Baking & Snack - July 2004 - 60

RESEARCH & STATISTICS

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EXCLUSIVE REPORT: Baking & Snack's 10th annual
Salary and Job Satisfaction Survey finds confidence building
in a top-down effect, while satisfaction is more a mixed bag.

BY STEVE BERNE AND
MARJORIE TROXEL HELLMER
ne solid indicator of economic recovery and
returning business confidence is seeing significant increases in c.e.o.s' incomes through
hard salary increases - not tentative increases
based on potential cash bonuses or incentives. Because
c.e.o.s are the ones with ultimate responsibility, where
the buck absolutely stops and restarts, they take the
blame when times are tough and generally reap initial
rewards when tides turn. If this recovery trend continues, next year's survey should see a return to prosperity
for middle management as well.
This year, according to results of Baking & Snack's
10th annual Salary Study and Job Satisfaction Survey,
c.e.o.s' median base salary jumped 9.1%, or $10,000, to
$120,000, while median cash bonuses remained steady
at $40,500. Last year, this group gained $5,500 in salary
compared with 2002 figures, but bonuses declined by
$5,000 for an insignificant net gain of $500.
In comparison, sales and marketing vice-presidents
gained only $4,000 in base salary this year but gathered
a median bonus increase of $5,000 - an indication of
strengthening product sales - for a total cash increase of
6.0%. C.e.o.s' total cash increase equated to 6.6%.
This year, survey respondents in every position indi-

Hiring Conditions

003 survey*
% respondents)

Created new positions

Filled vacancies, added no new positions

Eliminated positions by not
replacing employees who leave

Eliminated positions by lay-off/closing

Hiring freeze

*MULTIPLE RESPONSES ACCEPTED

60 / BAKING & SNACK / July 2004

cated that cash bonuses either increased or stayed steady,
compared with last year, when all results were in negative territory. The biggest salary gainers this year were
the middle-management titles of production manager
and general manager. These positions reported median
base salary increases of 5.8% and 5.9%, respectively,
with median total cash increases of 8.5% and 8.1%.
The titles seeing the smallest gains were plant manager
and purchasing manager. Each gained only $1,000 in
median base salary and reported $0 and $500 gains in
bonus incentives, for total cash increases of 1.0% and
2.2%, respectively.
Another indicator of industry recovery can be seen
when comparing responses to hiring conditions. Slight,
but consistent, increases in the percent of respondents
indicating new or filled positions in their companies
compared with last year and a decrease in the fraction
of companies that eliminated positions through attrition
are both displays of improvement. Even more significant
are the strong decreases in the percent of respondents
citing lay-offs or closings and hiring freezes - a 30%
decrease in both these responses compared with last
year's percentages.
SATISFACTION NOT-SO-GUARANTEED. According
to research conducted by Frederick Herzberg and reported in a recent Harvard Business Review, the factors
that make people satisfied and motivated in their jobs
are vastly different from the aspects that cause dissatisfaction. Managed poorly, environmental factors such as
low salary, annoying boss or uncomfortable workspace
can make people miserable. However, even if these factors are superbly managed, they don't necessarily motivate hard work. Instead, according to Mr. Herzberg,
whose original research led to the development of the

Baking & Snack - July 2004

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