Best Practices of Helios HR Apollo Awards Finalists The Helios HR Apollo Awards recognize Washington, DC-based businesses that place an intentional focus on employee development. When you invest in your people, your business wins ten-fold. Employees appreciate that you care about their growth and future, and your clients and business operations feel that ripple effect. It also helps you to identify future leaders for your organization. You probably already know why employee development matters though, so let's get to what these organizations are doing that sets them apart! At a high level, some of the practices and tools used by Apollo Awards finalists included: job swapping robust and formal orientation programs consistent brown-bag training luncheons targeted career coaching leveraging the use of technology through learning management systems knowledge management programs, and structured on-the-job training. Hundreds of nominations were reviewed by an independent panel of judges with vast industry experience and were narrowed down to 27 finalists across four categories. We culled through the applications of our finalists and found some very innovative and exciting ideas that we wanted to share to assist you in integrating training and career development opportunities into your own organizational culture. Top 4 Tips with Employee Development from Leading Employers Below are the top 4 tips that should prove very useful in promoting and supporting employee development. 1. Effective onboarding is vital to fostering retention, increasing productivity, and enhancing the professional development of your team. One Apollo Awards finalist company believes the philosophy "career development is synonymous with team member engagement." For this company, career development begins during new hire orientation and assimilation.

Best Practices: RIF Tips for Management Reductions in Force (RIF) usually come at a time when companies can least afford distraction. Operations become significantly harder as you work through the process of notifying workers, supporting current employees, and finding ways to compensate for staffing changes throughout your organization. These changes will take a significant amount of management bandwidth and a thoughtful and well-implemented RIF strategy. Downsizing your workforce may be the most viable solution to counteract decreased revenues and difficult economic challenges, but should never be a "knee jerk" reaction. To ensure that your company will get through the process unscathed, we've compiled a set of Best Practices and Considerations in Conducting a RIF. These include: Get HR Involved at the Beginning Explore Alternatives to Layoffs Consider ALL the Stakeholders Mitigate Legal Risks Don't Focus Solely on the Short Term Tip One: Get HR Involved at the Beginning A successful workforce reduction process requires careful and early planning. Companies that get through the process with minimal difficulties utilize Human Resources as a trusted advisor. Work with your HR department today to develop systematic processes that identify company-wide, department, and individual criteria that will be used for the RIF.

Average salary increases for 2009 are forecasted between 3.1% and 4.1% in separate studies conducted by HR consultancies Hewitt Associates, Mercer, and Buck Consultants. At the low end of the spectrum, the Hewitt study found that base salary increases at 411 large U.S. companies surveyed are projected to be 3.1% -- the lowest base salary increase projection since just after September 11, 2001.