Human Resource Department Management Report

The Supreme Court decision in Smith vs. City of Jackson [(03-1160) 351 F.3d 183] has both sides claiming victory. The police officers who brought the suit believe they prevailed because the Court held that employers may be held liable for unintentional discrimination against older workers—specifically, it allowed disparate impact claims under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) of 1967. Attorneys for the defense said they prevailed because the court also found that the City of Jackson, Miss. had a sound business reason for making its decision about pay raises and could successfully defend itself against numbers that on their face revealed a disparate impact on older police officers (see the accompanying sidebar, "A History of Disparate Impact Lawsuits").

Workforce performance is on most HR managers’ short list of 2005 priorities. A critical component of the process is the HR and training technology that will drive organization performance. So where do you invest your limited funding to get the best results? And what can you do to make sure your systems are having the strongest impact on performance? HRDMR has some answers and some ideas on both.

HR managers are all about corporate strategy these days, even if it’s only lip service or wishful thinking. It’s not for lack of initiative that HR is unable to step up; often HR managers simply don’t know how "strategic" looks or acts. One of the best ways to learn is by example, the saying goes, so here’s how HR at Whirlpool Corp. (Benton Harbor, Mich.) uses the "3 R’s" to link itself to the company’s overall strategic plan (see the sidebar, "Whirlpool’s Mission, Strategy, and 3 R’s").

HR professionals who fail to provide their organizations with real value risk, at a minimum, being ignored by senior management. They also risk being replaced altogether as outsourcing continues to gain favor with cost-conscious CEOs.

Internships represent a recruiting opportunity not to be overlooked, as many HR managers have discovered. Most students are eager for such arrangements, having been told that a successful internship can give them the inside track to a permanent position. Employers can groom potential employees in a low-risk and generally low- or even no-cost environment. Properly trained and mentored, interns can reduce your recruiting burden by filling the pipeline with top candidates who are pretty much up and running before they’re officially hired.

HR executives in Great Britain enjoy the biggest paychecks and easily surpass their U.S. counterparts in both base salary and total cash compensation, a new global pay survey from Mercer Human Resource Consulting reveals (see table below). HR execs in the U.K. also receive a larger portion of their compensation in bonuses and allowances, which account for 23% of their total cash comp., compared with 19% of total cash comp. for U.S. HR executives.

Next Generation Workforce Conference: Managing Mature and Diverse Talent, New York City, June 1-3. Contact: The Conference Board, 212-339-0345; fax: 212-836-9740; www.conference-board.com/conferences