SHRM Blog

Ask an Advisor: Inflation’s Impact on Competitive Salaries

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed many challenges for employers, one of which is a labor shortage. The high turnover during this time has become known as the Great Resignation or the Turnover Tsunami. The difficulty of maintaining competitive salaries has made hiring and retention a struggle, especially with today’s inflation.

Inflation has surged 7.5% and is at a 40-year high. Naturally, employers are concerned. In fact, according to Payscale’s 2022 Compensation Best Practices Report, 85% of organizations surveyed expressed concerns about rising inflation eroding the value of pay...

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Frontline Workers in a Changing Landscape

COVID-19 brought the world to a standstill in a flash, forcing people to stay and work from home. But the frontline workers were the lifeline of the economy and society. They kept risking their own lives and saving light on groceries, restaurants, hospitals, and other energy-saving essential services. According to Brookings, these unsung heroes are mostly “low-wage earners estimated at around 7 million people” according to Eonocofact, “ most of the workers are also minorities women, PoC, etc.,” as shown in the figure.1

Fig.1 Composition of Frontline Workers

The...

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13 Ways To Support Employees Mental and Social Wellness

During times of significant stress, employees turn to their Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs). 

As an HR professional, give one way you can ensure that employees' mental and social wellness is sustained?  

To help you with the health and wellness of your employees, we asked CEOs and HR managers this question for their best advice. From encouraging pulse checks to providing access to financial education and tools, there are several insights that may help you ensure the mental and social wellness of your employees. 

Here are 13 pieces of...

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Ask An Advisor: Help Your Employers by Helping Yourself

Over the past year, I have often been asked by various members of the HR community: With so many immediate changes in society, what can I do to best help my employer?

From insect invasions (murder hornets, cicadas and joro spiders, oh my!), to an entire pandemic, to the more-standard challenges of matters like voting legislation, mental and physical wellness, refugee crises, racial injustice, pay equity and gun violence, there has been plenty for HR to deal with over the past two years.

Employees are asking for different things. Employers’...

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Why HR Should Champion Fair-Chance Hiring

Business leaders are looking to HR for strategies and innovations to address pressing talent-related challenges. Fair-chance hiring is a strategic, innovative solution to improve talent acquisition, retention, engagement, and DEI efforts.

What is fair-chance hiring?

It is the practice of assessing job candidates with criminal records on a case-by-case basis. It typically involves the Nature-Time-Nature test, which considers the nature of the offense, how long ago it occurred, and the nature of the specific role.

Why should HR champion fair-chance hiring?

By championing fair-chance hiring for your organization, you are bringing...

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Empower Young Talent to Find Their Superpower

Giant segments of U.S. workers remain unsatisfied with their careers. Millennials and Generation Z’ers, which comprise a large majority of the workforce, often report feeling unfulfilled by their pay, career, and overall sense of purpose on-the-job. Many say they feel devalued and struggle with how to make their mark in business.

I’m often asked for advice from young professionals on the best way to excel and advance on-the-job. Hard work is important. But in today’s business environment, it’s not enough. That’s understandably frustrating since it runs counter to the belief that we’ve grown up with that “hard work pays off.”

I offer this wisdom as it’s...

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9 Skills to Manage Your Team

What separates good managers from great ones? It's not their knowledge of the business, that's for sure. In fact, one of the most important skills to being a great manager isn't knowing your numbers or your industry—it's managing people. Managing people isn't always easy, but it can be incredibly rewarding if you have the right attitude and skill set. Here are nine skills all great managers need to know to be successful at managing their team members, from interns to veterans.

1.  Use data collection in decision making

To dole out effective feedback, you need facts....

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Developing an On-Campus Internship to Help with Student Career Readiness

As the importance of developing student career readiness increases for colleges and universities, there are many opportunities for on-campus employers to reimagine and elevate their on-campus student employment positions as internships. As the Student Employment Specialist at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, I oversee several areas including posting student employment positions, reviewing hiring documents, and unifying student employee training and onboarding. When I started in my role in July 2021, I saw potential in these areas to build an internship experience to allow a student to get exposure to Human Resources...

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The Myth of Losing Social Capital in Hybrid and Remote Work

Google recently announced its new post-pandemic work policy, requiring employees work in the office for at least three days a week. A survey of over 1,000 Google employees showed that two-thirds feel unhappy with being forced to be in the office three days a week, and many intend to leave.

Yet Google’s leadership is defending its requirement of mostly in-office work as necessary to protect the company’s social capital, meaning people’s connections to and trust in each other. In fact, according to the former head of HR at Google Laszlo Brock, three...

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Time to Develop

We live in a world of “instants.” We desire instant affirmation, adoration and adulation. We are impatient during our commutes, the delivery of goods that we order or any time we are required to wait in any line of people more than one. We truncate our communication and make broad decisions based on snippets of words without seeking, or asking for, context.

We binge our entertainment and get frustrated when the next season may, or may not come out. For those who can’t even sit through an entire show, we consume TikTok...

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