Head of Compensation and Benefits Jobs
In the modern company, competition to land the best talent is almost as prized as it is to win market share in the sector. It has long been recognized that employees’ contributions to a company can make or break it, and that employees who feel undervalued – rightly or wrongly – will soon start looking elsewhere. It is the head of compensation and benefits’ job to use pull factors such as salaries, bonuses, pensions etc. to attract and retain employees.
The role requires a strategic mindset, as employees’ motivations change as they serve more time at a company and climb its ladder. A programme of review and assessment will need to be put in place or maintained, and liaison with employees’ managers will help guide the compensation and benefits decisions for individual employees. Essentially that will mean making cost-benefit analyses for each employee and rewarding them appropriately. While the role might be overseeing a compensation team in larger companies, in smaller ones, the task may be all down the head herself or himself.
The skills required
A strategic, analytical mindset is a key asset in the role of head of compensation and benefits. You will be assessing the value of employees but you also have a hand in motivating them through the use of perks and other incentives. As compensation is an expenditure to a company – and often its largest outgoing – the role will require a sense of balance, honest, unemotional assessment of an employee’s worth to the company. Reporting to the board, you will need to justify the compensation and benefits you decide on, and evidence of your case will need to be presented to get approval.
Experience in working with benefits and compensation at a management or executive level will be an important asset for this role. You must be able to demonstrate a deep understanding between employee motivation, productivity and profitability and how they interrelate. Evidence of schemes and initiatives you have previously put in place to that end will also be of great benefit.
Head of Compensation & Benefits Jobs in Barnsley
Barnsley is a town of about 75,000 population in South Yorkshire. Roughly speaking it would be the centre point of a circle that passed though Leeds, Sheffield, Doncaster and Huddersfield, each of which is about 14 miles (25 km) away. To its south west is the beautiful Peak District National Park. Barnsley is served by the M1 running north-south, as well as the Sheffield to Leeds railway.
Barnsley was originally a market town and also traveller’s rest location for people moving to and from Leeds and Sheffield, but the discovery of coal and the Industrial Revolution turned it into a powerhouse of productivity. The Barnsley Canal was completed at the start of the nineteenth century, and although it was closed in the mid-20th century (partly due to subsidence from mining, ironically), there is a campaign to get it fixed, dredged and reopened for recreation. Much of the heavy industry has now gone, although one of its specialisms, glassmaking, remains active. A glassblower and a miner appear on Barnsley’s coat of arms.
The town has given us a number of famous people, particularly in sport. Cricket without Dickie Bird and Darren Gough would not be quite the same, and football was made a little more colourful by Mick McCarthey. Perhaps the most famous child of Barnsley, though, is chat show host to the stars of the 70s and 80s, Michael Parkinson.
While Barnsley’s industrial base is a shadow of its former self, it is still possible to find Head of Compensation & Benefits positions in the town. It has a sizeable population and serves a wide area, with no other major settlements closer than the cities of Sheffield and Leeds.
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Find Head of Compensation and Benefits Jobs with Cast UK
Throughout the UK, hundreds of companies are looking to fill executive and management level HR jobs, and thanks to Cast UK’s diligence and reputation, many of them come to us first to help them find their ideal person.
Similarly, thousands of managers and execs are at any time looking to take the next step in their careers and do something about their own compensation and benefits by moving to a company that can really reward their experience and ideas. Does this sound like you? Call us today on 0333 121 3345.
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