Navigating the Compensation Cosmos

Salary by Location

<h1 class="subhead">Why Geographic Differentials Don’t Work</h1> <p>For years compensation professionals have used geographic differentials to make decisions about what to pay jobs in locations where they may not have salary data. The theory stands that if you don’t have data for one location, you can use data from another location and adjust it based on the cost of labor in the two cities. While this may be a better option than making decisions without any data on salary by location – it’s not much better.</p>

Employee Pay for Multiple Jobs

<h1 class="subhead">Pay for Employees Performing More than One Job Q&amp;A</h1> <p>If you have employees who want to work additional jobs for extra pay, you need to make sure you are paying them properly. Nonexempt employees may be owed overtime, while exempt employees generally can be paid the extra compensation without affecting their exempt status.</p>

Creating a Merit Matrix

<h1 class="subhead">How to Create a Merit Matrix</h1> <p>When is it time for your organization to allot its merit budget, how do you best support the decision makers? Consider creating a merit matrix. A merit matrix is a great tool that can easily summarize and boil down paragraphs of policy into a simple, quick-to-view and quick-to-use visual to produce better decisions.</p>

Pay Incentive Programs

<h1 class="subhead">Incentive Pay and Cautions for Non-Exempt Employees</h1> <p>Above and beyond base pay is the option of incentive pay. The critical point to make about any plan for a pay incentive program is to watch your messaging. Your communication should focus on the notion that incentive pay is for results above and beyond normal expectations. You want to avoid any one thinking their incentive pay is an entitlement. Look what that thinking has done in the financial industry.</p>

A Crash Course In Key Compensation Metrics

How to Use an Employee Performance Matrix