Author: Payscale

Articles

How to Write Employee Evaluations In 2022

Employee evaluations, also called performance reviews, are periodic assessments of how an individual is performing in his or her job.

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Employee Incentives to Implement for 2022

The most effective incentive programs leverage human behavior by linking activities with goals that tie to company objectives.

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How to Calculate Overtime Pay

Overtime pay is the additional monies paid to certain employees when those employees work more than their agreed number of hours

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Parental Leave Policy Samples

The FLMA entitles individuals who work for covered organizations up to 12 weeks of paid leave within a 12-month period starting on the first date of leave.

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I-9 Employment Requirements, Documents and How to Comply

I9 requires employers to verify both the identify and employment eligibility of all individuals they recruit, refer for a fee, or hire in the United States, regardless of whether that individual is a U.S. citizen or not.

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How to Hire An Employee

No matter how big or how small your company is, or what industry you’re in, hiring the right people is critical to business survival.

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Compensation Package: Definition and Guide

In recent years, the labor pool has tightened, causing employers of all sizes to ramp up their efforts to attract and retain the right talent.

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Competitive Compensation: What It Is and Why It’s Important

In a talent market as tight as what we’re experiencing today, top candidates could have multiple offers from different companies come in at the same time.

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Performance Management Training In 2022

Performance management training is a comprehensive employee development initiative that starts when the employee is hired and continues throughout his or her time with the company.

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Understanding A Non-Compete Agreement

A non-compete agreement, or a covenant not to compete, is a contract that legally prevents employees from competing with their current or former employer.

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Family Leave Act: What Changed In 2022?

No matter how diligent and dedicated an employee may be, sometimes, life gets in the way of “business as usual.”

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A guide to the employee onboarding process

A successful onboarding process helps your new employees adjust to the social and performance aspects of their job as quickly and seamlessly as possible.

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Annual Salary Calculator

You may know how much to expect in your paycheck each period, but how does that number translate into annual pay?

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Annual Salary Increases: Industry Averages & Key Factors

Escalating inflation coupled with an increasingly competitive labor market have made retaining employees more critical than ever.

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Top 15 Interview Questions to Ask Candidates

A new employee can bring fresh perspective, skills and energy to your team, if you hire the right person. But, how can you make sure that a promising candidate is the right choice?

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A Guide to Bereavement Leave Policy in 2022

Bereavement leave is temporary, paid time off granted to employees after the death of an immediate family member, so they can deal with the memorial, finances and legal manners, and most importantly, have time to grieve.

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What Is the Employee Retention Credit For 2022?

The Employee Retention Tax Credit is a refundable payroll tax credit, designed to encourage employers whose companies were disrupted by COVID-19 restrictions to retain employees, and keep them on the payroll and collecting paychecks through the downturn in business.

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Let’s talk about fair pay

Pay conversations are a vital driving force in creating fair pay for everyone, however, both employee and employer still struggle to have these conversations confidently. Organizations need data and technology to take the steps needed to establish effective pay strategies and structures while building in pay transparency and fair pay initiatives. Taking...

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Payscale customers share their compensation best practices and results

Anyone who has navigated from manual compensation planning to specialist technology knows that it involves some change management, leadership support and a little finesse—but the outcomes are well worth the effort. So, how do you make the move from where you are now to where you want to be? We asked three...

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Tips for training managers on how to discuss pay with employees

Although compensation has always been key to attracting and retaining top talent, how that compensation was determined was a mystery to most. Managers were simply messengers, charged with telling their employees what their new salary was, all without knowing how those numbers were actually reached. They couldn’t answer employee questions, much less...

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The time is now to uplevel your compensation strategy

Your compensation strategy is critical to attracting and retaining the best talent. But, no matter how well that strategy is working today, it’s important to remember that it’s not a “once and done” function. To be relevant and effective, your approach to compensation has to evolve over time, as your company grows...

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4 predictions on the future of compensation

As anyone in compensation knows: the times are rapidly changing. The aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the rise of the remote workforce, and a highly competitive hiring environment are prompting organizations to re-evaluate their compensation strategies today, and plan their approach for the future. What will that future look like? We asked...

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6 key steps in analyzing job descriptions for the future of work

Job descriptions are essential to organizations and are foundational elements of critical functions, including talent management, compensation strategy, and fair pay practices.

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How organizations are shifting to sustainable pay equity programs

Companies are now proactively monitoring more sustainable compensation practices to guard against racial and gender pay gaps.

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New hire forms to include

Whether you are hiring a single employee , or an entire department of staffers, presenting a branded and well-organized hiring packet can make your business shine. Hiring packet information, written into a comprehensive onboarding program or orientation program, provides an introduction to the company culture and makes for a more streamlined onboarding experience....

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Temporary employee laws: A guide to hiring contract roles

The labor market is a strange place right now. A shift towards unconventional work lives means that many employers and companies are in the midst of a total overhaul when it comes to thinking about their workforce. That said, temporary employment or a contract role may be a good fit for individuals...

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What to include in a termination letter: Template and examples

Handling involuntary termination is a likely occurrence for human resources managers and employers throughout the span of their career. While the termination process may be uncomfortable, it is an essential part of ensuring employees are provided with the information, tools, and clarity they need to move forward beyond their time at your organization.  ...

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Employee termination: How to properly release an employee

Just like in the hiring process, it’s essential that a company follows an employee termination process so terminated employees are provided the correct information, tools, and clarity they need to move forward beyond their time at your organization. In this article we’ll outline the core steps to follow when beginning a termination...

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What is incentive pay?

Incentive pay is a form of compensation employers choose to offer employees as a way to motivate high performance. In other words, incentive pay is separate from base salary in that it is designed to encourage—it is not a mandatory form of payment by the employer nor is it a given bonus for the employee.  Differentiating bonus...

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Pay-for-performance compensation: What is it and how it works

Pay-for-performance is a compensation model set by the employer. This payment structure is often utilized as an incentive. Incentivizing with performance-based pay is an effective tool to reach revenue goals, company growth metrics, and attract and maintain high-performing employees, although there are important considerations before implementing that can make or break its...

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What are the laws of holiday pay?

Managing holidays can be a complex matter when figuring out paid time off, determining which holidays are included as vacation time, and how much focused work time you can expect around those key dates. Having a better understanding of holiday laws can help bring clarity and direction to your holiday pay plan....

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Non-exempt vs. exempt employees: What’s the difference?

Exempt means exempt from overtime pay. Exempt status is determined by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) if the employee meets the criteria.

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An HR guide to employee performance reviews

An employee performance review is a formal check-in between employees and their managers or supervisors to evaluate an employee’s performance, including identifying their strengths and weaknesses, giving feedback, and setting future goals for the employee. While this meeting is intended to give the employee feedback and help them develop more as an...

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Types of bonuses and when to use them

Bonuses are a beautiful thing. Whether you’re sweetening a job offer, showing appreciation for meeting goals, or sharing company earnings, bonuses can play an important role in attracting and retaining quality employees. However, navigating the various types of bonuses and when to use them can get complicated. That’s why we’re here. We’re...

Research Reports

2021 State of Remote Work Report

New research from Payscale combines analysis of pay data with a survey of employers on how they are managing remote work and pay strategies to support more distributed workforces after the pandemic.

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Base salary: what is it, how to calculate, what to offer

A base salary, also known as base pay, is the initial compensation amount or wage before taxes and other deductions.

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What is Severance Pay?

Severance pay is compensation an employer may pay an employee after departing from the company. While severance pay is common and can establish good will among employees, it is not required by law. Severance packages are most commonly offered for layoffs, involuntary job elimination, retirement, or mutual agreement of departure between parties....

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Gross Pay vs Net Pay: What’s the Difference?

Gross pay (also known as gross salary) is the amount of compensation a company or organization pays an employee before any required or voluntary deductions take effect, per payment period. Gross pay is the number listed at the top of each payroll statement. For example, if an employer says, “I’ll pay you...

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Together at last: PayScale Insight Lab and UltiPro by UKG

PayScale is pleased to announce the latest release in our growing HRIS API lineup. As of September 23, 2020 PayScale Insight Lab offers an API connection to UltiPro by UKG (Ultimate Kronos Group). Announced as a Leader in The Forrester Wave™ Cloud Human Capital Management Suites Q2 Report this year and supporting more than 6,600 customers and 51 million people records, UltiPro by UKG is...

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Why survey data (still) matters

Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Mercer Reliable survey data is now more essential than ever Times of uncertainty naturally make us feel overwhelmed and anxious. We look at shrinking workforces and reduced budgets, wondering how we are going to manage through this challenging time. For HR managers being asked...

