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.
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.
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.
Setup day at the 2011 WorldatWork conference and exposition in San Diego with the 8x super speed booth setup and an interview with Audrey Johnson, Visibility Manager at WorldatWork.
Be sure to follow @nextcomp on twitter to get ongoing updates from the Expo.
I'll also be at the social event this evening on the Midway.
I received a question from a subscriber today regarding the difference between the Match Factor % and the Match Weight % in the My Matches table in NextComp. Here was my reply. I hope it may be of help to other subscribers as well!
Percent Factor: The data in a survey reported for a particular job represents the compensation market for that job assuming a solid match to the survey benchmark's job description. If the internal job's description matches that survey benchmark description then the percent factor of match = 100%. If the internal job's description is less than the survey benchmark's description, includes fewer duties or the work is less complex, then the percent factor of match can be set to less than 100%. If the internal job's description is bigger than the survey benchmark's description, includes more duties or the work is more complex, then the percent factor of match can be set to greater than 100%. The percent factor of match is used to size the market data to be a closer match to the internal job's work scope and complexity. This is not an automatic function of NextComp but rather a judgement call on the part of the analyst making the match.
Percent Weight: The percent weight affects the overall rolled up survey data for an internal job's survey matches. If an internal job has only one match, then the percent weight will have no affect on the overall rolled up average for that job's survey data. The weighting only affects the rolled up average when matching two or more survey jobs to an internal job. For instance, if you have a job in your organization that is a combination of two different types of work, let's say an "Application Programmer" and a "Traffic Analyst" (a job common in larger city governments). You may find matches in the market for either job, but it may be difficult to find one match that combines both types of work. You can match two jobs from the surveys, one for the application programming work and one for the traffic analyst (say in a city government setting). You could then weight the matches to reflect the mix of work in your organization. Perhaps in this case, the job is 75% applications programming and 25% traffic analyst. You would set the weighting appropriately in NextComp to reflect this mix. NextComp would then place 75% of the emphasis or weight on the applications programming survey data and 25% of the emphasis or weight on the traffic analyst. Another way to think of this is that the overall average data would be pulled toward the more heavily weighted job. Here's an example with some made up market data.
Applications Analyst Average Pay: $65,000 Weight = 75%
Traffic Analyst Average Pay: $55,000 Weight = 25%
NextComp complete the following computation to arrive at the overall weighted average data.
Applications Analyst average $65,000 multiplied by 75 = 4,875,000 Traffic Analyst average $55,000 multiplied by 25 = 1,375,000 Sum of the multiplied amounts = 6,250,000 Sum of the multiplied amounts divided by sum of weights (100) = 6,250,000 / 100 = $62,250
The overall weighted average data for this combination of survey jobs is $62,250.
You can see in this example that the data is pulled toward the more heavily weighted job. By way of comparison, the straight or un-weighted average for these jobs would be $60,000.
Here's a link to a help file in NextComp that shows a graphic example of this concept.
There's a small but potentially important change to the Search Surveys page. There's even a story as to why this update was needed.
I met with a subscriber last week to discuss the annual update processes and during the meeting we ran into a situation where an extremely large search result would cause an error with the company firewall. NextComp would deliver the initial result set (over 1000 rows) but the firewall blocked subsequent searches due to the way the search page "posts" information back to the server. It wasn't an issue with NextComp per se but it was an issue with the way NextComp interacted with the company's firewall.
So now there's a new link on the Search Surveys page directly to the right of the "Search" button. It's a "Clear Search" link. This link doesn't post information back to the NextComp server, but rather hyperlinks back to the Search Surveys page in a way that will clear the current search results. Then a new search can be initiated thereby bypassing the "post back" that caused an error with the firewall.
I also moved the "Search Tips" link to the right of the new "Clear Search" and made the text a bit larger.
In this video I demonstrate the most common keyboard shortcuts I use when working with salary survey data files, a really cool and fast technique for converting data from annual to hourly (or vice versa), and a useful formula for combining data from two or more cells into one cell.
For reference, here are the keyboard shortcut combinations that I demonstrate in the video.
