2022 Compensation Best Practices Report | Payscale

Although workers increasingly value aspects of the non-financial components of a firms’ employee value proposition, organizations realize that compensation is still important to attracting, engaging, and retaining talent. This 61-page report provides data and insights on compensation management practices ranging from base pay increases, variable pay and benefits, remote work and geographic pay, and pay transparency. The study was conducted between November 2021 to January 2022 and is based on almost 6,000 responses. A few insights include 1) Salary increases: the percentage of organizations giving more than 3 percent (44%) is 13% higher than the average over the last six years. 2) Pay Transparency: 68% of organizations share pay ranges with prospective candidates, mostly through the job advertisement (22%) or the initial phone screening (21%). 3) Pay Equity: 66% of organizations say a pay equity analysis is a planned initiative in 2022—a 20% increase over last year. 4) Pay Strategy for Remote Workers: Only 18% of organizations have a pay strategy that encompasses remote workers, although an additional 24% of surveyed firms are working on developing one. Regarding how employers are handling salary adjustments of workers that move to lower cost-of-living areas, a small sample (n=26) from Gartner’s research shows four approaches firms are using: a) Case-by-case (46%), b) One-Time Pay Increase/Reduction (31%), c) No Adjustment (23%), and d) Gradual Adjustment of Merit Increases (8%). Firms can use these resources as they reevaluate their compensation strategy and practices.