Mid-year review : the best of Compensation Insider

This post is dedicated to my readers, old and new. In the past 6 months, the number of people reading Compensation Insider has grown from 12-15 per day to about 100 per day. I am very happy and hope to continue to see growth in my readership as I believe in sharing information and points of view with as large an audience as possible. That's why I also speak at HR events like the IIRME Compensation & Benefits Forum last week :-). I will publish an update on that very soon...

So, I have extracted the 10 most read pages from this blog, and want to share them with you to let you discover them - or revisit some oldies that you liked some time ago. Good reading !

1.  Compensation aspects of HR trends for 2012 : An overview of the trends relevant to Compensation professionals in the Middle East and GCC, based on SHRM's Future Insights reports on HR trends for 2012.


2. What are the benefits of a good performance management system ? : A good Performance Management Systems improves the performance of the company as employees are motivated, their work is aligned with company goals and there are fewer issues thanks to on-going feedback from the manager.


3. Does competency-based performance management really work ? : Can performance management be based on competencies ? Yes it can - but it depends on what your purpose is. If you want to focus on employee growth it is great, if you want pay-for-performance, other approaches may be more adapted.


4. Calibration of employee ratings - a rigid rule ? : Calibration or moderation allows to reach a common culture of performance through managers discussing and agreeing the relative performance of employees.


5. Percentiles - an easy way to figure it out : An easy-to-understand defintion of percentiles, as well as a simple example of how to figure it out manually without mathematical formulas.


6. Of average salaries in Europe : There is no such thing as "average salaries across Europe. Despite the euro, each country has its own tax and social security system, history and cultures, and salaries vary widely.


7. A few career and life lessons from my last job in Italy : 5 years ago I was working in Italy and utterly miserable at my job. I eventually resigned and learned a few lessons that still support my professional life today.


8. A view on emiratisation from the Abu Dhabi Tawteen Council : Abu Dhabi Tawteen Council (ADTC) provides some insight on the challenges facing the country in implementing a successful emiratisation of the private sector.


9. From job evaluation to salary scales - the basics : An overview of how to move from job descriptions to job evaluations to job grading to salary ranges.


10. Emiratisation and Compensation & Benefits part I : C&B can support emiratisation in many ways. In the first of two posts, I cover base pay, allowances, KPIs and incentives as the most direct areas of influence.

• The Formula One effect on performance management : Some comparisons between Formula One and performance management, drawn from the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2011.


• Is social performance management coming out of the closet ? : Salesforce Rypple offers social performance management, with features similar to social networks and gaming. How easily would it be accepted in the Middle East?


• Four women's influence on my career : International Women's Day - Paying tribute to women who influenced my career


• The pros and cons of keeping compensation information confidential : An overview of the advantages and disadvantages of not providing communication about compensation, benefits, allowances, pay for performance and incentives.


• 3 factors influencing the promotion rate for your organisation : Your company maturity, the composition of your employee population, and your grading structure all have an influence on the frequency of promotions for your staff.


• Enhance your Google search skills for Compensation research : Use this infographic to help you refine your Search skills on Google. This will get you research results that are more relevant for your Compensation projects.


• Understanding R-square value in compensation analysis : In simple or multiple regression analysis, R-square value (or R2) helps you understand how much one or multiple variables explain the result you are studying.


• The limits of Emiratisation quotas : To cascade Emiratisation targets into the company, you can set quotas in the Directors bonus scheme. But this quantiative approach is flawed when used by itself.


• Create the best rules in Outlook to boost your productivity : How-to and practical examples of how to use Rules in your Outlook inbox in order to boost your productivity.


• Compensation Surveys - the ultimate buyer checklist : Beyond the price and reputation of the compensation survey provider, there are many factors to check when buying a compensation survey.

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