Moving around the worksheet:
control and down arrow (move to bottom of a list) control and up arrow (move to the top of a list) control and right arrow (move to the right of a table) control and left arrow (move to the left of a table)
Selecting cells:
shift and control and arrow key (selects a contiguous set of data) shift and arrow key (expands or contracts a selection of cells)
Copy and paste:
control and c (copy) control and v (paste)
Converting values:
paste special -> operation -> divide (divide a range of values by the copied value) paste special -> operation -> multiply (multiply a range of values by a copied value)
Converting formula results to values:
paste special - as Values (takes the results of a formula and pastes it as the value)
Combining data from multiple cells into one cell:
If you have three cells of data that you want to combine into one cell, you can use this formula
= cellref1&" - "&cellref2&" - "&cellref3
In this example, cellref is the cell reference for the cells that you want to combine. If cellref1 = 1.01 and cellref2 = Administrative Assistant and cellref3 = the job's summary, then the result of the formula will be 1.01 - Administrative Assistant - job summary
Internet Explorer 8 is beginning to become more common in the corporate setting. Some subscribers have discovered a bug with uploading files to NextComp when using IE 8. This error also occurred when using the latest versions of Firefox, Chrome and Safari. If you use any of these browsers and you've tried to upload a data loading template you most likely received an error page similar to the one shown below.
The good news is that we've fixed this bug and now the file upload feature works with all major browsers.
For the technically minded, here's what caused the bug.
In prior versions of Internet Explorer, when you send a file from your computer to the NextComp server, the browser sends the entire file path including the file name. NextComp would then parse out the file name. The code used to accomplish this assumed that the string of text would include the entire file path. Starting with Internet Explorer 8 the browser only sends the file name, without the full file path. Microsoft made this change to tighten security so that the remote server, in this case the NextComp server, wouldn't know anything about your local machine's file and path structure. I think it's a great idea to only include the file name, but this caused an error with how NextComp parsed the file name. It was an easy fix once we figured out what caused the issue.
I dropped off the radar for the last few months in 2009 but I'll be back with some great new videos and content starting off 2010. The first video series will detail how to design a new salary structure or compensation plan using Excel tools and formulas in conjunction with market data results from NextComp. This will be a step-by-step guide that you can adapt in your own planning.
Where did I go in November and December? Working! The last quarter of the year is always super busy and combine that with a busy schedule of family events and those two months just flew by. I know it's the same for pretty much every compensation professional. Busy busy busy at the end of the year.
On a personal note, I completed a rough draft of a novel as part of the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). It was a 50,000+ word writing marathon completed in one month. I've also submitted a music video to a contest being run by a local northwest artist. So I did some creative work besides the professional work in November and December.
I'm hoping that 2010 is off to a great start for you and that the coming year is full of success!
I just wanted to give you a couple of quick updates.
The server maintenance went off without a hitch on Friday evening. The additional RAM in the database server made a noticeable improvement in speed.
Also, we've made some improvements in Version 3 performance. Each week brings Version 3 closer to being fully up and running. I'm really happy with how it's shaping up.
I hope to post a new nextcompTV episode this week. We'll see how the week goes, it's our busiest time of year as I know it is for you.
Reminder: Server Maintenance this evening, October 9th
Just a quick reminder that NEXTCOMP.NET will be offline for a period of about 30 minutes this evening between 9:00 PM and 11:00 PM. We're installing more server memory and doing some routine maintenance.
We'll be working on some routine server maintenance and installing additional server memory this Friday evening, October 9th. NEXTCOMP.NET will be offline for a period of about 30 minutes between 9:00 PM and 11:00 PM Pacific Standard Time on Friday, October 9th.
Bob's back this week as we discuss our philosophy and methods for project management. We're "on location" in a park near our office. It was just too beautiful to be inside on a sunny almost Fall day.
Here's a link to Basecamp, the 37signals web-based project management tool that I mentioned in the video.
This week's video covers the progress were making on Version 3 updates and bug fixes.
As an example of the types of changes were making, here are a few screen shots.
1) Change to the way the pages are rendered to fill the browser's window.
Originally the design had a static page width that would fit most all screen sizes. We decided, based on feedback, that having the static page size really limited the use of some tables for those people with larger screen widths.
2) Changes to the Market Pricing page
We've slightly changed the way the Market Pricing page works. When you first open the Market Pricing page you'll be presented with a search area and a prompt asking you to enter a search or you have the option of showing all data in the table. This really improved performance because 90% of the time you'll want to search for specific jobs for pricing, rather than see all the jobs all the time.
3) Say goodbye to the Daisie error page.
As much as we love Daisie, it turns out that seeing her cute face each time an error occurs is quite annoying. When you get an error, you're not usually in the mood to see a cute puppy, you want a quick professional message with the options you have available to you. So we've redesigned the error page.
There are a host of other changes, some small cosmetic changes and some more fundamentally programming updates to increase overall performance.
Summer is on it's last legs, the leaves are changing, and football starts this weekend. Here's a shout out to my alma mater the University of Washington Huskies. May they win some games this year!
