Holmes Co. wages and benefits survey data now available
Mark Leininger, executive director of the Holmes County Economic Development Council, completed the third Holmes County wage and benefit survey that will aid Holmes County businesses in developing competitive employment wages and benefits.
As Holmes County continues to seek ways to prosper and grow, one key element in doing so is determining how the county compares to not only other counties in Ohio, but also the nation as a whole when it comes to employment wages and benefits in a variety of economic markets.
Recently, Mark Leininger, executive director of the Holmes County Economic Development Council, completed the third Holmes County wage and benefit survey designed to provide insight into the county’s employment wages.
“It’s a valuable tool to help businesses evaluate the competitiveness of their compensation,” Leininger said.
The survey, created with the use of economic development funds, was distributed last October and was available to participating companies wishing to participate in the survey through mid-December.
The first such survey was presented in 2017, with 27 business leaders responding. The prior one came in 2020 when 70 businesses responded, and this year Leininger saw that number leap to 121 responses, something that excited him because the more data put into the survey, the greater detail and correct data can be drawn from it.
As always the survey didn’t divulge any individual information from participating businesses, but rather it churned out information only as an aggregate, meaning all information remained confidential.
“Each time we improve the survey, it becomes more relevant for companies to participate,” Leininger said. “We appreciate the companies taking the time to complete the survey because the more responses we get, the better the data. We were really happy with 121 responses.”
Along the way Leininger said he continues to add new information on the survey that makes it streamlined and easier to supply information, as well as including important feedback the community wanted to see in the survey.
Leininger said the increase in the number of participants came about through several key factors including companies valuing the information, more people becoming aware of the survey through the media and Holmes County Chamber of Commerce, and his list of potential company contacts continuing to grow.
With the data complete, Leininger said they had plenty of pertinent wage data to include in the survey, creating a 50-page report in electronic form.
The PDF file enables users to look at the table of contents and quickly find the information they seek.
As a way to thank the companies that participated, Leininger said he provided availability for those companies to glean from the findings in mid-January. The survey findings are only becoming available to all county businesses now.
What did Leininger find from the data?
“For the most part, our compensation is pretty competitive,” Leininger said. “We are on par with or greater than both the state and national median values.”
According to Leininger, many local business owners cite difficulties in hiring and retaining workers as the biggest challenge facing their businesses into today’s business climate.
As a result owners have requested wage information to help inform their compensation offerings and ensure they can remain competitive in a tight labor market, and Leininger was more than ready to create an avenue.
The survey is designed to elicit compensation information, in connection with 40 different employment positions.
The businesses targeted are in the realm of construction, production, maintenance, retail, hospitality and food services, and while all questions may not be pertinent to each company, participants can opt to answer only the questions that pertain to them.
“It’s something that can be of great value to our county and its businesses,” Leininger said. “I encourage any company to take the time to contact me.”
The survey data is now available to any company that would like to view it at no cost.
To receive the survey data, email Leininger at mleininger@hcedc.com.