薪酬最大的秘密在哪里.docx

薪酬最大的秘密在哪里.docx

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薪酬最大的秘密在哪里

河北科技师范学院

本科毕业论文（设计）外文翻译

薪资：

最大的秘密在哪里?

院（系、部）名称：

商务管理系

专业名称：

人力资源管理专业

学生姓名：

学生学号：

指导教师：

2012年03月14日

河北科技师范学院教务处制

Compensation：

What’stheBigSecret

Abstract

No,youshouldn'tbebroadcastingyouremployees'salaries.Butanewsurveysuggeststhatcompaniesneedtoarticulatehowpaysystemsworkandhowindividualcompensationpackagesaredetermined.Thepayoffforyou?

Moreemployeessatisfiedwiththeircompensation.

Keywords:

compensation,communication,satisfaction,

Overandover,we'retoldofthevalueintoday'sworkplaceofopencommunication,oftransparency.Yetthere'ssomethingcriticalthat,inmostorganizations,remainstop-secret.Andthat'scompensation—specifically,whatsalariesareandhowtheyaredetermined.

It'sineverybody'sthoughts,yetrarelyontheirlips

"It'sperceivedtobetheunmentionable.We'rethemostopensocietyintheworldexceptforthisonetopic,"saysPeterLeBlanc,seniorvicepresidentofSibsonConsulting/TheSegalCompany（NewYorkCity）."Companiesaren'tbringingupthetopicofpay,andpeoplearen'tseekinganswers,becauseit'sverboten."

ButanewstudycoauthoredbyLeBlancshowsthatmoreandbettercommunicationaboutcompensationcanboostemployees'satisfactionwiththeirpay,leadingtostrongercommitmenttotheorganization,enhancedtrustinmanagement,andotherbenefits.Anditdoesn'tcostmuchtogetthesepayoffs.

TheKnowledgeofPaystudy,sponsoredbythehumanresourcesprofessionalassociationWorldatWork,inScottsdale,Arizona,surveyedmorethan6,000managersandemployeesfromtwenty-sixorganizationsintheUnitedStatesandCanada.Thestudydoesnotsuggestthatcompaniesrevealindividuals'salaries.Butitistellingpeopletotalkabouthowpaysystemsworkandhowindividualcompensationpackagesaredetermined.

"Wefoundatallincomelevelsthatthemoreknowledgeourstudyparticipantshaveabouttheirpaysystem,themorelikelytheyaretobesatisfiedwiththeirpayandengagedatwork,"LeBlancsays."That'sprettypowerful."

Knowingmoreaboutcompensationnotonlymademoreemployeessatisfiedwiththeirpay,italsofosteredworkengagement—forinstance,itimprovedretention,employees'commitmenttothecompany,andtheirwillingnesstoreferfriendsandfamilytotheorganization.Thiscouldprovetobeabrightnoteintoday'seconomicclimate:

Itisusuallylessexpensivetoimproveandcommunicateacompensationstructurethantoincreaseactualpay.

It'sbasepaythatmatters

Thestudyfindsthatbasepaymattersthemostwhenitcomestocommunicatingpayinformation.Inatimeofincreasinglycomplexpaypackages,thismightdisappointthemanycompaniesthatarecommittingtimeanddollarstobonusplans,short-termincentives,stockoptionprograms,andthelike.Nevertheless,thesurveyfindsthatsatisfactionwithbasepaytranslatesmorestronglyintoworkengagementthansatisfactionwithvariablepayprograms.

Thus,organizationsintentondoingabetterjobofcommunicatingaboutcompensationwoulddowelltogivethemostattentiontobasepay.

Whydoorganizationsguardpayinformationsojealously,andwhy—astheKnowledgeofPaystudyfinds—doemployeessoseldomaskformoreinformation?

Largelyforthesamereasonpeopledon'trevealtheirsalariestooneanotheratcocktailparties.Severalhumanresourcesandcompensationexpertsinterviewedbelievethesalaryopaquenessthattendstoprevailinworkplacesisduetoalong-standingculturalnormthathasmadepayataboosubject.Otherfactorsincludetheoldnotionthatemployeepayistheprerogativeoftopmanagement;aworrythatthemoreworkersknowaboutpaysystems,themorethey'llfindtocomplainabout;andmanagement'sdesiretoretainasmuchflexibilityandsubjectivityaspossibleindeterminingpay.

SusanZelinski-Davis,CCP,managerofemployeeperformanceandrewardsattheinsuranceandfinancialservicescompanyNationwide（Columbus,Ohio）believescompanieswithsoundcompensationprogramshavenothingtogainbyhidingthem."Organizationsshouldexaminetheirpaysystemsandensuretheyarewelldesigned,whichallowsthemtobeopenincommunicatingaboutthem,"shesays."Aslongasyouhavesoundsystemsandguidelines,evenifthereremainssomemanagementdiscretion—andIdon'tthinkyoucancompletelyremovethat—thenyoushouldbeabletoopenlydiscusspay."

Perhapssurprisingly,managerssurveyedfortheKnowledgeofPaystudyreportthatemployeesaskaboutpayrelativelyinfrequently.Forexample,just17percentofmanagerssaidtheyarefrequentlyapproachedbyemployeeswithquestionsabouttheirjobgrades,andonly15percentarefrequentlyaskedabouttheconsistencyofpaypractices.Bycontrast,40percentareaskedfrequentlyaboutperformanceissues.

