Buzzwords in business are overused to the point of becoming fads at times. We hear phrases daily such as “culture”, “engagement”, “wheelhouse”, “synergy”, “incentivizing”, “strategic”, and the list goes on and on. When these buzzwords become so common in our workplace, it shouldn’t be surprising to hear so many managers and executives misusing these terms to suit their own agendas, while confidently speaking as experts on achieving each.

I'm certain that, in your business, you have probably given a fair amount of thought to what percentage of salary increase to give employees. You've probably also had conversations with managers on how much to offer a candidate they want to hire, or what a new salary should be for someone who moved to a new role internally. These are all common compensation conversations that happen throughout the year in business.

Employers that offer health benefits to their employees may also offer wellness programs to contain health plan costs, help employees stay healthy and increase employees’ knowledge as health care consumers. Wellness programs also referred to as: disease-management programs, employee wellness plans or programs, corporate wellness programs, or a range of other names, take many forms.

Paid leave is traditionally an employer optional benefit – but, arguably the most important and beneficial employee benefit a company can offer.

Unlimited sick leave policies are gaining popularity as a great addition to an organization's total rewards package. However, most employers tend to not implement the policies because of the risk factors. Yes, you might have that occasional employee who abuses the policy, but that can be managed. What I find most of my clients are worried about, is when an employee goes out on extended medical leave, causing them to become responsible for paying their full salary while they are out.

What Organizations Can Do to Reduce the Gender Pay Gap During a recent interview about gender pay equity on Freakonomics with Harvard economics professor Claudia Goldin, she noted that the reasons for the existence of the gender pay gap in the United States are varied and complex. For organizations that are interested in promoting pay equity, it’s important to understand what these varied and complex drivers of pay equity are. My colleague authored a great article that provides additional information about proposed legislation and notes steps organizations can take to create consistent pay practices.