Why Participate in the GMA SHRM Compensation Survey

Submitted by: Rachel Martin, Director of Compensation Surveys, GMA SHRM

Are you one of the many HR professionals who may not realize the benefits of participating in the SHRM Compensation Survey? Do you think, "Why do I want to participate?" or "It's too expensive for my organization."?
 
If so, how do you:

• Create strategic goals, market strategies, product pricing?
• Know when you’re paying too much for a position?

The point of compensation surveys is to obtain market information to make solid business decisions. These decisions should not be based on hearsay, conversations, or internet searches. A systematic, replicable approach is necessary with compensation to determine pay, promotional adjustments, salary budgets and market changes. Given benefits and salaries are the most costly expenses in any company, it's critical to have valid, reliable compensation data. Our SHRM Compensation Survey is a tool to help your company make these important compensation decisions!
 
So, why participate? Here are a few reasons:
 
Market Data: The more companies that participate the better the reporting data. Having many companies participate from across our area means we all have more robust information.
 
Compensation Components: You will have access to a full range of compensation data including base salaries, bonuses, incentive plans, and perquisites. This gives your organization a more in depth information on market pay trends.
 
Consistent / Reliable Data: Comprehensive compensation data to compare your data to survey results when sufficient number of respondents participate.
 
Current Trends: Pay rates vary by position, and by industry and company size. When many companies participate, we can obtain a broader perspective of what's changing and what's not.
 
Geographic Specific Data: This survey, focused on pay for positions primarily in Dane County, allows you to drill down to the rate of pay for individuals specifically in this region. Having regional market data can be especially helpful in this tight labor market.
 
The SHRM Compensation Survey is a valid, reliable published survey that provides information on compensation rates paid for similar jobs within the competitive labor market. Your participation helps SHRM, the marketplace, and, most importantly, YOU!
 
Look for additional information on how you can participate, pay a reduced fee for survey results, and get this invaluable tool in 2019!
 
Respectfully submitted by: Your SHRM Compensation Committee

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Living and Breathing Compensation

Submitted by: Rachel Martin, Director of Compensation Surveys, GMA SHRM

There is a lot to say about compensation. It can be a stressful topic to discuss with hiring supervisors, financial experts, and even the C-Suit. The conversations range from “how do we give someone an increase” to “how do I take money away from an employee.” Every conversation is influenced by data, consistency, laws, and organizational expectations.
 
Data is one of the most important elements of compensation decisions. How does an organization decide to raise a salary range? At what point do you offer more to one employee versus another employee? Data is just part of the overall compensation picture. I work for a large organization that has about 30,000 employees. I am constantly reviewing data and thinking about the current and future impact to my organization’s workforce. I have my usual data sources to review (like the GMA salary survey). For some of these resources, I must evaluate the integrity of the source to determine if it is comparable to my organization. Every decision about compensation has multiple possible outcomes which require vigilant consideration before making a final decision. Data helps determine the number of outcomes and creates the next key factor, consistency.
 
Consistency is important for compensation. During the last two years, consistency has not been a pillar of compensation practice in many situations. The workforce has expected more from compensation structures than past practice would have shown. This is a factor that should never be forgotten. Consistency can protect an organization from outlier decisions that can cause a “domino effect.” Sometimes being consistent with a mission is more important than overpaying for a job. Consistency in reviewing data sources to make decisions is important as it can help you remember past outcomes.
 
Compensation laws are another important factor, particularly the “Equal Pay for Equal Work” laws. There are organizations with very rigid structures where gender is not part of  thecompensation equation.. Then there are organizations that consider “other factors,” such as level of education, experience, and certifications, more openly. Ensuring equality can be considerably more challenging when the other factors considered result in drastic differences in pay for employees in the same or similar role.  These laws are important to consider when determining pay practices. 
 
The overall organizational expectation is the most important element of a company’s compensation philosophy.. While organizations can be consistent and make good choices, the people in the organization are the most important part of the compensation conversation. Living in the data of compensation is easy, but making the hard choice, like taking money away for a “demotion,” is essential for keeping the organization in a stable pay structure. Understanding how to use that data to meet organizational expectations is the most challenging part of compensation. Data can prove many different outcomes. Just remember why compensation is such a huge part of an organization: the people. We pay our employees for doing the work for the organization’s mission. Employees expect that the employer is fair when they make decisions affecting their pay. This includes compensation practices.

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Education and Development

Volunteers and Guests at the January Professional Development Summit

Conscious Leadership = Employee Retention + Improved Engagement! - A new approach to an old (and persistent) problem

Submitted by: Suzanne Qualia,  MBA, ACC, PDS presente

We credit Einstein with the quote that says something like, “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. Even if he didn’t originally say it, many others have and we know that it’s true based on our own experiences as well!
 
How does this quote relate to the title subject? How often do we as HR professionals do the same things over and over in our battles with employee retention and engagement, but somehow expect different results? And are we getting those different results? No, current research says not.
Obviously, it’s time for a change! Let’s fix these problems in a new, unique and better way for everyone!
 
