Abstract
Growing competition over human capital has reiterated the importance of strategic practices to maintaining a high-quality public sector workforce. But how often does the public sector study pay and benefits among competitive peers? This study presents the findings of a national survey of human resource professionals regarding compensation benchmarking practices. Just over half of respondents indicated they conducted a benchmarking study within the last decade. A majority said their jurisdiction only compares compensation with other public employers, with a smaller number including both public and private competitors. Salaries were the most frequent topic of concern; fringe benefits and paid leave time were less often compared. Several jurisdictions conducted benchmarking studies for purposes other than compensation; about one quarter gathered data for purely informational purposes and 9% carried out a study in anticipation of labor negotiations. A series of best practices for benchmarking studies is offered in conclusion.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 340-355 |
Number of pages | 16 |
Journal | Public Personnel Management |
Volume | 44 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 14 2015 |
Keywords
- compensation
- human resource management
- local government
- public management
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Public Administration
- Strategy and Management
- Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management
- Management of Technology and Innovation