Salary Survey 2024: It’s Not You, It’s the Company Culture

What’s the difference between planner respondents to this year’s Salary Survey who are happy in their jobs and those who are not? It doesn’t seem to be how they feel about the intrinsic nature of the role — which, even the most satisfied planners said, is challenging and demanding. It’s the organizations they work for.

Author: Magdalina Atanassova and Michelle Russell       

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce characterizes today’s workplace environment as “The Great Reshuffle,” which follows the Great Resignation when nearly 100 million workers quit in 2021 and 2022, according to the August issue of Wharton@Work. Employee retention remains a significant challenge for organizations, noted the University of Pennsylvania’s executive education newsletter.

It’s difficult to say whether the business events industry is experiencing or will experience the Great Reshuffle. One indication this may be happening comes from Tracy Judge, founder and CEO of Soundings, a talent community of more than 2,900 independent business events professionals. Judge told Convene that she has seen an uptick in the number of people joining Soundings, who have left full-time employers to work as freelancers.

And reading between the lines of this year’s Salary Survey responses, it would seem that more people are unhappy than happy with their current employers. When we compared open-ended responses to this year’s Salary Survey question, “What do you like best about your job?” against what respondents said in answer to the opposite question (what they liked least), several themes emerged. What they liked most or least about their work didn’t have much to do with personal preferences or strengths, like “I’m good with numbers” or “event marketing is not my thing.” The biggest common denominator to emerge from both sets of comments was the workplace. Many of the positive aspects of their jobs that planners mentioned could be attributed to a healthy workplace environment. And many of their negative comments spoke to poor management, leadership, and culture at the organizations that employ them.

During May and June, 462 event professionals who participated in this year’s Salary Survey shared a high level of satisfaction — eight out of 10, on average — with the overall profession, a further indication that the root of any unhappiness is not the role itself. Most of the categories that ChatGPT grouped the “what they like best/least” responses into reflect positively or negatively on the people they work with and the places where they work. Some examples of the good, bad, and the ugly:

In the Plus Column

  • “My colleagues are pleasant and there’s very little drama at this team/company.”
  • “Work from anywhere, self-management, great colleagues.”
  • “Flexibility, innovative culture, and autonomy.”
  • “Employer supports continuing education and participation in industry events.”
  • “A lot of trust.”
  • “I like my team, the work is interesting, and the company has great culture and benefits.”
  • “The people I work with are amazing. We have a great team. Everyone is very supportive of one another.”
  • “Work-life balance, support for professional development, training and career growth, my colleagues, achievable and manageable workloads, set processes and procedures of what’s expected of me and goals to pursue.”
  • “I have an amazing boss and great teammates.”

Find a PDF with the Salary Survey Graphics here.

On the Minus Side

  • “Too many projects/initiatives, not enough staff to do them.” (The need for more staff was mentioned 25-plus times.)
  • “Overworked. Difficult to gather data from departments.”
  • “Lots of turnover and burnout, expectations that high performers can take on more work for the same pay.”
  • “Managing silos and old schools of thought.”
  • “Too many group discussions and perspectives need to be considered before decisions are made. Time-consuming.”
  • “Company doesn’t take responsibility for helping you grow, doesn’t provide feedback.”
  • “Lack of respect for what I do, my contribution to our success, and inability to grow or progress in my career at my current organization.”
  • “Leadership who micromanage every part of what I do. They don’t trust my judgment or expertise.” (5 mentions of micromanagement)
  • “Office politics” (16 mentions)
  • “Lack of clear decision-making and vision from leadership.”

Further insights into the culture at the organizations where they work can be gleaned from planners’ responses to this question: “Aside from a raise, what is the one thing you have asked — or would like to ask — from your boss?”

  • “Clarity of goals and purpose — what is it, really, that we are trying to accomplish? How will we know when we get there? Is there even a ‘there’ there?”
  • “To not exclude me as much from other company matters — they may be more relevant to my position than is realized.”
  • “For support staff assistance. Encourage team members to step up their response time and communication with colleagues and members.”
  • “Recognition, rest days, more staff.”
  • “More explanation/actual training when she turns things over to me. Compassion, trust, and consistency.”
  • “More time off without the expectation that I will be available on email.”
  • “Show respect for all of your employees.”
  • “Let me be me.”
  • “For decisions to be made based on data or some sort of evidence, not just whatever the flavor of the week is.”
  • “A more realistic expectation around budgets.”

What’s the key to retaining employees overall? “Finding sound advice is anything but straightforward,” Wharton@Work said. “Some experts emphasize the importance of competitive compensation and benefits, others point to a positive organizational culture, and still others indicate the importance of creating opportunities for career development. Many managers weighing the contradictory recommendations feel the pressure to do something to reduce the costs associated with hiring and onboarding new employees.”

Perhaps we have too big a wish list, but those don’t seem like contradictory initiatives. Why can’t we work at organizations that place a premium on all of the above? It seems like at least one event professional respondent has found such a place: “I feel valued, supported, and recognized by my boss and have always had my professional development requests approved as he and my association invest in continuing education.”

