Wage & Benefits Survey--July 2015 NOARK Membership Meeting

Categories: Membership Meeting

NOARK is recognized by SHRM to offer Professional Development Credits (PDCs) for the SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP®. This program is valid for 1.00 PDCs for the SHRM-CP℠ or SHRM-SCP℠. For more information about certification or recertification, please visit shrmcertification.org.

This event is approved for HRCI credits

This Program has been approved for 0.99 HR (General) recertification credit hours toward aPHR™, aPHRi™, PHR®, PHRca®, SPHR®, GPHR®, PHRi™ and SPHRi™ recertification through HR Certification Institute® (HRCI®).

The use of this official seal confirms that this Activity has met HR Certification Institute’s® (HRCI®) criteria for recertification credit pre-approval.

Q&A with Compensation & Benefits Experts. 

Local compensation survey expert, Blair Johanson, will give us an update on national and state wage trends.  Then, three local experts in the areas of compensation, benefits, and general HR practice will be available for questions.  These experts will give you their impressions of the 2015 Survey results.

This will also be your chance to ask the experts your questions.  What steps are NW Arkansas companies taking?  What's happening with wages and benefits, especially healthcare?  Get practical answers for using local market data in making your compensation & benefit decisions & more.  NOARK Wage & Benefit survey will be available for purchase following the August membership meeting.

 

Objectives:

(1) Give a summary of the trends in NW Arkansas for growth, retention, and compensation for the coming year.
(2) Communicate what other companies are doing about increasing healthcare costs.
(3) Provide practical "how to" knowledge for using a wage & benefit survey.
(4) How to create a new position within your organization.
(5) What to look for in a job description.
(6) How to determine starting pay & benefits to be competitive, etc.
(7)Answer NOARK members' questions regarding compensation and benefits.
 
Some example questions/issues in the area of benefits:

What changes in wages and benefits are NWAR companies taking to remain competitive with their local, national, and global competitors?

Employers must now consider employee wages and the comparative attractiveness of their health plan vs plans on the Exchange in making their health plan design decisions.   What steps are employers in NWAR taking to keep up?

Do employers in NWAR present employer contributions to benefits, including retirement plan matching, to employees as “wages”?  If not, should they?

Private Exchanges are being aggressively marketed in NWAR, and around the country.  Are these new ideas or new marketing of old ideas?

With Guaranteed Issue, No Pre-existing Condition Exclusion Individual Health Insurance policies available today, what role does the Cobra law have for former employees and how does this affect employers?

Payroll, PEO, an Enrollment Technology companies are aggressively marketing employee benefits plans to employers, is this a benefit to employers?

Employee Benefits Broker and Consulting firms continue to consolidate in NWAR and across the country.  Health insurance companies in AR and across the country continue to consolidate.  Why is this happening and how does this consolidation affect NWAR employers?

SPEAKER:  Blair Johanson

Blair Johanson, Principal Partner and President, Johanson Group and DBSquared, LLC located in Fayetteville, AR.  Johanson Group has offered HR/Compensation and business management consulting since 1973.  Blair completed twenty years in health care human resources and hospital administration prior to joining the family management consulting business in 1999.  Blair and his twin brother have consulted with numerous organizations and companies located primarily in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Kentucky and they have clients located in over 25 states. Blair has a Master’s of Business Administration and a BSBA in Personnel Management from the University of Arkansas Sam M. Walton School of Business.

SPEAKER: Sandy Sullins, SHRM-SCP, SPHR

Sandy has over 15 years’ experience in providing strategic leadership and guidance in the areas of budgeting, customer service, finance, and human resource management.  She has undergraduate and graduate degrees in business administration and is a member of NOARK and SHRM.  She is currently Senior Vice President of Human Resources for CCF Brands in NW AR where she serves as a part of the executive team for planning and decision making on all business operational strategies as well as providing direct leadership for all people related issues of the company. 

SPEAKER:  Clifford C. Sandsmark, CCP, CSCP, SPHR

Clifford is the Sr. Compensation Manager for J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc., Lowell, Arkansas and currently responsible for the design and development of competitive compensation and incentive pay systems.  He has over twenty years of experience in Human Resource Management.

Cliff completed graduate courses at the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore MD and earned his MBA from the University of Arkansas, Walton College of Business at Fayetteville AR.  He has taught undergraduate classes at the University’s Walton College of Business and is currently an Adjunct Professor at the University of Arkansas’ Bell Graduate School of Engineering – Masters of Science in Operations Management.  Cliff is also the Senior Instructor for the SHRM Learning System Certification preparation program at the University of Arkansas Global Campus.

Cliff holds the Senior Human Resource Professional certification from HRCI, and holds the Certified Compensation Professional and the Certified Sales Compensation Professional certifications from the WorldatWork Certification Society.

He was the Chapter President for NOARK in 2014 and is serving as Co-Chair for the 2016 ARSHRM Conference & Exhibition.

In 2012 he received NOARK’s HR Pillar Award for outstanding service to the HR community.

SPEAKER:  Raymond R. RaphaeI JR., MBA, RHU, REBC

Raymond is the Principal and Senior Consultant of Legacy Capital Group.  He runs the NWAR Corporate Benefits division of Legacy Capital Group and am one of the owners of the firm.  He is in his 18th year as a corporate benefits consultant for small, mid-size, and large employers.  He holds several licenses including life and health insurance licenses in AR and 5 other states,  as well as Series 7, Series 63, and Series 65 investment securities licenses.  He also holds the professional designations of Registered Health Underwriter (RHU) and Registered Employee Benefits Consultant (REBC).  

 

 

 

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