Reward managers have best paid HR jobs

May 4, 2004

Reward managers have best paid HR jobs

Reward managers have the best paid jobs in the personnel profession, earning 12% more than the average salary for the profession, according to a new survey.

The survey of personnel professionals by Croner Reward and the CIPD, based on 7825 HR jobs in over 1500 organisations from the public, private and voluntary sectors, also highlights a gulf in earnings by sector.

Personnel directors employed in private sector service firms enjoy a pay premium of 19% over the going rate, while those in manufacturing and public services receive 5% less and the voluntary sector get 13% below the average.

The survey also reveals a pay gap according to gender among personnel directors, with male personnel directors earning 22% more than their female counterparts.

The report argues that the equal pay gap is largely down to the fact that there is a higher proportion of female personnel directors in the public and voluntary sectors and a lower proportion of female personnel directors among the larger, private sector, employers. The average pay gap among directors in the private sector is as much as £19,000 compared with an average of £13,750 across all sectors.

Other key findings:

61% of personnel professionals received a pay rise of between 3-4%.
Those from the private services sector are the most optimistic regarding forthcoming pay rises with 16% of them forecasting a 5% increase.
At senior manager level the equal pay gap is 6-8% with female managers earning an average of £37,000 compared with their male counterparts of £40,000.
The level of provision of company cars for Personnel Directors has dropped by 9% since last year, which continues the trend in recent years away from company car perks.

“Reward practitioners are currently engaged in some of the most challenging and exciting aspects of remuneration and recognition, such as pensions and retirement, reward and diversity, and executive remuneration and corporate governance. I am not surprised that they enjoy such a premium,” said Charles Cotton, CIPD reward adviser.

Ian James, Research Manager at Croner Reward commented: “The report clearly demonstrates that the personnel profession is currently a rewarding place to work. The profession is happy with its pay, job security and job satisfaction, confident of future promotions and has a high level of morale.”