Human Capital Management Blog

Through a recent partnership between Kronos Inc. and analytic.li, Benetech now offers a new suite of analytics dashboards that combines the robust employee-performance, time and labor, and payroll data of Benetech’s HCM suite with business data from outside the system to gain clear insights into how business initiatives impact business performance. The new analtytic.li dashboard simplifies the effort and investment traditionally associated with launching a workforce analytics program.

With low unemployment and the competition for top talent at its peak, employers are seeking better ways to develop an engaging work environment that attracts and retains top performers. A recent Harvard Business Review article cited an internal study by Facebook on why employees chose to stay at the company. Researchers found that employees who stayed found work enjoyable 31% more often, used their strengths 33% more often, and expressed 37% more confidence that they were gaining the skills and experiences they need to develop their careers. In other words, employees want: to be in a place where their skills are both valued and developed, and feel like they are making a contribution to the success of the organization. An employer’s recipe for engaged and loyal employees, therefore, entails talent development, performance feedback, and opportunities for continued advancement in the organization. Here are 3 areas where Human Capital Management technology can help.

Putting the right people in the most pivotal roles as quickly as possible—that’s the new competitive advantage. Most of us remember firsthand or recall from film the Miracle on Ice—the story of the USA hockey team that upset the world-champion Soviets in the 1980 Winter Olympics. When questioned about his strategy and player selection coach Herb Brooks in the Disney telling of the event responds, “I’m not looking for the best players, I’m looking for the right ones.” Want another sports movie analogy—try Moneyball. It captures the true story of Oakland A’s General Manager Billy Beane and how he used human capital data to build a leading team on the league’s smallest budget that won a record-breaking 20 games in a row.

Human Capital Management (HCM) is one of those nebulous terms in the talent management conversation. Is it competency management? Is it recruiting and succession planning? Is it streamlining the daily HR tasks essential to organizational survival?

Selecting the best health plan is no longer about picking the lowest copays and deductible. Sure that is the hope, but those added benefits come with a cost. Depending on your utilization, buying up to a richer plan may give some added peace of mind and cash-flow stability, but ultimately cost more than a plan with a higher deductible, lower premium, and more out-of-pocket expense. When it comes to selecting the best health plan for you and your family, meaning the plan that provides the greatest personal value at the lowest cost and risk, it helps to first quantify your liabilities. Here are six steps to help you assess you and your family's health expense liability and make an informed decision when selecting health coverage.

In his recent legal update to the Capital Region Human Resources Association, nationally acclaimed labor attorney, John Bagyi, shared a number of regulatory topics impacting employers across NY State. He saved the best for last: New York Paid Family Leave. Regarding the dynamic nature of the regulation, which goes into effect on January 1, 2018, Bagyi remarks, “There is a lot of inconsistent information still coming out…it’s going to be a bumpy road. This is one of those policies I would write in pencil.”

The new ACA affordability rate released by the IRS took a slight twist for 2018—it went down this year. For employers, this means that depending on the affordability safe harbor you are using, you may be contributing more toward employees than in previous years. Of course, in most cases we’re looking at a change in contribution of a few dollars per month. For example, an employer using the W2 safe harbor, when considering a $30,000 salaried employee, will have to pay an additional $3.25/month or $39 annually, should he or she be toeing the affordability line to stay compliant.

Quote, Select, Communicate, Enroll—a broad overview of the traditional process for delivering employer-sponsored health coverage. It worked in the past, but have shifting market conditions made this traditional purchasing model obsolete? It certainly hasn’t gotten easier for employers or employees, who, according to a recent study by Aetna, claim that picking health insurance is a greater challenge than parenting. That wasn’t always the case—something has changed. For today’s new market conditions, here are 3 things to avoid when designing your next health plan.