Benefits Administration Outsourcing

With companies being faced with rising health care costs , more employers are outsourcing benefits administration to reduce costs, improve productivity and increase flexibility. Outsourcing allows an employer to contract a business function, either domestically or offshore, primarily to save money. Companies are able to put more capital directly into revenue-producing activities. Furthermore, outsourcing allows the company to save on hiring, training, and eliminate potential problems with temporary workers. Contractors can start projects more quickly without the need to train employees (AllBusiness). Some possible outsourcing solutions include employee call center, carrier billing, invoice reconciliation, enrollment support, fulfillment services, COBRA, HIPAA and flexible spending account administration. When companies have their benefits administration handled for them, they can focus on making money for the company.

                                                   
Benefits outsourcing is not without concerns, however. The major concerns are the loss of American jobs to offshore contractors and dealing with foreign representatives who can relate very little to the employee. Off shore service centers are able to pay lower wages in developing nations, which reduces the cost of the service to the employer. Some of us who work for global companies know that when we call HR, we speak to someone stationed in India or another foreign country. My company recently closed our HR service center in Michigan and joined hands with the HR center in Canada. As the HR representative for my plant, I know that many employees are unhappy dealing with representatives with heavy French accents and names they did not know. Furthermore, when employees call the service center for our 401K financial company, they are frustrated dealing with representatives from India and using a call center that requires them to "press 1 for English" or "enter your ID number and press pound." Perhaps this "old school" mentality will shift towards acceptance of outsourcing as business is constantly evolving towards globalization in our world today.

Articles referenced: http://www.allbusiness.com/human-resources/workforce-management-hiring/1084-1.html
http://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/benefits/Articles/Pages/OutsourcingForecast.aspx
Image used: http://www.debateitout.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/outsourcing.gif

Executive Compensation

Due to their power, company executives are likely to overpay themselves. In addition to salary and bonuses, most executives receive other forms of compensation including incentives, stock options, expense accounts, and severance. One company that abused executive compensation without consumers knowing was Enron, who came under scrutiny after their scandal in 2001. This is an example where executive compensation ran wild, as the top 200 employees received $193 million in salaries and bonuses in 1998 to $1.4 billion in 2000 (Wikipedia).  Today, companies have compensation committees who act on behalf of the company in deciding how compensation is to be paid, thanks to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002. 

       

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted a set of rules on January 25^th of this year for shareholder approval of executive and “golden parachute” compensation under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.  The rules state the say-on-pay votes by shareholders must occur at least every three years and a frequency vote is to be conducted every six years to determine how often shareholders would like to be presented with a say-on-pay vote. Finally, the rules require companies to disclose information to shareholders regarding “golden parachute” compensation, or severances and benefits given to executives during mergers. Say-on-pay forces the board of directors and shareholders into a system of checks and balances to ensure executives are paid fairly.

Executives receive high pay and benefits because they are responsible for the business’s financial success. It is great that measures have been put in place to help ensure a democratic pay structure for executive compensation. But will companies outsmart these measures? Only time will tell.

Articles cited: http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2011/2011-25.htm 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enron_scandal
Image: http://www.consumerwarningnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/money-hording-executive3.jpg

Time Management

Now this is a subject we hear about often, but many of us still have trouble succeeding at it. Time management is important for our roles at work, in school and at home. Often times, we bite off more than we can chew and have difficulty accomplishing all that sits on our plates. Asking for help is okay and is sometimes essential in order to complete our workload.  Listing and tackling tasks in order of precedence is one way that I attempt to manage time; however, I sometimes become overwhelmed with work responsibilities, creating anxiety and greatly reducing overall productivity in the workday.

An article written by organizational development consultant Nancy Stampahar gives two tips to help workers, many who are now required to do more with less resources and training, manage their time. The first, setting priorities, is meant to help those whose tasks keep piling up, pushing one to feel overwhelmed and procrastinate. After prioritizing, it is important to decide the purpose, timeline, desired outcome, and who else is involved in each task. Second, it is vital to set boundaries by not taking on more than one can handle. The key is to say "no" or delegate when necessary in order to stay in control of your time.

Taking on too many tasks can seem fulfilling at first, but it provides stress in the long term, thus reducing quality of work output. Managing time efficiently by setting priorities and boundaries will help workers be more productive at their jobs while eliminating some of the stress and anxiety that comes from not getting things done.

Article: Stampahar, Nancy. "How to prioritize your time." Silver Lining Solutions. November 8, 2010.
Image: http://www.pembiz.ca/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/too-many-tasks.gif