Quality Progress

2012 Salary Survey

About Max Christian Hansen

• • • • • President, Bright Hat Communications, Inc.

Specialties: – Oral and Written Communications – Ghost-writing: technology and business strategy – Data Quality – Entrepreneurship, tech startups Educated: – Northwestern University – MIT Sloan School of Management Clients include: – Hewlett Packard, Cambridge Incubator, Harbor Research, Media General, Domtar Fine Papers, Weyerhaeuser Forest Products, Sun Microsystems Publication venues: – Harvard Business Review – Conference on Information Quality, MIT

Summary:

1: Overview of the survey 2: Determinants of salary 3: Value of education

Overview of the Survey Reports

• Report 1 – Overview article - focus on education • Report 2 – Introductory essay – Part 1: Employees of organizations - 20 sections – Part 2: Independent consultants - four sections • Within each section: – One or more probable determinants of salary – Separate treatments of U.S., Canada – Other countries in a few sections NOTE: Only four sections are in QP; the rest are in online document.

Salaries are Stalled

Yearly changes in salary for full-time workers in the U.S. Mean salary 2009 2010 2011 2012 $83,442 $85,383 $87,086 $86,743 Percent increase in mean Median salary 2.41% 2.33% 1.99% -0.28% 80,000 81,816 83,986 83,000 Percent increase in median 3.14% 2.27% 2.65% -1.17%

Note: Change in mean salary not statistically significant (p > 0.6).

Continued Economic Recovery

• What we asked: – What steps has your organization taken?

• Pay cuts • Salary freeze • No bonuses • Furloughs • Layoffs • Hiring freezes • Reduced or cut 401K (or similar) employer contributions

Reports of Cost-cutting Measures

90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 2009 2010 2011 2012 Percentage of respondents reporting any cost-cutting measures by their companies

Employees Not Expecting a Raise

(U.S. and Canada)

Determinants of Salary

• Supervisory responsibility • Experience in quality • Education level • Education combined with experience in quality

Salary by Number of Employees Overseen

(U.S.)

Experience in Quality

(U.S.)

Level of Education and Experience

(U.S.)

Salary # of ASQ Certifications

(U.S.)

Control Levers

Variable Education level Certifications / Six Sigma training Supervisory responsibility Eligibility for overtime Years in quality Controllability

Highly controllable Highly controllable Dependent on "soft skills" Somewhat controllable Stick with it!

Effectiveness

High, especially in combination with experience in quality. See sections 16 17.

Variable, but very high when certification matched to position. See section 4. Also see “Land the Big One” on page 20 of the December, 2011 Quality Progress.

High effect. Supervising others brings clear rewards. See section 10.

Usually a byproduct of other factors: overall responsibility, supervisory duties, etc. See section 7.

High, especially in combination with education. See sections 3, 9, & 17.

Control Levers

(continued)

Variable Company Industry Geographic location Age Gender Years in current position Controllability

Dependent on circumstances. Geography may constrain choice of company.

Dependent on circumstances Dependent on circumstances Stick with it!

None Stick with it!

Effectiveness

Bigger companies often pay better. See section 11.

"Hot" industries tend to come and go, but long-range disparities do exist.

Usually a matter of finding a fit with a company.

Salaries tend to increase with age until the highest age brackets. See section 19.

Decreasing with time —gender disparities are smaller in recent years and among recent hires. See section 19.

Low. Seniority in a position is not nearly as well-rewarded as experience in the quality profession.

Independent consulting (as it affects salary in regular employment)

Dependent on circumstances Usually low. See text for explanation.

To learn more…

About Max Hansen: • Bright Hat Communication, Inc • Toll-free: (866) 496-4135 • http://bright-hat.com

• Email: [email protected]

About ASQ and the Salary Survey: • Go to • www.QualityProgress.com

• Search ASQ’s Knowledge Center @ www.asq.org/knowledge-center/search/ • Contact [email protected]

• To learn more about our Sponsor, go to: www.meirxrs.com