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6 Simple Cost Cutting Strategies During a Recession

With layoffs happening in record numbers, it’s a crucial time to strengthen the strategic value that HR brings to the business, which can including cost cutting strategies to help the organization survive a recession. Need some ideas? We have examples from past webinars with business leaders about how they adjusted their HR...

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How to Encourage Ethical Behavior in the Workplace

WHAT IS ETHICS IN THE WORKPLACE? Ethics in the workplace is defined as a set of rules that guide employees to act in line with the morals and values of the company as a whole. These principles should be implemented and followed by everyone within the organization to reinforce the importance of...

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Definitions of Employee Classification

Employees usually are classified according to the hours worked and the expected duration of the job. Accordingly, they generally fall into three major categories: full-time, part-time, and temporary employees.

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How to Calculate Employee Turnover Rate

Costs of Employee Turnover – In order to see the full picture of employee turnover, there are some unexpected twists and variables you should keep in mind. Here, we'll cover a few of the many variables that can affect your turnover rate and affect how you choose to interpret results of your...

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Beyond the Office Walls: How to Nurture Human Connection Among Remote Employees

This piece is part of our series on sessions presented at Compference19. You can register or learn more about Compference20 here. Looking for data? View PayScale’s Research and Strategy Guide on How to Set Pay for Remote Workers The employee experience (EX) team at PayScale was established in 2017 to intentionally design...

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Compference19 Keynote Speaker: Bobbi McPherson

For Compference19, we’ve searched far and wide to assemble a variety of dynamic keynote speakers that will uplift, educate and challenge you to broaden your horizons. As such, we’re delighted to announce our final keynote speaker to round out our team of inspirational presenters for Compference19, Bobbi McPherson. With a background as...

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Nonprofits: Special Concerns and Situations Require the Right Data

Getting pay right for key employees is important for any business. For nonprofit organizations, it’s crucial. Talented leadership can mean the difference between success and stagnation. Nonprofit organizations often have to operate with limited funds and resources. As an additional challenge, they must endure additional levels of scrutiny that commercial ventures do...

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The Future of HR is Data-Driven: 6 Cutting-Edge HR Metrics to Measure

This is part 3 of a 3 part series. The following information is pulled from our new white paper, 6 Cutting-Edge HR Metrics to Measure. Download the full paper here.  We live in a world that is increasingly driven by data. How we collect and measure that data can be the difference...

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Why Quality of Hire Is the Holy Grail of HR Metrics

This is part 2 of a 3 part series. The following information is pulled from our new white paper, 6 Cutting-Edge HR Metrics to Measure. Download the full paper here.  Many HR professionals believe quality of hire is the “holy grail” of people metrics. Since the beginning of the HR practice, businesses...

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6 Cutting-Edge HR Metrics to Measure

This is part 1 of a 3 part series. The following is an excerpt of our new white paper, 6 Cutting-Edge HR Metrics to Measure. To download the full paper, click here.  The future of HR is data-driven. Need numbers to back that up? In one survey, more than 75 percent of...

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Is Your Compensation Benchmark and Salary Structure Driven by Data?

Are your employees satisfied with their pay and their jobs? Do you have confidence in your current process for determining a compensation benchmark? If you cannot answer yes to these questions then read on. The following is the third excerpt from our white paper, How to Perform Compensation Benchmarking and Set Salary...

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Compensation Benchmarking: Top Three Data Types

Today’s job market is an employees’ market, which comes as no surprise to any HR professional. We live in a world where prospective employees are well-equipped to negotiate salary based on their own research of market rates. But, how can you find the most accurate data available so you can create effective...

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How to Select Jobs for Compensation Benchmarks

This is the first excerpt from our white paper, How to Perform Compensation Benchmarking and Set Salary Ranges. Create the best compensation benchmarks for your organization. Download the full whitepaper here.  After setting up your competitive set based upon your compensation strategy, identify the positions within your organization you wish to benchmark...

New Data Connector Syncs ADP Workforce Now to Insight Lab

We’re excited to let you know that we’ve just released a new data connector that automatically syncs data from ADP Workforce Now into PayScale Insight Lab. This release empowers ADP Workforce Now users to get a consistent view of their workforce in Insight Lab at all times. What’s in it for ADP...

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How to Find the Right Competitive Set to Price Your Jobs

We hear some variation of this statement from clients every day: “We want to make sure we’re offering competitive pay in our market.” What does being “competitive” actually mean? Many HR and compensation professionals would say that being competitive means paying, on average, plus or minus 10 percent from the market average...

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10 Ways To Better Job Descriptions

This post is written by Ashley Johnston – Marketing Director at HRTMS, the industry leader of job description management software. Their solutions include a full line of job description management products including MarketPay Jobs, the exclusive job description solution for PayScale MarketPay customers. Click here to learn more. Are your job descriptions...

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Washington Passes Law Banning the Salary History Question: Are You Ready?

This article is written by Jessica Nguyen, General Counsel of PayScale. As the General Counsel of PayScale, naturally, I pay close attention to laws intended to further pay equity. PayScale is based in Washington so I was excited to learn that on May 9, 2019, Washington became the ninth state to join...

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PayScale Releases a Data Connector to Enable Seamless Data Syncing between BambooHR and Insight Lab

HR leaders at small and midsize organizations are orchestrators of many moving parts of a people strategy. They often feel like there isn’t enough time to get everything done. One major drain on HR professionals’ time is dealing with data from different systems in order to get usable data to make workforce...

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The Three Percent Annual Raise Will Remain Status Quo in 2019

PayScale’s Compensation Best Practices Report (CBPR) reflects trends and attitudes about compensation, benefits, retention and employee engagement across more than 7,000 employers. Today, we released the latest edition.This year’s report reveals employers are more concerned than ever about retaining staff. Yet, HR and business leaders are reluctant to raise base pay in...

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4 Ways You Can Support Mental Health in the Office

Editor’s note: This post was written by Jacquelyn Pica, a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. While workplaces are becoming more progressive, many companies still lack mental health initiatives. Offering discounted or free gym memberships and healthy snacks is great — but what about addressing mental wellness? Depression is one of “the top three workplace...

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PayScale Index Q3 2018: Wages Remain Sluggish Despite a Robust Economy

Despite many positive economic indicators, nominal wages tick slightly down while real wages hold steady in Q3. [click_to_tweet tweet=”While GDP continues to grow, unemployment remains at historic lows and corporate profits are on an upward trajectory, these improvements have not translated to robust wage growth.” quote=”While GDP continues to grow, unemployment remains...

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#Compference18 Day Two Wrap Up: Radical Candor, Coaching and More

Day two of #Compference18 kicked off with cold brew and plenty of discussions about feedback, Millennials, and radical candor. Whether you couldn’t make it to Compference18 this year or simply missed a session you wanted to attend, we’ve compiled some of the biggest takeaways from day two so you can learn about...

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#Compference18 Day One Wrap Up: Pay Fairness, Transparency and Dear HBR.

Day one of Compference18 kicked off yesterday with over five hundred comp pros and HR leaders in Orlando, Florida. Whether you were here to participate in the discussions, or you’re interested in learning what you missed, here are some of the highlights from the first day of Compference. Reimagining Compensation – Mike...

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PayScale Compensation Surveys: Know How Your Peers Approach Pay

Here at PayScale, we’re constantly innovating on behalf of our customers – organizations and individuals – to help them find the right pay for every position. One of the biggest pain points we hear from our customer base of comp professionals is how hard it is to find the right salary data...

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PayScale Lets You Use Three (or More) Salary Data Sources Seamlessly

World at Work standards recommend using three sources of salary data to benchmark a job. With that in mind, it’s no coincidence that PayScale’s customers have access to three unique data offerings inside our compensation platform: Crowdsourced Data, Company-Sourced Data and Traditional Data. These three different sources of data complement each other...

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Why You’re Only Attracting Job Candidates You Can’t Really Afford

Editor’s Note: This blog post is an excerpt from our upcoming ebook created with BambooHR “Your Talent Acquisition Ecosystem: Managing the Employee Lifecycle” If you find that your job postings tend to attract over-qualified, “shiny” candidates who have salary requirements that are way above what your comp budget called for, it may...

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PayScale’s GDPR Commitments

The General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) is almost here. We’d like to share an overview of what GDPR is, and what PayScale is doing to protect our customers. The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will be in effect this month and we are excited to share how we are deepening our...

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4 Tips For Creating an Incentive Pay Program That Works

The way you design your incentive pay program can make a big difference to multiple pieces of your business, so it shouldn’t be an afterthought. Organizations are using incentive pay programs to help them compete for talent, to combat turnover, and motivate all employees to higher levels of performance. But when you...

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Variable Compensation: Who Gets It, What Types and Why?

