employment : How Companies Compensate Their Employees – Parts 4

  By Shuki Stauber

 

 
Jobs Employment, Career Job, Employment Job

 

At organizations where worker relations are not organized comparative salary surveys are occupying a more central role as the method for determining pay. Companies provide figures on their salary levels and those conducting the survey collect data from a large number of organizations, process the data and present the average salary level in various industries and professions, according to various cross-sections. This provides organizations an indication of typical rates in the job market at a certain point in time and based on this data they implement their salary policy.
For example, an organization that wants to hire top employees and trumpets the value it places on excellence will be prepared to pay high salaries relative to those same professions at other organizations. Another company, with a reputation as a good employer, can get by with average salaries and still be considered an attractive enough employer among jobseekers and among its good employees (who it wants to retain) – because it offers its employees significant added value, e.g. job security or tempting conditions like frequent travel abroad (but not too frequent to avoid fatigue).
The use of salary surveys as a foundation for setting salary levels started in the US. Israeli high-tech companies, which were exposed to salary surveys through their connections with foreign companies, imported them to Israel. Eventually this method made its way to other industries, even traditional manufacturing. These comparative apparatuses are primarily useful at large companies; for small companies with a few dozen workers they are less important, but there are some small companies striving for “orderly” management that use this or similar tools.