Analyzing Compensation Information for Different Careers

HRM 598 Case Study: Getting and Using Compensation Information “Compensation is a systematic approach to providing monetary value to employees in exchange for work performed. Compensation may achieve several purposes assisting in recruitment, job performance, and job satisfaction. Compensation is a tool used by management for a variety of purposes to further the existence of the company. Compensation may be adjusted according to the business needs, goals, and available resources. The three careers I chose for this case study are Public Relations Specialist, High School Teacher, and Project Coordinator. The reason for me choosing these specific careers was that I’ve held each one at some point in time. In this case study we will examine why each job has different salary ranges and why. Question #1 Doing this research I’ve come to find that out of the three jobs that I selected, a project coordinator is paid the most on average. The project coordinator is paid $89,509 a year on average.

I was shocked to find out that out of the three careers chosen, that a public relations specialist is paid the least of all three. The public relations specialist on average is paid $45,931 a year. I expected that the project coordinator position would be the highest paid out of the three, however I did not expect for the teacher to be paid more ($53,447 a year on average) than the public relations specialist. I expected the teacher to be paid the least of all three. Usually teachers are thought to be paid the least when comparison to other professions.

Some factors that could play a part in the difference could be number of days worked (teachers usually have a 9 month work year), levels of responsibility the job carries (project coordinators are generally in charge of seeing an operation through from beginning to end) whether or not the company is private or state funded (teachers are usually employees of the state, less money is involved) are some factors that could possibly be the differences in pay just to name a few. Question 2 Different jobs come with different benefit packages, and that’s just how the cookie crumbles.

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Project coordinators on average make $7,217 on average a year in bonuses. The project coordinators have the highest bonuses out of three companies selected. Next out of the three is public relations specialist. The public relation specialists on average make $532 in bonuses a year. Lastly we have the teachers. Teachers make $0 in bonuses a year on average. Teachers may have the most important job in the public eye, but in terms of bonuses there is no merit to issue bonuses. Teachers are expected to show up and teach the students so that they will do well on the state test.

The project coordinator on the other hand makes a nice little penny when it comes to bonuses. Project coordinators have a lot of tasks to accomplish with a short period of time to do so. When deadlines are met or beat certain bonuses may be awarded. Bonuses in this field are performance based. When dealing with public relations specialist it’s tricky to talk about bonuses. Some factors that effect bonuses in this field are, is the company private owned or are you working for a person, what field you are doing PR in just to name a few. Depending on what pay scale the company has in place could affect how bonuses are set up as well.

Question#3 Stock options are benefits in the form of an option given by a company to an employee to buy stock in the company at a discount or at a stated fixed price. With the data that was present for these three careers, there was no stock option information available. To me the Teacher is the only professions out of the three that I think aren’t allowed stock options. There are no stocks in public schools, so you can’t earn something that doesn’t exist. Project coordinator and public relations specialist are entitled to stock options.

The determining factors to whether or not stock options are made available lye solely with company. If the company offers stock options, the people who are in the public relations specialist and project coordinator positions are eligible, it just depends on the company. Teachers can’t get them, because they are not offered in that public sector. Question4 After reading the job descriptions for the three careers I chose, I found the program coordinator and the public relations specialist descriptions were pretty much right on the money, however the teaching description was acking and left a lot to be desired. The description for the program coordinator was right on the money. It gives you an accurate run down on what’s expected from the position, and what is required to fulfill the position at its maximum capacity. The description I read for the public relations specialist may have been the best one. The description given for this job painted a clear and accurate picture of the position. From my personal experience the description I read for the teaching position was generic and lacking of substance. It didn’t quite detail what the job entails in detail.

I think the descriptions were worded to give the job seeker an overall view of the job. Question #5 After researching these positions in my local area my findings were not that surprising. The area I did my study for was Chicago, IL, and Chicago wages are a lot higher than most other cities. The reason why I think Chicago wages are higher than most is due to the cost of living for one. Another is the Illinois state tax is higher than most cities as well. Location is one of the biggest reason I can say as to why the pay grades are higher here in Chicago.

Some factors that play a part in location that effects pay could be, but not limited to; crime, taxes, cost of living, and environmental conditions. With the public relations specialist, and program coordinator positions, their pay is 7% higher in the city of Chicago. Teachers in Chicago on average make $14,670 more than the average stated on the websites. These findings really weren’t surprising at all, they were sort of expected. Question #6 The information on this site would be very beneficial to a graduate fresh out of college doing their contract negotiations.

I would use the information in my negations by starting off with getting a clear understanding of my duties going off the description set forth by the website. The website gives good information to start a salary negotiation, because it gives you a median to start your negotiation off with. When doing these negotiations I would show the median numbers for the task set forth by the description giving. A few factors that might have a bearing on the salary could be but not limited too; location, the company’s’ revenue intake, years of experience, and education level just to name a few.

