The Astron Road Show
The first stop is today, September 9th! Astron is exhibiting at the 2008 Vermont State SHRM Conference. Come say hi to Director, Client Services, Paul Hart Miller and National Director, Michael Maciekowich. The very next week, on September 16th through 19th, Astron Solutions will be exhibiting at the 2008 Upstate New York Healthcare HR Conference. Paul Hart Miller and Michael Maciekowich will be manning the Astron booth here as well. On Thursday, September 18th, Michael Maciekowich will leave the Upstate NYHR Conference to head over to White River Junction, VT to give a presentation at the RVHRA Meeting. We�ll be waiting!
Mini-Interview
1) What is your position in Astron Solutions, and how long have you had this position? I am a statistical analyst here at Astron and I have held this position for close to a month now (3 weeks). 2) What convinced you to do HR consulting? I have always loved to interact with people and lend a helping hand so being an HR consultant seemed like a great fit for me. As a statistical analyst I�m able to leverage both my affinity for numbers and HR making it an ideal position. I was also intrigued by HR consulting because I realize the increasing role we play in the world today with rough economic times. Being able to help people and make a difference is very important to me and Astron strives to do both. This made my career choice an easy one. 3) What do you do when you are not consulting? I like to hangout with my friends and have a good time when I�m not consulting. That includes watching sports (GO BILLS!), going out, and exploring NYC being a new resident of Manhattan. I also enjoy working out to help relieve the stresses that I may encounter on a day-to-day basis. 4) What is your favorite place to travel to and why? Although I enjoy traveling to the Caribbean islands my favorite place I have traveled to would be Greece. Getting the opportunity to meet family members for the first time and learn my culture first hand was a very rewarding experience. It gave me a greater appreciation for what my parents did to get where they are today having come from so little. It also provided me with an opportunity to speak the language and visit the Parthenon in Athens which was remarkable. 5) Where do you see Astron Solutions this day next year? I foresee big things in the future for Astron Solutions. We continue to grow and adapt to the ever changing needs of our clients and I believe that trend will move forward into 2009. I expect Astron to continue providing high quality service at affordable prices and making a difference in peoples� lives.
iShuffle
Master of Puppets � Metallica In the classic, yet very enigmatic style of John, he did not respond to any of the further questions we have during our iShuffle. If you have an insatiable thirst to know more about John, e-mail me and I�ll try to get John to answer them.
2009 Salary Planning Forecast
 It�s
that time of the year again � time to set 2009 salary budgets. For the
past 8 years the answer has been an easy one, 3.5%. Each year the
surveys predicted that salary budget adjustments would remain flat and
ahead of the Consumer Price Index. That was, of course, until the latter half of 2008. With fluctuating energy prices and their domino effect on most goods and services, we may be facing the first year in which the salary budget adjustment will fall short of the consumer price index inflation rate. In the July 2008 consumer price index report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the consumer price index had increased by 5.6% over July 2007 levels. Currently 2008 salary budgets are averaging 3.7%, which is higher than 2007 levels. There is good news as we move into 2009, however. According to the Financial Forecast Center , a financial think-tank group, inflation rates will come under control in 2009, returning to approximately 3.6% per year. While there are numerous salary budgeting forecasts published this time of year, Astron Solutions closely follows two highly regarded sources. The first is WorldatWork. The second is Mercer, LLC. Both have been providing salary budgeting forecasts for over 30 years. The WorldatWork 2009 Salary Budget Survey contains data from 2,375 organizations representing 21 different industry segments. In terms of 2009 salary budgeting, WorldatWork reports the following:
2009 General Increase Budgets: 2.9% From an organizational level perspective WorldatWork discovered the following:
2009 Non Exempt Hourly Adjustments: 3.8% The report shows very little distinction by region of the country (range of 3.8% - 4.0%), metropolitan area (range of 3.7% to 4.1%), or key industry segment (range of 3.8% to 4.2%). WorldatWork projects overall 2009 salary range adjustments at 2.5%. The 2009 Salary Planning Report by Mercer has data from over 1,000 organizations representing over 12 million employees. Mercer reports an overall 2009 salary budget level of 3.7%, with 2009 budgeted structure adjustments at 2.8%. Of more interest is Mercer�s analysis of compensation practice trends for 2009. The following is a list of compensation practices and their prevalence in the survey sample:
� Traditional Pay Grade/Salary Range System: 77% Those interested in a summary of all the 2009 salary budget forecasts should connect with Lake Associates Inc. of Albany, NY. They have compiled an excellent summary of all the major consulting firm forecasts for 2009. Based on their review, Lake Associates recommends the following for 2009:
� Salary Structure Adjustment: 2.9% �Pay increases alone won�t work as a strategic attraction and retention tool,� notes National Director Jennifer Loftus. �With a 3.8% merit increase budget, there�s often little room to recognize top performers. Couple those increases with the escalating cost of living, and the importance of using a total rewards perspective becomes all the clearer.� Consider alternative rewards, including telecommuting, compressed workweeks, and gas cards, as key elements in your total rewards toolkit to ensure your top talent stays with your organization through these possibly challenging economic times.
Reader Poll Archive
Wonder what your fellow readers think about critical HR topics? Is your organization unique from or similar to others?Click here to view the results of our past polls!
Coming next time in Astronology
 Back to School � Part 3 of 3
Astron Road Show
iShuffle
Mythbusters
Astron Mini-Interview
Have a Question?
If you have a topic you would like addressed in Astronology, or some
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this e-mail. See your question answered, or comments addressed, in an
upcoming issue of Astronology. Looking for a top-notch presenter for your human resource organization's meeting? Both Jennifer Loftus and Michael Maciekowich present highly-rated sessions on a variety of compensation and employee retention issues. For more information, send an e-mail to info@astronsolutions.com.
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