The 2009 ABA Salary & Benefits Survey has been completed and results are now available.  Participating banks have been sent their copy of the results, and non-participating banks may purchase the results for $350.  

Wayne Vicknair , CCP, President of Creative Compensation Solutions, Inc., who has conducted the survey for the 10th consecutive year, has the following tips when using the survey:

*      The survey should be used as a guide in determining appropriate pay levels for employees.

*      Just because an employee is not paid the average or median reported in the survey does not indicate that they are underpaid or overpaid.  The reported data is comprised of a number of participants with varying years of experience.  It is recommended that salary ranges be established in order to accommodate these variances.

*      Banks should consider their compensation mix when determining the appropriate level of base pay.  Compensation mix is the amount the bank pays for base pay, incentive pay, and benefits.

*      To determine the appropriate market data, banks should consider where they would recruit for a particular job.  Typically, entry level, clerical, and support personnel are recruited locally.  Professional level jobs are more regional. 

*      A cluster report may be ordered to provide more appropriate data.  A cluster report may be ordered online and the results are immediately available.  This allows a bank to select a minimum of five (5) banks to include in the cluster report.  Banks should consider ordering a cluster report using asset size of a bank to determine salary levels for professional jobs since statistics indicate there is a high correlation between asset size of a bank and compensation levels for these jobs.

*      While the ABA Survey is a reliable source of information, it is recommended that banks use multiple surveys in determining pay.  Different surveys collect data for different jobs.  By using multiple surveys, a bank will be able to obtain more job matches.  When the same jobs are reported in different surveys, the validity of the data may be confirmed.  Additionally, some nationally published surveys provide information for cross industry jobs.

If your bank did not participate and you would like to obtain a copy of the 2009 survey results, please contact Diana Camp at 501-978-3605. 

For more information on the design and implementation of a formal salary administration program, please contact Wayne Vicknair at (504) 455-6843.