Human Resources: Watson Wyatt Data Services releases its 2009/2010 Survey Report on Health Care Executive

ROCHELLE PARK, N.J., (July 16, 2009) - Watson Wyatt Data Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Watson Wyatt Worldwide, today announced the publication of its 2009/2010 Survey Report on Health Care Executive & Management Personnel Compensation. The data are based on the responses of 381 organizations encompassing 577 locations reporting data on 21,416 incumbents. Data are presented on a total of 74 geographic areas and nine industry classifications.

Compensation Increases
Organizations providing data to both the 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 surveys increased salaries by an average of 3.8 percent and total cash compensation by an average of 3.5 percent. Incumbents in the Executive, Telecommunications and Patient Care functions experienced the highest average increase to salaries at 4.2 percent and total cash compensation at 3.9 percent or more. On the low end, incumbents in the Radiology function received average salary increases of 3.1 percent, while employees in the Nursing function received average total cash compensation increases of 2.4 percent.

Average increases to salaries varied by slightly more than one percentage point across all industry groups surveyed, while the average increases to total cash compensation varied by more than three percentage points. The only exception to these findings was in the Residential Care Facilities Industry Group where an atypical decrease was reported. The Hospitals Industry Group experienced the highest increase to salary at 3.8 percent, while the Health Care Finance and Insurance Industry Group experienced the highest total cash compensation increase at 4.7 percent.

Average increases to salaries varied by half a percentage point across all five regions, while the average increases to total cash compensation varied by more than two percentage points. Health care executive and management personnel in the Northeast and South Central regions experienced the highest increase to salary at 4 percent and 3.9 percent, respectively. The Northeast Region also experienced the highest total cash compensation increase at 4.7 percent.

Within the entire sample combined, 20 positions received salary and/or total cash compensation increases that exceeded the overall average salary/total cash compensation increases by at least 25 percent. The following four positions in the overall sample received increases to salaries and total cash compensation of at least 4.5 percent:

*       Chief Executive Officer - Multi-Unit Organization
*       Chief Executive Officer/Administrator - Independent Hospital/Facility
*       Compensation and Benefits Manager
*       Director of Anesthesiology

Bonus/Variable Pay Program Trends
Bonus and/or other cash compensation payments averaged 11 percent of salary for all salary levels combined, with an average of 24 percent of personnel receiving a payment. Incumbents earning more than $500,000 received short-term incentives averaging 35.8 percent of salary, while incumbents paid between $200,000 and $499,999 received an average of 21.2 percent of salary. The percentage of health care executive and management personnel receiving short-term incentive payments ranged from a high of 43.3 percent for employees paid more than $500,000 to a low of 12.2 percent for employees paid less than $75,000.

Both the average percentage of employees receiving bonus and/or other cash compensation payments and the actual average short-term incentive payments varied significantly across all industry groups surveyed. The Health Care Finance and Insurance Industry Group had the highest percentage of employees receiving a short-term incentive at 81.8 percent, while the Health Care Research and Development Services Industry Group had the highest short-term incentive payment (18.2 percent of salary). The Residential Care Facilities Industry Group had the lowest percentage of incumbents receiving a short-term incentive at 8.8 percent and they received the lowest payments (5.6 percent of salary).

Health care executive and management personnel in the Southeast and South Central regions received average short-term incentive payments of 11.3 percent and 11.4 percent of salary respectively, while incumbents in the West Coast Region received 10.2 percent of salary. Among those surveyed, 30.7 percent of health care executive and management personnel in the West Coast Region received bonus and/or other cash compensation payments while 18.7 percent of the incumbents in the Southeast Region received a payment.

While 73.7 percent did not have bonus targets formally established, on average 58.4 percent of health care executive and management personnel with bonus targets actually received a payment while only 9.5 percent without bonus targets received a payment.

The 2009/2010 Survey Report on Health Care Executive & Management Personnel Compensation is available online, or as an online/printed report set.

About Watson Wyatt Data Services
Watson Wyatt Data Services (WWDS), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Watson Wyatt Worldwide (ranked 980 on CNN Money's FORTUNE 1000 list of top companies for 2009), is a leading provider of compensation, benefits and employment practices information to the global employer community. From offices around the world, we solicit, analyze and publish an extensive library of printed, interactive and online survey reports. Our compensation databases are recognized worldwide as the most reliable source of current data for compensation planning.

Global scope, local knowledge ...
Covering 97 countries across six continents, our data centers in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Asia and Latin America annually compile reports on the remuneration, benefits and employment practices of local and multinational companies. Our "in-country" experts apply their local knowledge of the varied employment markets, practices and customs to deliver a complete compensation picture that can be used to create sound, market-based pay programs for entire institutions. Our international databases contain compensation information covering millions of employees based on the annual survey participation of organizations ranging from emerging growth companies to many of the world's largest conglomerates.

In addition to compensation surveys, WWDS also publishes references that help HR practitioners attract, retain and reward exceptional employees. These guides cover a wide variety of subject areas, including variable pay, performance management and personnel policies on a local, regional and global basis. For more information, visit our Web site at WWDS.com.