Dear All,
Hi. I am working in an Engineering Consultancy firm in Dubai as an HR Assistant. I was given a task of doing a Salary Survey. I have never done one. Just wondering if anyone can help me or give me an idea how I should start this project.
Thanks.
Minel
From United Arab Emirates, Dubai
Hi. I am working in an Engineering Consultancy firm in Dubai as an HR Assistant. I was given a task of doing a Salary Survey. I have never done one. Just wondering if anyone can help me or give me an idea how I should start this project.
Thanks.
Minel
From United Arab Emirates, Dubai
Dear Minel
One of the key objective of a salary survey is for benchmarking purpose - to determine how competitive your company's salary practice against the industry you are in or against the general market in order to make informed salary decision. There are a couple of ways in which you can go about achieving this objective:
Participate in survey conducted by Consulting Firms
Participate in salary survey conducted by established survey providers e.g. Hay, Mercer, Hewitt, etc. This is the best approach because these companies have the resources, experience and tested survey methodology to administer the survey. They may already have a general market database which you can subscribe to and benefit from it. All organization needs to do is to pay a participation fee, go through a job matching/job mapping process, submit the required salary data and soon will receive the required reports and analyses. Average participation fee is about USD3500 to USD5500 per annumn.
Sponsor a "Club" survey
For this approach, your company will engage the services of the above consulting firms and your company will basically pay for the whole study. This is a tailored approach where the sponsor can determine who you want to invite for the survey, what kind of data you want to see, how data should be reported & formatted and when you want to receive the results. However, fees can be quite substantial as it is both scope driven and multiply by no. of invited companies. For credible statistical analysis, a minimum no. of participants is required. In this approach, you are in control and the invited companies will also receive the results at the end of the day for the effort and data contribution. The consulting company will also be the one to conduct telemarketing campaign and site visit to the invited companies to solicit participation, conduct job matching and collect data. Total sponsor fee average USD40,000 or more.
Conducting your own survey
While this is not impossible, it is an uphill task. As salary is highly confidential, your competitors will never submit their data to you for consolidation and analysis? Moreover, you would not have the experience to design the data collection kit, the creation of market job description for the job matching process, how to "clean" data, analyze data.....etc.
With the above information, you may want to clarify with management again so that you know the exact intent of this request. Email me if you need more clarifications.
Regards
Autumn Jane
From Singapore, Singapore
137One of the key objective of a salary survey is for benchmarking purpose - to determine how competitive your company's salary practice against the industry you are in or against the general market in order to make informed salary decision. There are a couple of ways in which you can go about achieving this objective:
Participate in survey conducted by Consulting Firms
Participate in salary survey conducted by established survey providers e.g. Hay, Mercer, Hewitt, etc. This is the best approach because these companies have the resources, experience and tested survey methodology to administer the survey. They may already have a general market database which you can subscribe to and benefit from it. All organization needs to do is to pay a participation fee, go through a job matching/job mapping process, submit the required salary data and soon will receive the required reports and analyses. Average participation fee is about USD3500 to USD5500 per annumn.
Sponsor a "Club" survey
For this approach, your company will engage the services of the above consulting firms and your company will basically pay for the whole study. This is a tailored approach where the sponsor can determine who you want to invite for the survey, what kind of data you want to see, how data should be reported & formatted and when you want to receive the results. However, fees can be quite substantial as it is both scope driven and multiply by no. of invited companies. For credible statistical analysis, a minimum no. of participants is required. In this approach, you are in control and the invited companies will also receive the results at the end of the day for the effort and data contribution. The consulting company will also be the one to conduct telemarketing campaign and site visit to the invited companies to solicit participation, conduct job matching and collect data. Total sponsor fee average USD40,000 or more.
Conducting your own survey
While this is not impossible, it is an uphill task. As salary is highly confidential, your competitors will never submit their data to you for consolidation and analysis? Moreover, you would not have the experience to design the data collection kit, the creation of market job description for the job matching process, how to "clean" data, analyze data.....etc.
With the above information, you may want to clarify with management again so that you know the exact intent of this request. Email me if you need more clarifications.
Regards
Autumn Jane
From Singapore, Singapore
Hey Minel, cute name.
This is a herculean task. What is your HR Manager doing...huh...,I guess this is his/her job....just kidding.
You will get plenty of resource on the internet on this subject. Do visit site www.salary.com
Here i something I had preserved for myself and hope this is helpful.
Produce a Comprehensive Salary Survey
1. Step 1
Limit the number of job descriptions covered in your salary survey to handle high-demand positions. Speak with department heads to figure out hiring needs in the next year before the survey. For example, a private college should address information technology positions ahead of faculty positions due to higher turnover.
2. Step 2
Write a survey questionnaire that will be distributed to temp agencies and local businesses familiar with your industry. Your survey should request information on job responsibilities, education levels and salary ranges for each position.
