Compensation and Benefits Manager Job Description

Employees are a company’s greatest asset. They take care of the company’s most important moneymaker — the customers. Thus, every company must put their employees first and ensure they’re well-paid and appreciated for their services. A compensation and benefits manager is tasked with executing this cardinal task. Organizations are competing for talent when unemployment rates are low. The compensation and benefits manager’s skills are needed to attract and retain employees with the experience and capabilities to achieve the mission.

Compensation and benefits managers play a crucial role in the growth and sustenance of a company’s talent, making them a central figure in the general management of a company. If you’re looking to become a compensation manager, you’re on the right track, seeing as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) estimates there’ll be about 1,500 new job openings for compensation managers each year, on average, until 2030. 

The first step to becoming a great employee benefits manager is knowing what to expect and what is expected of you. 

Roles and Responsibilities of a Compensation and Benefits Manager

While the duties of a benefits manager may vary depending on a company’s size and administrative structure, these are the 10 most basic tasks across the board: 

1. Create, implement, monitor, and update employee pay and benefits policies to keep them competitive and legally compliant.
2. Continually review current wage rates, federal and state regulation changes, and competitor’s compensation programs.
3. Streamline compensation policies, programs, and procedures with the company’s HR vision and overarching objectives.
4. Outsource and oversee external partners such as investment managers, benefit vendors, consultants, and insurance agents.
5. Regularly confer with other department heads and managers to evaluate new compensation, compliance, and benefits demands and prepare detailed job descriptions.
6. Allocate and supervise work activities to subordinate staff in their department.
7. Prepare operational budgets for their personnel and ensure adherence.
8. Complete all mandatory reporting required as dictated by rules and regulations, such as the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).
9. Prepare and disseminate updated compensations and benefits information to employees and propose insurance and retirement plans to the company.
10.  Research collective bargaining contracts, current and past arbitration decisions, and employment legislation to advise management accordingly. 

With their roles overlapping with other departments such as legal, finance, and operations, compensation and benefits managers must be uniquely qualified to work under pressure. 

Compensation and Benefits Manager Skills

The modern-day compensation and benefits manager should have a good balance of technological and interpersonal skills, work experience, and academic qualifications in human resources (HR) or in disciplines intertwined with HR.

Technological Skills 

Even beyond the HR field, almost all workers today require software or computers to do their jobs. Compensation and benefits managers need to track and analyze data and metrics within and outside the company. This includes general financial data like prevailing wage rates and internal company data such as payroll and employee databases.

At a basic level, benefits managers need to know how to use tools such as:

• Accounting software 
• Human resources software
• Spreadsheet software
• Microsoft Office
• Project management software
• Email software

The more tech-savvy benefits manager can use more complex software, including cloud-based data access, database user interface, and process mapping and design software.

Interpersonal Skills

Compensation and benefits managers interact daily with employees, fellow managers, stakeholders, and third parties. They need strong interpersonal skills when negotiating bargaining agreements, leading exit interviews, mediating between employees and benefits providers, or between company and employees. 

These skills include persuasive speaking, active listening, critical thinking, patience, leadership, problem-solving, negotiating, decision making, and empathy. Employee benefits managers must have excellent interpersonal skills considering they handle very sensitive matters that affect employees directly. 

Education, Work Experience and Certification

According to the BLS, most compensation and benefits manager positions require a bachelor’s degree in human resources, business, or a related field. Professionals with work experience in fields such as finance and business management may also be helpful. Compensation managers can work in any industry or company with a sizable workforce. The BLS says compensation and benefits managers held 18,700 jobs in 2020, with the professional, scientific, and technical services sector accommodating the most at 19%. Primarily, benefits managers work from offices, and most work full time, clocking in over 40 hours per week.

While not always required, according to the BLS, earning certification can give compensation and benefits managers a competitive advantage because it validates their expertise. Certification typically involves completing training and/or passing an exam that gauges a professional’s comprehension of the subject matter. Earning HR certification through the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) for example, can help professionals boost their credibility and value within a company.

Salary Potential and Job Outlook

The demand for compensation and benefits managers is fueled by today’s dynamic and competitive employment landscape. In seeking to attract and retain top talent and comply with labor laws and regulations, more businesses are hiring compensation managers. It explains why the BLS projects a 4% job growth through 2030.

According to the BLS, the annual median pay for compensation managers was $127,530 as of May 2021. Managers at the top 10% earned more than $208,000, while the bottom 10% earned less than $77,040. Further, benefits managers working for private companies and enterprises recorded the highest median annual wage at $135,460, while those working for the government had the lowest median annual pay at $101,860. 

Start Your Journey with Villanova University

As a recognized SHRM Education Partner, Villanova University can help you get to the next step in your HR education path. The Certificate in HR Management is designed for current and aspiring HR professionals who want to validate their HR expertise. The non-credit program is also designed to help professionals prepare to sit for SHRM’s Certified Professional or Senior Certified Professional certification exams.