
A customized compensation survey has several advantages, including:
- Being able to target competitors with the closest match to your organization.
- Collecting the most current compensation data instead of one that was created years ago.
- Specifying the exact information you want rather than exploring multiple general surveys to find what you’re seeking.
How to conduct an effective pay survey?
Tips on Survey Format
- Break the Survey into Multiple Pages. If your survey does get long, consider breaking it into multiple pages. ...
- Show a Progress Bar. One of the easiest ways to keep people motivated as they move through your survey is to show a progress bar and give a time estimate.
- Make Sure Your Survey Works on Multiple Devices. ...
What are the best salary surveys?
- All data is reported in summary form only;
- No data is reported for any job at any level where there are less than five companies matching (three company limit outside the U.S.);
- Each participant must select a minimum of 10 companies in their custom peer group report; and
What are the benefits of salary surveys?
Types of Salary Surveys & Benefits of Salary Structures
- PURPOSE. The overall purpose for collecting market data is to make informed decisions about the compensation program.
- TYPES OF SALARY SURVEYS. A salary survey is a survey of the labor market to determine the going rates for benchmark jobs. ...
- SALARY STRUCTURES. Salary structures are extremely common in companies of all sizes. ...
How to use compensation survey data to set executive pay?
How to Use Compensation Survey Data to Set Executive Pay. Interpret data within the context of your organization, its values and its pay philosophy. #Myrna Hellerman. By Myrna Hellerman. Image ...

Why are compensation and benefits important for organizations?
Compensation and benefits are important aspects of an employee's satisfaction at a workplace, as they directly impact an employee's performance and motivation to work.
How does compensation impact an organization?
Increased Productivity and Profitability Productivity in relation to compensation starts with employees feeling valued which increases motivation and loyalty. Not only are employees more motivated to do a good job, but also, the longer people are with the company, the more they know and the more efficient they become.
How do compensation surveys work?
Surveys may compare employee wages inter-departmentally, by company or organization, according to job title or position, or earnings for workers in different geographic regions. HR experts use survey data for building compensation structures, or to determine if employees are receiving fair and competitive wages.
How compensation and benefits can positively affect organizational performance?
COMPENSATION IMPACT ON ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS To achieve effective work performance calls for job satisfaction among the workers. Compensation plays a significant role in influencing job satisfaction. It stimulates employees to work harder, thus increasing productivity and enhancing job performance.
Why an Organisation needs a compensation system?
A well-defined and balanced compensation system gives the organization an advantage of maintaining internal as well as external equity. It is a powerful tool for attracting employees, motivating them to work in achieving the strategic organizational goals, and retaining them in the long run.
What are compensation surveys and what is the key purpose?
Compensation surveys allow you to make truly informed business decisions by giving you reliable benchmarks based on your industry, company size, and closest competitors for talent. They allow you to understand and manage the market for talent rather than being dictated to by the market.
What is the importance of salary survey?
Incorporating compensation data from salary surveys into a regular review of an organization's pay helps to minimize underpaying employees and as well as turnover and retention challenges. Additionally, useful compensation data can help to minimize overpaying, which results in a weaker financial state.
What is a survey what purpose does it serve in terms of compensation?
What is a survey? What purpose does it serve in terms of compensation? Translating any external pay policy into practice requires information on the external market. Surveys provide the data for translating that policy into pay levels, pay mix, and structures.
How to attract the best employees?
Make sure organizations recruit and retain the best employees. With the right compensation and salary plan for each role, you can better attract the top candidates to your team. Regularly reviewing salary surveys can help ensure you’re offering competitive total rewards packages that keep employees engaged for longer.
What are the benefits of salary surveys?
Specifically, salary surveys have the following benefits that HR leaders can take advantage of: Aid in salary benchmarking. The results of a compensation survey give you insight into what the highest and lowest salaries for a role in your industry are, giving you a solid range of what you might offer your own employees.
What is compensation survey?
Put simply, compensation survey results provide key insights into job roles and their salaries, helping employers determine and best create their own compensation strategy.
Why do HR professionals use survey data?
HR experts use survey data for building compensation structures, or to determine if employees are receiving fair and competitive wages.
What is a custom survey?
Custom-developed surveys to address your unique compensation and benefits needs. We research industry trends and gain a collaborative consensus on the questions you want. Then, with a web-based survey tool, we’ll send out invitations to all of your potential participants.
What happens if you use bad salary data?
The use of bad market salary data. This will likely result in skewed compensation results. With a compensation plan based on bad salary data, you’ll not only find it hard to attract viable job prospects but also risk looking foolish by advertising a salary range that is not in line with the rest of the industry.
Why is it important to have a dedicated compensation plan?
Along with organizing your company’s structure and ensuring staff members stay engaged and motivated, determining a dedicated compensation plan is key to growing your organization and evolving over time.
What Is a Compensation Survey?
A compensation survey is a popular technique that an organization can utilize to ensure employees are given fair wages and benefit packages. The results of the survey should provide key insights into job roles and salaries, that will assist employers in determining and optimizing their own compensation strategies.
Does Your organization Need a Compensation Survey?