Editor’s note: This blog post is an excerpt of our new whitepaper Variable Pay Playbook. In a tight talent market, where employees have choices about where they commit their time and talent, variable pay is frequently used as a retention, recruitment and motivation tool. PayScale’s 2021 Compensation Best Practices Report (CBPR) reports...

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What To Expect From Compference 2018: Testimonials from Previous Attendees

PayScale’s annual event, Compference – the modern compensation event for comp professionals, HR professionals and business leaders, will be here before you know it. Our two-day conference is September 19-20, 2018 and it’s all happening at the beautiful Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort in Florida.   Still undecided?  Here’s what...

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PayScale Research Shows Women Who Leave the Workforce Incur Up to a 7 Percent Pay Penalty Upon Their Return

Note: This blog post is an excerpt from our newly released 2018 State of the Gender Pay Gap Report. Today, PayScale released the State of the Gender Pay Gap report, which shines a light on both pay and career opportunity disparity between men and women. As it turns out, into 2018, the...

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Compference18 Location and Hotel Revealed

With Compference17 on the horizon, we’re excited to officially announce the Compference venue location and hotel details for the world’s best compensation event. So ask yourself, what’s better than networking and nerding out with people who love compensation as much as you do? How about networking and nerding out about compensation on...

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Compensation Best Practices: What Do Top Performers Do Differently?

In our latest Compensation Best Practices Report, which gathered responses from 7,100 respondents on their pay practices, we took a look at what really sets top performers apart. For this report, we defined top-performing organizations as those who are number one in their industry and who met or exceeded their revenue goals...

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PayScale’s 2018 Compensation Best Practices Report Is Here!

Trust, or lack thereof, between HR and managers is the compelling theme in the 2018 Compensation Best Practices Report. A whopping 85 percent of managers have confidence in their ability to explain the rationale behind pay decisions to employees but only 37 percent of organizations share that confidence in their managers. However,...

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Want More Engaged Employees? Do These 5 Things Today

This blog post is an excerpt from our e-book, Getting Real About Employee Engagement. Download your copy here. In a previous article, we showed why the lack of trust in an organization is the biggest culprit for why employees mentally check out. In this post, we’ll share five tips on how business...

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3 Ways to Modernize Your Compensation Strategy

This blog post is an excerpt from our e-book, “The Exec’s Guide to Modern Compensation Software.” You can download the full guide here. The corporate world has changed, and how we approach compensation needs to change with it. Pay-for-performance, variable pay and the increased focus on transparency that comes with younger workers...

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Why Relying on Referrals Could Hurt Your Efforts to Hire a Diverse Workforce

This blog post is an excerpt from our newest study, The Impact of Job Referrals on Employee Engagement and Workforce Diversity. Between April 24, 2017 and August 25, 2017, PayScale asked 53,000 workers if they had received a referral. Because respondents also provided demographic information and details on their current position, we...

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6 Pointers for Linking Pay With Performance

This is an excerpt from our ebook collaboration with BambooHR, “Evaluating and Rewarding Employee Performance at the Speed of Business.” Download the full guide here. You’d be hard-pressed to find a leader who doesn’t believe that pay and performance should be linked. In every corner of private industry— whether for-profit or not-for-profit—the...

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Referred Employees Are More Engaged Employees, But Only If They Come From This Source

This blog post is an excerpt from our newest study, The Impact of Job Referrals on Employee Engagement and Workforce Diversity. Between April 24, 2017 and August 25, 2017, PayScale asked 53,000 workers if they had received a referral. Because respondents also provided demographic information and details on their current position, we...

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Most Employees Don’t Trust Their Company, Boss or Colleagues

How do you create an organization that motivates all your employees to bring their A game every day? To answer the question, it’s helpful to know what might be causing employees who once cared about your organization to stop caring. In this post, we’ll shed some light on how and why even...

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How and Why Your Best Employees Become Disengaged Over Time

How do you create an organization that motivates all your employees to bring their A game everyday? To answer the question, it’s helpful to know what might be causing employees who once cared about your organization to stop caring. In this post, we’ll shed some light on how and why even your...

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PayScale Index Q4 2017: Real Wages Still Below Pre-Recession Levels,Transportation and Warehousing Up and More

The PayScale Index tracks quarterly and annual trends in compensation. The latest Index for Q4 2017 shows that the aftershocks of The Great Recession continue to be felt as workers are still earning far less in real terms than they did before the economic crisis. While nominal wage growth was 2.7 percent...

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The Threat of Unwanted Turnover

This is an excerpt from our ebook collaboration with BambooHR, “Evaluating and Rewarding Employee Performance at the Speed of Business.” Download the full guide here. How your compensation strategy compares to other employment options will help determine whether great employees will decide to join your organization, and how long they’ll stay. In...

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The State of Modern Performance Management

Performance management is a continuous process of communication between a supervisor and employee. Some of the steps include setting expectations, defining objective and goals, reviewing results and providing feedback. An effective performance management system is crucial for attracting and retaining talent. When successfully implemented, it can also boost an organization’s overall performance....

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PayScale Brings ROI With Compensation Management Software

To help businesses realize the full impact of better compensation management and communication, PayScale commissioned Forrester Consulting, an independent research firm, to conduct a study evaluating the total economic impact of PayScale. This blog post is an excerpt from the study. You can download the full study here.   In a previous...

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How Compensation Management Software Can Provide an ROI of 249%

To help businesses realize the full impact of better compensation management and communication, PayScale commissioned Forrester Consulting, an independent research firm, to conduct a study evaluating the total economic impact of Payscale. This blog post is an excerpt from the study. You can download the full study here.   If you’re still...

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Retain Your Best Employees By Intentionally Managing Culture

This is an excerpt from our ebook collaboration with BambooHR “Managing Employee Turnover.” Download the full guide here.   Turnover is a symptom, not the condition. As such, a focus on turnover alone and a simple assumption that low turnover means that all is well won’t serve your organization. What’s a better...

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The Cost of Losing Employees

This is an excerpt from our ebook collaboration with BambooHR “Managing Employee Turnover.” Download the full guide here.   The formula for measuring employee turnover is:     According to SHRM, the cost of replacing an employee is somewhere between 90 percent and 200 percent of their annual salary; researchers at Columbia...

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Managing Employee Turnover

This is an excerpt from our ebook collaboration with BambooHR “Managing Employee Turnover.” Download the full guide here.   We’re currently living and working in the most competitive business environment the world has ever seen. Improvements in technology and mass communication have reduced the amount of time an organization can take to...

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Compensation 101: Keeping Your Plan Updated

This is an excerpt from our new ebook “Comp 101: A Beginner’s Guide to Compensation Management.” Download the full guide here.   Now that you’ve built and implemented your compensation plan, think about how you can keep it current year to year and between cycles.   One of the tricks of compensation...

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Compensation 101: Implementing Your Plan

This is an excerpt from our new ebook “Comp 101: A Beginner’s Guide to Compensation Management.” Download the full guide here.   With your compensation plan in hand, it’s now time to take all your preparations and begin to utilize it.   Analyze Employee Pay   Start by comparing your employees’ pay...

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The New Compensation Best Practices Report Survey Is Here

The CBPR is the largest industry survey of its kind and reveals the most in-depth insights into HR, compensation trends and best practices — have you taken this year’s survey yet?   Here at PayScale, we’re simultaneously wrapping up 2017 while gearing up for the annual report we all know and love:...

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Compensation 101: Creating Pay Policies and Processes

This is an excerpt from our new ebook “Comp 101: A Beginner’s Guide to Compensation Management.” Download the full guide here. Now that you’ve planned ahead, identified your talent markets and data sources, completed benchmarking and established pay ranges, it’s time to create the policies and processes that help ensure that your...

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Compensation 101: Setting Pay Guidelines or Ranges

This is an excerpt from our new ebook “Comp 101: A Beginner’s Guide to Compensation Management.” Download the full guide here. Pay ranges provide guidelines for how to apply market data to pay your employees. They also help smooth out daily or monthly market fluctuations and set upper and lower bounds of...

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Compensation 101: Selecting Market Data Sources

This is an excerpt from our new ebook “Comp 101: A Beginner’s Guide to Compensation Management.” Download the full guide here. Since there are a variety of compensation data sources available to you, it’s crucial that you choose wisely. The two key things to consider when selecting your market data sources are:...

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Compensation 101: Deciding on Your Comp Strategy

This is an excerpt from our new ebook “Comp 101: A Beginner’s Guide to Compensation Management.” Download the full guide here. Your compensation strategy should answer these three key questions: What talent market(s) do you intend to use for comparison for your organization? How competitive do you plan to be relative to...

