BRADENTON, Fla., June 12, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Gevity (Nasdaq:GVHR), which serves as the full-service human resources department for small and mid-sized businesses, today released its tips on managing employee compensation to achieve maximum business value. In addition, it announced that its efforts to help employers create, implement and manage effective compensation systems are helping small business owners better motivate their employees, improve productivity and manage costs.
Compensation is a key component of not only employment management but of a business's overall success. An effective compensation system drives performance by compensating employees in the right ways for doing the right things. Numerous studies on compensation and its impact on performance show that performance improves when compensation is aligned with business strategies and goals. One study found that team and individual employee performance can increase by up to 20% when compensation is properly aligned with business strategies and goals.
How to design and implement an effective compensation system
The following tips can help employers of any size design an effective compensation program.
* Define each job in your company. Describe the skills, experience and educational level needed for each role. * Assign each role a compensation level that is in line with the external market. * Use all of the resources available, such as a salary survey tool, to ensure that the compensation you provide is competitive with similar positions outside your organization. * Be sure that your compensation system is aligned with your overall business strategy and goals. Ensure that you have evaluated each job based on its impact on the success of the company. * Use merit pay increases and incentive pay to link compensation to the accomplishment of key business goals. * Stretch your resources by focusing on total rewards such as benefits, challenging work, employment security and/or a fun working environment.
"A well-designed, well-managed compensation system is especially critical for small businesses. Since their resources are limited, they often struggle to compete with larger companies for top talent," states Kevin Huff, Director of Solutions Management at Gevity. "These smaller employers really need to maximize the value of every dollar in order to improve business performance. That's why at Gevity, we provide clients with extensive new hire support. This includes a new hire kit, help with building job descriptions and an online salary survey tool -- which gives small businesses salary benchmarking information typically only affordable at much larger companies."
"We also provide clients with an HR Consultant, who works closely with them to design a compensation system that's right for their business," says Huff. "It's all a part of the Gevity Edge(tm), our comprehensive HR solution made up of services and tools that help small employers optimize their HR practices. This helps them better manage costs and maximize their people and performance."
An effective compensation system is about much more than base pay. It incorporates a wide range of elements, from providing benefits (such as health insurance, life insurance, retirement plans, paid time off, tuition reimbursement and flexible work arrangements) to offering non-monetary rewards such as learning opportunities and job security. Indeed, according to research, a well-constructed, comprehensive compensation package is often much more effective in improving business performance than simply increasing employees' base pay.
Compensation is a balancing act between managing costs and motivating employees to improve performance. A good compensation package strikes a healthy balance between the two and can help drive desired results.
About Gevity
Thousands of small and mid-sized businesses nationwide leverage the flexibility and scalability of Gevity's human resources (HR) solution to help them maximize the return on investment in their people. Essentially, Gevity serves as the full-service HR department for these businesses, providing each employee with support previously only available at much larger companies. Gevity delivers the Gevity Edge(tm), a comprehensive solution comprised of innovative management and administration services, helping employers to streamline HR administration, optimize HR practices, and maximize people and performance. This solution enables both businesses and their employees to achieve their full potential, giving them an edge over competitors. Gevity's unique approach features Gevity OnSite(tm), experienced HR Consultants based in local markets backed by nationwide resources and easy-to-use technology, including Gevity OnLine(tm) and Gevity OnCall(tm). For more information, call 1.800.2GEVITY (1.800.243.8489) or visit gevity.com.
A copy of this press release can be found on the company's Web site at www.gevity.com.