SMART HR, partner with Watson Wyatt Worldwide, has built the best-in-class Total Rewards Survey, which contains updated remuneration data from a range of industries and foreign-invested companies in Vietnam.

• About the surveyors
• How to Use the Survey Reports
• Methodology
• Update Frequency
• List of Reports
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Participants
• Confidentiality
• Contact Us

About the Surveyors

Watson Wyatt Worldwide (WWW) is a leading provider of compensation, benefits and employment practices information to the global employer community. From offices around the world, WWW solicits, analyses, and publishes an extensive library of printed and interactive on-line survey reports. Its compensation databases are recognized worldwide as the most reliable source of current data for compensation planning.

SMART HR is a Human Resource Management Consulting Company based in Vietnam. Established in October 2001, SMART HR undertakes to meet the growing demand from international companies for quality Human Resource Management consulting services.

WWW and SMART HR have joined hands since 2004 to produce Vietnam Total Rewards Surveys semi-annually and provide remuneration structuring consulting services in Vietnam.

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How to Use the Survey Reports

Judgment and flexibility are needed when translating the salary market data into an acceptable company pay structure or using it to adjust the existing one. We have listed below the basic guidelines on how to use market data for your organisation.

Step 1 - Select the relevant market sample group

When examining survey results, it is important to review the list of participants to ensure this community is the correct group to compare your company against.

Jobs that are non-industry specific, such as human resources, administration, finance, information technology, secretarial, may be assessed across all industries to determine the competitive level of their pays. Industry-specific jobs are best compared with similar-type companies within the same business lines.

Step 2 - Match the jobs

A careful reading of the job description is important to ensure that similar responsibilities exist for a proper match. The job content can vary significantly between two organisations, even though the jobs may have the same title. Survey results can be factored up or discounted depending on whether the position is heavier or lighter than the job surveyed.

Step 3 - Establish your company’s target salary position

When planning your overall compensation policy, you should first determine how you want to compensate your staff in relation to the market, e.g. at market median (P50 or 50th percentile) or market upper quartile (P75 or 75th percentile).

Step 4 - Use competitive compa-ratios measures for your calculation

A commonly used measurement to determine how average salaries are different from the target salary is the competitive compa-ratio. The calculation is quite simple. If, for example, your target is to be median of a targeted market, the competitive compa-ratio can be calculated as shown below:

A market ratio of 100 means the average actual pay is equal to the market target. If the ratio is above 100, the average actual pay is higher than the market target. If the ratio is less than 100, the average actual pay is lower than the market target.

The reasons for being off target need to be explored further and the salary figures should be justified by determining a range with minimum and maximum figures.

Step 5 - Adjust salaries outside the range

You may then decide to realign the salaries of staff who are either below the minimum or above the maximum of the salary range set.

For lower salaries, first measure the cost implication of moving staff to the minimum of the salary range before deciding on a policy. The choice is between bringing them up to a minimum of the range in one move or phasing in the increases over a period of time. These accelerated salary increases should be implemented if the employee is performing to the standard required.

Staff who are above the maximum could have their salaries frozen at their present levels, until the range is adjusted over a period of time by annual increases or structural changes due to market movements. If the employee is performing very well in the current position then every attempt should be made to promote the employee to a higher position.

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Methodology

Total Remuneration Approach

By incorporating all components of the rewards - including cash compensation and non-cash benefits - our survey methodology enables companies to position their total remuneration package with other companies in both quantitative details and qualitative analyses. This comprehensive approach will help not only to perform an “apple-to-apple” comparison of total packages, but also gain greater clarity on the value of total remuneration. The cash compensation items are collected in form of Watson Wyatt’s standard 4 cash items: Annual Basic Salary, Basic Guaranteed Cash, Total Cash and Total Guaranteed Cash.

Data Collection

The below tools are provided to collect data:

• Policy questionnaire
• Remuneration data sheet
• Benchmark job profile

Moreover, the clients will be provided with orientation and hand-on assistance throughout the data submission process. The data collection is conducted via meeting, posted mail, or email transfer.

Job Matching

Our job matching methodology uses the benchmark job approach. Our clients’ jobs are matched against Watson Wyatt’s standard benchmark positions (more than 2,500 positions), based on a set of key factors including key areas of responsibility, reporting relationships and relevant years of experience. Each benchmark job has also been evaluated and assigned a global grade using the Watson Wyatt’s Global Grading System.

Job Grading

In certain cases, if the matching result is contentious, clients can evaluate and grade their jobs using Watson Wyatt’s Job Evaluation Criteria and Global Grading System (GGS). There are 7 job evaluation criteria: Functional Knowledge, Business Expertise, Leadership, Problem Solving, Nature of Impact, Area of Impact, and Interpersonal Skills. The grades, then, can be used to refer market data for comparing pay packages and benefit terms.

