Do you lie awake at night wondering if you are paying your employees competitively? Do you have pay planned for 2020? Perhaps you don’t know where to start, or maybe you have never considered market pay before. You are not alone!

When it comes to compensation, there is not a one size fits all philosophy, and developing a compensation plan that is equitable and competitive is hard work. It requires understanding of where your compensation program fits within your organization’s overarching business strategy, identifying market data and insights that can be leveraged to stay ahead of your competitors, and tying in internal communication tactics to help make your plan successful.

Step 1: Ask Questions

The first step in creating your organization’s compensation philosophy is assessing total rewards strategies and pay programs currently in place and how these programs work to support your needs. No two organizations are alike, so your philosophy can and should look different than other companies. Ask yourself these questions:

• What is the goal of your pay program?
• How will you competitively reward employees?
• What does competitive pay mean in your organization?
• Who makes compensation decisions? Final decisions?
• Who do you compete with for talent?
• What other benefits do you offer?

Step 2: Dig In

Once you have assessed your current compensation and total rewards strategies, you can begin to dig into the compensation data.

You might start by:

• Conducting a job analysis
• Documenting or updating job descriptions
• Developing a job-worth hierarchy
• Identifying jobs to benchmark
• Analyzing relevant market data and/or establishing pay ranges

Step 3: Ask for Help

No matter where you are in your compensation process, there is always room for improvement. If you are new to compensation and/or looking for some competitive market data, Purple Ink can help you get started!

We have worked with clients to benchmark single positions and full departments from entry level through executive compensation. Our CompAnalyst data through Salary.com delivers accurate, up-to-date market pricing information from 16 countries in real time across a variety of industries. We benchmark single job titles for $245 and also offer department benchmarking to meet your needs.

We recommend participating in several surveys and using multiple data sources including salary surveys, aggregate market data, and crowd-sourced data. A truly competitive pay program looks at what’s happening both inside and outside your organization.

If you are still wondering if you’re paying your employees competitively, reach out to Purple Ink and let us be your trusted partner for your compensation solutions. With our market benchmarking, you will receive competitive data and we will work together to review job matches so you know you are getting reliable information in the labor market!