Here’s a look at what this year’s Salary Survey respondents had to say about their compensation, their responsibilities, their challenges, and, by extension, their workplaces.

A snapshot of who they are. The vast majority of respondents were from North America (91 percent), with 2 percent each from Europe, Asia Pacific, South America, and Central America. The average age for respondents is 46 years old, possessing nearly 18 years of experience — three years more, on average, than last year’s respondents. Nearly nine out of 10 are female; nearly three-quarters are white; 7 percent are Black; one out of 10 is Hispanic or Latina/Latino; and 6 percent is Asian or Pacific Islander.

Who makes how much. The highest percentage of respondents (one-third) earn $125,000 or more annually, reflecting their nearly 20-year tenure on average. Last year, 28 percent earned a salary at this level. This year, we also asked those who said they make more than $125,000 to specify their salary — the average of those over this mark is nearly $163,000. Nearly one-quarter of respondents earn between $100,000 and $124,999. In terms of roles, the average salary for those who identified as event marketers is nearly $83,000; for those who work for associations, corporations, government, or are independent planners, the average is $102,000-plus. The majority of respondents are at the managerial level (36 percent) and their average salary is nearly $85,000. Almost one-third of respondents are directors with salaries around $105,000. The average salary for those at the executive or VP level (13 percent) is $116,000-plus. Planners who supervise a staff earn nearly $99,000; those without direct reports earn close to $87,000. The average annual salary for all North American respondents — $103,150 — represents an increase of 6 percent over last year’s average of $97,130.

The persistent gender wage gap has widened a bit this year vs. last year, from nearly 5 percent to almost 6 percent — this year, women earned on average more than $6,000 less than men.

Industry cred. More than half of respondents have earned the CMP (Certified Meeting Professional) designation and one-quarter have earned the DES (Digital Event Strategist) designation. Five percent of respondents are CAEs (Certified Association Executives); and 6 percent have earned a CMM (Certification in Meeting Management). The average salary for those with a CMP is nearly $110,000 vs. those without a CMP, whose salary averages slightly above $104,000. Respondents who earned a DES have an average salary of nearly $107,000. The average salary for respondents without any designation is $94,429.

Seven on a satisfaction scale. On a scale of one to 10 (with 10 being the most satisfied), the average level of satisfaction with respondents’ salary is seven. Those who checked nine or 10 on the scale make, on average, around $110,000 a year. Conversely, those who ranked their level of satisfaction on the lowest end (one or two), earn less than half that salary — around $54,000. However, only 12 respondents gave such a low rating, making this data set too small to be considered representative. In terms of satisfaction with the profession as a whole, those who gave it a nine or 10 on the scale earn on average around $107,000. There were only a handful of respondents who gave their satisfaction with the role a three or four rating.

Upward bound. Four out of five respondents said their salary increased in the past 12 months; only one-fifth said it remained the same. For those who saw a raise in pay, half said it was due to a regular salary increase; 14 percent got a promotion; and 7 percent changed employers. The average salary increase overall was 8 percent, the same as last year. Three out of five planners expect to get a raise in the next year; one out of five is unsure and even fewer don’t foresee a pay increase.

Shoulder to the wheel. Tracking with the results over the past several Salary Surveys, almost half of planners work 41-50 hours per week, and 19 percent (vs. 16 percent in last year’s survey) put in 51-60 hours a week. Five percent regularly work 61-70-hour workweeks and one-quarter are at the lower end, working 30-40 hours a week.

Taking time off. Consistent with last year’s results, three out of 10 planners took 11-15 days off in 2023 and two out of nine reported taking 10 or fewer days off. Slightly more than one-quarter took 16-20 days off and more than one out of five took more than 20 days away from the job.

More than one-third (36 percent) said that they received additional benefits, mostly in the form of additional PTO and retirement contributions.

Heavier load. Nearly half (47 percent, about the same as last year) said that they have had additional responsibilities added to their job description this year for reasons other than a loss of staffing, while one-quarter said they are taking on more work because of insufficient staff. Only around three out of 10 respondents said they have not assumed any additional duties.

WFH/WFO. Nearly nine out of 10 planners said their employers have aflexible work policy, the same as last year, but only three out of 10 (compared to two out of five) said they get to decide when to work from home and when to be in the office, reflecting a larger trend toward stricter policies around working in the office. Thirty-seven percent have a fixed schedule of two to three days in the office.

Continuing education. The overwhelming majority of planners — 86 percent — said they are learning new skills on their own. Seven out of 10 planners said their employer regularly pays for them to attend educational conferences — the very events many of them are responsible for organizing.

AI, of course. There’s no escaping the impact AI has had on the workforce over the past year. Around half of planners said they are using gen AI to help them with their job — mainly for marketing, communication and ideation, and survey analysis. Familiarity with using AI also is a skillset event professionals are seeking in new hires, along with communication and interpersonal skills. Mostly, however, they are seeking to hire candidates who come with industry experience.

Survey and analysis conducted by Convene Digital Media Editor Magdalina Atanassova. Overview and sidebars by Convene Editor in Chief Michelle Russell.

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