What does a compensation analyst do?

Compensation analysts are responsible for managing company compensation programs by evaluating and analyzing employees' salaries, assist the planning and development of a new and modified sales compensation plan, as well as managing sales compensation short-term incentive programs. The compensation programs are used to improve hiring and boost employee retention. These analysts are skilled and knowledgeable about managing labor costs, benefits structures, and compensation analysis to determine if the employees are fairly compensated.
Compensation analyst responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real compensation analyst resumes:
- Manage vendor relationships with fiscal oversight, and ongoing cost management.
- Manage long-term incentive plan administration including SARP and stock option granting programs (LTI).
- Create and manage communication materials via PowerPoint publish to sales organization.
- Report and manage company healthcare budget and direct all vendor relationships.
- Manage special projects, develop senior level presentations and handle communications on behalf of SVP
- Provide oversight of sales compensation short-term incentive programs.
- Participate in HRIS team implementation project identifying and defining compensation data and reporting requirements.
- Formulate recommendations base on company salary structures, FLSA exemptions, organizational structures, and external market data.
- Provide consultation to supervisors regarding performance reviews and corresponding merit increases; ensure data integrity for upload to HRIS.
- Administer HSA and FSA contributions.
- Lead the HIPAA compliance initiative.
- Prepare shadow payroll worksheets for executives working abroad.
- Prepare salary data and charts for proxy filings.
- Gather truck log data and compile annual OSHA statistical reports.
- Research and update EEO compliance checklists and responses to EEO claims.
Compensation analyst skills and personality traits
We calculated that 12% of Compensation Analysts are proficient in HR, Compensation Programs, and HRIS. They’re also known for soft skills such as Business skills, Analytical skills, and Communication skills.
We break down the percentage of Compensation Analysts that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- HR, 12%
Developed compensation training materials and programs to educate HR generalists, employees and managers about company pay philosophy and compensation programs.
- Compensation Programs, 7%
Assisted in the administration of the compensation programs designed to meet business needs, to maximize people performance and organizational capability.
- HRIS, 6%
Provided consultation to supervisors regarding performance reviews and corresponding merit increases; ensured data integrity for upload to HRIS.
- PowerPoint, 5%
Provided support in gathering information and formatting presentations in PowerPoint for Project Reviews and Executive Committee/ Compensation Committee.
- Data Analysis, 5%
Provided advice to departmental HR Staff and executive team related to Compensation/classification issues, organizational reviews, and data analysis.
- Customer Service, 4%
Provided excellent internal and external customer service which encompasses comprehensive knowledge of contract provisions, system functionality and industry expectations.
Most compensation analysts use their skills in "hr," "compensation programs," and "hris" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential compensation analyst responsibilities here:
Business skills. The most essential soft skill for a compensation analyst to carry out their responsibilities is business skills. This skill is important for the role because "specialists must understand basic finance and accounting." Additionally, a compensation analyst resume shows how their duties depend on business skills: "advise business managers on the administration and interpretation of firm wide and regional compensation policies, guidelines and philosophy. "
Analytical skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling compensation analyst duties is analytical skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists perform data and cost analyses to evaluate their organization’s policies." According to a compensation analyst resume, here's how compensation analysts can utilize analytical skills in their job responsibilities: "designed database that tracked salary increases to ensure compliance with corporate compensation policies. "
Communication skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of compensation analysts is communication skills. This skill is critical to many everyday compensation analyst duties, as "specialists need to provide information about compensation and benefits in a way that is understandable to employees at all levels throughout their organization." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "assisted management in design, development, implementation, communication and administration of corporate compensation policies and pay practices. "
The three companies that hire the most compensation analysts are:
- CDM Smith285 compensation analysts jobs
- Iron Mountain57 compensation analysts jobs
- Highmark41 compensation analysts jobs
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Compensation analyst vs. Benefits & payroll administrator
The Benefits and Payroll Administrator manages the company's payroll, ensuring work benefits and employee documents are secure. The administrator also delivers employees' issues and concerns to the company's proper channels. This position also helps in the audit of the company and ensures compliance with state and federal regulations. This administrative position requires bookkeeping knowledge, a bachelor's degree, and experience in using spreadsheets and accounting software.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, compensation analyst responsibilities require skills like "hr," "compensation programs," "powerpoint," and "data analysis." Meanwhile a typical benefits & payroll administrator has skills in areas such as "human resources," "cobra," "payroll system," and "open enrollment." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Benefits & payroll administrators tend to make the most money working in the professional industry, where they earn an average salary of $55,595. In contrast, compensation analysts make the biggest average salary, $77,218, in the technology industry.On average, benefits & payroll administrators reach lower levels of education than compensation analysts. Benefits & payroll administrators are 10.2% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.7% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Compensation analyst vs. Payroll and benefits coordinator
A Payroll and Benefits Coordinator works as a member of a company's human resources department where their role is to oversee and organize procedures related to preparing and processing employee salaries and benefits, ensuring accuracy and timeliness. They are responsible for setting goals and guidelines, maintaining payroll records and employee timesheets, preparing and processing the necessary documentation, liaising with internal and external business partners, delegating tasks among staff, and resolving issues and concerns if any arise. Moreover, as a payroll and benefits coordinator, it is essential to assist employees by answering inquiries and understanding the extent of procedures.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, compensation analyst responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "hr," "compensation programs," "powerpoint," and "data analysis." Meanwhile, a payroll and benefits coordinator has duties that require skills in areas such as "human resources," "open enrollment," "payroll processing," and "data entry." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Payroll and benefits coordinators earn lower levels of education than compensation analysts in general. They're 9.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Compensation analyst vs. Benefits representative
A benefits representative is responsible for facilitating and disseminating information about benefits programs and policies across all employees in the company. Benefits representatives respond to the employees' inquiries and concerns of benefits processes, update their benefits information, and resolve discrepancies and disputes. They also support the company's initiatives on developing new benefits plans, implementing campaigns, as well as writing application guides for reference. A benefits representative should have excellent communication and organizational skills as they also conduct surveys to check the efficiency and effectiveness of the benefits programs and adjusting procedures as needed.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, compensation analysts are more likely to have skills like "compensation programs," "powerpoint," "data analysis," and "flsa." But a benefits representative is more likely to have skills like "patients," "insurance coverage," "medicaid," and "insurance carriers."
Benefits representatives make a very good living in the finance industry with an average annual salary of $41,460. On the other hand, compensation analysts are paid the highest salary in the technology industry, with average annual pay of $77,218.When it comes to education, benefits representatives tend to earn lower degree levels compared to compensation analysts. In fact, they're 10.5% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Compensation analyst vs. Employee benefits supervisor
An Employee Benefits Supervisor supervises, trains, and completes performance reviews for the staff they manage. They develop and update procedure manuals, analyze, note down company operations, and interact with company vendors, staff, officials, members, and other entities. They oversee all open enrollment aspects with the help of employee wellness and communications or marketing staff. They also manage vendor performance, review service agreements, lead staff calls, meetings, and lead vendor calls.
Types of compensation analyst
Updated January 8, 2025











