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Description

Compensation Essentials: Structuring, Benchmarking and Explaining Pay Decisions

Gain the reference points needed to set a salary, defend it and respond to an employee who challenges it

  • 3 days — 21 h
  • In-person or virtual
  • Foundation
  • Up to 6 participants

Salaries at hiring are often set by copying the predecessor's package or simply accepting the candidate's request. Gaps build up quietly and surface the day someone complains. The manager cannot explain why an increase was refused and the conversation drifts onto personal ground.

These 21 hours provide the essential reference points without going into specialist technicalities. You will understand how a compensation package is built and what constrains it. You will learn to position a salary against internal practice and against the market. You will prepare the arguments behind a refusal or an increase. You will practise delivering the decision to the employee.

Learning objectives

  • Break down the components that make up an employee's total compensation
  • Position a salary against internal practice and market practice in the UAE
  • Identify pay gaps that rest on no objective criterion
  • Prepare the case for granting or refusing an increase
  • Conduct the feedback meeting in which a pay decision is communicated

What makes this programme different

Salary-setting cases worked through with the real constraints of an organisation
A refusal-of-increase interview role-played once and then replayed with corrected arguments
A pay-gap review grid usable before every salary review cycle

Programme

1Building a Compensation Package

Fixed elements, variable pay and benefits

  • Distinguishing base salary, variable elements and benefits
  • Recurring allowances and the risk of creating an established practice
  • Value-sharing and incentive schemes offered to employees
  • Employer cost of each compensation element

2Working Within the Applicable Framework

Minimum levels, equality and comparisons

  • Internal grading structures and minimum pay levels applicable to the organisation
  • The principle of equal treatment between employees
  • Comparing pay between women and men
  • Compensation elements maintained during periods of absence

3Setting a Salary

Hiring, positioning and negotiation

  • Positioning a starting salary within the internal pay structure
  • Sources of market pay data in the region and how to use them with caution
  • Negotiating with a candidate over the salary requested
  • Internal consequences of granting an exception

4Reviewing Compensation

Review cycles, criteria and consistency

  • Preparing a salary review cycle and the rules announced to employees
  • Criteria for awarding individual increases
  • Consistency checks on the proposals submitted by managers
  • Handling catch-up and realignment cases

5Explaining and Engaging in Dialogue

Feedback, refusals and complaints

  • Preparing the feedback meeting
  • Formulating a well-argued refusal
  • Responding to a complaint based on a colleague's situation
  • Limits of what may be disclosed
  • Dividing roles between the manager and human resources

Who is it for

HR managers and officers · managers involved in pay decisions and owner-managers of small organisations.

Prerequisites

No prerequisites

Dates & locations

36 scheduled dates between November 2026 and December 2027. Seats are confirmed in the order enquiries are received.

November 2026

December 2026

January 2027

February 2027

March 2027

April 2027

May 2027

June 2027

September 2027

October 2027

November 2027

December 2027

None of these dates suit you? We open additional sessions on request, and any programme can be run privately for your team.

Practical details

Before the programme
Online positioning questionnaire. Your development objectives are shared with the trainer, who tailors the practical case studies to your context.
Teaching methods
Theoretical input, workshops and practical case studies. Digital course materials and method sheets provided.
Assessment
Multiple-choice tests and role-play exercises. Assessment of learning at the start and end of the programme, with immediate and 60-day follow-up evaluations.
After the programme
One year of access to the e-learning platform. Self-assessment of the skills acquired and a 30-day follow-up session with your trainer.
How to register
Registration online or on the basis of a quotation.
Lead time
11 working days after confirmation of registration.
Accessibility
Accessible to people of determination. Contact our accessibility coordinator to design a suitable solution: contact@mpf-academy.ae
Start dates
Rolling intake: in addition to the scheduled sessions, this programme can start on request.