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Compensation 101: Setting Your Comp Philosophy

This is an excerpt from our new ebook “Comp 101: A Beginner’s Guide to Compensation Management.” Download the full guide here. By now, it’s well-accepted that a comprehensive, up-to-date compensation plan is a must for successful business. A tight talent market means organizations are focusing more than ever on strategies to retain...

Employee Turnover: What’s the True Cost?

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Compensation Overpayment Calculator

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How to Make Compensation Conversations a Culture-Builder

This is an excerpt from our ebook collaboration with BambooHR “Getting Smart About Compensation.” Download the full guide here. Conversations about comp don’t have to be negative, even when you don’t have budget for monetary adjustments. Managers and HR employees at every level can learn from the steps below to turn compensation...

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Train Your Managers to Talk About Comp

This is an excerpt from our ebook collaboration with BambooHR “Getting Smart About Compensation.” Download the full guide here. Managers are on the front lines when it comes to communicating compensation with your employees, and they have far more comp conversations than anyone else in your organization. Despite this, they’re usually ill...

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How Compensation Impacts Culture in Small Businesses

This is an excerpt from our 2017 Compensation Best Practices Report (CBPR): Small Business Edition. As we celebrate Small Business Saturday in the U.S. on November 25th, let’s take a look at compensation’s impact on company culture for small businesses. Get the full report here. Culture is where small businesses shine. Small...

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PayScale Now Has Privacy Shield Certification

We know data security is a top priority for you. It’s a top priority for us, too. To advance our mission of helping organizations succeed via modern compensation, PayScale customers must have confidence in the security of our products, and know that we’re continuously updating and refining our security measures. To that...

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Getting Executive Buy-In for Your Compensation Strategy

This is an excerpt from our ebook collaboration with BambooHR “Getting Smart About Compensation.” Download the full guide here. When you’re working through the process of building a compensation strategy and you have a formal plan mapped out, make sure you clearly explain it to your executives. You’ll get easier buy-in from...

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Why Getting Compensation Right Is So Important for Company Culture

This is an excerpt from our ebook collaboration with BambooHR “Getting Smart About Compensation.” Download the full guide here. As the HR leader at your organization, you’re an integral player in your company’s success. At a time when the gap between your competitors and you is smaller than ever, people are realizing...

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Do Great Managers = Reduced Employee Turnover? (Plus More Findings on Intent to Leave)

During 2015 and 2016, we collected data related to employee experience from over half a million workers who took the PayScale Salary Survey. Our research revealed what matters most — and what doesn’t make much difference — for creating a great employee experience. This is a modified excerpt from the resulting report,...

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Here`s What You Need to Get Right to Improve Employee Engagement

During 2015 and 2016, we collected data related to employee experience from over half a million workers who took the PayScale Salary Survey. Our research revealed what matters most — and what doesn’t make much difference — for creating a great employee experience. This is an excerpt from the resulting report, The...

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The Formula for a Winning Company Culture (aka The Data You’ve Been Waiting for)

We are so excited today to release the whitepaper that many of you who attended Compference last month have been anxiously awaiting: The Formula for a Winning Company Culture! When PayScale Lead Data Analyst Chris Martin revealed the findings from our latest research on employee experience in his “Connecting Engagement and Outcomes...

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Compensation Budgeting How-To: Prepare Summary Budget Request, Part II

This is an excerpt from our budgeting how-to whitepaper. Download the full version here. We’re continuing our discussion on preparing summary budget requests. We’ve covered your options for making range adjustments and market adjustments if needed, and today we’ll look at equity adjustments and pay-increase adjustments, as well as a sample summary...

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Compensation Budgeting How-To: Prepare Summary Budget Request, Part I

This is an excerpt from our budgeting how-to whitepaper. Download the full version here. At this point, we have calculated our pay inequities at the organizational, job and individual levels. We’ve also calculated our increases and determined the actual amount we intend to give our employees. What we need to do now...

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Compensation Budgeting How-To: Calculate Raises

This is an excerpt from our budgeting how-to whitepaper. Download the full version here. There are a few different methods to use for calculating raises, depending on what you decide to base your increases on. We’ll look specifically at two methods: market-based increases and performance– or proficiency-based increases. Market-Based Increases In market-based...

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Compensation Budgeting How-To: Decide What to Reward and Streamline Your Processes

This is an excerpt from our budgeting how-to whitepaper. Download the full version here. When it comes time to calculate your increase amounts, there are a couple steps you’ll want to take well in advance. First, think about what you want to reward with your increase dollars. Also, take some time to...

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Compensation Budgeting How-To: Develop Solutions for Pay Inequities

This is an excerpt from our budgeting how-to whitepaper. Download the full version here. At each level of the organization, and for each inequity you find, you’ll want to identify a resolution. A primary consideration, of course, is cost. How much will it cost to resolve the inequities you have identified? Are...

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Compensation Budgeting How-To: Identify Inequities at the Position or Individual Level

This is an excerpt from our budgeting how-to whitepaper. Download the full version here. Today we’re continuing our discussion on identifying compensation inequities, this time at the position and individual levels. Position-Level Inequities At the position level, there is one primary question for investigation: Have some of our positions moved faster in...

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Compensation Budgeting How-To: Identify Inequities at the Org, Design or Department Level

This is an excerpt from our budgeting how-to whitepaper. Download the full version here. There are a few different ways in which compensation inequities can exist in a company, from the organizational to the individual level. Today we’re covering inequities at the organizational, design and department level. Organizational- or Design-Level Inequities At...

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Compensation Budgeting How-To: Start With Design and Data

This is an excerpt from our budgeting how-to whitepaper. Download the full version here. Money is an uncomfortable subject to talk about, even in business. Still, it’s a necessary part of developing and maintaining a loyal workforce, making compensation budgeting one of the most important functions of finance and HR. Explaining to...

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How Can You Tell if Your Rewards Initiatives Are Effective?

This is an excerpt from our new ebook collaboration with BambooHR, “Your Total Rewards Questions: Answered.” The ebook is based on a panel discussion in which industry thought leaders offered their insights and tips on the biggest, most frequent concerns around total rewards. Get the full publication here. Beyond having a high...

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What Can You Do to Make Employees Feel Valued and Appreciated?

This is an excerpt from our new ebook collaboration with BambooHR, “Your Total Rewards Questions: Answered.” The ebook is based on a panel discussion in which industry thought leaders offered their insights and tips on the biggest, most frequent concerns around total rewards. Get the full publication here. We’ve touched on a...

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What Extra Benefits Can You Offer to Create a Better Workplace?

This is an excerpt from our new ebook collaboration with BambooHR, “Your Total Rewards Questions: Answered.” The ebook is based on a panel discussion in which industry thought leaders offered their insights and tips on the biggest, most frequent concerns around total rewards. Get the full publication here. From “paid, paid vacations”...

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What’s the Most Effective Way to Reward Top Performers?

This is an excerpt from our new ebook collaboration with BambooHR, “Your Total Rewards Questions: Answered.” The ebook is based on a panel discussion in which industry thought leaders offered their insights and tips on the biggest, most frequent concerns around total rewards. Get the full publication here. You always want to...

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How Do You Communicate a Total Rewards Package?

This is an excerpt from our new ebook collaboration with BambooHR, “Your Total Rewards Questions: Answered.” The ebook is based on a panel discussion in which industry thought leaders offered their insights and tips on the biggest, most frequent concerns around total rewards. Get the full publication here. Communicating compensation is a...

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Can’t-Miss Session at #Compference17: The Future Role of a Compensation Professional

Are you as excited for #Compference17 as we are? If you’d say you’re very — like, wow, very — excited, then maybe. There’s a lot to be pumped up about! The agenda is jam-packed with goodness: keynotes, sessions, panel discussions, networking opportunities … not to mention, we’ll be in always-fun Austin, Texas!...

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Variable Pay Is on the Rise: What the Data Show

This is an excerpt from PayScale’s 2017 Compensation Best Practices Report. Didn’t get your copy? Download it today. A rich compensation mix encompasses much more than just base pay alone. There are bonuses, incentives, benefits and much more. Together, these pay elements create the total rewards package for employees. Variable pay can...

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Developing a Compensation Plan, Step 7: Keeping It Updated

This is a lesson from PayScale’s Modern Compensation Planning ecourse. Want access to all seven lessons? Sign up for the course! Now that you’ve built and implemented your plan, think about how you can keep it current both from year to year and between cycles. One of the tricks of compensation planning...

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Developing a Compensation Plan, Step 7: Keeping It Updated

This is a lesson from PayScale’s Modern Compensation Planning ecourse. Want access to all seven lessons? Sign up for the course! Now that you’ve built and implemented your plan, think about how you can keep it current both from year to year and between cycles. One of the tricks of compensation planning...

