If your company conducts Employee Surveys, the
one question you are sure to get a low score on would be about satisfaction
with your income. One reason for this is because employees probably feel that
it may encourage you to increase their pay. Another could be that you are not
very transparent about your structure and processes. An important element in
the compensation space is communicating the total rewards your company offers.
Too often, employees see only the monthly pay slip, forgetting about the other
benefits that go into your employee value proposition. Accept that staff will
compare themselves with each other and with colleagues across industries. This
is what makes Internal and External Equity so important. However, if you
clearly define your Comparable Pool then the comparisons should be less
painful. The makeup of the pool is critical.
Similar industry/size/HR offerings but also who
you compete with for talent. The next critical elements is where do you
position yourself in this pool - top, middle or bottom. Of course, there are a number of steps to be
taken to ensure internal/external equity: Updated job descriptions and Job
Evaluations, bench marking with companies in the pool and qualifying the
allowances and benefits you provide. Since this is a costly and time consuming
effort, your target frequency might be every two years. However, as Pakistan is
a high-inflation country, the survey should be done annually so as to ensure
you do not slip out of alignment with your desired positioning.Ultimately, even
if employees are not satisfied with the ‘amount of pay, they should be
comfortable that the company has been fair and transparent.