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MRA’s CompTrends Survey Shows Optimism and Resilience
MILWAUKEE, WI (September 9, 2021) – Today MRA hosted its annual CompTrends event. Nearly 700 registered to hear results of MRA’s 2021 Compensation Trends Survey. This survey is conducted each year to provide critical data to help companies with their strategic business planning.
COVID has presented challenges for the past two years, forcing organizations to make difficult decisions around salaries, pay practices, and total rewards strategies. In addition, the talent shortage has significantly impacted employers this year. Organizations are taking an aggressive approach towards attracting talent and utilizing compensation strategies to find innovative ways to sustain their current and future workforce.
“Compensation Trends is a needed survey for all businesses. With the increased attention on compensation planning and the growing challenges that organizations face in the future, it is more important than ever for organizations to understand what the market is doing,” said Zach Day, Director, Surveys, Custom Research & Analytics at MRA - The Management Association.
Key takeaways from MRA’s 2021 Compensation Trends Survey include:
- Optimism for Economic Growth: According to MRA’s survey, organizations are indicating that the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are less financially concerning than in 2020. Fifty-seven percent expect an improved U.S. economy in 2022.
- Positive Momentum for Businesses: Twenty-four percent of respondents are having a significant increase in revenue currently, which shows signs of a growing and recovering economy.
- Actions Taken Against COVID-19: As a response to COVID-19, organizations took action to combat the challenges of lost revenue and production, including compensation tactics such as pay freezes, bonus delays/cancellations, or benefit reduction tactics. Compensation trends indicate in 2021, 79 percent of organizations have not exercised any compensation reduction tactics to mitigate operational challenges.
- All About Recruiting and Retaining: The growing economy and optimism have produced increased turnover and labor challenges. In MRA’s Compensation Trends study, recruiting and retaining employees were the two most important factors organizations used to guide their compensation strategy this year. The top five are:
- Retaining current talent (98%)
- Attracting/recruiting new talent (96%)
- Economy (83%)
- Budget/expense control (80%)
- Adjusting individual pay or wage/salary structure to market or beyond market (71%)
- Pay Increases Are Back: With the increased revenue and optimism, more organizations provided pay increases to their staff in 2021 (83 percent). In addition, organizations that provided increases in the past 12 months averaged a 3.4% increase, which is higher than the predicted 3.0% increase of last year. More organizations provided variable pay in the last 12 months than what was predicted this time last year (72 percent). Also, organizations are projecting an average 3.1% increase to base pay in 2022, slightly higher than what was projected this time last year.
- Growth of Remote Work: Included in the challenge of recruitment and retention of employees has been the growing conversation and reality of remote working employees. It seems that organizations are not currently interested in providing any permanence to remote work and value in-person collaboration. Of the participants, only 2 percent of respondents are permanently hiring fully remote workers, while 61% are not considering adding fully remote workers to their staff.
“There is a lot of positive news and trajectory for business. However, the challenges to recruiting and retention of staff have posed new challenges for organizations trying to capitalize on the improving market. With recruiting and retention being the most important factor in an organization's compensation strategy. Displayed wages, bonuses, and new benefits are causing organizations to evaluate their strategy on a frequent basis,” added Day. “The role of compensation strategy in organizations continues to be a valuable and necessary tool for the success and sustainability of an organization. Changes that have occurred from the pandemic continue to evolve and develop into new and unique challenges. The continued effort of 2021 will likely stay the same. The optimism of the immediate future gives hope that 2022 will be a more positive economic year.”
For more information or to receive a copy of MRA’s 2021 Compensation Trends Survey contact the Survey Department at 800.488.4845 ext. 3508 or email at [email protected].
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About MRA—The Management Association: Founded in 1901, MRA is a nonprofit employer association that serves 4,000 employers, covering more than 1 million employees worldwide. As one of the largest employer associations in the nation, MRA helps its members thrive by offering comprehensive HR services, talent management, learning and organization development opportunities, and total rewards planning. MRA helps organizations build a successful workplace and powerful workforce. Headquartered in Wisconsin, MRA has regional offices in Iowa, Illinois, and Minnesota. To learn more about MRA, visit www.mranet.org.
