
United States. In the past decade, more
work has started shifting to service- and
information-based industries, inexpensive hand-held
communication devices are pervasive, and the face
of the workforce has changed dramatically. Today,
the workforce is more diverse than ever, and it will
include more hourly or “nonexempt” employees as the
United States continues moving toward a service- and
information-dominated economy.
The goal of this research was to develop a better
understanding of how a new, smarter management
model might be developed for dealing with the challenges
of this work environment. Specifically, the study
focused on the ability and limitations of nonexempt
workers to participate in a work design that goes by
many different names:
- Telecommuting
- Distributed work
- Alternative work.
View the complete results
Reward Next Practices
A Global Survey by WorldatWork and Hay Group
June 2009
The intent of the survey was to determine how rewards program strategy, design
and implementation would evolve over the next two to three years, particularly in light of
rapidly changing business conditions. Survey respondents were asked to rate the current
emphasis their organization places on different aspects of broad-based reward programs as
well as whether they would increase, decrease or maintain their focus on these aspects of
rewards in the future.
View the complete results
Severance and Change-in-Control Practices
A Research Report
by WorldatWork and
Innovative Compensation and
Benefits Concepts LLC (ICBC)
May 2009
The current economic environment is dramatically different than those of any of the past three
survey years (2003, 2005 and 2007), and this is clearly reflected in this year’s survey results.
With companies trying to survive what several experts have called the deepest recession
since the Great Depression, many have identified their most immediate cost-cutting weapon to
be the reduction in force (RIF) or layoff.
Several years of stock market gains have been erased in a matter of weeks, for some
companies resulting in stock market levels not seen since 1998. Since the RIF/layoff is such a
prevalent tool in this recession, knowing how to design an effective and responsible severance
and CIC program has never been more important than it is today.
View the complete results
Alignment of Strategies, Structures and Reward Programs: A Survey of Policies, Practices and Effectiveness
A Report by WorldatWork,
Dow Scott, Ph.D., Loyola University,
Tom McMullen and Bill Bowbin,
Hay Group and
John Shields, Ph.D., University of Sydney
May 2009
A competitive business advantage is derived from the alignment of business strategies and
reward programs. For compensation professionals, this is practically an axiom, similar to the
saying “practice makes perfect” for the musician or the formula “E=MC2” for physicists.
While academicians and consultants place great importance on the alignment of reward
strategies and programs with business strategy, research on the topic is limited. As a result, the
research team from Hay Group, WorldatWork and Loyola University Chicago surveyed a
representative sample of WorldatWork members to determine how they formulate and align
their business strategies, organization structure and reward programs. Then the team examined
the effects of competitive strategy alignment with organizational structure, pay policies and
programs relative to three measures of organization performance.
View the complete results
WorldatWork Sponsored Research: Implications of Employer-Supplied Connectivity Devices
Gayle Porter, Ph.D., Professor of Management
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, School of Business – Camden
March 2009
Technology now allows connectivity 24/7, and
many employers are — or are considering —
furnishing hand-held electronic devices to
members of their workforces. In the best conditions,
this can facilitate work efficiency and improve work-life
effectiveness. In other situations, it may communicate
to employees that they are expected to never disconnect
from work, and potentially either foster resentment
or enable unhealthy work behaviors. Through a survey
of 627 employees across multiple organizations and
industries, this research explored the prevalence of
employer-supplied connectivity devices, along with
users’ work habits, beliefs about their companies’
culture and perception of the intended message when
their employers supplies these devices.
View the complete results
Job Evaluation and Market Pricing Practices 2009
A Research Report by
WorldatWork
.
February 2009
This report summarizes the findings from a WorldatWork survey on job evaluation prevalence and market-pricing practices. WorldatWork sought to explore the trends in job evaluation methods, both internal and external, and to provide useful information about the most common market-pricing practices in use today.
View the complete results
Telework Trendlines 2009
A Research Report by
WorldatWork
Data collected by The Dieringer Research Group Inc.
February 2009
When gasoline prices shot past $3 in mid-2008
on their way to $4 per gallon or more in
some areas, both employers and employees
began looking for relief. Alternatives immediately
were explored and implemented. Transit subsidies,
carpooling, vanpooling and, of course, telecommuting
quickly rose to the surface because of their relative
ease of implementation.
But in 2008, telecommuting seemed to be in a
different place than it had been before. In the 1980s,
1990s and even in the first part of this decade, the technology
required to support remote work seemed to still
lag behind the need. The proliferation of high-speed
connectivity and the explosion of hand-held devices
occurred during the early 2000s and have become a mainstream way of working for many employers and
employees. Indeed, history may record someday that
the technology required for productive remote working
and the urgent need for remote working (due to high
fuel prices) converged in 2008. But is there data to
support this notion? WorldatWork is pleased to publish
Telework Trendlines 2009, the latest in a set of longitudinal
data collected by The Dieringer Research Group.
View the complete results
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