Article: Compensation: What's the Big Secret?
    Article: Hiring Controversies, Social Networking and Falsified Resumes
         Top EmployeeScreenIQ's Annual List of Background Screening Trends
    White Paper: Boards in Turbulent Times: Corporate Governance Europe Report 2009
    HR Humor: Does Anyone Here Speak English?
    Webcast: Clark Hill Reviews I-9 Compliance; How E-Verify Will Impact Your Organization
    Podcast: Dealing With Work-Life Stress
    HR 180: Significant Objects

Article: Compensation: What's the Big Secret?
Source: Tom Krattenmaker, Harvard Management Communication Letter

Over and over, we're told of the value in today's workplace of open communication, of transparency. Yet there's something critical that, in most organizations, remains top-secret. And that's compensation-specifically, what salaries are and how they are determined. It's in everybody's thoughts, yet rarely on their lips. "It's perceived to be the unmentionable. We're the most open society in the world except for this one topic," says Peter LeBlanc, senior vice president of Sibson Consulting/The Segal Company (New York City). "Companies aren't bringing up the topic of pay, and people aren't seeking answers, because it's verboten." But a new study coauthored by LeBlanc shows that more and better communication about compensation can boost employees' satisfaction with their pay, leading to stronger commitment to the organization, enhanced trust in management, and other benefits. And it doesn't cost much to get these payoffs.

Article: Hiring Controversies, Social Networking and Falsified Resumes Top EmployeeScreenIQ's Annual List of Background Screening Trends
Source: EmployeeScreenIQ

Since 2007, the company has developed an annual list to be unveiled at the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Annual Conference and Exposition. This year's trends were announced at SHRM's New Orleans conference and are designed to equip hiring professionals with advance information on crucial screening topics before they become everyday news. EmployeeScreenIQ's top background screening trends for 2010 include...

White Paper: Boards in Turbulent Times: Corporate Governance Europe Report 2009
Source: Heidrick & Struggles

The report includes data from 371 of Europe's top companies and is organized by theme: working methods, committees, composition (including diversity), remuneration and board evaluation, and by country. According to Professor Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman, World Economic Forum, "This financial crisis is global and has heralded a new international order that has yet to be understood fully or accepted widely. The economic changes happening now are structural, not cyclical, and therefore truly transformative. These changes will affect every company in every sector across the world. There has been a chronic loss of trust in the world's systems and institutions: company boards must be the vanguard of the effort to win back the confidence of customers and investors alike. A well-balanced board is critical to the effective strategic direction and running of any company. Good governance and leadership will help rebuild confidence in our business systems, providing a stable framework for sustainable growth."

HR Humor: Does Anyone Here Speak English?
Source: Bernthis.com

She loves her cake!

Webcast: Clark Hill Reviews I-9 Compliance and How E-Verify Will Impact Your Organization
Source: nowHire and Michael P. Nowlan, co-Leader of the Clark Hill Immigration Practice Group

In this latest nowHIRE Webcast, guest speaker Michael P. Nowlan, Co-Leader of the Clark Hill Immigration Practice Group (a full-service law firm), covers in depth:

• How to stay I-9 compliant
• The latest legal updates about E-Verify
• Who is impacted by E-Verify
• How to avoid non-compliance penalties and fines
• Why automating I-9 compliance and the E-Verify process is so important
• And much more!

Podcast: Dealing With Work-Life Stress
Source: Innovations International

Chris Harding discusses eight actions that can be used to help reduce the amount of stress and anxiety as it relates to work-life quality and balance in life.

HR180: Significant Objects
Source: Joshua Glenn and Rob Walker, sponsors

About the Significant Objects Project - The Idea

A talented, creative writer invents a story about an object. Invested with new significance by this fiction, the object should - according to our hypothesis - acquire not merely subjective but objective value. How to test our theory? Via eBay!

The Project

1. The project's curators purchase objects - for no more than a few dollars - from thrift stores and garage sales.

2. A participating writer is paired with an object. He or she then writes a fictional story, in any style or voice, about the object. Voila! An unremarkable, castoff thingamajig has suddenly become a "significant" object!

3. Each significant object is listed for sale on eBay. The s.o. is pictured, but instead of a factual description the s.o.'s newly written fictional story is used. However, care is taken to avoid the impression that the story is a true one; the intent of the project is not to hoax eBay customers. (Doing so would void our test.) The author's byline will appear with his or her story.

4. The winning bidder is mailed the significant object, along with a printout of the object's fictional story. Net proceeds from the sale are given to the respective author. Authors retain all rights to their stories.

5. The test's results - photos, original prices and final sale prices, stories - are cataloged on this website. The project's curators retain the right to use these materials in other venues and media. For example: Maybe we'll publish a book.

What's New? The Latest in HR Software and Services

* Please note that the editorial team at News for HR does not recommend or endorse any of the companies or products mentioned in our newsletter. We also cannot support any claims made by the respective companies. These are products and services we have found interesting and are sharing with our readership. If you have any experience with these companies you would like to share with us, we'd love to hear from you!

Recruitment & Staffing:

AllPinkSlips.com launched a new website with free tools and resources for job seekers. AllPinkSlips.com provides a one-stop shop for job seekers, with postings, tips, resume templates and other tools to assist in the job search and employment process. This site is unique in that it also engages the possibility of allowing Recruiting Companies, Outplacement Firms, Career Coaches and Resume Writing Specialists to assist in the job search. Visit their site and check it out.

Compensation & Benefits:

Two highly respected national organizations - LifeCare, Inc. and the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute - announced a unique partnership to enhance service offerings to and best practices by corporations throughout the United States relating to adoption, foster parenting and diversity in family life. The two organizations will have a variety of educational resources, seminars and webinars that are expected to be available to employers later this year.

Talent Management:

SuccessFactors, a provider of on-demand performance and talent management solutions, announced the availability of SuccessGold, tailored to meet mid-market business needs. According to the company, SuccessGold offers personalized focus and execution from customer support that was previously out of reach for mid-market organizations. With SuccessGold, an assigned support account manager is responsible for coordinating the support effort while keeping their organizations' goals and best interests top of mind. This new offering was designed primarily to meet the needs of users of the SuccessPractices edition, which is used by businesses ranging in size from 500 to 2500 employees. For more information refer to the press release.

Training & Development:

Research shows that interpersonal skills are an important element of overall success in the workplace comparable to intelligence, previous work experience and personality. A new initiative from TRACOM enables organizations to provide the world's best-known interpersonal skills training program to employees at no cost. TRACOM's "Keep Business Training" program will provide complimentary SOCIAL STYLE training materials to a minimum of 100 organizations that complete an application by Sep. 1, 2009. The application and additional information can be accessed at http://www.tracomcorp.com/keeptraining.

About "News For HR"

"News for HR" is a monthly newsletter profiling new products and services in the human resource marketplace and timely articles on various HR topics. The newsletter's content is selected by our editorial committee and is not the result of paid advertising.

Most of the content comes from the Human Resources Directory - one of the HR industry's largest and most up-to-date knowledge centers with a library of over 2,000 white papers, webcasts, podcasts, articles and more. Please let us know how we are doing by e-mailing newsforhr@hrmarketer.com.