In the most recent numbers brought forth from the INDUSTRIAL DISTRIBUTION Annual Compensation Survey, 23 percent of our respondents would leave their jobs for higher pay. Of all the results we received from surveying CEOs, presidents, vice presidents, sales managers, and branch managers, among other high-level officers and executives in a distributorship, that was the first to really focus our attention.

At first, we didn't really know what to think about that number. We thought, "Wow, that's kind of low," but then we thought, "Well, no, actually that's kind of high." And then we thought, "Okay, that's just a very interesting statistic."

Al Bates, president of Profit Planning Group , a company offering profitability studies, compensation studies, educational programs and profit improvement reports to small- to mid-sized business in Boulder, Colo., said of the statistic: "I suppose you could look at that from a 'glass half full' perspective and say that 77 percent of people wouldn't leave their jobs for higher pay. But since that's also almost a quarter of the respondents, I find that interesting."

Granted, personal expenses and the like rise every year, as do other costs, but this almost shows a "general malaise," says Bates. "But you could just say it's because of the cost of living as well."

"People are experiencing a 'hangover,' for lack of a better word, from the pay increases in '99 and 2000," says Shawn Hamilton, an executive compensation consultant for Hay Group , a consulting firm that helps organizations achieve their strategies by organizing, managing, motivating, and rewarding their people, located in Kansas City, Mo. "They may say that they'd leave for more money, but I think they would find that the job market may not support them. There aren't as many jobs and opportunities out there right now as they think."

Let's start with the CEOs/presidents who responded. Since 2003 numbers can only be speculated, we'll focus on 2002. Their total compensation was about $130,000, including $6,000 in stock options, almost $10,000 in profit sharing, and about $15,000 in bonuses. For those with sales responsibilities, they logged $35,000 in commissions. These numbers increased from their 2001 numbers for 46 percent of the respondents, and by more than 40 percent for only 8 percent of the CEOs/presidents.

"Even with the economy, that kind of increase percentage is not abnormal," says Hamilton. "Most would have received a market push, or annual updates. But it's not a bad thing to have revenues down and compensation going up. If the companies are performing, and the operatives can beat the numbers, than they should be rewarded for managing the assets."

Hamilton also mentions the need to maintain the executive status quo in the company, and the company's strength in the marketplace. And to corroborate his comment, 57 percent of the respondents said the occasion of their last raise was their normal annual review.

For vice presidents–sales, their total compensation was about $84,000, including more than $2,300 in profit sharing, $35,000 in commissions, more than $6,000 in bonuses, and $31,000 in stock options. These increased from 2001 for 42 percent of respondents.

For outside sales, they responded with a total compensation of $55,000. By the nature of their jobs, their commissions commanded a good portion of that, with $20,000; profit sharing equaled about $5,000, bonuses came in at more than $3,500. Their compensations increased for 67 percent of the respondents.

Branch managers made $66,000 in 2002, including $6,000 from profit sharing, about $22,000 from commissions, and $5,500 from bonuses. Their compensations increased for 61 percent of respondents.

Inside sales' numbers show a 2002 compensation average of $40,000, including almost $3,800 in commissions. They received about $1,800 in bonuses, and $2,500 in stock options. Inside sales' compensations increased by 67 percent from 2002.

Finishing up the job title selection, of course, was "Other." Verbatim responses listed occupations from COOs, customer service managers, general managers and inventory controllers to partners, purchasing managers and regional sales managers. With such a varied listing of positions, the numbers would be a bit skewed for specific jobs. Let's just say that their compensations increased by 60 percent from 2001.

"Of course, it all depends on the industry," says Hamilton. "But across the spectrum, base salary has moved [increased] a little."

Said Bates, "I'm a bit surprised that such a percentage increased each year. 2001 was a terrible year. But listed as a more general increase in compensation, we don't know whether it, specifically, was a base pay raise or bonuses."

Some more respondent percentages: 92 percent receive health insurance; 91 percent receive vacation time; 81 percent receive sick time; 75 percent have a 401K; 74 percent receive life insurance; 63 percent get dental insurance; and 61 percent have short- and long-term disability.

"Most benefit packages are pretty standard, which is why the large percentage of replies have a majority of them," says Bates. "Benefits are important to a person, but generally, are not a disqualifier. I mean, everyone has them; you really can't do business without them."

Other benefits that received notable responses include: in-house training (54%), cars (53%), outside training (52%), profit sharing (42%), tuition reimbursement (36%), maternity/paternity leave (28%) and stock options (14%). Three percent listed "Other," and 2 percent responded that they get none.

When asked for which benefits the respondents would consider changing jobs, 55 percent said profit sharing, 53 percent said stock options, and 52 percent said health insurance. One encouraging bit of news is that 19 percent wouldn't change their jobs for any benefits.

Whenever a paycheck is deposited, received, and/or spent, one usually has that fleeting (and maybe not-so-fleeting) moment of, "I'm not getting paid enough for what I do." Respondents were quick to compare themselves to their peers, and to look at their own place in their work.

Thirty percent said that they thought their compensation was slightly lower than their peers, 19 percent said it was significantly lower, 29 percent said about the same, 17 percent said slightly higher, and 4 percent said significantly higher.

"That people said slightly lower is comparable with, perhaps, the size of their companies, but that anyone said 'significantly lower' bothers me," says Bates. "According to the earlier numbers of money ranges, they all seem pretty close."

When asked how well compensated they feel, 12 percent said very well compensated, 38 percent of respondents said fairly compensated, 27 percent said well compensated, and 23 percent said under compensated. So then, how rewarding do they think their job is? Forty percent said it is rewarding, 26 percent said somewhat rewarding, 25 percent said very rewarding, 7 percent said somewhat rewarding, and then 2 percent said very unrewarding.

This is always the fun part of surveys, statistics and responses. When adding up the averages of so many numbers, the information dissector finds that the "average" respondent really only describes probably one respondent. Look at the easiest example of this, 59 percent of respondents are general-line distributors and 41 percent are specialists. According to the law of averages, the "average" distributor then is a general-line distributor. That whole 41 percent is disqualified because it's not among the majority.

So let's look at the "average" distributor: as stated, he is a general-line distributor who is 48 years of age; male; has had some or completed a college degree; does not have a degree in industrial distribution; has 20 years of experience in the industry; has worked for two different distributorships; and may make $100,000 in total compensation in 2003.