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Compensation Surveys
Benefits & Compensation
Compensation Surveys
Exchange ideas about health plans, retirement, work/life benefits, and employee assistance.
Can anyone recommend a compensation survey that they have used and/or trust? I find that many are completely unreliable and heavily waited towards the employees benefit due to inflated information.
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Forums » Topic Forums » Benefits & Compensation » Compensation Surveys
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Compensation Surveys
posted at 10/29/2008 10:09 AM EDT
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Posts: 2146
First: 2/15/2006 Last: 9/14/2011 |
Depending on your industry and size, you might check with one of the larger HR consulting firms (Hewitt, Mercer, Wyatt, etc). They each do different industries. The good news is that if you participate you get a price break. The bad news is that they can be pricey if you are small.
I have found some better data (well better than salary.com let's say) at www.payscale.com as it allows you to add in education and experience. But with the changing economy, I think it is going to take a little while for any of the surveys to catch up. For example, I know of quite a few companies who are looking at suspending 401k match, increasing employee paid health premiums, etc. I think most surveys are going to be too high for a while. |
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Compensation Surveys
posted at 10/30/2008 3:37 AM EDT
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Posts: 1783
First: 11/11/2003 Last: 5/13/2010 |
Another option for you to consider if you're interested in a particular market and/or if you're trying to price jobs that aren't often included in larger surveys is to commission your own. The large firms the previous poster cited certainly could do the work, but are likely to be pricey; you may do better with a local firm. If you belong to an HR professional association the members of your local chapter may have suggestions. |
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Compensation Surveys
posted at 10/30/2008 8:50 AM EDT
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Posts: 42
First: 3/13/2007 Last: 6/8/2010 |
To provide some further input.
- "I find that many are completely unreliable" --that's your subjective opinion. Many reputable compensation firms adhere to professional and statistical standards to produce compensation estimates. - Compensation surveys provide an estimate, but salaries/labor rates vary considerably, based on supply-demand of labor, labor market dynamics, market conditions, skills & qualifications, etc. - An ideal compensation survey would provide real-time estimates. Unfortunately, the nature of running a survey and the time needed to collect data means that compensation estimates are somewhat dated by the time they are published. These compensation estimates may not accurately reflect current market conditions, etc. - Payscale is one source, but by no means the best source, if there is such a thing. Payscale compensation estimates are based on user-reported data. Accuracy of user reported data is always in question. - Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes compensation estimates. I would encourage you to review their various compensation surveys. There are no costs with acquiring this data. Some of this data may be slightly dated. |
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Compensation Surveys
posted at 10/31/2008 4:32 AM EDT
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Posts: 31
First: 10/28/2008 Last: 7/8/2011 |
Thank you for the feedback. I will jump to the Bureau of Labor Statistics this morning.
For clarification, the unreliability issues I mentioned had to do with user reported data. I have found that Payscale, salary.com, and others are considerably inconsistent. |
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