Compensation & Benefits Review

Human resource (HR) is the backbone of an organization and hence, there is need to build its underlying capabilities for effective service delivery. Six Sigma aims at improving the effectiveness of processes by collecting data and then using advanced statistical analysis tools to solve the problems. Six Sigma deployment in HR provides consistency in operations and leads to quality excellence by providing better services at lower costs. Six Sigma approach adds more science to the art of HR, which is used to measuring outcomes it can control, rather than those it can influence. Six Sigma deployment in HR transforms typical HR practices with a proactive approach and leads to better, faster and more cost-effective services; improve internal customer satisfaction and greater motivation and job satisfaction of employees. The research develops various framework for Six Sigma deployment in HR and provides case studies of successful Six Sigma deployment in various areas of HR.

The issue of whether workers are independent contractors or employees has become even more relevant with recently enacted and proposed legislation and court cases in many jurisdictions seeking to impose employee status on many Gig economy workforce participants, such as ride-share drivers. This article emphasizes that the U.S. income tax rules, especially after tax reform effective in 2018, makes employee status extremely tax-inefficient for these workers. This article explains the relevant tax law changes and provides various examples of typical settings to confirm that workers with even small relative work expenses are often better off as contractors from a tax point of view.