Latest news with #Mercer
Business Insider
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
How AI can help HR price competitive employee compensation packages
With the help of AI, some companies are bringing more structure and strategy to how they compensate employees. A 2025 survey from Korn Ferry found that roughly a quarter of the 5,717 companies they surveyed are using AI to help determine compensation. Though just 22% of surveyed companies said they are using AI for external-pay benchmarking, 63% say they are considering using it. Ruth Thomas, the chief compensation strategist at the software company Payscale, said that when companies use AI to analyze large amounts of compensation-related data, it can help promote pay transparency and provide HR teams with an additional tool for understanding new and changing job markets. At the same time, human resources workers should still audit and monitor AI-driven data tools to keep confidential information safe and avoid data errors that can lead to pay bias, said Gord Frost, the global rewards solution leader at global consulting firm Mercer. AI can assist with filling compensation gaps At Payscale, the company uses a combination of AI modeling and HR-contributed salary data to help its customers price jobs, Thomas said. The tool that does this, Payscale Verse, is especially useful when data is limited because a job is new to an industry or has rare requirements for its location, company size, education, or experience level, Thomas said. "Sometimes our jobs are really niche, and we have a hard time finding matches for them," said Kristen Damerow, an HR analyst at SmithGroup, an architectural firm that uses Payscale's services. There's also Payscale Peer, a dataset built from salary information that includes compensation data from more than 5,400 organizations, Thomas said. This data is pulled daily from human resource information systems, or software platforms that help companies manage their operations. It's 100% employer-reported, which is different from job-posting data that other compensation vendors use, she added. Peer can show Payscale users what the market is paying for certain roles now, as opposed to purchasing a salary survey from a survey provider, where the information can be outdated. Thomas said if a compensation manager is trying to set a salary for a brand-new job but doesn't have much data about that role, Payscale Verse uses Payscale Peer's data and AI modeling to find similar roles in different locations. Then, the AI algorithm takes those differentials and suggests a market price to match the new job. By using AI, compensation managers can more quickly and efficiently see how pay compares by location, industry, and size. For instance, if a company isn't sure how much to pay a culture experience specialist in the hospitality industry, Payscale can fill in the gaps by pulling data from a similar field, like travel and tourism. Thomas told BI that after Payscale Verse recommends a suggested salary match, the company decides whether to accept it. She said firms have accepted an estimated 88% of Payscale's AI-recommended matches, compared with the 12% that were accepted previously when Payscale started using the technology. AI for automating HR tasks Frost said AI also has the potential to automate HR professionals' routine and repetitive tasks, such as submitting salary data for annual compensation surveys and retrieving benchmark data to compare pay across companies and roles. For instance, Frost said that by having more timely and robust access to external market data, rewards teams — which are responsible for designing, implementing, and managing programs that recognize employees for their contributions — would be able to react quickly to changes in the talent market by making salary adjustments in real time. Frost said HR professionals can better understand which elements of their total rewards programs have the most impact on employee retention and performance, and then focus on investing in programs that resonate the most with different employee groups. He added that an HR team could also use AI to generate personalized talking points for managers to explain pay decisions and the company's pay programs more consistently with employees across the organization. Weighing the risks Though AI can help determine compensation, human oversight still matters. Thomas said that before data is added to Payscale's database, it's validated using a series of automated outlier detection steps. She added that human reviewers also routinely audit data. "All of our tools are built with pay transparency in mind," Thomas said. "Payscale works hard to help organizations understand where the data comes from and how we use data to arrive at salary information." The rise of AI in compensation has also led to new questions about how vendors are building and using the tools. Thomas said that HR professionals should work with their vendors to ensure that they understand how each vendor is using AI in its compensation management solutions. "The onus is on the employer to make sure that they are aware of any potential bias in the vendor solutions," Thomas said. For example, if an AI model were trained on historical salary data that shows men earning more than women for the same job, it could unintentionally recommend lower salaries for female employees. Frost said that HR professionals need to be aware of the risks of using AI, especially when it comes to protecting confidentiality while comparing employee data or using salary analytics tools. "These are the kinds of responsibilities that total-rewards teams take seriously, and while AI is a powerful tool that can help with the process, the importance of the human element cannot be overlooked," Frost said.
CNBC
4 days ago
- Business
- CNBC
Focusing on real estate sector investing in inflationary environment, says Mercer's Olaolu Aganga
Olaolu Aganga, Mercer U.S. CIO, joins 'Closing Bell Overtime' to talk her investing playbook in a volatile trading environment.
