By Derek Irvine, originally posted on Globoforce Blog, on August 23, 2010.

A Workspan magazine article (“Does Merit Pay Still Have Merit in the New Economic Reality?”, access requires subscription) earlier this month really brought home the challenges of merit pay today. As the article points out, the practice of merit pay began in the 1970s when merit budgets where 6-8%, not today’s much lower 2-3% that must be divided up between all employees. Why are we still relying on a tool created 30 years ago in a much different economic and workplace reality?

What are key identifiers of employee engagement?

One of our HR experts, Lynne Bard, from Beyond Rewards Inc., answered the following question from one of our Employer members:

Dear Expert,

What other benefits can our nonprofit business offer as we have maxed out our salary budget, especially when the private sector offers higher wages?

There are many benefits a small business and non-profit can offer in lieu of salary increases.  If you have reached the capped salaries maximum you can be creative in retaining your staff.  It is not always about the money.  The corporate culture is vital to the retention and morale of the organization.

By Jim Clemmer, Originally Posted in Fate and Discipline, on July 28, 2010

"Do every day or two something for no other reason than that you would rather not do it, so that when the hour of dire need draws nigh, it may find you not unnerved and untrained to stand the test." — William James, Habit

Good and bad habits are tiny daily choices that accumulate. Each choice is a small wire that is woven together with hundreds of other little choices. Eventually these wires form a strong cable. Like a child that grows a tiny amount each day, our tiny choices accumulate without much notice. By the time we realize we have either a good or a bad habit, the habit has us. Most of our daily choices are made automatically without even thinking about them. To change our habits, we first need to be aware of them. Then we need to work backward from the habit to the daily practices that form it. To change the habit, we need to change those practices.

By: Bruna Martinuzzi

Originally published on: American Express, Small Business on June 15, 2010

“Your capacity to regulate emotions,” says David Rock “is absolutely essential to success in life.” Managing our emotions is crucial because it allows us to use our brain more efficiently. When our limbic system, also known as the emotional brain, is overly aroused, it de-activates our prefrontal cortex which handles higher order thinking such as analysis, complex problem solving, organizing, and prioritizing. Compared to the limbic system, the prefrontal cortex is a small, fragile, energy-hungry region. This means that experiencing strong negative emotions at work, for example, significantly diminishes our capacity for staying focused and our problem solving abilities.

By: Derek Irvine, Globoforce Blogspot on December 4, 2009.

A report out of the UK reveals how thinly stretched the employee/employer contract is becoming as the effects of the recession linger in organizations.

The study from the Hay Group highlights that a large majority of employees are choosing to work longer hours, often without pay, to get the job done after teams have been decimated by layoffs. Some would hail these examples of increased, unpaid effort as proof of increased employee engagement, but it is not. Remember that truly engaged employees give additional discretionary effort to achieve strategic goals because of a deeply held belief in the company, its mission and their ability to contribute meaningfully and purposefully.