Determine fair industry pay based on job description

If you don't have job descriptions for your positions, create them. Things to include are job duties, skills set and expectations. Then, use online salary tools by industry to help you determine the average industry pay an employee that matches the job description. Be sure to keep the number of years of experience and job location in mind.

I recommend: PayScale has a helpful salary tool that lets you search by job title, years of experience and job location. Salary.com's salary calculator is one of the site's free salary tools, or you can purchase a Personal Salary Report with more details for salary by industry information.

Compare industry pay on national job boards

You can research all day long and find plenty of hypothetical references, but sometimes real-life examples provide the best information. Check your local newspaper's classified section or search online job boards to find average salary information from real job postings. Keep a log for a few weeks to see if a pattern emerges.

I recommend: Find information on average pay by industry on industry-specific websites, such as Quintessential Careers. Industry-wide job boards, like Monster.com, are another good place to search for average pay by industry.

Buy salary software to determine fair industry pay

As a business owner, you may not have the time to do extensive research on salaries, yet you want to come up with fair pay for your staff. Online salary research services and compensation software programs can get you the information you need and are usually quite simple to use.

I recommend: The Economic Research Institute offers a Salary Assessor to provide competitive salary data on thousands of positions. Actek’s ACOM3 Commission and Incentive Compensation System is a great resource for determining compensation plans for incentive-based positions.