With the final quarter of 2010 upon us, many organizations are well under way with 2011 budget planning. One of the most important elements of a corporate budget is payroll, often the single largest cost to a company.
Unfortunately, knowledge and data regarding how employees should be paid is not always easy to come by. That’s where I come in. As a compensation consultant for CBIZ, I regularly work with companies to help them understand how much pay is reasonable and competitive for each of their employees as well as assist in creating a systematic approach to compensating employees in a way that doesn’t break the budget.
As is likely the case for you, my office is certainly busy these days. There are the organizations who regularly contact us this time of year regarding next year’s salary increases, executive compensation packages, incentive plan performance measures, etc. Then there are those who are requesting a complete update (or overhaul!) of their compensation system.
For many organizations, an approximate schedule is in place to update their system (we recommend every 3-5 years). However, many organizations delayed significant changes to pay in 2008 and 2009 due to the instability of the economy; as a result, we are seeing much more activity this year as companies make changes to remain competitive as economic signs indicate the worst is over.
The advantage of working with numerous organizations in diverse industries is witnessing how different organizations react to different situations that affect employee pay. The topics I’ll address here in future months will be based on compensation issues that are of particular interest or concern among my clients and comments from you.
In the meantime, I encourage you to take a moment to read CBIZ’s article on compensation trends and projections for 2011:
http://www.cbiz.com/pdfs/2010-2011_Compensation_Update.pdf This annual publication is typically reserved for our clients, but I am providing it here with the intention of giving you a flavor for upcoming topics to be covered as well as insight into recent developments in compensation that should prove helpful during 2011 budget planning.
About the Author
Priya Kapila is a consultant at CBIZ Human Capital Services. Working in CBIZ’s St. Louis office, Kapila handles various elements of compensation plan design for diverse organizations, including structuring executive compensation packages, developing performance-based incentive programs, and designing comprehensive salary systems. For more information on Priya Kapila and CBIZ Human Capital Services, please call (314) 692-2249 or visit http://www.cbiz.com/hr/.