Jobs: Pay rise? You’ll be lucky...

Just under two-thirds of employers have, or are planning to, increase base pay in 2011; roughly a quarter have or will freeze pay. Almost one in 10 have decided to delay the pay review and almost all plan not to cut pay. These are the top line findings of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s (CIPD) annual Reward Survey, produced in partnership with Benefex.

Charles Cotton, performance and reward adviser, CIPD, said: “In the context of public sector spending cuts and cautious economic growth in parts of the private sector, it’s not surprising that not all organisations have been in a position to make a pay award this year. The findings also show that this competitive environment is having the effect of encouraging employers to focus on linking pay rises and bonuses to employee and organisational performance.

“We expect that there will not be much change to the proportion of organisations making a pay award in 2012. This is again due to a public sector that doesn’t have much money to play around with as employers freeze pay, scrap bonus schemes and ask employees to pay more towards their pensions. Some private sector organisations will also find it hard to increase pay if their part of the economy does not grow as quickly as anticipated.”

Market rates are considered the most important factor in determining pay levels for well over half of all respondents. Ability to pay is the most important factor for one in four organisations. For managing pay progression, the most common approach is to link pay to a measure of individual performance, either on its own or in combination with another factor, such as competencies.

The survey of 280 respondents also finds that two-thirds of organisations are operating performance-related reward schemes. Merit pay rises and individual bonuses are the most common forms of performance-related reward. One in three organisations also operates individual non-monetary recognition awards for clerical and manual employees.