Pay Raises: The New Holy Grail

Does the name Satya Nadella sound familiar? If it doesn’t, it very well could be a name you won’t forget by the end of the day.

I have to admit I didn’t have clue about who he was until I read about his comments at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women Computing.

Keep in mind that Nadella should have a little bit more experience and knowledge in employee management – he is, after all, the CEO of Microsoft. But his overnight claim to fame is now based on statements he made at that conference suggesting that women should not ask for raises but have faith in systems that reward them and provide pay raises as a woman. He also suggested that women who don’t ask for raises are creating good karma and have superpowers.

Yes, he really made those statements at a national conference in a room packed with women. Before he could even finish the attendees were feverishly sharing and Tweeting their anger and disagreement. By the close of the business day, his odd, disjointed and controversial statements had made their way back to Microsoft, prompting him to email Microsoft employees as damage control.
Monday may pose more challenges for Nadella in the office, and it might be wise for him to get his own coffee.

In all fairness, however, let's consider one of his statements.

Nadella said he felt that as long as women progressed organically in their careers they would make more money with the company without asking for raises. I would say a majority of managers would hold the same view in assuming that employees that stay get paid progressively higher wages over their years of service. If they don’t receive adequate or increases in pay, would it be likely for them to stay with the company?

Employees in today’s market may not necessarily be staying because of great pay with the promise of increased wages. More than ever, they are motivated by different factors, including flexible work environments, telecommuting, job responsibilities, company cultures, personal reasons, etc. Nevertheless, equitable and fair pay is always at the top of everyone’s list for why they stay at a job or seek out other opportunities.

Many companies put processes in place to try to ensure employees are paid fairly – like annual performance evaluations with the potential to attach merit based pay increases. Or merit-based pay for completing introductory periods of employment.

Even with the best of intentions these processes either are not completed or become complicated for a number of reasons including streamlining the processes, raise/bonus structure, disciplinary processes and setting aside a time annually (or semi-annually) to conduct the evaluations with all employees.

This means that even though the processes are in place, employee pay becomes flatlined and employees begin to feel undervalued and unappreciated, affecting long-term productivity, morale and turnover.

In these situations, employees have a choice of either asking for a raise or hoping the management will recognize their true value and pay up. More often than not, this does not happen, leaving employees in the position of having to ask for a raise.

From a business standpoint, employees taking responsibility for asking for raises could be a win-win situation. Employees are not only responsible for making the overture but also for making the case why they should be paid more. This could lead to a more open and candid process of evaluation.

But for an employee, taking that responsibility can be awkward and nerve-wrecking -- certainly not something anyone jumps up and down about doing. In turn, this can have an even more negative effect, especially if the request is declined, The employee feels not only rejection increased feelings of being undervalued and unappreciated.

Let’s be honest about this entire situation: an employee isn’t going to work at a job for an extended period making wages that are stagnant, especially with the cost of living going up. As the job market continues to lose people to retirement and companies cope with the ever-changing job market, the almighty dollar once again becomes king again in the workplace.
Monica Bitrick is the CEO of Bitrick Consulting Group, an Idaho Falls human resources company.

Progrexion opening operation in Idaho Falls

Keyboards stacked up on partitions as work goes on inside Progrexion's new operation in Idaho Falls.

A routine check at the city of Idaho Falls Building Department office reveals that Progrexion, a Utah-based company with a call center in Rexburg, has filed plans to renovate the building on International Way nearest to Aeromark. The Utah-based company, which has had an operation in Rexburg for several years, is advertising for workers to staff its Idaho Falls center.

The building was first used by Security Connections Inc., then by Century Link, which still has one call center open on International Way, down from three.

Two other buildings on International Way, one that was occupied by Center Partners and the other by Century Link, have been empty parking lots and "For Lease." All these buildings were built in the mid- to late-1990s with aid from local economic development entities Grow Idaho Falls and the Regional Development Alliance.

Progrexion employs more than 2,100 people at locations in Utah, Idaho and Arizona and anticipates hiring 2,000 additional people between now and the end of 2015. Some of the additional new hires will be for the new call center in Idaho Falls. Progrexion has been recognized by Inc. 5000 Magazine as one of the fastest growing private companies in America, and by the Post Register as a Top Place to Work in Eastern Idaho. For more information about the company, here is the link to its Web site: http://www.progrexion.com/

Walk-a-thon against childhood cancer set for Saturday

Idaho Falls area residents will team up Saturday with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for a walk-a-thon against childhood cancer.

The walk, which starts at 8 a.m. at Ravsten Stadium, is an opportunity to help support the life-saving mission of one of the world’s premier pediatric cancer research centers. Participants are seeking sponsorships for walking (pledges can be per lap or in a lump sum) and will earn prizes for their donations. The participant who walks the most laps and the participant who raises the most funds will win custom knives made by Robert Martin, owner of www.tearsofthesword.com.

