Salary Surveys and Compensation Planning
Participate in or purchase an individual survey
Why Use Salary Survey
Salary surveys provide a wealth of salary data that assist organizations in making informed compensation decisions.
Purchasing industry salary surveys from reputable sources ensures that you are pricing competitively, while also maintaining confidentiality according to the Safe Harbor Guidelines set by the US Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), as follows:
- All data are reported in summary form only.
- No data are reported for any job at any level where there are fewer than five companies matching (or three companies outside the U.S.).
- No organization’s data will represent more than 25% weighting for any job (or 35% weighting outside the U.S.).
- When choosing a salary survey vendor, be sure that the company adheres to Safe Harbor Guidelines to ensure the confidentiality of your information and help support strong legal grounds for your compensation decisions.
An industry salary survey provider helps compensation professionals make informed compensation decisions by identifying market pay practices to create a total compensation plan that will help bring in and retain top employees. Salary Surveys also assist in keeping track of jobs that are in and out of demand. Keeping up with the latest job trends allow you to accurately price jobs and keep up with market competitiveness.
Losing an employee can often cost more than the work and effort required to retain an employee. According to a study conducted by SHRM, the costs of employee turnover can be as much at 60% of the former employee’s annual salary, and the total costs can be as much as 200%. Regularly buying salary surveys or subscribing to datasets allows employers to create total compensation packages that help retain top employees.
Without reliable, up-to-date, and accurate salary survey data, you are relying on whatever you can find online or by hearsay.
SalaryExpert utilizes ERI’s salary survey data to ensure you have the most up-to-date compensation data. We have two separate ways of accessing salary surveys. You can buy an individual salary survey from ERI, or which you can receive a discount through participation. ERI’s salary surveys can be purchased here. Subscribing to the Assessor Platform allows you to gain access to our full range of compensation tools which allows for pricing of obscure job titles and shift differentials. Check out a sample of our salary survey data with our free demo.
Legal Compliance
Purchasing industry salary surveys from reputable sources ensures that you are pricing competitively, while also maintaining confidentiality according to the Safe Harbor Guidelines set by the US Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), as follows:
- All data are reported in summary form only.
- No data are reported for any job at any level where there are fewer than five companies matching (or three companies outside the U.S.).
- No organization’s data will represent more than 25% weighting for any job (or 35% weighting outside the U.S.).
- When choosing a salary survey vendor, be sure that the company adheres to Safe Harbor Guidelines to ensure the confidentiality of your information and help support strong legal grounds for your compensation decisions.
Competitive Compensation
An industry salary survey provider helps compensation professionals make informed compensation decisions by identifying market pay practices to create a total compensation plan that will help bring in and retain top employees. Salary Surveys also assist in keeping track of jobs that are in and out of demand. Keeping up with the latest job trends allow you to accurately price jobs and keep up with market competitiveness.
Increased Employee Retention
Losing an employee can often cost more than the work and effort required to retain an employee. According to a study conducted by SHRM, the costs of employee turnover can be as much at 60% of the former employee’s annual salary, and the total costs can be as much as 200%. Regularly buying salary surveys or subscribing to datasets allows employers to create total compensation packages that help retain top employees.
Dependable Data
Without reliable, up-to-date, and accurate salary survey data, you are relying on whatever you can find online or by hearsay.
SalaryExpert utilizes ERI’s salary survey data to ensure you have the most up-to-date compensation data. We have two separate ways of accessing salary surveys. You can buy an individual salary survey from ERI, or which you can receive a discount through participation. ERI’s salary surveys can be purchased here. Subscribing to the Assessor Platform allows you to gain access to our full range of compensation tools which allows for pricing of obscure job titles and shift differentials. Check out a sample of our salary survey data with our free demo.
Things to Consider with Salary Surveys
A reliable salary survey report will include several important factors, including the following:
- Relevant compensation data collected from comparable organizations
- Data customized by industry, employee type, job match, and location
- Adherence to FTC Safe Harbor Guidelines for salary surveys
- Executive summary
- Aggregate data
- Adequate sample size
- Job content information
Survey Sources
Organizations that need market data have various options. The following list is
ranked from least expensive to most expensive:
U.S. government surveys (if one is applicable to your organization)
Internet data (taken from free salary sites)
Published salary surveys
Survey software databases
Computer data banks
Conduct (or sponsor) a new survey for your own organization
- Survey specific jobs or data requirements
- Survey a specific industry or geographic area with limited survey data
Salary Survey Data Utilization
Most salary surveys are used to develop the annual base salary structure or compensation plan. Frequently, they are used to price individual jobs for new hires, existing employees, or even conduct a departmental market review.
- Average base salary rate per grade
- Percent difference (progression) between grades
- Calculate salary range midpoints while ensuring a smooth percent progression between grades and market competitiveness
- Calculate range minimums and maximums
Global Pay Data
If your company operates globally, you can find which locations around the world have the highest and lowest compensation rates for a particular job title.
ERI’s Assessor Platform has a massive database of compensation for job titles around the globe. To see which locations we cover, refer to this list.
Shift Differential Data
Another consideration when utilizing salary survey data is how types of shifts, such as the late shift or early morning shift, have an impact on employee compensation.
Try a demo of SalaryExpert’s Assessor Platform to see how we make it easy for you to understand how shift differentials can be analyzed in order to create the best compensation plan for your employees.