Question #7 The labor markets for these particular jobs are large in the sense of the fact that these careers have markets all over the world and in many different fields. When talking about labor markets you have to remember that labor markets may be local or national in their scope and are made up of smaller, interacting labor markets for different qualifications, skills, and geographical locations. They depend on the exchange of information between employers and job seekers about wage rates, conditions of employment, level of competition, and job location.

People working in the three fields I’m covering in this case study are recruited all over the country to fill positions they are qualified for. The geographical location of these jobs plays a huge part in the salary wages paid out. After doing some research it seems like southern rural states have the lowest paying wages. Using the “teacher” position for example, a teacher starts of at $32,400 a year in Jackson, MS, but that same teacher would start of at 44,230 a year in the suburbs of Chicago. Geographical location plays a major part in wages.

In the States of Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia all these positions are paid less than states such as Illinois, New York, Washington D. C, Florida, and Dallas. Question 8 The median teaching salary was $52,447 on average for the year. The minimal salary is $34,327, that’s an $18,120 difference. Geographical location plays a huge part in these wages and the differences. Like I stated before the rural and southern locations generally have the lowest wages. The highest pay on average for a teacher is $71,093 a year, that’s an $18,646 difference from the median salary.

The median salary for a public relations specialist is $45,931 dollars a year. The minimal salary for this position is $34,121 a year, there’s an $11,810 difference in the pay. The highest level of pay for this position is $55,657, there’s a $9,726 difference. In this position, bigger cities have the best market for this career. A program coordinator income on average is $89,509 a year. This career is paid rather well. The lowest average salary is 68,779 a year, that’s a $20,730 difference. The highest pay on average for this position is $116,436 a year, that’s a $26,927 difference.

The higher pay is usually located in major cities, with large populations. There is a large number in variations in these salaries. Some factors that can play a part in these variations are but not limited too; education, geographical location, years on jobs, the employers financial state just to name a few. Question #9 The information on www. salary. com is very sufficient. What makes me think this that they covered all bases? I feel they go above and beyond, especially the fact they have their compensation consultants create a composite view for each job using a proprietary mathematical model built by Salary. om. The model takes into account the statistical reliability of each data point, the robustness of the data within each data point, the effective date of the data reported, and the industry, geography, or company size biases within each survey. What else leads me to believe that the information is accurate is that they also have their compensation consultants have collected and reviewed data covering more than 29 million individuals working at more than 16,000 companies. The implications of using inaccurate data can be fatal to the potential employer and employee.

Having the wrong salary information could have an employer paying an employee too much for the position, and or vice versa. The implications of wrong salary data could be very detrimental. It could affect the employer and or employee for a long amount of time. Question 10 Although salary. com is free and has tons of useful information, hiring a consultant could still be very beneficiary to the company. The information provided on salary is gathered from a wide range of data. Information gathered for the site may lean heavily toward a particular geographical location.

Hiring the outside consultant could give you the actual numbers in your geographical area. The consultant could possibly provide more realistic numbers for the company. The hiring of the consultant could also be done to double check or just verify the numbers for the company’s own edification. Question 11 As a manager you have many responsibilities, and one of those responsibilities is paying your employees. As a manager there are a few reasons I could think of to justify paying an employee more than what salary. com suggest. One reason is internal equity.

A manager should review the experience of the employee in relation to his position on the salary scale when justifying his or her salary. Another factor is that of external equity. A manager should review the employee's prior salary history. Another factor is market forces. Managers can justify offering more money in a period of economic growth, particularly when numerous companies are competing to attract the best employees. Another factor that may play a role in offering more than salary. com could be geographical location. If the cost of living is steady rising, a manager might offer more to compensate in that rise of the cost of living.

These are a few factors that would heavily influence my decision as a manager. Completing this case study enlighten me on many things that I would have never thought of. I never imagined that the teacher would be making more than the public relations specialist. Another thing that this case study opened my mind up to was location. Geographical location can be the difference in thousands of dollars of pay. Geographical location embodies a lot of sub factors. Some factors are but not limited to taxes, cost of living, and weather and work conditions. This case study was very insightful and beneficial.

Bibliography 1. ) www. salary. com 2. ) http://smallbusiness. chron. com/managers-justify-paying-employees-high-low-14526. html 3. ) http://swz. salary. com/docs/salwizhtmls/methodology. html 4. ) http://smallbusiness. foxbusiness. com/legal-hr/2011/04/25/picking-best-pay-structure-business/ 5. ) http://www. mde. k12. ms. us/school-financial-services/school-financial-services-teacher-salary-schedule 6. ) http://money. usnews. com/careers/best-jobs/public-relations-specialist 7. ) http://www. indeed. com/salary/Program-Coordinator. html 8. ) http://www. wikipedia. org/

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