Variable pay types provide performance-based compensation, adding incentives to regular salary. By offering employees the opportunity to earn variable compensation, companies can attract and retain talent while mitigating any potential resentment among teams....
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Browse our articles and tutorials to learn more about SalaryCube and get better at understanding compensation, using market data, compa ratios, and establishing pay equity.
What Does 75th Percentile Mean in Salary
The 75th percentile in salary refers to a salary level at which 75% of the salaries fall below and 25% exceed. If your salary is at the 75th percentile, you earn more than 75% of your peers in the same field. This metric is important for understanding where you stand...
How to Perform Job Analysis: Best Practices and Essential Tools
Looking to understand how to perform job analysis? This guide outlines essential steps to create detailed job descriptions, identify training needs, and ensure role clarity. Follow these steps to optimize your workforce planning and improve organizational performance....
Optimizing Your Short Term Incentive Program: A Practical Guide
A short term incentive program (STIP) rewards employees for meeting short-term business goals. This guide covers the basics of STIPs, their benefits, and practical steps for designing and implementing them in your organization. Article Highlights Short-term incentive...
Mastering the Annual Incentive Plan: Strategies for Success and Growth
An annual incentive plan rewards employees for meeting yearly performance targets. It aligns their efforts with company goals and boosts motivation. This article will explain how to create and manage an effective annual incentive plan. Article Highlights Annual...
Performance Based Pay: Benefits and Drawbacks You Need to Know
Performance-based pay ties employee earnings to individual or team performance goals. This compensation model aims to boost motivation and productivity by rewarding success. For employers, it’s a strategy to drive results; for employees, it’s about maximizing...
Understanding Target Compensation: Definition, Benefits, and Key Factors
Target compensation encompasses all earnings, including base salary and bonuses, that employees can expect if they meet performance goals. It helps employers attract and retain talent while aligning employee efforts with company objectives. This guide delves into the...
How to Age Compensation Data: Expert Tips and Key Strategies
Maintaining competitive salaries requires regularly updating pay data. But how do you age compensation data effectively? In this article, we’ll explain how to age compensation data, providing straightforward steps and key strategies to ensure your salary information...
What is Pay Compression
Pay compression happens when there isn’t much difference in pay between employees of varying experience and skills. This can cause issues like dissatisfaction among experienced staff. We’ll define pay compression, look at its causes, and discuss ways to identify and...
What is Job Grading and Why Does It Matter?
Job grading, or “what is job grading,” is a method used by organizations to evaluate and categorize roles based on their value and complexity. This ensures fair and consistent pay for employees. In this article, we will discuss the key components of what is job...
What are pay structures? (Definition and How To Develop One)
Most companies operate in a specific structure to organize employees’ salaries and streamline their work environment. Salary structure explains what a person can expect at least in their current job. Depending on the company’s plan, financial, operational, and...
Top Sample Compensation Philosophy Examples and How to Craft Yours
Struggling to create a clear organization's compensation philosophy for your organization? In this article, we define what a compensation philosophy is, why it matters, and offer a sample compensation philosophy from companies like Buffer, Basecamp, and Starbucks....
What is a merit increase?
A merit increase is an increase in salary that is given to an employee based on their performance, specifically evaluating the employee's performance. This type of increase is usually given out during annual reviews and is meant to incentivize employees to continue...
Pay Grading: Top 5 Essential Tips
Pay Grading Tips When employees are compensated fairly and competitively, they have an increased motivation to perform well at their job. This also leads to higher job satisfaction. Increased productivity and commitment to their jobs is what every employer wants, and...
New Article! Salary Data: Company Weighted or Employee Weighted
Company Weighted vs Employee Weighted There are two schools of thought regarding salary data statistics. There have always been two schools of thought regarding what “distribution method” is best for creating the statistics used in salary survey data analysis. The two...
What is Annual Salary? Understanding and Calculating Annual Income
An annual salary is your total yearly earnings, including base pay, bonuses, and commissions. It’s essential for budgeting and financial planning. In this article, we’ll explain “what is annual salary”, how to calculate it, and why it matters. Key Takeaways Annual...
The best guide to job evaluation for HR
Achieving pay equality is important for any company. One essential step to get there is through job evaluation. In this post, we'll explain what job evaluation is and go through the four main forms of job evaluation. We'll also provide tips on how to carry out a job...
What is wage and salary administration?
What is salary administration? Wage and salary administration is the process of overseeing and regulating employee salaries. This includes determining how much money paid to employees, issuing paychecks, and ensuring that all regulations regarding payroll are...
Top 5 Advantages of Merit Pay
Merit pay structures have been shown to be beneficial for both company and employee. This means that employees will likely perform better if they're happy with the amount of money being offered, which in turn produces a higher-level production from them as well!...
Understanding Job Levels: An In-depth Overview
In any business organization, there is an inherent need for structure and hierarchy to maintain order, facilitate communication, and define the decision-making process. An integral part of this structure is job levels, which signify an employee's rank or position...