The Rev. Tim Meeks of First Church of the Nazarene said the local goal is to raise $15,000 for St. Judes. It is not too late to register, which can be done by visiting http://fundraising.stjude.org/idahofallswalk.

Since opening in 1962, St. Jude has treated children from all 50 states and around the world. No child is denied treatment because of a family’s inability to pay. The hospital’s research has helped push overall survival rates for childhood cancer from less than 20 percent when the institution opened to almost 80 percent today. It is the first and only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. But with a daily operating cost of $1.7 million, St. Jude depends mostly on public contributions and fund-raising events, like Saturday's walk.

For information about this event, visit the event's page on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/events/1501564770085469. For information on how to host to host a fund-raising event for St. Jude, call 1-800-457-2444 or visit www.stjude.org/stjudewalk.

Misclassification of Independent Contractors = A Rough Road for Employers

FedEx deliveries are exciting, right? From the moment you order or send a package, track its progress and see the final “delivered” status, it is the ultimate adrenaline rush.

OK, perhaps I exaggerate. To be realistic, deliveries these days are pretty streamlined, simple and likely kind of boring. But last month package deliveries got a little more complicated for FedEx in Oregon and California.

How? Most of us would assume a person wearing a FedEx uniform, groomed to FedEx’s standards driving a FedEx truck and delivering packages on FedEx’s schedule would have to be a FedEx employee. But in Oregon and California, the drivers were actually classified by FedEx as independent contractors. Common sense says that wouldn’t be right, and the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agrees. Recently the court rendered a decision holding that the drivers in those states were actually employees.

This is a big deal. In fact, it has been called “an earthquake in the independent misclassification field.”

I can’t tell you what the exact financial effect will be on FedEx in California and Oregon, but can tell you it likely to be dramatic for FedEx and a lot of other companies.

Identifying an individual as an employee or independent contractor is tricky. A solid independent contractor agreement is great to have in place, but it won’t help ward off scrutiny from the IRS, the Department of Labor, and other local, state and federal authorities. There is a lot to consider before entering into a business relationship with someone as an independent contractor.

State laws may differ on who can be classified as an independent contractor, but the IRS has streamlined guidelines to help employers with classification. What should you consider before entering into an independent contractor relationship?

Overall, it is based on the degree of control a company has over an individual and can be broken down into a few areas.

• Does the company tell the individual exactly what to do in delivering the final product or service?
• Does the company determine or provide the equipment that is used how, what to wear on a job site and hours of work?
• Is all work performed on an actual company-provided worksite?
• Does the company provide training and education to perform the work?
• Does the company say where to buy materials needed to perform the work?

If the answer is yes to any of these questions, the person is most likely to fall in the employee category.

It’s also important to consider the degree of control that the company has over other jobs or assignments a person can secure. If an individual is restricted or prohibited from taking additional jobs or assignments, or advertising services outside the company, this also would likely lead to employment status.

In a contracting relationship, a company does not have the authority to prohibit or restrict the contractual agreements a person can enter into with others. In any audit, the IRS would also consider how long the relation is in place or whether there was any expectation of the relationship being permanent.

Last of all, an independent contractor is fully responsible for keeping track of business expenses. The company is not involved and bears no responsibility for the individual’s expenses.
Determining the correct employment classification may not be as easy as tracking your FedEx package, but there are a number of resources to help.  For starters, the IRS has a 20-question that is extremely helpful and can be found here.
Monica Bitrick is CEO of Bitrick Consulting Group, an Idaho Falls human resources company.

Smith Honda, Chevrolet open on Sunnyside Road

Stafford Smith inside the new Smith Honda dealership on Pioneer Drive, off Sunnyside Road.

With a lot of kinks still to be ironed out, Smith Chevrolet and Smith Honda are looking at an Oct. 15 soft opening for their new dealerships off Sunnyside Road.

The Honda operation moved from Holmes Avenue to its new facility in late September while the Chevrolet dealership began selling cars and trucks there on Tuesday. The Chevrolet service department is due to open today.

For Stafford Smith and his staff, this represents the culmination of more than a year's worth of work. A few administrative people are still working at the buildings on Holmes, but for all intents and purposes both dealerships are now on 17 acres south of Sunnyside, each in buildings just shy of 30,000 square feet. Smith said he plans to have a grand opening in spring 2015, but is happy to show the place to guests now.

Smith Chevrolet started in 1917, when David Smith set up his dealership with two cars in the lobby of the Hotel Idaho on C Street (now Constitution Way). The dealership was downtown until 1963, when they moved to North Holmes Avenue, which was farmland at the time. They added Honda in 1970, starting with the tiny 600 series cars. The new dealership has been certified with Honda's Environmental Leadership Platinum Award, one of a handful in the United States.

Right now, access to the dealership on Pioneer Drive is closer to the Interstate 15 Exit 116 than Smith or the Idaho Department of Transportation are comfortable with. The address for both dealerships is listed as 3477 S. Pioneer Road, but as it stands now Pioneer Road empties onto Sunnyside just east of Teton Volkswagen and goes nowhere to the south.