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Upside NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF WORK Positive Peer Pressure Employee performance is more accurately reported by peers than to continue to offer prescription drug plans to Medicare-eligible managers finds a new research report. The Spring 2013 SHRM/ participants. Currently, 48 percent of respondents offer prescription Globoforce Employee Recognition Survey reveals that 74 percent drug plans to Medicare-eligible participants. Of these respondents, only of respondents say crowdsourced recognition data provides a more 55 percent intend to continue this benefit, down from 75 percent in the accurate picture of employee performance, and 90 percent say feedback previous survey. More than 250 organizations participated in the survey, from an employee's peers is more accurate than that of one supervisor representing a broad range of industries and more than 3.9 million or manager. covered lives. In the Spring 2013 survey, responses from more than 800 HR "Employers have options for controlling prescription drug costs for professionals surveyed show the impact of recognition on employee Medicare-eligible participants," said Paul Burns, principal of Buck engagement, satisfaction, and performance reviews. Consultants. "For example, since Retiree Drug Subsidy payments are no Key insights from the survey include: • 77 percent of companies surveyed conduct performance reviews once a year. Still, employees overwhelmingly feel more frequent reviews by multiple sources would provide more accurate input and create a more effective recognition program. • 85 percent of companies are currently using or would considering using social recognition (a system that allows employees to recognize each other). longer tax-exempt and do not keep pace with rising drug costs, some employers are considering moving to an Employer-Group Waiver Plan to take advantage of additional subsidies available as a result of the Affordable Care Act (ACA)." The survey shows an increase in the percentage of employers that contract third-party pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) to process and pay prescription drug claims, signaling many employers turn to PBMs to uncover better drug prices. According to the survey, 61 percent of employers now use PBMs • 78 percent say crowdsourced recognition would be helpful data to incorporate into performance reviews. • 74 percent currently use or would consider mapping recognition awards against performance rankings/ratings. Data from the survey shows a connection between employee productivity and satisfaction and a company's recognition program spend. According to respondents, higher budget allocations result in less frustrated and more productive employees. Employees at companies that invest more than one percent of payroll in a recognition program are nearly twice as likely to report increased employee productivity at their company and nearly 50 percent less likely to say they are often or very frustrated with their work environment. The survey also reports that when praise is coupled with a prize, employees' performance is driven even further. Eighty-three percent of respondents report employees are further motivated by recognition that includes a reward than recognition with no associated reward and 94 percent of respondents say positive feedback has a greater impact on compared to 57 percent in 2011 and 47 percent in 2009. The majority (68 percent) cite "pricing competitiveness" as an extremely important PBM service. Buck's survey asked organizations how they are responding to some of the pharmacy-specific requirements within ACA. Of the two major categories of health benefit plans under ACA—grandfathered (plans in existence on March 23, 2010 meeting certain requirements) and non-grandfathered (subject to a larger set of requirements) —only 26 percent of survey respondents report being grandfathered. Of those grandfathered plans, 42 percent plan to keep this status long-term, beyond 2014. Job Search Via Tablets With 39 percent of the U.S. population using a tablet device and more than 9 million workers searching for jobs via mobile devices today, CareerBuilder launched a new service that enables mobile job search on a tablet. The technology understands a job seeker's preferences and allows candidates to: performance. • see how many other candidates have already applied; Prescribing Healthcare Reform • see in aggregate their education level and years of experience at Prescription-drug inclusion in Medicare is dropping. Prescription Drug Benefit Survey by Buck Consultants, A Xerox Company, uncovers a decline in the percentage of United States employers that intend [8] HRO TODAY MAGAZINE | JUNE 2013 specific companies; and • customize content section with featured companies and articles that most closely match their job search behavior and interests.