Salary Bands Explained: 6 Steps to Successful Salary Banding
Navigating pay structures can be complex. Understanding salary bands simplifies this by clarifying job roles and compensation ranges. This article focuses on how to apply salary bands to maintain fairness and stay competitive in the market. Learn to implement a salary...
Competitive Pay 101: Definition and Getting Started
Competitive Pay is defined as a compensation and benefits package that compares favorably to those offered by competitors in the same industry and location. Competitive compensation packages are central to attracting and retaining quality professionals. Employers and...
Navigate Compensation: Find the Finest Salary Benchmark Tool for Your Company
How do you ensure your company’s salaries are competitive? A salary benchmark tool is essential for accurate market comparison and informed pay decisions. This article offers a straightforward look at how these tools work, their impact on compensation strategies, and...
Mastering Benchmark Job Analysis: Your Guide to Elevating Compensation Strategies
What is a benchmark job and how does it impact your company’s pay structure? In this comprehensive guide, you’ll learn how these essential roles form the foundation for equitable compensation, guiding employers as they set salaries and job responsibilities. Discover...
LTIP 101 | Unlocking the Benefits of a Long-Term Incentive Plan
Long-term incentive plans (LTIPs) have become an essential part of employee retention and motivation strategies for businesses worldwide. Through various types of LTIPs, such as stock-based, performance-based, and retirement-focused plans, employees are rewarded for...
What is a Job Family? A Comprehensive Guide for HR Professionals
In the ever-evolving landscape of today’s workplace, HR professionals are tasked with the crucial role of organizing and defining various positions within an organization. One of the key tools at their disposal is the concept of a job family. But what is a job family,...
Salary Benchmarking 101: Your Guide to Attract and Retain Top Talent
In today’s competitive job market, attracting and retaining top talent is more crucial than ever. Salary benchmarking can be your secret weapon to ensure that your organization offers competitive salaries that not only bring in the best candidates but also keep your...
What Does Compa Ratio .75 Mean in Compensation?
In today’s competitive job market, ensuring fair compensation and employee satisfaction is crucial for attracting and retaining top talent. One key metric that employers can use to assess pay equity within their organization is the compa ratio. By understanding and...
Understanding FLSA Status & the Fair Labor Standards Act
The exemption status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), a federal law in the United States, is a critical determination that impacts how an employee's pay is structured and whether they are entitled to overtime pay. The FLSA sets standards for minimum wage,...
FLSA Exempt Test: The Ultimate Guide – HR 101
Understanding the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) In the complex landscape of labor laws, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is one of the pivotal statutes. Established to provide a baseline of protections for workers, the FLSA outlines criteria for minimum wage,...
Job Benchmarking Definition
Introduction Employers use job benchmarking as a tool to compare their existing job roles with similar positions in the market. This comparison helps them determine if they are offering competitive salaries and benefits and identify areas of improvement or growth...
Compensation Benchmarking: Best Practices, Tips and Techniques
Compensation Benchmarking Compensation benchmarking, also referred to as salary benchmarking, is an important part of any organization’s talent management strategy. It helps them to understand the competitive landscape and determine appropriate salaries for their...
Your Guide to Salary Survey Companies
Salary surveys, or compensation surveys, are methods used to collect data on employee salaries, wages, and benefits. They can be conducted from a variety of sources: employers, employees, governmental bodies, recruitment firms, and salary survey providers. These...
What is compensation benchmarking?
Introduction Compensation benchmarking is a process of comparing an organization’s pay practices to those of other companies in the same industry. It helps employers determine if they are offering competitive wages and benefits, as well as ensuring that their...
Tell me the purpose of salary surveys?
Tell me the purpose of salary surveys. Salary Survey Meaning Salary surveys, also known as compensation surveys, provide employers and employees with the necessary salary benchmarking data to make informed decisions about salaries, bonuses, and other benefits. The...
The best guide to job classification in 2022
What is job classification in human resources? Definition The job classification system is the process of grouping jobs together based on similarities in the work they require. This can be done based on the job family, job description, duties and responsibilities of...
15 tips for creating highly effective job descriptions
Introduction A well-structured job description is critical and can be used for salary benchmarking, job postings, pay grading, performance reviews, and to help to ensure that both the employer and the employee have a clear understanding of the expectations and...
Salary Benchmarking Guide and Tips – 2023 Version
What is salary benchmarking and why is salary benchmarking important? Salary benchmarking is the process by which compensation professionals match internal positions and their descriptions to similar titles and descriptions in external salary surveys or other sources...
Compensation Data 101 – The Benefits of a Salary Survey
What is a salary survey? A salary survey is used by HR & Compensation professionals to help them establish a fair and competitive salaries and merit increases for the employees within a company. It is not recommended for a company to conduct a salary survey...
Benchmarking without the complexity
Get the best market data for salary benchmarking without the complexities. Customizable cuts of our salary database provide you with the best benchmarking data that aligns with your organization. We've developed a proprietary AI and Machine Learning platform that replaces traditional salary surveys, but offers the same great benefits.