Butthestudyauthorsarequicktodiscountalackofinterestasthereasonfortherelativedearthofquestionsaboutpay.Morelikely,theysay,istheperceptionthatsuchquestionsareunlikelytoyieldhonestanswersand,worseyet,couldbringretribution.

Andinsomecases,employeesmightbesoconfusedaboutpaysystemsthattheydon'tevenknowwhattoask.

Thecostofsilence

Withpay,aswithanyothersubject,whenthereisaninformationvacuum,misinformationusuallyseepsintofillit—andthismisinformationisoftenmoredamagingthanthetruth.MartinCormican,managerofcompensationandbenefitsatSwarthmoreCollege,notesthatemployees,eveninhighlysecretiveorganizations,areboundtohearrumorsabouthowmanagementsetspayandhowcompensationcompareswiththatinother（presumablymoregenerous）organizations—evenhowmuchso-and-sointheofficenextdoorgotinherlastraise."Peopletakethisinformationandinternalizeit,whetherit'svalidornot,"hesays."Thatmakesitmorecriticalthaneverfororganizationstocommunicatetheirpayphilosophyandstrategy."

Humanresourcesprofessionalsbelieve—andthenewsurveyconfirms—thatemployeesareparticularlykeenonknowingthey'rebeingpaidfairlyrelativetotheirpeersinsidetheorganization.Giventhepotentialforthespreadofmisinformationandthedamagetomoralethatcanfollow,tight-lippedleadersshouldaskthemselveswhethertheyaretrulywellservedbymaintainingsilenceonpaystructuresandhowvariousjobsfitintothem.

Evenifemployeesaren'taskingmanagersforpayinformation,thestudydemonstratesthatorganizationsarewisetogiveit."Youcanhaveagreatcompensationprogram,butifyoudon'ttellemployeeshowitworks,you'renotgettingthebiggestbangforyourbuck,"saysKaySandvik-Schmitke,managerofsurveysandresearchforWorldatWork.

Thenewstudyfindsthatmanagersfeelsignificantlylessconfidentcommunicatingcompensationinformationthantheydodiscussingandassessingperformance.Whereasmorethan80percentofmanagerssurveyedareeither"veryconfident"or"completelyconfident"intheirabilitytogiveperformancefeedbackandexplainperformanceobjectives,onlyabout40percentreportthesameconfidenceinansweringemployeequestionsaboutjobgrades,howtomovetowardthemaximumpayinarange,andconsistencyofpaypracticesinthecompany.

Theconversationcanbeparticularlydifficultwhenmanagersmustexplainabelow-parraisetoareport.Toavoidsuchaconversation,Zelinski-Davisnotes,managersaretemptedtogiveproportionallyequalraisestoeveryone."Manymanagerstendtospreadthedollarslikepeanutbutterratherthanallocatingmoredollarstohigher-performingindividualsandhavingtofacethechallengesofcommunicatingproportionallysmallerraisestoaverageorbelow-averageperformers,"shesays.Whilethisapproachavoidsasensitiveconversation,itrobsmanagementofoneofitsmostpowerfulmotivationaltools,anditmakeslessthanoptimaluseofthecompany'sfinitecompensationdollars.

Communicatingaboutcompensation

Oncetheymakethecommitmenttoopennessaboutpay,companiescancommunicateeffectivelybyfollowingseveralkeysteps,accordingtothestudyauthorsandseveralhumanresourcesexpertsinterviewed.

Organizationstypicallyrelyonmasscommunications—manuals,handbooks,largestaffmeetings,etc.—toinformemployeesaboutpay.ButtheKnowledgeofPaystudysuggeststhatmostpeoplefindsuchvehiclesineffective.Moreusefularepersonalandinteractiveapproaches,oftenbestperformedbyanemployee'smanagerone-on-one.

Thestudyalsosuggeststhatcompaniescancommunicatepayinformationeffectivelythroughinteractive,individualizede-learningcoursesconductedonintranets.Thatdoesn'tmeanit'senoughtosendone-size-fits-allmemosoutviae-mail."Inourelectronicenvironment,everythingiseasilypushedtoeveryone,"saysBruceLawson,partnerandpresidentofthehumanresourcesconsultingfirmFoxLawsonandAssociates（Roseville,Minnesota）.Butwithpayinformation,itreallydoesn'twork."Whenitcomestocommunicatingpayinformation,"hesays,"peoplereallylikepersonalcontact."

Answeringquestionsisn'tenough,expertssay.Managersshouldinitiatetheconversation,bothinformalmeetingsandthroughinformalcontacts.

Ofcourse,formanagerstoservewellastheprincipalvehiclesforcommunicatingaroundcompensation,theyneedtobebettertrainedfortheassignmentthantheyarenow.First,theythemselvesmustlearnhowthepaysystemworks.Then,managersneedtolearntotranslatetheinformationfortheirstaffs—touselanguageappropriatetothelayaudienceandtoapplytheconceptstoanindividual'ssituation"ontheground."

Makeitrelevant

Managerscanmakepaycommunicationsmosteffectivebyfocusingonaspectsofthecompensationplanrelevanttotheparticularemployee.Forexample,"acompanycan