INSIDER

Lessons From Watson Wyatt's 2005 HCI: HR Programs, Turnover Risk and Employee Productivity
Eight years of research into Watson Wyatt's Human Capital Index® (HCI) has consistently found a strong correlation between effective HR program design and financial performance. [January 2006]

Get the Most Out of Your Company's Turnover — Lessons from Watson Wyatt's Human Capital Index
The Watson Wyatt Human Capital Index® links effective human capital management with overall firm performance. [October 2005]

Maximizing the Returns on Investments in Human Capital — Lessons From Seven Years of Global Studies
Since 1998, Watson Wyatt's Human Capital Index® (HCI) has been tracking the link between human capital management and firm performance. [September 2005]

Retirement Costs: Something's Happening Here, and What It Is, Is Exactly Clear
Can America Afford to Grow Old? is the title of a book written by three economists at the Brookings Institute and published in 1988. The book title, along with much else written on the subject since then, suggest that the answer is no. [November 2004]

U.S. Workers Say Performance Management Doesn’t Make the Grade
According to WorkUSA® 2004, a survey of the attitudes and opinions of U.S. workers, most employees do not believe their company’s performance management program actually improves performance.  [June 2004]

Communication Key to Improving Bottom Line
Effective corporate communication appears to boost both profits and employee satisfaction, according to Connecting Organizational Communication to Financial Performance — 2003/2004 Communication ROI Study™.  [November 2003]

Tight Labor Markets Are Just Around the Corner…Again
The February unemployment rate fell to 5.5 percent from its December high of 5.8 percent. As the economy moved into recession last fall — exacerbated by the terrorist attacks on September 11 — Watson Wyatt predicted that the U.S. labor markets would likely firm up again fairly quickly once the economy started to recover. [April 2002]

Employers’ Report on Early Retirement Windows:
In today’s slowing economy, many companies are looking for ways to trim their labor costs without resorting to layoffs. For some employers, one answer is encouraging more workers to retire early. An early retirement window offers workers extra retirement incentives for a limited period of time. A recent Watson Wyatt survey found that 17 percent of U.S. companies have offered early retirement windows over the past three years. [December 2001]

Executive Pay in the Land of Opportunity
Executive pay in the United States reflects one of the founding values of our country: It is the land of opportunity. This year's report on executive pay reinforces this belief and confirms findings from previous years; namely, that there is a correlation between executive pay programs and company performance. [March 2001]

Global Aging: The Challenge of the New Millennium
Several Insider articles have focused on how our aging population and shrinking workforce are affecting both our Social Security system and U.S. employers' retirement plans. But people are getting older and living longer all over the world. And these demographic trends will impose extraordinary worldwide economic, social and political stress, according to a new study, Global Aging: The Challenge of the New Millennium, by Watson Wyatt Worldwide done in partnership with the Center for Strategic and International Studies for the Commission on Global Aging.  [August 2000]

The Complete Guide to Mergers and Acquisitions
Although there are a record number of mergers and acquisitions taking place, far too many fall short of their financial and strategic goals. The fact is that it is much easier to make a deal than to make a deal work. M&A failure often occurs on the "people" side of the equation, and begins when change dynamics heighten employee resistance to the newly formed company. [April 2000]

A Comprehensive Analysis of the Shift from Traditional Pensions to Hybrid Plans
This is the Executive Summary of the report "The Unfolding of a Predictable Surprise: A Comprehensive Analysis of the Shift from Traditional Pensions to Hybrid Plans."  [March 2000]

Linking Communications with Strategy to Achieve Business Goals
Workers are bombarded with hundreds of messages and bits of information every day — some of it useful, but much of it not really relevant. And the volume of these communications only seems to increase. Amidst all of this "noise," how can organizations communicate effectively with employees?  [August 1999]

From Benefits to Business Results: Creating a Line of Sight
For the fourth year in a row, the Washington Business Group on Health (WBGH) and Watson Wyatt Worldwide surveyed U.S. employers on purchasing value in health care. This year, 293 organizations participated, with health plans covering nearly 9.3 million employees and dependents.  [April 1999]

Workforce Management: Strategic Retirement Design
This is the third article in an occasional series that introduces Workforce Management—a new framework for attracting, retaining and motivating workers.  [October 1998]

Workforce Management: The Cultural Shift
This is the second article in an occasional series that will introduce Workforce Management — a new framework for attracting, retaining and motivating workers.  [August 1998]

Disability Management: The Key to Staying @ Work
Throughout the United States, employers are faced with rising disability and health care costs. According to calculations based on Census Bureau data, by the year 2000 total disability costs will top $340 billion—double what they were at the start of the decade.  [August 1998]

Workforce Management: The Challenge
This is the first article in an occasional series that will introduce workforce management—a new discipline that Watson Wyatt is pioneering.  [June 1998]

Competing in a Global Economy
Andy Grove, CEO of Intel, recently pointed out the importance of companies knowing where they are in the life cycle of their business: "There is at least one point in the history of any company when you have to change dramatically to rise to the next level of performance. Miss that moment and you start to decline."  [March 1998]