Compensation study for POA staff

We are a small association with 12 employees and the board is wondering if our manager is getting our compensation out of line for our size and location. Does anyone have a source for getting a compensation study?

BobbyK,
I detect a hint of discontent with the manager. Please explain your organizational chart with responsibilities assigned.

You surely must have questions about whether you are paying the manager too much.
First and foremost and I could be way in left field but I bet some of your members and maybe even Board members don't have a clue what this total compensation is. Most associations hide a lot of these figures in the financials...............common habit.
Once you get comfortable and you total all this employee expenditures, ask around your community and see if you can come up with three of four similar associations, usually word of mouth will turn up my sister lives in a community, et, etc. Visit them or call them, they probably will be just as interested in this as you are. DO NOT expect to get this information by asking the manager. My experience is whether certified or licensed they will not talk salaries with anyone especially from another association. Best measure of worth is what the employee does, not what they are supposed to do.

True. The board consist of 9 members. We do happen to know what the total compensation is as we have a couple of board members who are accountants and very thorough. Before we barge in with the idea that the compensation in some areas may not be in line, we are seeking information. We have a staff of two in the office, the manager, and the maintenance/marina/golf crew. We recently formed a Finance Committee and one of our objectives is to get a compensation study. The problem is finding a company who will do the study without prohibitive cost. It has been discussed that perhaps we could be a project for a college student.

BobbyK,
You are very lucky to have some concerned expertise on your board. However you did not answer if all your board members are able to understand the financials or care to, and you made no mention of how this is disseminated to the owners in your financials.

With regard to college student help along a case study line. I know the large MBA schools sent out interns (sort of ) to do case studies on businesses. But with your size maybe a Jr. College or as you say a college with a Business major program. On the other hand , you seem to have the wheels turning and seem to be on the right track. You are looking for information that will help make your association better, and a good board (and It seems you have control of the situation) will be able to put together any solid information you come up with. No magic bullet here just culling out knowledge that don't apply specific to you and make the good stuff work for you.

Bobby,

I can't help but wonder why you are blaming the PM for this supposed problem. The BOD should be managing the HOA and they should be deciding the compensation for employees, not the PM. I fear this is another example of a BOD that is allowing the PM to have more authority than he/she should have.

The formation of a Finance Committee is certainly a good step in the right direction. Now the BOD needs to go one step further by limiting the amount of control the PM has and start doing their job of managing the assn. While the Finance Committee is checking out compensation of employees they might want to check out the pros and cons of contracting for these services instead of outright employment.