Getting Pay Right
This comprehensive compensation toolkit addresses the critical challenge of market pricing for employee compensation, which can account for over 70% of organizational costs. The guide provides strategic frameworks for determining competitive pay levels, selecting appropriate salary surveys, and understanding relevant labor markets across industry, geography, and organization size. It emphasizes the importance of benchmark jobs and proper data analysis to avoid the costly risks of overpaying, underpaying, or misallocating compensation resources. The toolkit offers practical guidance on pricing strategies, survey participation, and the essential steps for accurate market pricing to attract, retain, and motivate top talent.
In this guide, you'll explore
- Employee compensation can account for more than 70% of total organizational costs
- Market pricing requires analyzing four key elements: pay levels relative to market, benchmark jobs, relevant labor markets, and appropriate statistics
- Benchmark jobs should be standard positions that are highly populated, well-understood, and commonly found across organizations
- Salary survey selection should consider five factors: competitors and peers, job matches, relevant scope, participant numbers, and submission dates
- Best practice recommends using at least two survey sources for each benchmark position to ensure credible market pricing analysis