Strategic HR Lawyer

In the midst of the current economic crisis and the flurry of employment law activity under the new administration, it's easy to forget the first word of this blog. The whole purpose of the name Strategic HR Lawyer was intended to focus not only on employment law but also elements of strategic human resources management. I began my career in HR over two decades ago and even after I became an attorney, it has influenced my practice, how I approach problems and advise on legal issues.

Here's my beef for today. For the last several months I've heard all about the economy, and all about these new laws. In fact, many of my recent posts have focused on attempting to keep my readers up to date on the numerous legislative changes. Today, I am putting my HR hat on and plan on putting it on more regularly on this blog. Why? Because, quite frankly, if HR professionals spend their time becoming junior lawyers and abdicate their leadership opportunities by letting bean counters lead the company's charge through these tough economic times, then guess what? HR will have lost its opportunity to emerge as transformational leaders in organizations and the profession will reaffirm the negative stereotypes that are periodically thrust upon it.

The Compensation Force Blog (by World at Work) had a recent post on the estimates for 2009 salary increases. The post cites a recent Watson-Wyatt survey on the Effect of he Economic Crisis on HR Programs which, in part demonstrates that projected compensation budget increases for this year are still in flux. That notwithstanding, how many of us have heard about wage frees for this year? To me, wage freezes are about the same a hiring freezes – shortsighted and usually the decisions of narrow minded people (unless company is in a true crisis). Both of these approaches do nothing to engage the workforce, promote productivity and retain loyal and motivated employees for the long haul.

So here's my wild idea for today: Instead of letting the bean counters implement wage freezes or cuts, why don't we adopt what I'll call the “REVERSE MERIT PROGRAM” - If we can, and have been for years, dole out salary increases based on a performance management system that gives the best raises to the star performers and the lowest or no raises to the poorest performers, then why don't we use that same system for salary cuts? In other words, freeze the salaries of the best performers and dole out salary "cut backs" to employees based on performance measurements. Isn't compensation supposed to be an "investment" in our people?  So you can cut your salaries will STILL “reward” your top performers. Now, I know that the critics are saying that companies have already slashed to the bone and there are no “poor” performers left. To that I say, baloney. If nothing else, we should not stop thinking about the opportunity as HR professionals to make a positive difference in the lives of people who work at our organizations and design programs that promote the achievement of organizational objectives – despite how difficult economic conditions are.

So what's your idea?