Compensation and Benefits

What is Compensation and Benefits?

Whatever your sector or size of business, how you compensate and reward your employees will be crucial to your future. A reward strategy aligned to business objectives will ensure you recruit attract and retain the highest calibre of staff at all levels. As such this a particularly emotive and important part of an Human Resources department that is seen as a necessity rather than luxury.

The Reward or Compensation & Benefits (Comp and Bens) department will be structured according to the business and its needs, which are normally dependant on sector and size of company. For example, a complex mobility policy maybe required for a global company with multiple international assignments or a deferred share scheme/bonus for an investment business.

The generic areas that will be covered are:

pay and remuneration
pensions
share scheme
bonuses
mobility
payroll
international tax
benefits

The nature of compensation means a core part of the job can be analytical, especially at the junior levels. An entry level Compensation & Benefits Analyst will spend much of their time analysing competitors pay and reward and strategies to ensure theirs are competitive. This will involve conducting and inputting salary surveys often with a third party supplier like Watson Wyatt or Towers Perrin. However the further up the food chain you progress the closer you become to the business and the more likely you are to managing a team and managing strategic projects.

Compensation and Benefits is a crucial part of any firm's HR policy. An effective comp & bens strategy will allow an organisation to attract and retain the best talent available in the marketplace. It is after all why most people get out of bed in the morning.