WorldatWork 2012: I'm presenting - will you be there?

I have a question for you. I'm wondering if you'll be attending the WorldatWork conference this year? It's being held in Orlando from May 21st to the 23rd at the Gaylord Resort.

It's going to be a great event this year. Lot's of great reasons to attend. One reason to attend is that I'm presenting with my long-time friend and client Tammy Woodard from the Port of Seattle.

Tammy and I are presenting on Wednesday morning, May 23rd at 9:15. Here's the summary from the WorldatWork website:

Developing and Implementing a Total Rewards Philosophy and Strategy at the Port of Seattle
Session Code: T20W2

In 2011, the Port of Seattle undertook a project to holistically and consistently define the total rewards philosophy and strategy to guide decisions and ensure attraction, retention, motivation and engagement. Hear how leadership team members and department directors were interviewed to gather input on business challenges, the direction of the business, and the implications of these on total rewards. These meetings assisted the design team in understanding what is important to the organization and how total rewards link to business goals and objectives. The HR and development staff is now executing this philosophy and strategy, and they have plenty to discuss including the challenges faced in the design process and developing a communications startegy.

Focus Level: Strategic/Tactical—90/10

Here's the web page with a list of all the conference sessions.  So many great session to choose from in 2012.

I may be attending the sessions listed below in order to get a deeper understanding of Executive Compensation:

Executive Compensation Design - From Fundamentals to Innovation
Session Code: E15M1

The Next Big Executive Compensation Challenge: Clawbacks
Session Code: E07M2

Say on Pay and Shareholder Engagement
Session Code: E17M3

I'll be attending others related to compensation planning and marketing pricing as well. I just need more time to read through all the summaries.

I'll post my entire session schedule once it's finalized.

So the conference is going to be something different for me this year: attendee and presenter. That's because NEXTCOMP.NET does not have a booth in the exhibit hall.  I'm going to spend all my time experiencing the conference as an attendee and speaker. I'll be mingling and going to the social events.  If you're attending the conference we'll hopefully have a chance to talk and catch up.

Northwest Compensation Forum 2012

Hello from the blogosphere. It's been a while since we've visited. It's the busiest time of year for anyone involved in compensation. No complaints here. I'm happy to be busy. Much more than the opposite.

One area that I've been more involved in lately is with the Northwest Compensation and Rewards Forum (NCRF).  The NCRF is the local, as in Western Washington local, compensation and total rewards focused group.  The NCRF is also affiliated as a "Group Partner Network" member with WorldatWork.

Late last year I received a call from the then President of the Board of the NCRF. He asked if I might have some time in 2012 to join the Board as he was working on filling several upcoming vacancies. I said that "Yes" I did have some time and I would love to re-join the Board. I had been involved in the early 2000's with the Board but lately had not been as involved. He asked what I might be interested in and I said that any position would be great but that I thought I could handle the role of President. Upon being voted in at the last Quarterly Lunch on January 11th, I am now the President of the NCRF.  I'm very excited to be involved again. I'm very much looking forward to a successful, interesting and fun year.

I even wrote a little speech that I gave at the Forum Lunch.  I'm posting it here for posterity sake.

This is an incredibly challenging time for us as professionals involved in total rewards. And as as with most challenging times there are also many opportunities.

We are faced with uncertain economic conditions. Many of us are dealing with reduced work forces but not a reduced levels of work. We are pulled in many different directions with family, work and social activities.

This will be my second term as President. I'm super excited to be back involved with the group. But as with most past presidents I simply dropped off the radar at the end of my last turn.

What happened? Why do some Board members tend to become less involved after their term.

Maybe we get burned out, or perhaps we simply get swallowed up with other events happening in our lives. That's what happened with me, with four small children, two businesses and well, you get the idea, we all have busy schedules.

Which makes this group even more important. It's a chance to take a break from our normal routines, get out of the office and meet our colleagues. It's a chance to stay connected. To share ideas. To learn from our shared experiences. Most importantly, it's a chance to figure out where the opportunities exist in these challenging times.

And that's why we're here.

It's why I jumped at this chance. So here's to a great 2012.

So there you go, maybe I'll see you at the next Quarterly Meeting being held at the Bellevue Club on April 11th.

Northwest Compensation and Rewards Forum Luncheon

I attended the quarterly NWCRF luncheon on Wednesday the 19th.

 It was a well attended event held at the Bellevue Club. Fred Whittlesey presented a thought provoking approach to understanding all the external and internal forces affecting an organization's compensation designs. It got me thinking about how compensation is perceived in the media and in the general public and more specifically by an organization's employees.

 I found a couple of interesting items on the web today that related to Fred's discussion. Here's a 15 year old Calvin and Hobbes cartoon that pretty much explains why people are upset enough to camp out on Wall Street and in cities around the country. Here's a wonderful podcast hosted by Horace Dediu that explains from a market perspective why more about CEO's pay levels. I highly recommend this podcast if your interested in technology and economics.

I look forward to the next Forum meeting being held in January.  I'll post something more about that meeting the Forum posts information on their website.

2011 Milliman Breakfast

Thank you to Milliman USA, specificly Stephanie Eng, for the invitation to the 2011 Milliman USA breakfast held at Safeco Field. It was a pleasure to see Stephanie and the other consultants from Milliman, including John, Greg, Larry and Connie. It was also great to see friends from the Northwest Compensation and Rewards Forum and from past and existing project work. The panel was very informative and the audience asked good questions of the panel members.

My main take away is that merit budgets continue to remain conservative and the trend is that those budgets will continue to remain tight for the next few years at least. My second take away is that while pay and benefits remain very important, especially in recruitment efforts, the culture and work experience are key in motivating and engaging existing employees.

I look forward to the Northwest Compensation And Rewards Forum meeting in October. It's great to get out and visit with other like minded professionals.

We've moved!

In an effort to reduce our commute into work, and to allow us to be closer to home with a growing family, we've moved our office to North Bend, Washington. North Bend is a picturesque town located 30 minutes East of Seattle, nestled at the foothills of the Cascade mountain range.

Here's the City's website with some links and great photos:
http://ci.north-bend.wa.us/

Here's a link to a Flickr photoset of my photos taken around the area:
Photos Around North Bend

Our new address is:

PO Box 790
North Bend, Wa. 98045

nextcompTV - Episode 15

One final video from the WorldatWork show in San Diego. A few shots of the walk to the conference center and the 8x speed up booth take down. Next up on nextcompTV is a discussion of Total Rewards and what I learned at the conference.

nextcompTV - Episode 14

Day one of the WorldatWork conference and exposition was jam packed with sessions, booth traffic, and a social event at the historic Midway aircraft carrier.