All articles by Debi O'Donovan – Page 28
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Article
Employee Benefits Summit Jerez, Spain 04-06 June 2008
To view a conference or workshop presentation from the Employee Benefits Summit 2008, which was held in Jerez, Spain on 4-6 June 2008, please click on the 'Download' link next to the speaker name below.The Future of Work and the Impact of Well-Being on the Bottom-LineRichard Donkin, columnist, Financial TimesDownload ...
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Debi O’Donovan: Take employees’ financial needs into account when promoting pensions savings
Debi O'Donovan, editorial director, Employee Benefits: Too often employers focus on pension scheme membership and contribution levels while ignoring the other financial burdens (mortgages, debt, mid- and short-term saving) of staff.It is my belief that employers which emphasise pensions in a vacuum of financial education are being poor corporate citizens. ...
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Article
Home Retail Group launches year two of sharesave scheme
The retailer, which operates the brands Argos and Homebase, is giving employees the opportunity to buy Home Retail Group shares at a 20% discount, using a special tax-free savings account.Invitations were issued on 5 June 2008 and will close on 23 June 2008, with the first savings being made at ...
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Article
Quality of living in global city – rankings
European cities dominate the worldwide rankings of locations with the best quality of living, according to Mercer’s 2008 Quality of Living Survey. Zurich retains its 2007 title as the highest ranked city, followed jointly by Vienna (2), Geneva (2), then Vancouver (4) and Auckland (5).In the UK, London ranks 38, ...
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Analysis
Creating a global sales compensation plan
The world’s largest companies are increasingly looking to develop global sales compensation plans.Speaking at the WorldatWork Total Rewards Conference & Exhibition 2008, John Bremen, global practice director – sales effectiveness compensation at Watson Wyatt, said that 99% of Global 2000 companies have sales forces and 90% of these have sales ...
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Article
HR should get more involved in sales compensation design
HR and compensation departments are becoming increasingly involved in helping to frame sales compensation plans. Business cost, profitability, governance and staff recruitment are key drivers behind this trend.Speaking at the WorldatWork Total Rewards Conference & Exhibition, Mark Flaven, principal at Towers Perrin, said: “Sales compensation is one of the biggest ...
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Article
Debi O’Donovan: How increased fuel prices in are affecting employee total rewards in the USA
Debi O’Donovan, editorial director, Employee Benefits, blog on Total Rewards Conference & Exhibition 2008, Philadelphia, USA: Heading across the pond to see how reward (or ‘rewards’ as the Americans are wont to say) is evolving has been an interesting process. My first ‘take away’ (to get into US conference-speak) after ...
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Article
International reward managers should not impose a global benefits strategy
International benefits managers need to avoid reward imperialism, warned Chris Wilson, managing director of Rewarding People.Speaking at the International Employee Benefits Senate on 13 May Wilson said: “Local culture and what local employees want is very powerful. You can have this global view and want to impose it, but employee ...
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Article
Debi O’Donovan: the problem with employee share schemes
Debi O'Donovan, editorial director, Employee Benefits: At the Employee Benefits Awards two years ago Northern Rock was highly commended for its entry in the ‘Most effective share scheme 2006’ category. At that point the company was riding high and staff made profits of between £2,000 and £59,000 from two different ...
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Article
More employers plan to buy out pensions scheme risks
The value of pension funds being offloaded by employers to insurance firms has grown seven-fold in the six months to 31 March 2008, compared to the previous six months.Companies such as TI Group, Rank, P&O and Emap all completed buyout transactions on their defined benefit pension schemes in the six ...
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Article
Employee Benefits Awards 2008 finalists announced
Leading employers such as Shell International, FirstGroup, Tesco, O2 and McDonalds have been shortlisted as finalists for the UK's only Awards to celebrate excellence in employee benefits.With a record number of entries to the Employee Benefits Awards 2008, competition to be listed as a finalist was tough.The winners will be ...
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Article
Debi O'Donovan: Personal accounts and flexible benefits
Debi O'Donovan, editorial director, Employee Benefits: Given the column inches dedicated to personal accounts (PAs) over recent months, you would think they were top of mind for everyone. However, we are finding that the vast majority of UK employers have barely begun to think about the implications of the incoming ...
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Debi O'Donovan: The rise of international employee benefits
Debi O'Donovan, editorial director, Employee Benefits: In recent years we have noticed a distinct shift towards multinational employers looking at their benefits strategies on an international basis. Some have done this for decades, but over the past year or two the number of UK-focussed benefits managers who have been given ...
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Case Studies
Expatriate assignment reward policy at Brown-Forman Europe, Beverages
Case study on Brown-Forman Europe, Beverages as presented at the CIPD Seminar on Managing International Assignments on 5 March 2008.Speaker:Kim Miller, HR director – international, Brown-Forman Europe, Beverages.Company notes:One of the 10 largest wine and spirits companies in the world4,200 staff in 55 countries2,000 staff outside the USAOperate as a ...
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Case Studies
Expatriate assignment reward policy at BP
Case study: BP as presented at the CIPD Seminar on Managing International Assignments on 5 March 2008.Speaker:Carole Crossley, VP HR international mobility, BPCompany notes:An oil, gas, petrochemicals and renewable company98,000 staff with operations in over 100 countries3,500 expats in over 60 countries, from 55 different home countrieslarge number of international ...
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Debi O'Donovan blog: The changing shape of expatriate assignee rewards
Debi O'Donovan, editorial director, Employee Benefits: Reward strategies for expatriate assignees changing while the number of expatriates are growing – from both the developed and, in particular, the developing world.This week I attended an enlightening Seminar on Managing International Assignments organised by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (I ...
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Article
Employee Benefits report for Financial Directors – February 2008
–ColumnsAlan Shipman: Conflict over pension provision between this generation and the nextMark Rowlands: Using psychology to maximise pensions auto-enrolmentMartin Landells: Higher accounting charge for sharesave (SAYE) plansFeaturesThe importance of benefits and reward during M&AsCalculating the return on investment on healthcare benefitsWays to reduce final salary pension liabilitiesWeighing up fleet financing ...
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Article
Debi O'Donovan: The concept of total reward
Debi O'Donovan, editorial director of Employee Benefits: The concept of 'total reward' seems to be gaining ground in recent years, at least on the benefits conference and consultant circuit.However, many benefits managers still battle to pin down exactly what it looks like in the workplace and how on earth they ...
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Article
The benefits of helping employees deal with debt
Debi O'Donovan, editorial director at Employee Benefits: Debt worries among employees will be a major issue in the year ahead. This is a depressing prospect to consider so early in the New Year, but there is no hiding from the fact that the credit crunch, falling property prices, tougher mortgage ...
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Analysis
The impact of benefits on business performance
As the war for talent rages, employee benefits have a key role to play in helping to retain and engage our most valuable assets - our workers, says Debi O’DonovanIn today’s knowledge-based, service economy, a substantial proportion of an organisation’s value is held in its employees. Customer service levels, sales ...