At the recent WorldatWork’s 2018 Total Rewards Conference Pearl Meyer announced three comprehensive surveys aimed at helping HR professionals understand current trends in compensation and hiring. Each of these periodic reports, updated for 2018, includes detailed information that cannot readily be obtained from other data sources.
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“What makes these surveys especially useful to HR teams is that in addition to extremely granular salary data, they also include information on hiring policies and practices,” said Beth Florin, managing director at Pearl Meyer and lead for the firm’s survey practice. “When companies are facing a tight labor market, as is the case currently, this level of detailed data can aid substantially in recruiting and retention efforts.”
2018 Job Titling Practices Survey
Pearl Meyer’s Job Titling survey provides an in-depth analysis of the competitive practices of 219 companies, which is summarized in total, as well as by industry and firm revenue size. The information provided covers individual contributors through C-suite executives in a wide variety of job functions. Key findings include:
- Seventy-seven percent of firms reporting indicate that job titles accurately convey the organizational hierarchy;
- Fourteen percent note that the use of job titles is a result of organizational politics; and
- Fewer than 10% use job titles to recognize/reward employees when budgets are limited.
2018 Cyber Security Compensation Survey
In the emerging and highly competitive field of cyber security, Pearl Meyer’s survey of 96 companies offers clear descriptions of job families and levels, details on total compensation, sign-on and retention programs, and turnover rates for cyber security professionals. The data is broken down into 12 U.S. geographic regions. Key findings include:
- Between 2015 and 2017, the turnover rate for cyber security professionals has risen from 13.5% to 17.7%;
- Offer acceptance rates have decreased in the same time period by 15%; and
- Fifty-four percent of firms are experiencing “significant or extreme difficulty” hiring expert-level staff.
2018 College Graduate and Intern Compensation Survey
The College Graduate and Intern survey collects a broad range of information on compensation for major areas of study and various degree levels in multiple geographic regions from more than 100 participating companies. The report features average hiring rates and starting salaries, hiring guidelines, and top MBA program data. Key findings include:
- Fifty percent of organizations are making offers to prospective graduates in the fall of their senior year;
- More than 75% of responding organizations are offering strategic college hires a signing incentive; and
- More than half are offering relocation packages.
Pearl Meyer is the leading advisor to boards and senior management on the alignment of executive compensation with business and leadership strategy, making pay programs a powerful catalyst for value creation and competitive advantage.