Compression Headaches Put You At A Loss For Words?

Words are never enough. (Can you believe it? You're hearing this from a Communications Consultant!)

All kidding aside, you know as well as I do, actions speak far louder than words. Employees are just as alert to what you are doing as what you are saying.

What's this got to do with compression?

If you have a compression problem, your reward actions have already started a fracas and it's threatening to get louder. Somewhere in your company employee pay differentials are too small to be considered equitable. Either because of special deals for new hires, or lingering symptoms of tight budgets. Employees can see the signs.They are feeling wary.

Do you admit to this itchy problem? And really, what can you say?

Start at the beginning. Recognize that you got yourself into this pickle because HR and managers -- and, and, and, everyone else involved -- ignored the consistent, systematic approach to externally competitive, internally equitable salaries that your company has been living by.

And sometimes it's not just pay practices. You can often throw vacations, promotions, incentive eligibility or any number of things into the mix.

If your practices are getting out of hand, pull your policies and guidelines out -- or write some up. Then, expect everyone to follow them, no exceptions. Make it obvious that you are monitoring this closely. Your practices will communicate your intentions loudly and clearly.

What about employees who are currently being affected by compression? Here's where words do come in. If employees raise the issue, don't duck it. Explain that you are looking into it. Describe how you will go about your analysis. Give them a timeline. Keep them up-to-date on your process.

Then, meet with managers of affected departments either individually or in focus groups. Find out how committed they are to helping you resolve the situation and why. Will they act as allies, or do you need to bring them around,too?

HR may need to play a more prominent role in communications this time around, since you need to rebuild trust in the consistency of pay practices. Often there is no need to make broad organizational announcements if your compression issues are localized to a few departments or job titles.

But even if the compression damage is limited, your challenge is not. Recognize that your real job now is to rebuild trust. Actions matter far more than intentions. And when you are talking with employees about rewards, put special emphasis on acting thoughtfully and speaking purposefully based on prepared talking points -- that you can refer to again and again to rebuild employees' belief in consistency.

Margaret O'Hanlon is founder and principal of re:Think Consulting. She has decades of experience teaming up with clients to ensure great Human Resource ideas deliver valuable business results. Margaret brings deep expertise in total rewards communications and change management to the dialog at the Café; before founding re:Think Consulting, she was a Principal in Total Rewards Communications and Change Management with Towers Perrin. Margaret earned her M.S. and Ed.S. in Instructional Technology at Indiana University. Creative writing is one of her outside passions, along with Masters Swimming.

Thanks to Compensation Café