Validation process

Once data are collected, 2 rounds of validation are conducted. The first round is to ensure the data are consistent with the client company’s C&B policies. The second round is to ensure all companies’ data are sensible in comparison with the whole market climate and trends. Two most important rules are applied: (1) any company’s number of incumbents can not exceed 25% of the market’s; and (2) in a certain position’s data pool, any data value can not be 6 times more than another data’s value.

Analysing principle

The consolidated data can be analysed by either industry, target group, job family or job.

Reporting principle

There are 6 reporting figures: the average, the 10%ile, 25%ile (the lower quartiles), 50%ile (the median), 75%tile and 90%ile (the upper quartiles) - so called P10, P25, P50, P75 and P90.

The reporting principle is based on the number of companies providing data. Details are as follows:

# of companies providing data	Available reporting figure(s)
3 companies	Average only
4 companies	Average and P50 only
6 companies	Average, P25, P50 and P75
8 companies	Average, P10, P25, P50, P75 and P90

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Update Frequency

The data are updated twice a year.

The survey is conducted in Quarter 3 every year. The data (all remuneration actual figures, policies and practices information as well as the labour market trends) are collected from July to August and the annual TRS finding reports are released in October. The “Market Trend Update” seminars are held in November in both Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

Besides this annual TRS, we update the cash compensation figures as March 31 and release an update report on compensation data in May every year.

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List of Reports

All reports and books listed below are available at SMART HR.
To place an order or to get more information, please contact:

SMART HR
Suite 601, 6th Floor, Capital Place Building
6 Thai Van Lung Street, District 1
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Tel: 848 - 823 5828
Fax: 848 - 823 5829
Email: contact@smarthrvietnam.com

Special prices for multiple purchases. Contact us for more details.

Click here to download a price list and order form for our
Total Remuneration Reports

Asia Pacific Reports

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Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is Total Rewards Survey?

The Total Rewards Survey is a service provided by Watson Wyatt Worldwide and SMART HR by collecting data and producing reports on current labor market trends and remuneration information.

This information is the indispensable basis to determine the Compensation and Benefits (C&B) practices of any organisation and the packages of any key positions.

2. What can it do for my business?

To make optimal C&B management decisions, you need up-to-date market practice information. You want to be able to access quality data and analyse them in the most flexible manner to suit your specific needs. You also want a minimum administrative burden with the assurance of total confidentiality and security of your company data.

Ultimately, the Total Reward Survey finding reports help you attract, retain and motivate talent to drive your business performance while keeping the cost of human capital manageable and maximizing return on investment.

3. What are the possible options?

• You can participate in the survey and be eligible for the “participant special scheme” when purchasing reports.
• You can purchase reports without participating in the survey or providing data.

4. How do I choose a survey provider?

You need to look at the methodology and the list of participants. You also need to answer the following questions:

• Does the survey apply a global standard job matching methodology?
• Are the data collection and reporting mechanism standardized and consistent to allow you to compare results across jobs, industries, and countries?
• How often are the data updated? How responsive is the survey to the market including introduction of new benchmark positions, refining job descriptions, or reporting emerging trends in compensation and benefits practices?
• Can the result be customized to your specific requirements, from selecting comparative peer groups to displaying results in multiple graphic formats?
• How confident is the surveyor about data security and confidence?

5. What reports are available?

We have two main types of reports, the market remuneration analysis and the trend and practice analysis. The first one includes regressed analysis by grade, by job, by function, by target group. The other one includes HR trends, policies on both cash compensation and benefits.

6. Why should I participate?

You will have all your organisation’s jobs matched and graded using global recognized Watson Wyatt Benchmark Jobs Profile and Global Grading System (GGS). You can get Competitive Market Regressed Reports which analyse your company’s data against a chosen market. Moreover, you will be eligible for the cost effective participant scheme.

7. If I participate, do I need to buy the reports?

Yes you do. Participation allows you to be eligible for the “participant special scheme”, with the following benefits:

• Validate information on market practices and trends
• Benchmark against some of the top players in major industries in Vietnam
• Assess your company’s positioning against target competitors
• Design your competitive compensation and benefits packages
• Plan your remuneration revisions and make important HR budget decisions
• Evaluate all jobs using WW Global Evaluation System

8. How can I participate?

Contact us to receive the Subscription/Order Form. Return the completed form to the following address:

SMART HR
Suite 601, 6th Floor, Capital Place Building
6 Thai Van Lung Street, District 1
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Tel: 848 - 823 5828
Fax: 848 - 823 5829
Email: contact@smarthrvietnam.com

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Participants

Click here for a full list of our current Participants

Confidentiality

SMART HR and Watson Wyatt Worldwide adhere to the strictest confidentiality guideline and the highest professionalism while treating the participants’ information. Data are treated anonymously after encoded. The database is protected and can only be accessed by authorized consultants. All exchanged files are locked with IDs and passwords.

Contact Us

SMART HR
(also known as Sy Anh HR M&D Consulting Co., Ltd.)
An affiliation of Watson Wyatt Worldwide

Contact us using the details immediately below or email any of our consultants in the list under Question 8 of the 'Frequently Asked Questions' above.

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