There was no nextcompTV this week due to an extremely busy schedule. I'll be back next week but in a new format. I like the idea of broadcasting live, but I don't like the video quality on uStream. And really, how many people can break away in the middle of the work day to watch a video. Not too many. So I'm switching to using Quicktime. I'll pre-recording the TV show and then post it on YouTube. The quality will be much better and I can record the show at a more convenient time of the day.
We continue working on Version 3 roll-out. At this point, the roll-out is limited to a few organizations. We're working to finish a few features and getting the bugs out of the new version. Thank you so much to the organizations that are helping with this process. Version 3 is shaping up nicely. I'll keep the blog up to date with the latest news on Version 3.
I've put together one last video for the Summer. The video documents a mountain biking trip that my brother-in-law took me on and a brewery tour where he works part-time. He and I sat down for a short visit after the tour to talk about following your passion in work and play.
In this episode I discuss the Version 3 roll-out in more detail and also talk about the importance of knowing your own style of work and knowing when to take a break to clear your mind so that you can focus and be more productive.
Up next is an interview with my brother-in-law. He manages and is part owner in two fast food chain restaurants and is also a brewer for a local craft brew pub. We talk about following your passion in the work you do.
It's a busy week at NextComp as well, so I've been working, but also taking time to do fun things with the family.
It's Tuesday, so that means another episode of nextcompTV. Today I talk about Version 3 a bit, the importance of balancing work and family, and my thoughts on volunteering and the importance of donating time to a cause that you believe in.
Here's the TV show...
One more vacation related video, here's a marble racing tower that my youngest son and daughter and I made. They can spend hours playing with this set.
Here's a demo of a new feature in Version 3 - the Refresh Matches wizard. This is a much easier method for updating matches that is currently used in Version 2.
This video is available in high quality on Youtube.
Bob is starting a new project so we thought it might be good timing to discuss project management and how best to run a project to achieve a successful outcome.
Bob and I drove out to the Pacific coast of Washington State to have an initial meeting with the organization's leadership. Bob has been exchanging e-mails and having phone calls with the primary Human Resources contact over the last few weeks. He's been explaining the consulting engagement process, the expected time lines, the deliverables, and asking for some initial information he'll need to start the work.
It was time to get started in earnest with the project and so Bob and the HR Director thought it would be prudent to meet with the leadership committee.
I went along to provide some backup and I had an ulterior motive of wanting to photograph the coast and get some video along the way.
I also thought it would be a good case study on running a successful project. I'm of course assuming that this will be a successful project. I'm sure it will be!
Here's an outline of the steps Bob and I have used for over 20 years in running our projects as independent consultants. These are generic and I've used them in my work with subscribers of NEXTCOMP.NET as well.
1. Initial Communication
2. Setting Expectations
3. Data Gathering/ Information Gathering
4. Staying Flexible
5. Working Within The Culture
6. Adjusting To Unexpected Events
7. Completing The Work
8. Ongoing Communication
9. Presenting The Findings
10. Wrapping Up The Engagement
I'm going to be talking about these on nextcompTV and in the blog as Bob works through this project. It seems that Bob's consulting work is picking up! Maybe that means that the economy is improving? I hope so!
Here's a 6 minute video discussing the importance of the initial communication and expectation setting in a project.
Here's a video of our drive out to the coast. Be sure to check out the following, these go by fast, so keep an eye open:
1. The elk
2. The ribbons tied in honor of our troops
3. Nuclear power plant cooling towers
4. The Starbucks
5. The logging truck
6. The Tsunami Evacuation Route sign
7. End Of County Road sign
8. 1950's era fighter jet
9. Modern day transport plane
Enjoy the videos and stay tuned for more in the future.
Bob and I discuss the impact of technology on the human resources function. Bob recounts the changes in technology since he started in the early 1960's. We cover a lot of ground in a short period of time.
I referenced an article in the show related to the use of Facebook within organizations. Here's a link to that article.
Where did the time go today during Episode 3 of nextcompTV?
Bob and I really got into our discussion of base pay and incentives and strolled into a few other side topics along the way. The video starts with a few shots of the Seattle waterfront, then cuts to 2 minutes from the interview with Catherine Dovey in which Catherine discusses base pay and incentives and the importance of communication, finally Bob and I spend 20 minutes talking about base pay and incentives from the perspective of the employee, the Board/Ownership, and the HR department.
We're getting the hang of the technical aspects of the show and I think we're on a roll with some interesting topics and discussion.
Tune in next Tuesday, August 4th at Noon PST for another great episode where we'll discuss the impact of rapidly changing technology on the human resources and compensation professional.
My name is Matt Johnson, President of NEXTCOMP.NET. We help simplify market pricing and salary planning for some of the best loved organizations in the world, including:
