Director of employee development vs benefits manager

The differences between directors of employee development and benefits managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a director of employee development and a benefits manager. Additionally, a director of employee development has an average salary of $108,523, which is higher than the $64,064 average annual salary of a benefits manager.

The top three skills for a director of employee development include human resources, employee engagement and employment law. The most important skills for a benefits manager are HR, customer service, and HRIS.

Director of employee development vs benefits manager overview

	Director Of Employee Development	Benefits Manager
Yearly salary	$108,523	$64,064
Hourly rate	$52.17	$30.80
Growth rate	7%	2%
Number of jobs	78,329	11,164
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 65%	Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Average age	47	46
Years of experience	6	6

What does a director of employee development do?

A director of employee development is responsible for managing the employees' performance and facilitating training and programs to maximize their productivity and efficiency during operations. Directors of employee development identify the employees' needs that are essential for their professional growth and development within the company. They coordinate closely with the human resources department to resolve employees' inquiries and concerns and resolve their management complaints. A director of employee development develops initiatives for the employees and raises issues for an immediate resolution to the management.

What does a benefits manager do?

A benefits manager is primarily in charge of overseeing and handling a company's benefits programs and projects for employees. Their responsibilities revolve around coordinating with human resources to gather accurate data, improve existing benefits programs, and creating new ones in adherence to the company's policies and regulations. A benefits manager may also liaise with external agencies, develop activities for employee welfare, and resolve any issues regarding the benefits programs. Furthermore, they may perform clerical tasks such as producing progress reports and presentations, manage budgets, and maintain records of all transactions.

Director of employee development vs benefits manager salary

Directors of employee development and benefits managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Director Of Employee Development	Benefits Manager
Average salary	$108,523	$64,064
Salary range	Between $81,000 And $144,000	Between $39,000 And $104,000
Highest paying City	-	Philadelphia, PA
Highest paying state	-	Pennsylvania
Best paying company	-	Microsoft
Best paying industry	-	Technology

Differences between director of employee development and benefits manager education

There are a few differences between a director of employee development and a benefits manager in terms of educational background:

	Director Of Employee Development	Benefits Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 65%	Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Northwestern University	University of Pennsylvania

Director of employee development vs benefits manager demographics

Here are the differences between directors of employee development' and benefits managers' demographics:

	Director Of Employee Development	Benefits Manager
Average age	47	46
Gender ratio	Male, 45.0% Female, 55.0%	Male, 24.3% Female, 75.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.7% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 11.1% Asian, 5.7% White, 70.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	Black or African American, 10.9% Unknown, 3.4% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 8.2% White, 67.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	18%	35%

Differences between director of employee development and benefits manager duties and responsibilities

Director of employee development example responsibilities.

Manage the in-house production of eLearning training for staff; consisting of filming, editing and publishing training materials.
Develop a structure interview process, implement online background investigation, integrity surveying applications, and manage the HRIS system.
Coach leaders on appropriate employee relations practices, helping them to maintain strong working relationships and accountability while avoiding potential litigation.
Prepare status training reports and measure training results (ROI).
Create PowerPoint presentations for customer events and for internal training.
Co-Design and implement eLearning supporting the launch of a Taleo global talent management system.

Benefits manager example responsibilities.

Lead a successful transition of payroll, time and labor, benefits and general ledger to PeopleSoft.
Collaborate with ADP to ensure system readiness and manage benefit communications.
Lead departmental PeopleSoft projects and initiatives; involve in systems testing when additional system upgrades are implemented.
Coordinate annual open enrollment, update benefits within HRIS, reconcile monthly statements and approve premium statements for payment.
Insure HIPPA compliance as it relates to payroll and human resources.
Create monthly charge back reports for FSA and all other benefits for finance.

Director of employee development vs benefits manager skills

Common director of employee development skills

Human Resources, 16%
Employee Engagement, 12%
Employment Law, 5%
Employee Development, 5%
Labor Relations, 5%
Oversight, 4%

Common benefits manager skills

HR, 10%
Customer Service, 7%
HRIS, 6%
HIPAA, 5%
Life Insurance, 5%
Open Enrollment, 5%

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Director Of Employee Development
Director Of Employee Development vs Benefits Manager

Updated January 8, 2025

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