A personalized compensation survey offers numerous benefits, including specifying the exact information you want to collect, rather than using a generic survey. When your business is ready to conduct a compensation survey, think about getting professional help. Human Resources consulting can ensure your success and make sure you are staying compliant.
Why do employers need surveys?
In addition to determining competitive pay, surveys can help an employer design a total compensation package, Manoli said. Offering a recruit a sign-on bonus might give an employer an edge in getting an employee in the door quickly. Plus, it has the benefit of being a one-time expense. Want to keep a worker on the job longer? Use a survey to determine the baseline for long-term incentives. “Equity is the most powerful retention tool,” she said.
Can job boards give free salary data?
In addition to BLS and professional associations, job boards can be great sources of free salary data, she said. And while fresh data is always best when determining a compensation package, in a pinch, a company opting to commission a survey can stagger the years it conducts the survey.
Is there a free salary survey?
The good news is that some of the best salary survey data can be had for free through the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics ( www.bls.gov ). Like many of the best survey vendors, BLS has technical experts available to help employers develop a survey at no charge, though some of the occupational salary data might be too general to be of use to some human resource professionals. In addition, organizations such as SHRM conduct salary surveys as a member benefit at no additional cost.
5. Save time by getting all of your data in one place
While there’s a growing volume of free compensation data out there on the internet, hopping from website to website to cobble together pay packages isn’t a recipe for long-term success.
4. Make informed decisions and spend your money wisely
Your company’s CEO won’t approve of spending $150,000 on a new HRIS system without asking for some real research beforehand.
2. Create a culture of consistency and transparency
Let’s say your company is about to hire a new software engineer, but they are asking for a lot more money than engineers currently on your team at the same level. You could pay your new hire exactly what they want and try to keep things quiet, but hoping for secrecy doesn’t really work well in today’s millennial-dominated workforce.
1. It pays for itself
Purchasing a large, well-established salary survey may seem like a big expense in a vacuum, but you’re likely to see a return on investment within your first few hires.
Ready to learn more?
Radford surveys provide in-depth compensation insights for thousands of job families in 80-plus countries, and are used by more than 3,000 technology and life sciences organizations to make highly-informed pay decisions. To learn more about participating in a Radford survey, click here or write to [email protected].
Why is salary survey important?
A salary survey can be an important tool to help you determine whether or not a job offer is as good as it seems. You can easily compare salaries with multiple similar businesses in the area on many different levels. It's one thing to note the entry level salary. It's something else entirely to take into account things like:
Is a compensation survey one sided?
While some people feel that the benefits of a compensation survey are a little one-sided, the truth is that both the employer and employee benefits from one that is well-planned and well-conducted. The right survey software can help with that. These are just a few benefits your business can enjoy through the use of salary surveys.
How to determine if you are paying on par with your competition?
How can you determine if you are paying on par with your competition? Salary surveys published by objective third parties will include a list of participating companies which should be reviewed to ensure that your labor market competitors are sufficiently represented. In addition, inclusion of similar job descriptions and information on “total” compensation that includes retirement plans, bonuses, incentives, and base salary ensure that the information is relevant to your employee population. For example, some companies may pay lower salaries, but have more generous short- and long-term incentives. There is not an understanding of the lower salary rate without reviewing the corresponding incentive data. A comprehensive data set ensures a thorough understanding of pay rates and trends.
Why is salary survey important?
The consistent use of salary surveys helps formulate a company’s overall compensation strategy and forms a foundation for plans that are internally equitable and externally competitive. Survey data provides a relevant basis for HR’s decisions on salary, incentives, and bonus plans when meeting with senior management and employees.
Why is it important to participate in salary surveys?
Consistent participation in salary surveys helps ensure your company is in legal compliance and not at risk for “price fixing.” Without reviewing reputable market data, your options are limited to internet searches, networking hearsay, and/or contacting the competition to determine what they are paying—which puts you at risk of violating antitrust laws. Third party surveys provide current data on your company’s peers while maintaining confidentiality by following Safe Harbor Guidelines established by the US Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) which require the following:
What is survey methodology?
Survey methodology – Review the summary of the methodology to make sure it's consistent with standards set forth by reputable industry associations such as WorldatWork. Be sure that the research organization is surveying human resources or compensation professionals within a company.
How much of a company's revenue is spent on employee salaries?
Your organization’s employees are its greatest asset. Companies spend between 50 and 80 percent of gross revenues on employee salaries and benefits combined. How your organization compensates its most important asset has a huge impact on overall company performance. The use of a high quality, independent salary survey is a key component in your compensation strategy and helps you stay on target to attract and retain the best talent in your industry.
What percentage of employees leave their jobs because of inadequate pay and benefits?
According to Robert Half, an American human resource consulting firm, 38 percent of employees leave their jobs as a result of “inadequate salary and benefits.”. [1] Regular participation in, and review of, salary surveys can identify pay discrepancies before it is too late. 2. Legal Compliance.
Why do HR professionals need to have the most recent market data available?
If you skip a year reviewing current compensation, you put yourself at risk to underpay or overpay job positions that have been impacted by changes in the labor market.
