How to get into it
Often, a compensation and benefits officer will have started out in a general HR role, and gained employee reward knowledge specific to ‘compensations and benefits’, enabling them to move into this more specialist position.
What you need to succeed
As well as around 18 months’ compensation and benefits experience, you will need a statistical or analytical degree and the CIPD qualification. Ideally, you will have a proven track record of applying an analytical approach to business issues, with market research and benchmarking experience often advantageous.
Occasionally, a company may actively seek those with Association of Accounting Technicians or Association of Taxation Technicians qualifications – especially if the role is tied in with payroll administration.
What is involved
This very much depends on the size and nature of the organisation you work for. Within larger companies, a compensation and benefits officer tends to play more of a supporting role, where responsibilities are likely to include the administration of pension and private healthcare schemes, producing management information statistics, and payroll administration.
Within smaller organisations, you are likely to be responsible for providing compensation and benefits advice to managers and the HR team itself, evaluating current policies and assisting with any compensation and benefits-related issues.
Prospects
Very good. Those with expertise in the field of compensation and benefits are normally able to command premium salaries and enhanced packages. Once you have gained significant experience (including knowledge of a full project life cycle), there should be opportunities to move into senior compensation and benefits or consultancy roles.
By Hays
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