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Developing a Compensation Plan, Step 6: Implementing Your Plan

This is a lesson from PayScale’s Modern Compensation Planning ecourse. Want access to all seven lessons? Sign up for the course! With your compensation plan in hand, it’s now time to take all your preparations and begin to utilize your comp plan. Analyze Employee Pay Start by comparing your employees’ pay against...

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Developing a Compensation Plan, Step 6: Implementing Your Plan

This is a lesson from PayScale’s Modern Compensation Planning ecourse. Want access to all seven lessons? Sign up for the course! With your compensation plan in hand, it’s now time to take all your preparations and begin to utilize your comp plan. Analyze Employee Pay Start by comparing your employees’ pay against...

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Developing a Compensation Plan, Step 5: Create Policies and Processes

This is a lesson from PayScale’s Modern Compensation Planning ecourse. Want access to all seven lessons? Sign up for the course! Now that you’ve planned ahead, identified your talent markets and data sources, completed benchmarking and established pay ranges, it’s time to create the policies and processes that help ensure that your...

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Developing a Compensation Plan, Step 5: Create Policies and Processes

This is a lesson from PayScale’s Modern Compensation Planning ecourse. Want access to all seven lessons? Sign up for the course! Now that you’ve planned ahead, identified your talent markets and data sources, completed benchmarking and established pay ranges, it’s time to create the policies and processes that help ensure that your...

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Developing a Compensation Plan, Step 4: Set Guidelines or Ranges

This is a lesson from PayScale’s Modern Compensation Planning ecourse. Want access to all seven lessons? Sign up for the course! Pay ranges provide guidelines for how to apply market data to pay your employees. They also help smooth out daily or monthly market fluctuations and set upper and lower bounds of...

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Developing a Compensation Plan, Step 4: Set Guidelines or Ranges

This is a lesson from PayScale’s Modern Compensation Planning ecourse. Want access to all seven lessons? Sign up for the course! Pay ranges provide guidelines for how to apply market data to pay your employees. They also help smooth out daily or monthly market fluctuations and set upper and lower bounds of...

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Developing a Compensation Plan, Step 3: Select Data Sources

This is a lesson from PayScale’s Modern Compensation Planning ecourse. Want access to all seven lessons? Sign up for the course! Now that you’ve spent some time thinking about the different parts of your workforce and where you compete for talent in each segment, you can apply that strategy when seeking out...

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Developing a Compensation Plan, Step 3: Select Data Sources

This is a lesson from PayScale’s Modern Compensation Planning ecourse. Want access to all seven lessons? Sign up for the course! Now that you’ve spent some time thinking about the different parts of your workforce and where you compete for talent in each segment, you can apply that strategy when seeking out...

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Developing a Compensation Plan, Step 2: Define Your Strategy

This is a lesson from PayScale’s Modern Compensation Planning ecourse. Want access to all seven lessons? Sign up for the course! With your new compensation philosophy hot off the presses, it’s time to go to market to identify the value of your jobs. The next two lessons in building your compensation plan...

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Developing a Compensation Plan, Step 1: Set Pay Philosophy

This is a lesson from PayScale’s Modern Compensation Planning ecourse. Want access to all seven lessons? Sign up for the course! By now, it’s well-accepted that a comprehensive, up-to-date compensation plan is a must for successful business. A tight talent market means organizations are focusing more than ever on strategies to retain...

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How to Use Compensation Analytics to Tell a Story

This is a lesson from our forthcoming ecourse on compensation analytics, and builds on our previous post on how to dig into comp analytics for specific questions. Be on the lookout for the course launch, which includes helpful examples and insightful exercises — coming soon! You’ve done it! You spent some time...

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How to Use Compensation Analytics to Tell a Story

This is a lesson from our forthcoming ecourse on compensation analytics, and builds on our previous post on how to dig into comp analytics for specific questions. Be on the lookout for the course launch, which includes helpful examples and insightful exercises — coming soon! You’ve done it! You spent some time...

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How to Dig Into Compensation Analytics to Answer Specific Questions

This is a lesson from our forthcoming ecourse on compensation analytics, and builds on our previous post on five comp analytics to track. Be on the lookout for the course launch, which includes helpful examples and insightful exercises — coming soon! In the last lesson, we overviewed five compensation analytics that help...

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How to Dig Into Compensation Analytics to Answer Specific Questions

This is a lesson from our forthcoming ecourse on compensation analytics, and builds on our previous post on five comp analytics to track. Be on the lookout for the course launch, which includes helpful examples and insightful exercises — coming soon! In the last lesson, we overviewed five compensation analytics that help...

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5 Compensation Analytics to Track That Answer Your Big Comp Questions

This is a lesson from our forthcoming ecourse on compensation analytics, and builds on what we covered in the post on setting goals. Be on the lookout for the course launch, which includes helpful examples and insightful exercises — coming soon! It’s time to get technical. In this step, we introduce five...

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5 Compensation Analytics to Track That Answer Your Big Comp Questions

This is a lesson from our forthcoming ecourse on compensation analytics, and builds on what we covered in the post on setting goals. Be on the lookout for the course launch, which includes helpful examples and insightful exercises — coming soon! It’s time to get technical. In this step, we introduce five...

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Set Goals to Get the Most Out of Your Compensation Analytics

This is a lesson from our forthcoming ecourse on compensation analytics. Be on the lookout for the course launch — coming soon! One of the most important parts of tracking compensation analytics is making sure you have a goal in mind. Comp analytics align compensation to organizational objectives and provide the necessary...

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Set Goals to Get the Most Out of Your Compensation Analytics

This is a lesson from our forthcoming ecourse on compensation analytics. Be on the lookout for the course launch — coming soon! One of the most important parts of tracking compensation analytics is making sure you have a goal in mind. Comp analytics align compensation to organizational objectives and provide the necessary...

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How to Select the Best Salary Data Sources for Your Organization

This is an excerpt from our forthcoming whitepaper entitled “The Compensation Data Landscape: A Review of Data Sources, Plus How to Choose.” Enjoy! When it comes time to determine the best source of data for your compensation needs, there are a few things to keep in mind to adequately evaluate sources: Breadth...

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How to Select the Best Salary Data Sources for Your Organization

This is an excerpt from our forthcoming whitepaper entitled “The Compensation Data Landscape: A Review of Data Sources, Plus How to Choose.” Enjoy! When it comes time to determine the best source of data for your compensation needs, there are a few things to keep in mind to adequately evaluate sources: Breadth...

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Pros and Cons of Each Salary Data Source for Employers

This is an excerpt from our forthcoming whitepaper entitled “The Compensation Data Landscape: A Review of Data Sources, Plus How to Choose.” Enjoy! Much as the employee data landscape is rich, there are a lot of compensation data sources and types of sources available to employers. As you consider each, pay special...

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Pros and Cons of Each Salary Data Source for Employers

This is an excerpt from our forthcoming whitepaper entitled “The Compensation Data Landscape: A Review of Data Sources, Plus How to Choose.” Enjoy! Much as the employee data landscape is rich, there are a lot of compensation data sources and types of sources available to employers. As you consider each, pay special...

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A Rundown of All the Salary Data Sources Your Employees Are Looking At

This is an excerpt from our forthcoming whitepaper entitled “The Compensation Data Landscape: A Review of Salary Data Sources, Plus How to Choose.” Enjoy! Employees have access to lots of compensation data online. Many a manager has been on the receiving end of a printed online report followed by, “I found this...

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A Rundown of All the Salary Data Sources Your Employees Are Looking At

This is an excerpt from our forthcoming whitepaper entitled “The Compensation Data Landscape: A Review of Salary Data Sources, Plus How to Choose.” Enjoy! Employees have access to lots of compensation data online. Many a manager has been on the receiving end of a printed online report followed by, “I found this...

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‘Managing’ Diversity for Your Organization: Inclusion, Employee Relations and More

This is an excerpt from our recent ebook collaboration with BambooHR entitled How to Turn Diversity Into a Major Asset for Your Organization. Download the full ebook here. When we talk about managing diversity, the reason we use the term “managing” is because it’s an active term — and diversity requires action. Diversity...

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‘Managing’ Diversity for Your Organization: Inclusion, Employee Relations and More

This is an excerpt from our recent ebook collaboration with BambooHR entitled How to Turn Diversity Into a Major Asset for Your Organization. Download the full ebook here. When we talk about managing diversity, the reason we use the term “managing” is because it’s an active term — and diversity requires action. Diversity...

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Diversity Considerations in Compensation: Part 2 – Workplace Currency, Manager Favoritism

This is an excerpt from our recent ebook collaboration with BambooHR entitled How to Turn Diversity Into a Major Asset for Your Organization. Download the full ebook here. In our first diversity and compensation post, we covered how to identify and resolve inequities within your current compensation practices, as well as the...

