Conduct your own salary survey
The following outlines the major steps taken when designing, planning and executing your own salary survey.
Step one: Select who you will survey.
Consider competitors in the job market (those organizations that compete for talent with you).
Consider competitors with respect to product or service.
Solicit participation via phone, mail or e-mail.
Step two: Decide which jobs will be benchmark jobs.
Tips for choosing benchmark jobs:
Survey the individual jobs contained in job families, not just single jobs.
Survey jobs other organizations are likely to have.
Survey jobs with a lot of incumbents.
Survey troublesome jobs where there may be a lot of complaining employees, where you may have recruiting difficulties, or where it is essential to the organization that the salary for a given job is market-driven.
Try to get a large sample of participants, as it will increase the validity of the data collected.
After you have determined which jobs you will survey, write a brief description of each benchmark job. This will allow participants to match
jobs at their organizations to the survey's benchmark jobs and supply data accordingly.
Step three: Design the survey instrument.
Consider asking participants for the following information:
Company scope data:
Name and contact information of person completing the survey.
Primary industry of organization.
Number of employees (exempt, nonexempt, full-time, part-time, temporary, by location, etc.) at the organization.
Total annual revenue (sales).
Total assets.
Union presence.
Benchmark job data:
The FLSA status of the job (exempt or nonexempt).
The number of incumbents in each benchmark job.
The strength of the job match (according to a predetermined scale).
The average base salary (indicate annual, monthly, etc.) of those holding the job.
The actual base salary of the highest paid employee holding the job.
The actual base salary of the lowest paid employee holding the job.
The upper salary limit (maximum) of the salary grade.
The lower salary limit (minimum) of the salary grade.
Eligibility for bonus and the average annual bonus paid.
Eligibility for commissions and the average annual commissions paid.
Eligibility for stock options or other long-term incentives.
Caution. To avoid antitrust concerns, ask only what wages, salaries and benefits an organization is currently paying.
Pay program procedures:
Frequency and average size of step increases or merit increases.
Frequency and size of across-the-board increases.
Use of cost-of-living allowances or geographic differentials.
Other compensation:
Check for the use of the following programs:
Employee benefits programs:
Time off policies:
Vacation.
Sick time.
Leave time.
Step four: Distribute the survey.
Include a cover letter.
Ensure the participant that the supplied information will be kept confidential.
Promise the participant a copy of the analyzed results.
Include a specific due date.
Include contact information, should the participant have any questions.
Include instructions for completing the survey and define specific terms, like total compensation.
Step five: Follow up.
Step six: Analyze results.
Calculate medians, averages, weighted averages, 25th percentile, 75th percentile, etc.
Summarize findings in easy-to-understand charts.
Use codes so that individual company data cannot be identified.
Communicate all significant findings.
Step seven: Distribute results.
Send a copy of the final survey report to participants.
Make sure information is presented in summary form and no information can be attributed to a single participant.
Thank respondents for their participation.
Reprinted with permission. © CCH<p>The following outlines the major steps taken when designing, planning and executing your own salary survey.</p>
Conduct Your Own Salary Survey
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