Employers Look to Raise Pay as Productivity Increases

Author: Mark Crail, Head of Salary Surveys and HR Data Benchmarking Services

December 31, 2014

Improving the link between pay and performance needs to be employers' number one reward priority in 2015, according to exclusive XpertHR research.

Although more than eight in 10 employers (83.5%) say they already have individual merit pay in their organization, more than two-thirds (67.5%) believe the link between what people do at work and what they earn as a result needs to be strengthened.

The findings come from the XpertHR US Pay Planning 2015 survey, based on responses from 166 HR and reward specialists responsible for 627 separate employee groups, from the boardroom to the shop floor.

As the economic recovery continues to take hold, employers are also keeping a watch on their competitors to ensure they can recruit and retain the people they need in the organization.

Seven in 10 (71.3%) say they see pay levels in the local market exerting upward force on pay awards in 2015, with a similar proportion (68.8%) seeing pay levels in the industry adding to the pressure to increase pay rates.

Just over half (50.3%) say they already benchmark pay rates against the market and this is set to grow in 2015.