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Diversity Considerations in Compensation: Part 1

This is an excerpt from our recent ebook collaboration with BambooHR entitled How to Turn Diversity Into a Major Asset for Your Organization. Download the full ebook here. The big connection between diversity and compensation is fair pay. (Note: Fair pay and equal pay are not the same thing. Paying fairly involves...

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Diversity Considerations in Compensation: Part 1

This is an excerpt from our recent ebook collaboration with BambooHR entitled How to Turn Diversity Into a Major Asset for Your Organization. Download the full ebook here. The big connection between diversity and compensation is fair pay. (Note: Fair pay and equal pay are not the same thing. Paying fairly involves...

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Enabling Diversity of Skill in Your Organization

This is an excerpt from our recent ebook collaboration with BambooHR entitled How to Turn Diversity Into a Major Asset for Your Organization. Download the full ebook here. Often, skill is an easier type of diversity for people to understand, as it’s usually fairly clear that organizations need a variety of skills...

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Enabling Diversity of Opinion in Your Organization

This is an excerpt from our recent ebook collaboration with BambooHR entitled How to Turn Diversity Into a Major Asset for Your Organization. Download the full ebook here. Opinion is a lot harder than diversity of time, tenure or industry to monitor and measure — it’s actually really difficult — but it’s...

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Enabling Diversity of Experience in the Organization

This is an excerpt from our recent ebook collaboration with BambooHR entitled How to Turn Diversity Into a Major Asset for Your Organization. Download the full ebook here. We’ve previously covered the idea that by leveraging diversity within the makeup of our organizations, we create systems that are more resilient — systems...

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What ‘Diversity’ Really Means and Why It Matters for Your Organization

This is an excerpt from our recent ebook collaboration with BambooHR entitled How to Turn Diversity Into a Major Asset for Your Organization. Download the full ebook here. Most of us suffer from functional fixedness — “the inability to realize that something known to have a particular use may also be used...

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How Managers Should Respond to ‘I Found a Salary Report Online’

This is an excerpt from our recent ebook collaboration with BambooHR entitled Everything You Need to Know About Communicating Pay. Download the full ebook here. An employee brings a salary report to their manager and says, “According to this, I should be making $10K more.” How to proceed? A few things to...

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How Managers Should Respond to ‘I Found a Salary Report Online’

This is an excerpt from our recent ebook collaboration with BambooHR entitled Everything You Need to Know About Communicating Pay. Download the full ebook here. An employee brings a salary report to their manager and says, “According to this, I should be making $10K more.” How to proceed? A few things to...

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How Employee Pay is Perceived and Why Perception Matters

This is an excerpt from our recent ebook collaboration with BambooHR entitled Everything You Need to Know About Communicating Pay. Download the full ebook here. It’s only when we see pay in the context of the emotional landscape of an employee that we’re able to frame the compensation conversation in a way...

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How to Communicate Compensation Plans to Differing Generations

This is an excerpt from our recent ebook collaboration with BambooHR entitled Everything You Need to Know About Communicating Pay. Download the full ebook here. Workforce demographics are changing, and preferred communication styles vary considerably among different employee groups. One helpful demographic to consider when crafting your compensation communication plans is generation....

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Communicating Compensation: Who Should Say What When

This is an excerpt from our recent ebook collaboration with BambooHR entitled Everything You Need to Know About Communicating Pay. Download the full ebook here. Responsibilities and Timing Everyone in the organization has a role in the compensation conversation, but the timing is different for each job function. HR’s role is to...

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Human Resources Pros: How Not to Get WalMarted out of a Job

A top news headline this week that retail giant Walmart plans to cut hundreds of jobs before the end of January–many in HR–may well have human resources professionals thinking, “Well, ‘Happy New Year’ to you too.” The fact that the retail giant also just signed on with Workday, an HR automation system,...

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Mission Transparency: Greater Sense of Job Meaning Reduces Turnover

A sense of meaning in the workplace may just be employers’ secret weapon in the war for talent. A new PayScale study asked employees if their workplace made the world a better place, those workers who responded “yes” had the highest median pay of all survey respondents, at $50,600, followed by those who...

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PayScale Gender Wage Study Extracts Unexpected Industry Disparity

First, a riddle: what’s lower, wages for women in the oil and gas industry, or the industry’s overall profitability? Answer: they’re both rock bottom low. Indeed, despite all the buzz around sexism in Silicon valley, new PayScale research shows that it is actually the Oil & Gas industry where the largest gender...

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The Millennial Who Brought Her Cat to an Interview, and other #Compference16 Insights

We are fresh off our first-ever PayScale User Compference, and it was an absolute blast. As a Content Director, I love what I do, but I spend more time contemplating WordPress plugins and less interacting with customers. I always love when I get the chance to slink out from behind my computer...

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Compensation Round-Up: Fitbits, Chobani, and the Comp Chasm

Jade Makana, Director of Content Marketing, B2BWelcome to the Compensation Roundup, where we bring to you the hottest news in comp! Sample what’s happening in compensation right now, get in the know and grab some conversation starters. This week's topics: A Boom in Benefits, Chobani’s Cup Runneth over, and the Comp Chasm....

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PayScale and MarketPay Team Up

PayScaleExciting News! PayScale announced it will merge with MarketPay!MarketPay, based in Denver, has a unique and powerful suite of applications that offer technology-enabled services for managing multiple sources of compensation survey data to price talent markets. PayScale will incorporate MarketPay’s advanced data management and market pricing applications for large organizations into its...

Fresh News! The PayScale Content Center has been revamped.

Jade Makana, Director of Content Marketing, B2BHi readers,You may have noticed something a little different the last time you visited the content section of the PayScale website. I am excited to announce we have rolled out a brand new version of our content center, known as the Modern Compensation Hub. Go check...

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It’s Here! PayScale’s Newest Infographic Reveals the Truth about Employee Engagement

PayScaleFrom sticks and carrots, to gift cards, to extravagant perks and unlimited PTO—the face of employee engagement is ever-changing. A happy employee is likely to stay—and you’ll pull out all the stops to avoid turnover. Throw in all the fancy perks you want—lunchtime yoga, company chef, clothing fund, you name it—but, if...

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It’s Here! PayScale’s Newest Infographic Reveals the Truth about Employee Engagement

PayScaleFrom sticks and carrots, to gift cards, to extravagant perks and unlimited PTO—the face of employee engagement is ever-changing. A happy employee is likely to stay—and you’ll pull out all the stops to avoid turnover. Throw in all the fancy perks you want—lunchtime yoga, company chef, clothing fund, you name it—but, if...

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Myth Buster: Talking About Pay Could Incite an Employee Riot

PayScaleIf you aren’t talking with employees about pay, chances are they are talking to one another—creating their own story of your compensation philosophy. Not a good thing. PayScale surveyed more than 71,000 employees to study the relationship between pay and transparency.

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Myth Buster: Talking About Pay Could Incite an Employee Riot

PayScaleIf you aren’t talking with employees about pay, chances are they are talking to one another—creating their own story of your compensation philosophy. Not a good thing. PayScale surveyed more than 71,000 employees to study the relationship between pay and transparency.

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Myth Buster: People Don’t Leave Their Jobs Because of Pay

PayScaleBusted! In 2015, the number one reason most people left companies was compensation. The majority of respondents to the PayScale Compensation Best Practices Report cited “seeking higher pay elsewhere” as the primary reason for leaving a company. Moral of the story? Money CAN buy you love.

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Myth Buster: People Don’t Leave Their Jobs Because of Pay

PayScaleBusted! In 2015, the number one reason most people left companies was compensation. The majority of respondents to the PayScale Compensation Best Practices Report cited “seeking higher pay elsewhere” as the primary reason for leaving a company. Moral of the story? Money CAN buy you love.

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Myth Buster: The Truth About the Gender Wage Gap

PayScaleMyth debunked! While a pay gap does exist, it is smaller than most people think. For women and men in identical roles, the pay gap is 2.7%. This myth originates from the fact that when all women’s jobs are compared to all men’s jobs, the pay gap widens to 74 cents on...

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Top 5 Insights from Last Year’s CBPR (plus take the new survey!)

Jade Makana, Director of Content Marketing, B2BFor those who don’t know, every year PayScale produces the Compensation Best Practices Report. This report is based on a survey administered to 100,000 human resources professionals and business executives, asking them their point of view on the biggest topics in human resources and compensation: everything...

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Top 5 Insights from Last Year’s CBPR (plus take the new survey!)