Tom's Guide
6 days ago
- Health
- Tom's Guide
Your morning shower is ruining your nighttime sleep, says expert — here's why
There's nothing like a refreshing shower in the morning to kickstart your day. However, if you're struggling to sleep this summer, that step in your morning routine may be to blame. Yes, while 60% of Americans like to shower in the morning, NHS physician Dr Tim Mercer at Opera Beds says it may be wise to switch to an evening shower to improve your sleep. And, no, it's not because a nice, warm shower before bed is relaxing. It actually all comes down to a particular reason regarding hygiene. So, if you're a morning showerer or prefer an evening rinse, read on to discover why your sleep hinges on your showering schedule. An evening shower is better for sleep for a particular reason: allergies. "Allergies can hit hard, especially at night," says Dr Mercer. 'For many, that means disrupted sleep, itchy eyes, and endless sneezing." Mercer explains that we collect allergens such as pollen or dust mites throughout the day, so you're likely taking all these allergens to bed with you by not showering in the evening. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. "Pollen also clings to clothes, hair, and bedding, creating an invisible storm of irritation," the physician says. "You can shower before bed to wash off pollen, stopping it from transferring to your pillow." For more advice about allergies and sleep read our guide on how to sleep with allergies. If you're debating whether a hot vs cold shower is better for sleep, research and sleep experts tend to lean towards warm. A 2019 review of 13 studies found a warm bath or shower between 40 and 42.5 °C improved sleep quality and efficiency. "A warm shower taken one to two hours before bedtime triggers vasodilation (blood vessel expansion) in your extremities, which helps dissipate core body heat more efficiently afterward," Dr. David Rosen, medical director at sleep apnea treatment company Complete Sleep, recently told Tom's Guide. "This enhances your natural temperature drop." While a warm shower can prepare you for bed, showering too close to your bedtime may actually ruin your sleep. Like Dr Rosen mentioned above, try to shower around one to two hours before shuteye. Studies have shown that aromatherapy can improve sleep and relaxation, so try incorporating soothing scents into your evening shower. You can introduce relaxing scents through soaps or even shower mists, selecting products with calming fragrances such eucalyptus (which research shows can reduce congestion and sleep apnea) and lavender (studies show it increases quality of sleep and reduce anxiety).
CBS News
7 days ago
- CBS News
Mercer Borough mayor facing criminal charges
The mayor of Mercer, Pennsylvania, is facing criminal charges, with one of them being a felony. Police say Mayor Travis Schaa used a copied key to get into his daughter's apartment, despite her having told him he wasn't allowed. Police say Schaa had been upset about seeing his girlfriend get into a man's vehicle earlier in the day and became confrontational when he went into her apartment.
Toronto Star
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Toronto Star
‘Leaving Home' review: David French's classic Canadian drama gets an overpowered production at Coal Mine Theatre
Leaving Home 2 stars (out of 4) By David French, directed by Jake Planinc. Until June 22 at Coal Mine Theatre, 2076 Danforth Ave. There are 'kitchen-sink' dramas. And then there are kitchen-sink dramas with an actual kitchen sink in them. You know things are going to get serious when you're greeted with the latter, which is the case with Matchstick Theatre's new revival of 'Leaving Home,' David French's classic Canadian drama and the first work in his seminal Mercer cycle. In director Jake Planinc's production, which premiered in Nova Scotia and is now running at Toronto's Coal Mine Theatre, the kitchen sink is prominently placed in Wesley Babcock's stylish set, depicting a modest, mid-century home in Toronto. By the end of this two-hour drama, it's piled high with filthy dishes, scraps of food and grimy cutlery — an apt visual metaphor for what has come before. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW French's 1972 play is steeped in naturalism, a portrait of a family whose relationships with each other are like a minefield embedded with latent grenades, which are triggered, one by one, over a single day. That day is the eve of 17-year-old Bill Mercer's (Sam Vigneault) shotgun wedding with his pregnant girlfriend, Kathy (Abby Weisbrot). But the story really revolves around Bill's older brother, Ben (Lou Campbell), and his fraught relationship with their short-tempered father, Jacob (Andrew Musselman), a man whose mouth moves faster than his brain. 'Leaving Home,' however, is more than its narrative. It's a tapestry of interwoven character studies. And at its centre is the mercurial Jacob. He's hurt, bitter, impulsive. The source of his anger never seems certain. Is it out of love? Or out of pure spite for his children and his wife, Mary (Shelley Thompson)? Andrew Musselman, left, and Lou Campbell in 'Leaving Home.' Barry McCluskey/Matchstick Theatre The play's naturalism is accentuated in this production by Planinc's in-the-round staging, with the audience completely surrounding the Mercers' house. But almost across the board, the performances feel miscalibrated for the intimate space. Overly broad, sometimes more fitting for a sitcom rather than serious drama, they puncture the delicate script. The actors try to do too much with French's text, which should build, slowly yet inevitably, toward its painful climax. Dialogue is over-enunciated. Scenes in the first half are played with such full-throttled intensity that the play's back end doesn't crackle with the ferocity that it should have. Moments that should zip instead feel laboured. Behind it all, French's play remains an exquisitely constructed drama. But in this latest revival, it's masked by an overpowered production.
