Benefits January 30, 2004

Milwaukee Prosecuting Pension Officials For Accepting Perks

January 30, 2004 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The Milwaukee Country Ethics Board is moving forward with plans to prosecute eight past and present pension officials for dishonestly accepting perks from firms doing business with the county's Pension Board.
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The move by the ethics board comes after it authorized complaints against past and current pension officials over accepting entertainment, travel and other perks from pension fund management firms and other consultants to the fund in November, according to a Milwaukee Sentinel report.

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The board alleged that dozens of such gifts constituted improper personal gain and could be expected to influence or reward pension officials. Each ethics violation carries potential fines of up to $1,000.

No complaints have been issued against the firms that provided the perks.

In moving forward with prosecuting the alleged crimes, the board tabbed lawyer John Fiorenza to prosecute its case. Fiorenza occasionally hears cases in Milwaukee County as a reserve judge and has recently been serving as an adjudicator in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee’s review of allegations of sexual misconduct against priests.

Benefits January 29, 2004

Firm Puts Out HR Metrics Measures

January 29, 2004 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A benchmarking firm has released a new study of the most effective HR performance measures.
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According to a news release from Best Practices, LLC, the study identified the most effective way to measure how companies manage employee development, rewards and recognition, recruitment and selection, and employee satisfaction and morale.

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“The old adage, ‘What gets measured is what gets managed,’ is no exception for human resources organizations,” said Chris Bogan, president and CEO of Best Practices, LLC, in this announcement. “World-class companies realize that their people are their most valuable asset and they are using an array of HR performance measures to make tremendous improvements in all areas of human resources.”

Based on interviews with HR executives, the report includes the following tools to help human resources organizations implement or improve their performance measurement systems:

  • a summary matrix that details each benchmark partner’s performance measures
  • detailed best practices to help determine the optimal methods for implementing performance measurement
  • key performance benchmarks as identified by interviewed executives.

Companies profiled in the report include AT&T, Corning, Federal Express, General Electric, KPMG, Motorola, Northern Trust Company, Ritz-Carlton Hotels, Solectron, Texas Instruments, The U.S. Department of Transportation, USAA , and Xerox

For more information, go to http://www3.best-in-class.com/rr345.htm .

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