Jade Makana, Director of Content Marketing, B2BFor those who don’t know, every year PayScale produces the Compensation Best Practices Report. This report is based on a survey administered to 100,000 human resources professionals and business executives, asking them their point of view on the biggest topics in human resources and compensation: everything...

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It’s 2016. Why is the C-Suite Still Stiletto Siberia?

Jade Makana, Director of Content Marketing, B2BProbably, you’ve heard that women make 26% less pay compared to men. What you may not know is that this is largely because men hold the vast majority of high-paying positions (executive and C-Suite), not because women make 26% less than men for the same work....

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Why Millennials Need Tough Love Like Mother’s Milk

Jade Makana, Director of Content Marketing, B2BHow to Motivate the Generation That Already Has Every Participation TrophySo you’ve hired some millennials. You’ve managed to lure them off their air b’n’b couch, away from their artisan oatmeal food truck visions, and into an uber to come work for you. Good for you. But...

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HR Video: Comp Strategies for High Growth Companies

Got comp? Check out the latest video in PayScale’s new series, Ask a Comp Pro! This new educational video series answers all your most burning compensation questions, for newbies and seasoned veterans alike. Today’s topic: tips to developing a compensation strategy in high growth companies.

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New Whitepaper: 7 Reasons You’re Not Too Small for Compensation Software

What’s business-critical, valued by your employees, and likely one of the biggest line items on your budget? That’s right, compensation! You’ve implemented software for other parts of your business, so why ignore comp?

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New Whitepaper: 7 Reasons You’re Not Too Small for Compensation Software

What’s business-critical, valued by your employees, and likely one of the biggest line items on your budget? That’s right, compensation! You’ve implemented software for other parts of your business, so why ignore comp?

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HR Video: Minimum Wage Woes

Got comp? Check out the latest video in PayScale’s new series, Ask a Comp Pro! This new educational video series answers all your most burning compensation questions, for newbies and seasoned veterans alike. Today’s topic: Tips to easing your minimum wage woes. Watch now!

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HR Video: The Great Salary Transparency Debate

Got comp? Check out the latest video in PayScale’s new series, Ask a Comp Pro! This new educational video series answers all your most burning compensation questions, for newbies and seasoned veterans alike. Today’s topic: Winning the battle for pay transparency in the workplace. Watch now!

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HR Video: How to Gain a Seat at the Executive Table

R.E.S.P.E.C.T. Check out the latest video in PayScale’s new series, Ask a Comp Pro! This new educational video series answers all your most burning compensation questions, for newbies and seasoned veterans alike.  Today’s topic: Getting that all-important seat at the executive table.  Watch now!

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HR Video: Building a Pay Grade Structure

Got comp? Check out the latest video in PayScale’s new series, Ask a Comp Pro! This new educational video series answers all your most burning compensation questions, for newbies and seasoned veterans alike.  Today’s topic: Building a pay grade structure – even if you’ve never done this before! Watch now!

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Your greatest asset, eh? Turning a buzz phrase into an actual business practice

Crystal Spraggins, SPHRWorkers have been challenging employers for a while now to make good on their claim that “employees are our greatest assets.”  Because, let’s face it—some employers haven’t exactly been walking the walk.

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Gender pay discrimination: The $14.3 million cost of a shattered shame ceiling

Jade Makana, Director of Content Marketing, B2BCharlize Theron got another $10 million. Lily Ledbetter got $3.3 million. And even Ellen Pao, who lost her gender discrimination case, still cost Kleiner Perkins a cool $1 million. (It remains to be seen if she’ll have to pay it back.) When it comes to...

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PayScale Index shows wilting wages for STEM jobs

Jade Makana, Director of Content Marketing B2BIs the bloom off the STEM rose? According to the new PayScale Index, wages for previously hot performing STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) jobs grew just 1.0% annually, experiencing the lowest wage growth in any category. In fact, wages for STEM jobs have been relatively stagnant...

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Your employees are probably looking for a better deal…will they find it?

Crystal Spraggins, SPHRToday we’re releasing the much anticipated 2015 Compensation Best Practices Report.Based on data from more than 5,500 business leaders, the report reveals attitudes about compensation, hiring, and retention as the economy continues to recover from the recession. This latest research report shows that while most companies plan to grow in...

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How to develop great employees in six easy steps

the majority of workers feel more motivated when their boss shows appreciation for their workEmployee development is important, but unfortunately it is also often overlooked in the grand scheme of things. Day to day work life is hectic, but failure to actively develop employees can end up costing you top talent in...

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What kind of purple squirrel are you?

We're headed to the 2014 SHRM conference in Orlando and offering visitors to our booth a chance to take a quick quiz to find out what kind of purple squirrel they really are. If you're not going to SHRM, no worries, you can do the quiz right here!

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The Top 5 Paid Blue Collar Jobs in America

Tess C.Taylor, PHR Many people are looking for a way out of their white collar careers that are stressing then out or not giving them the satisfaction they expected. A Brookings Institution study released this week indicates that (science, technology, engineering, and math), so called STEM skills, are rapidly increasing in demand...

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Advance Your HR Career and Get a Chance to Win an Extra Paycheck!

We spend a lot of time in the Compensation Today blog talking about attracting, motivating, rewarding and retaining employees, but what about your own career? Have you thought about what you'd like to change to keep yourself on track with your career goals? Maybe you want to earn more money or finally...

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10 Questions to Ask When Choosing a Payroll Service Provider

As a small or startup business professional, payroll might seem like the last logistic you’d like to figure out. Your first crucial human resources investment should be in tools to get compensation right, but after that it makes sense to take a look at automating other HR processes, such as payroll. Learning how...

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The Q4 2012 PayScale Index Shows Continued Wage Growth

Even with the uncertainty brought about by the federal government’s budgetary issues, Q4 2012 proved to be yet another strong quarter for wage growth. Wages for most cities, industries, job categories and company sizes tracked by The PayScale Index are the highest they’ve been since 2006 and every measure of The PayScale...

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So, I Benchmarked My Cat

Mykkah Herner, MA, CCP, Compensation Consultant at PayScale.com Benchmarking is Serious Business The job of benchmarking positions is very serious business. I always want to make sure I get the best and most relevant information about every position in a client’s organization so I can make sure I’m making an apples-to-apples comparison with positions in the market. Such is my...

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Ignorance is bliss, but knowledge is power

By Mykkah Herner, MA, CCP, Compensation Consultant at PayScale.com Think ignorance is bliss? You’ve heard some rumbling here and there, but no one has come out and said anything. That means you don’t have a compensation issue. Right? Well, maybe, but do you really want to chance losing your top performers? We’ve heard this from a number of...

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“We’re too small for a comp plan.” Wrong answer!

Mykkah Herner, MA, CCPCompensation Consultant at PayScale I’ve worked with organizations of various employee sizes, from as small as 19 up into the thousands, helping them to develop stellar compensation plans. I really enjoy working with companies that have between 75 and 125 employees. Generally, by that point, there is some acknowledgment that what they are currently...

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Too Hot To Handle? What to do about salary range busters.

The business case for pay grades over individual ranges is clear. Switching to pay grades reduces administrative burden, facilitates internal alignment and makes it easier to set salaries for jobs that lack market benchmarks. PayScale's new eBook “Bring Back the Sizzle: PayScale’s Guide to Comp Plans That Get Workers Fired Up (in a good way),” clearly lays...

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CFO Corner: Yahoo Shows the Way On HR Leadership

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer recently brought in Jacqueline Reses as a new EVP. A veteran of private equity firms, high tech and Goldman Sachs, Reses is as high-powered an executive as you can find. What does Yahoo plan to do with their new rock star? She will focus her energies on leading human resources and talent management. Since...

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Bring Back the Sizzle!

The marketing team at PayScale today released “Bring Back the Sizzle: PayScale’s Guide to Comp Plans That Get Workers Fired Up (in a good way).” This educational and fun eBook is a great way for HR professionals to learn how to cook up a compensation plan from scratch. Getting compensation right is...

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Calculating Employee Turnover

Employee Turnover Rates Employee turnover is driven by many factors including inadequate compensation, lack of employee engagement, poor job fit, etc. Whatever the cause, you can easily calculate your company's rate of turnover. This is a critical benchmark that can help you understand your relationship with your competition and with your employees. You should continually monitor this rate so...

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8 Hot New Jobs

In this economy, pricing jobs according to market data is crucial to attracting and retaining talent, and these hot new jobs, identified by PayScale, prove the truth of that. If you were pricing these new and highly specialized jobs according to general economic trends, you would most definitely lose the war on this talent pool. These hot...

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Got A Raise Budget Burning A Hole In Your Pocket?

