Remuneration – A strategic Tool

• To attract qualified candidates in sufficient numbers
• To retain competent employees
• To instil motivation in your personnel
• To reward performance
• To achieve your company’s functional objectives

But, how is that done, what are the best practices and techniques in remuneration to apply to your company’s specific needs?

Remuneration, a sensitive subject…

This subject is often a source of concern for those who must deal with this very important area of human resources management. Remuneration represents one of the largest investments directly affecting production costs and managers must demonstrate how it will contribute to profitability. Often times a subjective approach is used when negotiating employment offers or when evaluating the monetary value of an individual’s performance when a standardized remuneration system is lacking in the manager’s toolkit.

Developing well thought out and complete remuneration systems which define the salary scales, the job classifications, the salary classifications, the bonus systems, the policies that govern performance measurement and salary augmentation, fiscal performance, etc will most certainly have a strong positive influence on your employees’ performance and thus your company’s effectiveness.

A structured remuneration system provides managers with an undeniable support to their decision making process and helps them avoid problems such as the loss of qualified and productive employees to competitors. It also helps minimize difficulties associated with the recruitment of qualified personnel and the dissatisfaction expressed by employees who feel their deserve a salary similar to their colleague’s.

Managers will feel more confident in making and explaining remuneration decisions while the employee will respect the well thought out decisions resulting from an analysis based on equitable principles.

Human Resources Responsible, President, Financial and Operation Directors, Senior Management.

• Provide managers and human resources professionals with a solid process that will enable them to develop a remuneration strategy that responds adequately to actual enterprise practices related to the management of their human resources.

  • Define the company’s global remuneration strategy.
  • Acquire salary survey sources (benchmarking) by activity sector.
  • Learn the best techniques and practices in remuneration in a global context
  • Acquire remuneration analysis techniques
  • Develop salary scales and job classification criteria
  • Define your remuneration policies: Performance recognition, promotion, salary augmentation
  • Understand the various remuneration systems: Direct and indirect
    

1. Global remuneration

The importance of global remuneration

• The main objectives of a remuneration system
  1. Attract qualified candidates in sufficient numbers
  2. Retain competent employees
  3. Instil motivation in your personnel
• Administer remuneration in conformance with the applicable laws
• Integral to performance management
• Control of salary expenditures: know the effects on your wage bill

Links to other sectors of human resources management

• Job analysis
• Human resources planning
• Recruitment and selection
• Performance management
• Employer-union relations (industrial relations)

Factors affecting remuneration

• The environment
• Internal factors
  

2. Direct remuneration

How to determine salaries

• Job analysis: Methods and techniques
• Salary surveys: Comparing jobs internally and externally (benchmarking), reference sources
• The salary structure: Develop salary scales and wage curves, job classification criteria, salary groups, etc.
• Individual salaries: Based on competencies, experience, seniority, and job hierarchy

Variable remuneration

• Based on individual performance
• Group incentives
• Based on team or group performance

Remuneration management

• Salary management
• Variable remuneration management
• Salary augmentation management

3. Indirect remuneration

Costs associated with indirect remuneration

Public benefit systems and revenue protection

• Hospital and medical care
• Revenue protection for persons with disabilities
• Social security
• Unemployment benefits
• Work accident benefits
• Other revenue protection benefits

Private benefits offered by employers

• Health benefits
• Life insurance and disability benefits
• Retirement benefits

Compensated leave

• Paid vacation
• Leave granted by employer

Services and privileges offered to employees

• Non-financial forms of recognition
• Material forms of recognition
• Employee assistance programs
• Work-life balance programs
• Advantages destined for senior management
• Golden employment clauses

Managing indirect remuneration

• How to determine the overall volume of indirect remuneration
• Diversification in indirect remuneration

Practical workshops

• Development of a remuneration system
• Create scales and wage curves
• Case study