Since what he said seemed so important to me, I asked him if I could share some, or most, of the post here on my site.  He approved, so here is my interpretation of his post:

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How are you selling the true value of the non-cash aspects of your compensation package to your workforce?  Are you showing numbers or are you using the numbers to help tell a story? Using myself as an example, if someone had told me that my compensation package was worth more than $1m in a single years time, I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t experienced what I did.  Having a story to use to highlight the point helps to provide context and drive home the true value of your offering. It humanizes the numbers.  So, what’s my story?

I’ve been blogging since October of 2009, so just a hair under 8 months.  In that time I’ve averaged about one post a week.  While not as frequent as some of my fellow HR bloggers, it is still a respectable pace, and one that isn’t always easy to maintain with a demanding client work schedule and family responsibilities.  Regardless, I strive to update the blog at least 4-5 times a month, and more if possible.

Unfortunately, this hasn’t always been easy and once again, life got in the way.  I’ve been maintaining a low profile as I recover from an abdominal surgical procedure which kept me off my feet for a week and slowly coming back up to speed the following week.  I’m now back, quickly approaching 100%, and looking to make up for lost time and missed blog posts.

While I’ve been fortunate to have extremely good health thus far, I am equally fortunate for the following things in my life:

1. An amazing family who supports me, challenges me, and loves me more than I can ever imagine
2. Wonderfully supportive colleagues and clients who have been understanding and flexible during the time that I was out and recovering
3. Challenging work that provides me with flexibility to work outside of traditional business hours where appropriate
4. Unbelievable health insurance which provides me with peace of mind even after racking up some pretty substantial medical bills over the last 7 months due to extended hospital stays by my two latest additions Allen and Collin

As a former HR practitioner I can’t help but think about my experiences over the past year and how much the HR practices of my employer impact my life far beyond the boundaries of the office.  I’ve been able to handle major life events such as the addition of two children,  19 weeks of hospital stays (including 17 weeks of Intensive Care), surgery, and personal medical leave all without missing a beat.

None of this would have been possible without some HR practices that many people take for granted such as:

1. Solid health insurance coverage
2. Generous paid time off programs
3. Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
4. Family & Medical Leave (FMLA)
5. Flexible work arrangements

While many people compare jobs on the basis of the cash compensation, the value of the benefits listed above in my case have far exceeded any cash compensation I would ever earn.  Without exaggerating, the value of these benefits to me in the last 12 months exceed one million dollars. Had I compared the cash compensation of my job against other opportunities in the job market and made an employment decision based on the cash aspect of the package, I would have potentially lost tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The non-cash aspect of my overall compensation package has exceeded my cash compensation many times over.

Ten years ago I wouldn’t have ever been able to place a value on the benefits I enjoy today, just as many younger workers view aspects of their overall package as being less valuable than they actually are.  My former employers have attempted to highlight the “value” of their overall package in the form of the annual total rewards report that was mailed to my house every spring.  Unfortunately these reports were mostly numbers – and while that was somewhat helpful, the lack of a meaningful story to wrap around the numbers resulted in the message being lost.

I bet that if you look around, there are countless people with stories similar to mine who can help humanize the point and cut through the clutter, driving home the true value of what your organization has to offer. How many of your employees have similar stories of ways their benefits far outweighed their base compensation?  Have you personally experienced a medical crisis that led to using far more of the benefits than you thought possible?  Share it in the comments.

*Bryon D. Abramowitz, SPHR is a senior consultant & client executive with the HR Strategy Consultancy, Knowledge Infusion.  He is a lifetime resident of the Chicago area, a die-hard Chicago White-Sox Fan, and an avid golfer.  Bryon and his wife keep busy with three little boys under the age of five.

I’ve heard people who say that in order to be successful in human resources, you must have a Human Resouce degree.  Others say you MUST have a PHR or SPHR certification in addition to your degree.  Still others say you should not have a HR degree or certification, you should be an MBA with real-world experience.  Just this past week at the Senior HR Executive Conference I heard some of these ideas plus executives who believe that you can take someone with operations experience and turn them into the perfect HR pro.  So, who is right?

The answer is simple: there is no “perfect” recipe. It depends on the company, work environment, culture, and role the person will fill.  Certain skills are paramount to being a strong business professional regardless of whether that person is in HR, marketing, advertising, finance, or operations.  What this conversation and debate tells me is that there are currently HR professionals out here who could be doing more to demonstrate their value.  I assert that if you only have a HR degree, certification, MBA, or operations experience, you will not be the ideal HR pro.  You need to have skills from each of these components in order to truly be a successful business leader.  There are some key skills you can focus on obtaining or improving that will ensure you will be able to remain relevant in 2010 and beyond.

Strong human resource knowledge

This is a MUST.  Now, obviously this can be learned in a degree program or by studying for certification, but it goes beyond that.  It involves REAL LIFE experience working with employee issues.  You must have experience

• actually picking up the phone and recruiting candidates
• interviewing candidates in person for all levels in the organization
• investigating reported issues
• coaching and counseling
• understanding and applying HR related laws
• handling the compliance (I-9′s, Visas, etc.)
• developing talent through strategic and tactical approaches to training

Finance and Internal Communications

These are areas where many HR professionals are weak.  From a finance and accounting standpoint at a bare minimum you must be able to understand general accounting principles and be able to read and interpret a balance sheet.  If you cannot do that, you need to set that as a goal.  How can you advise your CEO, CFO, and other company leaders if you cannot interpret the financial results of the company?  Strong financial acumen will help you drive the business forward.  Then, in terms of internal communication, you need to be able to effectively communicate the policies of the company in a way that aligns with the company strategies.  For more detailed information on how to improve your skills in this area, check out the HR 101 series by Victorio at the Creative Chaos Consultant blog.

Innovation

The HR professional of today and the future needs to have the spirit to innovate.  It is critical to success.  If you plan to sit back and just do the day-to-day role, you will not help move the company forward.  Our world changes fast and innovative ideas will be the catalyst to propel your HR career.  Challenge yourself each day or week to come up with an innovative way to handle something differently.  Hold your feet to the fire to make sure you are accountable for keeping your department from getting stagnant.

Global Effectiveness

Technology has made the world a much smaller place.  More companies are global than ever before, so more HR professionals need to have an understanding of what is going on in global markets.  Are you making yourself aware?  Are you reaching out to gain understanding of other countries laws, financial systems, and culture?  This is something you should focus on if you are not already.  Today’s HR leaders are responsible for driving the success of people around the world.

HR Technology

To the average HR generalist or specialist, HR technology is the “big bad wolf” of the story.  It’s the one thing we’re all afraid of.  In order to really be successful at running an effective human resources department, you need to have a solid understanding of your current HR technologies as well as staying abreast of emerging technologies.  You will need to understand how to evaluate your systems effectiveness as well as be able to identify technologies that will support the data needed to make strong business decisions for the company.  A good place to start is by reading and following blogs by Naomi Bloom, Steve Boese, Michael Krupa, and Bryon Abramowitz.  You should also follow the writings of Bill Kutik at Human Resource Executive Online.

So, how do you measure up?  What other skills do you believe are critical to being a successful HR professional in the future?  Let me know in the comments.