Spend It Wisely Raises are back and in a big way. After years of stagnant salary growth, The PayScale Index shows that wages are growing across the economy. If you haven't already started discussing whether or not to offer raises yourself, we're going to make it easy for you.   Here are three potential approaches you can take...

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Do Your Employees Trust You?

Trust Makes the World Go Round What's the secret sauce in the recipe for business success? It's trust, according to recent research from Interaction Associates and the Human Captial Institute. The research found that companies with collaborative cultures and trust in management tend to see higher profit growth than those that do not. The bad news for corporate...

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What Makes High Tech Employees Smile?

When it comes to compensation, it's tough to beat the high tech industry, but the industry doesn't manage their human capital with salary alone. As new research by PayScale reveals, attracting and retaining technology staff takes more than just cutting the biggest check. It requires finding the right mix of pay, benefits, culture and environment that...

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How Fast Are Salaries Growing in Your City?

Creating the right compensation plan depends on having current data. One of the key pieces of the compensation puzzle is the rate of wage growth in the local metropolitan area. The most recent release of The PayScale Index shows the rate at which wages grew from Q2 2011 to Q2 2012. The results show considerable variance among the...

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HR Career Advancement: MBA, Certification, or Neither?

What's the Best Choice? It Depends. Should an HR professional seeking to gain a higher salary invest time and money into earning an MBA, a Professional in Human Resources (PHR) or Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) certification, or just working hard on the job? According to new research by PayScale, the answer...

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Non-profits: Find Safe Harbor in the Talent Wars

Be Smart about Compensation With Good Data We're the experts in compensation data, so it's no surprise that we field compensation questions from private corporations all day long. What's new is that more and more non-profit organizations are coming to us make sure they find safe harbor in their executive compensation decisions. They...

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CFO Corner: Retaining Top Performers

You Can't Hit Your Numbers Without Your Top Performers Note: This is the first of a series of posts geared towards CFOs, finance and how HR can work effectively with Finance. Retaining talent is one of the most important tasks for C-level executives today. Losing top performing employees can severely weaken a business, and...

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2012 Trends in Pay – U.S. Salary Growth

Drill Down Deeper If you are creating compensation plans in the coming months, make sure you use the right data, advises Katie Bardaro, PayScale's lead economist. Looking at the wider economy, you hear news of sluggish hiring and persistent unemployment. If you just used that information, you could assume that the competition for...

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Employee Promotions. Performance or Relationships?

Many Employees Are Discouraged A recent research study shows employees believe that promotion is more a matter of personal connection than a reward for performance. The study found that 44 percent of respondents believe that relationships drive promotion. Only 39 percent cited performance as the most significant factor for career advancement.

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Best and Worst Jobs for Wage Growth [infographic]

Transportation and IT Climb Fastest In Q2 Doing any hiring in the coming weeks or months? Making salary decisions will be easier if you have up to the minute information on the trajectory of wage growth in your industry. As we reported last week in "Wages Are Up...Everywhere," the Q2 2012 results from...

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Best and Worst Cities for Wage Growth [infographic]

Can you guess whether Seattle or San Francisco has had the best wage growth over the last six years? Or, how much Detroit's recent economic gains have improved wage levels there? PayScale's Q2 2012 results for The PayScale Index reveal the best and worst cities for wage growth since 2006.

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Wages Are Up… Everywhere

We've witnessed the struggles, the ups and the downs, as wages from various industries and job families have tried to recover from the recession. Employers have wondered if it is time to hand out raises and how big to make them. Well, the signs of struggle have been decreasing in the last...

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Bringing Finance and HR Together

How to Better Connect Finance and HR Finance and HR now have a powerful, data-rich tool with which  to cooperatively manage compensation strategy and its impact on the business. PayScale's Insight product team recently released an executive summary reporting tool that succinctly provides the information finance and HR leaders need to ensure that...

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A PHR or SPHR Certification Means Money

PHR and SPHR Certifications Boost Pay in Nearly All Sectors No matter where you live or where you work, earning a PHR or SPHR certification means a higher average salary. That’s among the findings of the research behind PayScale’s new report “Worth It? The Value of the PHR and SPHR.” PayScale analysts looked...

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Infographic: The Impact of a PHR or SPHR on Careers

Shifting HR Careers into Overdrive In competitive job categories like HR, careers can often feel like they are stuck in the slow lane. The new PayScale report "Worth it? The Value of the PHR and SPHR" reveals that attaining a PHR or SPHR certification is a powerful way to break out and accelerate...

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The PayCheck Fairness Act Is the Wrong Fix

Confessions of a Feminist on the Paycheck Fairness Act It’s with a heavy heart that I realize that it is ok with me that the Paycheck Fairness Act didn’t pass the Senate. While I value equal pay, my beliefs about what needs to happen in order for that outcome to be achieved have...

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Three Cool Tech Jobs That Didn’t Exist 15 Years Ago

The New Jobs Employees Want When we were kids, our teachers told us that the jobs we'd have as adults didn't even exist yet. We of course they assumed they were referring to "Astronaut Princess" or "Professional Pony Namer." Unfortunately, those jobs haven't materialized. But some of the ones ...

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Keeping Hold of The Top Employees Is Getting Harder

More Top Performers Plan to Leave A recently released research study from Aflac reveals that not only are nearly half of employees looking for greener pastures, but that top performers are the ones most likely to be looking. This further reinforces the employer concerns about retention that PayScale identified in the 2012 Compensation...

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Infographic: The Employers That Do and Don’t Like Social Media

Social Media Policies Vary Dramatically Social media is growing like gangbusters and companies are trying to figure out what to do about it. Which industries are leaders and which are laggards? The latest PayScale Infographic, based on data from the 2012 Compensation Best Practices Report names names.

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PTSD: Challenging, But Manageable

It's Easier Than You Might Think A movement has started to inform employers that the dangers and frequency of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are often overstated. According to researcher Dr. Harry Croft, medical director at the San Antonio Psychiatric Research Center, whose views on hiring veterans were covered in an earlier post “The...

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The Right Reason to Hire Veterans

Do Them and Your Business A Favor A former Army psychiatrist thinks companies often hire veterans for the wrong reasons, leading to bad results for both the businesses and the veterans. Dr. Harry Croft, co-author of Always Sit With My Back to The Wall and a former Army psychiatrist who has been working...

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What’s the Difference Between Performance & Proficiency?

Just Rewards For Your Employees Here at PayScale, we often talk about compensation philosophies answering 3 main questions: How do you define your market? How competitive do you want to be relative to the market? What do you want to reward? In working with clients, I find they know the answers to the first two questions within...

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A Way Around the Pay Gap?

Should You Tell Your Applicants About Your Pay Ranges? Being interviewed for a documentary on the gender pay gap inspired one woman to construct legislation designed to eliminate it. Blogger Katie Donovan has proposed the Salary Disclosure to Promote Equality Act with the aim of leveling the playing field for employers and employees...

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Round Nonexempt Hours Correctly

Work-Time Calculations: Rules on Rounding Hours Q&A “Rounding” is generally accepted under the FLSA, but only as long as the rounding practices “average out” and nonexempt employees are paid properly for hours worked. Find out how to implement this practice in your workplace.

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Salaried Employees Work Hours: Laws from FLSA

Exempt Employees and Rules Requiring Specified Hours You probably are aware that exempt employees generally should be paid the same salary regardless of the number of hours they work or the quantity of work they produce. But, can you require them to work a certain schedule and track their hours?

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Rules on Pay After a Resignation

Do Voluntary Resignations Require Advance Notice? When you’re watching your labor costs, it is important to know how to handle an employee resignation, compensation-wise. If you require employees to provide two weeks’ notice of their resignation, you may have to pay them for that full period even if you release them earlier. ...

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Handle Questions About Your Comp Decisions

Are You Ready to Explain Each Employee’s Pay? How well can you explain your compensation plan to your employees? What if you were asked detailed questions by a valued employee about their pay? Would you be ready to respond?

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FLSA Compliance – “11 Main Test” for Independent Contractors

FLSA Series Part 2: Independent Contractor or Employee? This is the second of a series of articles explaining the Fair Labor Standards Act, FLSA, or the Wage and Hour Law. Since the FLSA only applies to employees and not independent contractors, it behooves you to know how to make the distinction. I...

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Holiday Pay for Employees

Answers to 7 Holiday Pay Questions Do you have to provide paid holidays? What about for new employees? And do you have to pay overtime to employees who have to work a holiday? We’re officially heading into the holiday season with Thanksgiving coming up next week and Christmas and the New...

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Employee Retention Tips for Managers

Why Good People Quit and How to Keep Them: Employee Retention Tips for Managers Think about a job that you left where you were a rock star. Now think about one you left where you were simply, purely, competent.Why did you leave in each case?That question is especially important in today’s...