In this month’s issue of HR Magazine, a trade magazine for human resources professionals, you’ll find the Society of Human Resources Management’s (SHRM’s) annual HR Compensation Survey results. Being an HR professional myself, I look forward to seeing what employers’ think our skills and hard work are worth. Of course, surveys are only samplings of the attitudes or behaviors being measured; they don’t tell us what every employer will do, only what is probable if the trends within the sample are borne out in the larger group.
That said, I still wait with baited breath. But, this year I found myself even more anxious due to the fact that an economic recession may be upon us. Job growth is slowing and unemployment may rise (as evidenced by a smaller number of new jobs being created this month versus last month and record new unemployment claims).
The mortgage credit mess has spread from the sub-prime lending sector to other sectors like a virus. Businesses can’t borrow money to finance growth. Individual consumers are spending and investing less because they too lack access to credit, and because they are concerned about the economy.
If warnings from economic analysts are not enough, employers are expressing their concerns in survey after survey. Two surveys of particular interest to me are the 2007 SHRM Human Capital Benchmarking Study and Deloitte’s Aligned at the Top. The former revealed that employers have lost 30 percent of their human capital (employee talent and knowledge) in the past two years due to high workforce turnover, Boomer retirements and financial issues (i.e. the Big 3 automakers’ financially-motivated mass layoffs).
Deloitte’s survey revealed that 85% of the 531 HR and other senior executives surveyed believe that “people are vital to all aspects of their company’s performance”. Eight-eight percent believe “people issues” will become even more important in the next 3-5 years. Only 4 percent of senior business executives describe their company as world-class in people management and HR; nearly half (46 percent) said their capabilities are adequate but need to improve. Another 31 percent said that signiï¬cant
improvement is needed in HR.
All of this brings me to the moment of truth. If executives understand the importance of their companies’ people–no talented, engaged employees, no profits and eventually, no company. And, if they understand the need to employ talented HR professionals to develop and advise those talented people, then how much are they willing to pay HR professionals for their vital role. How much will salaries be discounted or weighted in light of survey findings, economic conditions and labor market trends?
Here are the highlights:
10 HIGHEST PAID TOP HR EXECUTIVES (Median Pay)
| 1 | HR Executives (with labor relations) | $218,000 | |
| 2 | Corporate Compensation & Benefits Executive | $171,000 | |
| 3 | HR Executive (without labor relations) | $170,000 | |
| 4 | Labor Relations Executive | $163,200 | |
| 5 | International HR Executive | $162,600 | |
| 6 | Diversity Executive | $158,100 | |
| 7 | Corporate Benefits Executive | $152,900 | |
| 8 | Division/Subsidiary HR Executive (with labor relations) | $152,900 | |
| 9 | Corporate Compensation Executive | $152,600 | |
| 10 | Training & Organizational Development Executive | $152,600 |
Interestingly, International HR Executives saw their median pay decrease by 18%. Surprising, given that over 70% of organizations expect to be involved in a cross-border merger or acquisition in the coming 3-5 years (Watson Wyatt).
Another interesting bit: Executive Compensation Managers saws a 28% gain in their median cash compensation this year.
Stuff You Might Also Like
If you liked my post, feel free to subscribe to my rss feeds
Loading ...
