When a business reaches a certain number of eligible participants for their 401(k) plan, federal law requires an independent audit of that retirement plan. Larger companies are more accustomed to this annual requirement. However, owners and managers of growing businesses may never have experienced a 401(k) audit or don't know enough about it.

You probably have a lot of questions if you’re about to undergo an audit for the first time. At what point is an employer required to complete a 401(k) audit? What is an "eligible participant," and why is this important? Who performs the audit, and what documents do they need?

A little homework will help you determine whether or not a 401(k) audit is required. Plus, it’ll help you better prepare for one.

Your work experience, accomplishments, and education largely define your career as a human resources professional. But a competitive certification tucked in your title and resume can go a long way in positioning yourself as a true expert and leader.

Earning human resources certifications will equip you with the latest knowledge and validate your skills. What’s more, it’ll likely result in a boost in pay — 31.6% to be exact, according to research by PayScale.As a bonus, you’ll get access to professional communities of like-minded individuals who share your values and goals.

Earning a professional certification for educational and networking reasons is commendable. However, the investment won’t pay off if you’re not careful when shortlisting programs. It’s vital that whatever certifications you pick align with your goals and are well-recognized in the industry. This roundup of the best HR certifications will provide a firm starting point for your research and your path toward human resources superstardom.

The world is currently going through the fourth industrial revolution. Human productivity has reached an all-time high thanks to developments in artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things (IoT), and robotic process automation (RPA). Today, technology has penetrated all areas of business, including human resource management. A digital HR strategy is no longer just a nice to have if a business wants to remain productive and competitive.

A digital HR strategy is a roadmap that guides the digital transformation of manual HR processes. The general goal of such a strategy is to digitize and automate — and, thereby, improve — key HR functions, such as recruitment, onboarding, and workforce management.

Digitizing your HR processes takes time, but it can lead to improved productivity, reduced costs, and even higher employee engagement. That said, it warrants carefully planning out a strategy that takes your company’s requirements and future HR needs into account to avoid wasting resources in the wrong places.

Human resources entails a lot more than creating processes and systems to manage personnel. Training doesn’t mean anything if you’re only focused on the participation rate instead of its actual impact. Similarly, recruitment won’t do much if you’re just worried about reducing time-to-hire without improving the quality-of-hires. Today, HR needs to be a part of your overall business strategy, and human capital management (HCM) is the missing link!

Human capital management is the set of practices and tools that help a business manage and grow its most vital asset: its people. This management approach ties HR functions such as recruitment, training, compensation, and performance management to an organization’s strategic goals. In doing so, human capital management improves the overall business value of your workforce.

A business can make impressive leaps and bounds if it focuses on HCM and starts viewing its employees as investment opportunities.

Common features for learning management systems

Learning management systems (LMS) have been around since the 1990s, though at the time, employee learning and development often meant in-person training. Today it is common for employees to take training classes online to meet certification requirements or expand their knowledge and many companies offer some type of learning management system.

But two factors are contributing to the rise in popularity of LMSs in 2022. The first is the COVID-19 pandemic, which challenged HR professionals to accommodate remote work and put an end to the majority of in-person training programs. The second factor is the current employee turnover trend where workers are participating in what’s been called the great resignation or the great reshuffle, resigning at historic levels. Employee development is an effective tool employers have to retain talent, and deploying meaningful training programs for all employees is essential to meeting retention goals in this new work environment.

Today’s workforce wants the flexibility to work remotely and to feel their company is investing in their growth through learning and development opportunities. If companies are going to meet their training and retention goals, they are going to need the right technology to get them there.

Payroll is a prime target for fraud on many levels since it is often an employer’s biggest expense. For that reason, payroll fraud is quite common– affecting about 30% of businesses annually, according to the College Investor. If payroll fraud is left unaddressed, it can grow from a minor inconvenience to more significant payroll fraud consequences that can result in financial drain.

A prime example of this happened in 2021 when a small business of about 20 employees fell victim to a spoofed website scam that was mirroring a banking site the company used to issue payroll direct deposits. The business manager logged in to the fraudulent site, effectively handing over the username and password to the online business bank account. The result? A slew of payments made from the account resulting in overdrawn funds – 68 transactions in total and $249,000 lost.

In 2020, the Boston police department uncovered overtime fraud perpetrated years before by nine police officers. The officers were accused of leaving their overtime shifts two or more hours early but continuing to submit fraudulent overtime slips claiming to have worked the entirety of each shift. The falsified timesheets resulted in over $200,000 in pay for fictitious overtime within the department.

These high-profile cases are just two types of payroll fraud that can affect an employer. Understanding the nuances between each type will help you stay vigilant and stop crimes before they cost your company thousands of dollars.

The term financial wellness has been showing up in conversations about employee acquisition and retention more in the last five years than any other time. But how important is it and what does it mean for employers?

Financial wellness, simply put, is the pleasure of having no financial stress in your life. It’s not a certain amount of money or a certain lifestyle, it’s about maintaining the balance between your income and the life you want to provide for yourself and your loved ones. This may seem like a simple concept, yet it’s much more complex than just spending less than you make.

Essential to financial wellness is the flexibility to adapt to any unexpected circumstance life might throw your way, such as a surprise medical bill or car repair expense. The Federal Reserve indicates nearly 40% of Americans struggle to cover an unforeseen $400 expense. With statistics like this, financial wellness becomes more than just a nice-to-have benefit, it’s a necessity that employees have right now that needs to be met.

No matter your role or function in a business, there never seems to be sufficient time and resources to accomplish everything you’d like to while operating at the highest possible level. But there are tools that can help. 

Human resources processes require significant thought, strategy, and time, whether you have five, 50, or 5,000 employees. And in today’s climate of companies competing for limited talent, you want your human resources practices to be smooth and effective, not only for you but for your team members, as well. Fortunately, many options are available for you to get the support you need to manage your workforce.

During the COVID-19 crisis, employees experienced a major shift in priorities, needs, and wants. Between the transition to remote work, increased reliance on technology, and pressures on employees' mental health and well-being, 2020 was most certainly a roller coaster of crisis management for HR leaders and employees alike.

Few could have predicted how the pandemic would change employees’ expectations of their work experience. Long gone are the days employees require no more than a paycheck and healthcare. Workers are stretching more than dollars to make ends meet. They’re juggling a multitude of challenges brought on by the pandemic, including high levels of stress and anxiety while balancing an increased workload. Now, more than ever, employees want benefits and perks that support their overall wellness, such as mental health resources, financial education, and support for their parental journey.

Many progressive companies have already started taking note (and action) as a result of this shift. A recent study from Willis Tower Watson found that 42% of companies have changed or plan to change their paid leave plans, 66% will elevate mental health solutions, and 73% offer flexible work hours due to the pandemic.

In 2020, businesses were forced to abandon many of their strategic plans due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Soon after the virus made headlines worldwide, the focus became preventing the spread of the virus through the workforce, adjusting product and service distribution and delivery methods, and managing customer needs in a new environment of social distancing.

One of the initiatives that received little, if any, attention was employee development. For many organizations, training and development expenses were reduced and eliminated in some cases. Additionally, the demand on HR significantly increased as attention was directed toward safety protocols, COVID sick leave, furloughs, and layoffs. There was little time for traditional training and development in the immediacy of the tragedy unfolding one year ago.

With the vaccine rollout well underway in 2021, leaders are eyeing recovery with the goal of not only reaching 2019 performance levels but exceeding them. According to a LinkedIn Learning Report, one critical strategy to a successful recovery is to reprioritize employee professional development, which 94% of employees believe to be a reason for staying at a company longer.