Resources · Research
Compensation pulse surveys
We regularly ask compensation professionals a quick question on LinkedIn. Here are the results from 58 polls and more than 26,000 votes, grouped by topic.
Poll results
What comp teams told us
58 polls
When you market price your roles, what data cut do you use for the majority of roles?
- Regional24%
- Industry38%
- Revenue10%
- Total sample + geo diff28%
212 votes
For VP and SVP level roles, what data cuts do you use when determining the market rate?
- A specific peer group30%
- Industry cut14%
- Revenue cut41%
- National cut15%
419 votes
If your revenue was $492M, which revenue cut(s) would you use?
- $250M–$500M30%
- $500M–$1.0B45%
- $250M–$1.0B8%
- Blend 2 or more17%
627 votes
What is the biggest challenge with salary surveys?
- Finding the right match53%
- Data is too old19%
- Market values too low or high15%
- Data not in specific locations13%
395 votes
How much does your organization budget for salary surveys, annually?
- Less than $10,00022%
- $10,000–$24,99933%
- $25,000–$49,99917%
- $50,000 or more28%
212 votes
When you age your salary surveys, do you lead, lag or lead/lag the market?
- Lead22%
- Lag10%
- Lead/lag57%
- No aging applied11%
357 votes
Have your salary surveys kept up over the past 18 months, or is the data not reflective of current market conditions?
- Very well aligned to market3%
- Pretty well aligned to market24%
- Slightly misaligned to market54%
- Significantly misaligned to market20%
349 votes
When conducting an ad-hoc benchmarking review for a job, what is the normal timeline you communicate to the business?
- Up to a week59%
- Up to 2 weeks31%
- Up to 1 month7%
- More than 1 month3%
316 votes
If an employee voluntarily relocates to a location with a different cost of labor, what changes are you making to their salary?
- Salary may be adjusted up or down51%
- We only increase salaries8%
- We only decrease salaries3%
- No changes for voluntary moves38%
345 votes
When market pricing roles in specific locations, what do you use to calculate your geographic differential?
- Cost of labor71%
- Cost of living6%
- A combination of the two15%
- No geo diffs8%
459 votes
Which geography do you use to pull market data for remote employees: the employee’s home or their office location?
- Employee’s home31%
- Closest office21%
- National for all42%
- Other6%
526 votes
If you use multiple surveys to benchmark a job, do you use the same geographic differential for each survey match?
- Almost always67%
- More than half of the time13%
- Less than half of the time7%
- Almost never13%
152 votes
Excluding one-time payments, how much of a stipend or allowance do you provide to employees to work remotely, per year?
- $072%
- $1–$49913%
- $500–$1,49912%
- $1,500 or more3%
255 votes
How many more applicants are you getting for remote roles, compared to in-office roles?
- 1.0–1.49x applicants15%
- 1.5–1.99x applicants15%
- 2.0–2.99x applicants19%
- More than 3x applicants50%
72 votes
At what level should a job be expected to come into the office and not have the ability to be remote?
- Remote up to Director level7%
- Remote up to VP/SVP5%
- Remote up to C-suite4%
- Any level can be remote85%
860 votes
If you have a fully remote worker, do you pay for their commute if they are required to come to the office?
- Yes, for all trips to the office11%
- Yes, if they aren’t local43%
- None paid for remote workers43%
- Other3%
541 votes
Which is superior?
- Compa-ratio49%
- Position in range51%
352 votes
What is your best practice for manager and subordinate pay differentiation?
- 0–15%11%
- 15–25%38%
- 25% or more6%
- There is no best practice here46%
469 votes
Do you adjust a management job’s salary range based on the number of direct reports a manager has?
- Yes, for all management jobs3%
- Yes, for some management jobs14%
- No, same job, same range83%
383 votes
What is your average midpoint progression?
- 0.0%–9.99%12%
- 10.0%–12.49%27%
- 12.50%–15.00%44%
- More than 15.00%17%
302 votes
Which is the preferred type of salary structure for your organization?
- Traditional structures38%
- Broad-band structures19%
- Pure market-based structures35%
- Other7%
484 votes
You’re a large organization with professional roles in every major US city. How many salary structures do you need?
- 1 salary structure20%
- 2–3 salary structures46%
- 4–5 salary structures25%
- More than 5 salary structures8%
714 votes
Including merit, promotion and market adjustments, what’s your salary planning budget for 2022?
- 0.00%–3.0%23%
- 3.01%–4.5%44%
- 4.51%–6.0%19%
- More than 6.0%13%
676 votes
Do you create different merit budgets based on the job, function or department?
- Yes, by job (or job family)12%
- Yes, by company function or department15%
- Yes, but some other way10%
- No, same budget for all63%
370 votes
What is the smallest pay increase resulting from a promotion that your organization would provide?
- 0.0%12%
- 0.01%–4.99%33%
- 5.0%–7.499%37%
- 7.5% or more18%
424 votes
Does your organization practice “trial periods” where promoted employees are paid below market until they prove themselves?
- Never60%
- Occasionally26%
- Often11%
- Always2%
632 votes
What is the schedule for your merit process: individual anniversary dates or a focal cycle?
- Individual anniversary dates4%
- Focal cycle92%
- Other4%
337 votes
Is your company considering any salary adjustments to account for inflation?
- No adjustments for inflation56%
- Increased merit budget33%
- One-time lump sum bonuses5%
- Other6%
772 votes
Hourly talent is hard to find right now. What is your primary strategy to address this need?