3. Step 3
Generate a list of temp agencies, businesses and industry groups within your region to participate in your salary survey. Your list should contain fax and phone numbers as well as an email address for each company's HR contact.
4. Step 4
Assign sales and HR staff to conduct initial interviews with contacts on your call list. Each interview should request information on the company's size, scope of operations, location and availability to handle the written questionnaire. The goal of these interviews is to find businesses of comparable size to create a level playing field for your survey.
5. Step 5
Edit your salary survey questionnaire before creating a Portable Document Format (PDF) for delivery to survey participants. A draft of the questionnaire should be sent to technical writers, advertising and others outside of your survey working group. In addition to grammatical and spelling errors, your editors should look for questions that are redundant or poorly worded.
6. Step 6
Run through your list of survey participants after receiving questionnaires to ask followup questions. Your followups will largely focus on clearing up job responsibilities cited by participants to ensure symmetry between your positions and their positions.
7. Step 7
Calculate salary averages from your collected questionnaires as you prepare your survey report. Your salary survey should break down numbers into median and mean averages along with annual salaries from each survey participant.
8. Step 8
Compile job description, education and other information into individual capsules as the second part of your salary survey. Start your review of individual capsules with an overview of each position covered in the survey as well as pertinent information on these positions in your business.
9. Step 9
Deliver your salary survey to company executives and department heads to determine if action should be taken. Your company's budget for the next year will need to be adjusted to reflect higher or lower salaries and benefits. If your salary survey is actionable, you will need to adjust job offer forms and ongoing recruitment materials to reflect these changes.
Note that placement agencies and Job portals are good resource on salary survery and data gathering.
Tips & Warnings
Establish a firm timetable for delivery of your salary questionnaires from survey participants. Your salary survey should be completed before the end of the fiscal year or before a large recruitment drive where accurate salaries are necessary. This timetable must reflect the number of questions and positions addressed by the participants.Create a salary survey every year to save money on salaries, insurance and other compensation. Some businesses conduct their surveys every two to five years without considering the money lost to overpaying entry- and mid-level professionals.
All the very Best
Regards,
Ukmitra
From Saudi Arabia, Riyadh
This is a herculean task. What is your HR Manager doing...huh...,I guess this is his/her job....just kidding.
You will get plenty of resource on the internet on this subject. Do visit site www.salary.com
Here i something I had preserved for myself and hope this is helpful.
Produce a Comprehensive Salary Survey
1. Step 1
Limit the number of job descriptions covered in your salary survey to handle high-demand positions. Speak with department heads to figure out hiring needs in the next year before the survey. For example, a private college should address information technology positions ahead of faculty positions due to higher turnover.
2. Step 2
Write a survey questionnaire that will be distributed to temp agencies and local businesses familiar with your industry. Your survey should request information on job responsibilities, education levels and salary ranges for each position.
3. Step 3
Generate a list of temp agencies, businesses and industry groups within your region to participate in your salary survey. Your list should contain fax and phone numbers as well as an email address for each company's HR contact.
4. Step 4
Assign sales and HR staff to conduct initial interviews with contacts on your call list. Each interview should request information on the company's size, scope of operations, location and availability to handle the written questionnaire. The goal of these interviews is to find businesses of comparable size to create a level playing field for your survey.
5. Step 5
Edit your salary survey questionnaire before creating a Portable Document Format (PDF) for delivery to survey participants. A draft of the questionnaire should be sent to technical writers, advertising and others outside of your survey working group. In addition to grammatical and spelling errors, your editors should look for questions that are redundant or poorly worded.
6. Step 6
Run through your list of survey participants after receiving questionnaires to ask followup questions. Your followups will largely focus on clearing up job responsibilities cited by participants to ensure symmetry between your positions and their positions.
7. Step 7
Calculate salary averages from your collected questionnaires as you prepare your survey report. Your salary survey should break down numbers into median and mean averages along with annual salaries from each survey participant.
8. Step 8
Compile job description, education and other information into individual capsules as the second part of your salary survey. Start your review of individual capsules with an overview of each position covered in the survey as well as pertinent information on these positions in your business.
9. Step 9
Deliver your salary survey to company executives and department heads to determine if action should be taken. Your company's budget for the next year will need to be adjusted to reflect higher or lower salaries and benefits. If your salary survey is actionable, you will need to adjust job offer forms and ongoing recruitment materials to reflect these changes.
Note that placement agencies and Job portals are good resource on salary survery and data gathering.
Tips & Warnings
Establish a firm timetable for delivery of your salary questionnaires from survey participants. Your salary survey should be completed before the end of the fiscal year or before a large recruitment drive where accurate salaries are necessary. This timetable must reflect the number of questions and positions addressed by the participants.Create a salary survey every year to save money on salaries, insurance and other compensation. Some businesses conduct their surveys every two to five years without considering the money lost to overpaying entry- and mid-level professionals.
All the very Best
Regards,
Ukmitra
From Saudi Arabia, Riyadh
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Salary-Note.doc
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