Unhappy with your salary? You’re not alone. Only 36 percent of professionals surveyed by compensation website PayScale believe they are being paid fairly, according to data released in the fall. A second PayScale report, released on Monday, shows why that perception poses a problem for managers.

“When it comes to retaining good employees, pay practices are extremely important,” said Tim Low, senior vice president of marketing at PayScale. Companies surveyed for the website’s recent compensation report cited pay as the No. 1 reason employees chose to leave their jobs, followed by “personal issues.” PayScale surveyed 7,600 executives, business managers, and human resource practitioners in U.S. companies for its report.

There are more reasons for companies to whip pay practices into shape than keeping employees happy, though. It seems that when companies get compensation right, they do better. Thirty percent of the companies in the survey were what PayScale called “top performers,” defined as market leaders that exceeded 2015 revenue expectations. Across six categories related to pay transparency, top- performing companies were clearer about pay than were average companies.

Nearly half of all top performers reported that they embrace transparent communication around pay and give employees a total rewards statement for compensation, while only 39 percent of companies deemed “average” by PayScale said the same.

The top-performing companies did more than just talk about pay, said the report. They also rewarded employees based on their contribution to the bottom line.

Copy the Story Link