The case for change
 
Engagement - In case you are dubious about this, let’s look at the facts…. Gallup, a global research firm, has been measuring engagement levels for almost 20 years. We as HR professionals read the summary reports including “tips” on what to do about it every year, yet the needle hasn’t moved significantly into the “engaged” category. Yes, HR teams and companies have done many great things in an attempt to move that needle – increased pay, providing better benefits, instituting “flex time” options and offering social perks as well. These things are necessary and a great foundation upon which to build. But obviously, still not enough given the persistent low engagement scores.
 
Retention – as an HR professional, you know the woes of this and the level of it for your company! What would happen if you could cut your turnover rate in half?
 
Costs of not changing
 
Engagement - What is the cost of the engagement gap for your organization? Sparing the details here, research backs up (https://learning.linkedin.com/blog/engaging-your-workforce/how-to-calculate-the-cost-of-employee-disengagement) this simple formula: # of employees in your organization * 17 percent (level of disengagement)* 34 percent median salary (Gallup’s researched “cost of disengagement”). The numbers will be pretty shocking.
 
This is what disengagement is costing your company each year. These costs show up in the forms of: safety incidents, quality problems, mistakes, errors, productivity issues, missed deadlines, customer service problems and more. Some of these are sometimes hard to measure, but we all know there is a cost. This formula captures those overt as well as “hidden” costs!
Regarding the retention issue, what is that costing organizations today? SHRM’s own studies (February 4, 2016) predicted that every time a business replaces a salaried employee, it costs 6 to 9 month’s salary on average. Again, the math is pretty simple – turnover rate * # of employees * 6 to 9 months of median salary of that group!
 
Leadership development holds the key
 
Engagement and retention are both resolved with more effective leadership. Again, tons of research backs this up (Grow America, Harris Interactive, Mercer’s What’s Working study, Accenture study (2013) all indicate clear and similar reasons for turnover: don’t like the boss, lack of empowerment, internal politics and lack of recognition - all can be grouped into “poor leadership”.
 
As Mike Prokopeak VP and Editor in chief at Chief Learning Officer magazine, points out in his research results published less than a year ago, companies realize this - 94% of organizations surveyed indicated they planned to increase or keep their investment in leadership development the same, citing that the scarcity of in demand talent and the high cost of attracting that talent, makes focusing on and developing their next generation of leaders the top priority. Read his full summary here: (https://www.clomedia.com/2018/03/21/follow-the-leadership-spending/)
His research says that the focus of that training will be around emotional intelligence and “people focused” training. But that’s not new either! What “shift” is necessary in order to finally hit the “sweet spot” on those two topics? (And get the “bang for your buck” on those leadership development spends!)
 
The needed leadership development “shift”
 
The change needed in leadership development training is a “shift” from focusing not only on the WHAT you (and the other leaders in your organization!) do as a leader to the HOW you do it and the effect and the impact you have on others! My belief is that every leader INTENDS to be inspiring, motivating and engaging as a leader, but their IMPACT misses the mark. How to fix that?
 
The short story - It’s about shifting the focus from what you are DOING as a leader, to instead who you are BEING as a leader.
 
This is what “conscious leadership” is all about.
 
Join Suzanne on March 19th at the Alliant Energy Center to learn more about this important topic of “Conscious Leadership”. Learn what it is and once cultivated, what that can mean for your organization!


 

SHRM Certification Scholarships

Submitted by Clara Tavarez, Media Relations Committee Member GMA SHRM
Is one of your new year’s resolutions getting a SHRM certification? SHRM Foundation wants to help you reach this goal!

Every year, the SHRM Foundation awards scholarships in support of students seeking undergraduate, graduate, certification and professional development opportunities. Scholarship funds may be used for any combination of test preparation expenses, such as SHRM Certification Preparation tools and/or exam fees.

For eligibility information and to apply go to the SHRM Foundation Scholarship page.

Now accepting applications for the spring offering through April 15, 2019.

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Workforce Readiness

Volunteer Opportunity – March 20, 2019; Dane County Regional Job Fair, Alliant Energy Center, Madison

Submitted by Jennifer Brikowski, Director of Workforce Readiness Committee, GMA SHRM

The Dane County Regional Fair is coming up fast. The Workforce Readiness Committee is a partner in this event. We are looking for volunteers to give an hour or two of their time to the job seekers coming to attend this event.
We will be opening the Job Seeker Preparation area at 10am. The event begins at 11am.
 
As HR professionals this is a fun and engaging way to demonstrate your skills in resume and interviewing for those less experienced. How rewarding to have a chance to affect a resume for a job seeker before it is submitted and help prepare them for some basic interview questions!
 
We are looking for volunteers to assist from 10am to 11am. The job seeker preparation area is open from 10am to 3pm. 11am to 3pm is the time that job seekers can meet with the employers. Last August we had over 100 job seekers take advantage of the time before the event began to work with an HR professional to tweak their resumes and hone their interviewing skills.
 
If you have time and are willing to spend one or two hours helping out, please email Jennifer Brikowski: Jennifer.brikowski@dwd.wisconsin.gov. The GMA SHRM members who have helped out in the past have always enjoyed this opportunity to make a difference for the job seekers in our community.
 
Thank you.

 

GMA SHRM Member News