Mercer SIRS® Benchmark Methodology

Mercer SIRS surveys share an underlying structure of benchmarks, job families, and job levels. This architecture can help participating companies:

• Match jobs to survey benchmarks logically, accurately, and consistently
• Maintain consistent job architecture and worth
• Manage people more effectively across diverse business units and geographies
• Integrate organizations more easily after mergers, acquisitions, or restructuring

Each SIRS benchmark summarizes all the responsibilities and activities of a particular job—across all levels of that job. This approach enables HR and compensation professionals to gather feedback on work descriptions from line mangers without the influence of specific job levels or titles. The result is greater accuracy and stronger management support for survey efforts.

The 1,100 SIRS benchmarks include cross-industry jobs present in most organizations as well as industry-specific jobs to capture highly specialized work. Together, these benchmarks compose a robust structure of thousands of jobs that accurately reflects your workforce.