- Higher wages62%
- One-time sign-on bonuses22%
- Ongoing bonuses7%
- Something else9%
187 votes
Does your Legal team approve your incentive plan documents?
- Yes, Legal reviews and approves63%
- Somewhat, Legal reviews21%
- No, Legal does not review16%
257 votes
Who typically “owns” your sales incentive plans?
- HR/Compensation28%
- The business unit47%
- Finance19%
- Other6%
399 votes
If an employee is on leave at the time of a bonus payout, when do they get paid their earned bonus?
- With everyone else62%
- When they return from leave37%
- Payouts are forfeited0%
- Something else1%
714 votes
Does your organization pay bonuses (excluding commissions) if someone was employed during the performance period but not on the payout date?
- Yes23%
- No73%
- Managers have discretion4%
688 votes
How long are your retention bonuses designed to retain employees?
- Up to 6 months9%
- Up to 1 year56%
- Up to 2 years28%
- More than 2 years7%
573 votes
If your organization provides project-based bonuses, what is the most common length of a project that would be eligible for a bonus?
- Less than 30 days3%
- 30–89 days18%
- 90–179 days31%
- 180+ days48%
136 votes
How do you incentivize employees to stay if the annual bonus thresholds were not met?
- Discretionary bonuses for key roles45%
- Non-financial awards22%
- There is a minimum bonus amount17%
- No bonus, no exceptions16%
282 votes
If your company has an annual bonus program, how long do you need to be employed before you are eligible?
- Eligible immediately on date of hire21%
- Cutoff date (e.g. hired before Q4)67%
- A certain number of months worked10%
- Other1%
401 votes · Poll by Matthew Ringer, CCP
Sign-on bonuses have become important tools to attract new talent. When are yours paid?
- Within 30 days of hire70%
- Within 90 days of hire17%
- Within 180 days of hire9%
- Anniversary or beyond5%
371 votes
Who is responsible for your bonus accrual calculations?
- Compensation42%
- Finance53%
- Department1%
- Other4%
1,101 votes
Who is eligible for LTI (whether cash, stock or other) in your organization?
- All employees29%
- Managers (or IC equivalent) and up16%
- Directors (or IC equivalent) and up33%
- Executives (or IC equivalent) and up22%
526 votes
Assuming target total direct compensation is the same, would you support giving candidates a choice of mixes of base pay, LTI and STI?
- We already do1%
- We are considering it7%
- Not considering it59%
- Definitely will not consider32%
459 votes
What is your company’s performance threshold for your LTI plans?
- 0%–50% of target21%
- 51%–70% of target25%
- 71%–80% of target25%
- 81%–90% of target29%
283 votes
For those with LTI, do you share its value in the year of grant or the year of vest when communicating grants?
- Economic value at grant date81%
- Estimated economic value at vesting6%
- No economic value (shares only)9%
- Other3%
405 votes
For those hiring in Colorado and Connecticut, how have pay transparency laws affected your comp program this year?
- Worse candidate quality11%
- No change in candidate quality73%
- Better candidate quality16%
90 votes
Pay transparency will have what effect on wages?
- No impact on wage growth49%
- Wages will increase faster39%
- Wages will increase slower12%
679 votes
Employees should include a pay range on their resume.
- Definitely yes10%
- Probably yes21%
- Probably no27%
- Definitely no42%
810 votes
Should companies post the entire salary range, or just a subset?
- The entire range34%
- Just a subset of the range66%
602 votes
Up to how many levels are in your typical professional (individual contributor) career paths?
- 1–3 levels20%
- 4 levels30%
- 5 levels23%
- 6 levels27%
328 votes
Up to how many levels are in your typical management career paths, up to the C-suite?
- 1–3 levels18%
- 4 levels22%
- 5 levels35%
- 6 levels25%
239 votes
In job descriptions, how many years of work experience does a bachelor’s degree equate to?
- 1 year4%
- 2 years18%
- 4 years57%
- Other20%
393 votes
Who owns job descriptions in your organization?
- Compensation40%
- HR35%
- Talent acquisition13%
- Everyone12%
1,194 votes
When evaluating jobs for market competitiveness and internal equity, who do line managers work with first?
- HRBPs/generalists83%
- Compensation17%
- Other1%
380 votes
What is the best way for someone with no previous experience in compensation to get into the field?
- Be an Excel guru44%
- Classes (e.g. CCP or CCA)24%
- Previous HR experience25%
- Something else7%
612 votes
What was the biggest challenge you dealt with in 2021, as a compensation practitioner?
- Compensation for remote work13%
- Hiring and compensating talent73%
- Salary and merit budget planning13%
- Something else2%
394 votes
What is the most valuable aspect of belonging to professional organizations?
- The online community and forums25%
- Research articles or papers28%
- Webinars from experts or vendors25%
- In-person networking events22%
174 votes
Generally speaking, do members of the HR team have visibility to their peers within HR?
- All of HR can see all of HR26%
- HR cannot view HR66%
- Other8%
478 votes
What’s your ratio of compensation practitioners to employees?
- 1 : 0–99928%
- 1 : 1,000–2,49935%
- 1 : 2,500–4,99919%
- 1 : 5,000 or more19%
705 votes
When it comes to employee compensation, what is one area you wish you were more knowledgeable about?
- Market pricing and benchmarking14%
- Incentive plan design37%
- Equity (LTI) administration44%
- Other4%
533 votes · Poll by Golden Jobst
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