It's a tale as old as the hills, one that still ringstrue: Employers think they're paying their employees a fair wage,and employees disagree.

The most recent support for this schism comes from PayScales.The research, based on some 7,600 responses from bosses andworkers, reveals a substantial gap on the fairness issue: 73percent of employers believe they are fairly compensating theirworkforce, but only 36 percent of employees agree.

“Despite the buzz surrounding employee engagement, there isstill a chasm between employee and employer perceptions on many keyissues: pay perceptions, pay transparency, and employee value,” thesurvey concludes.

The survey also uncovers some bright spots from the employeeperspective. Among them: An increasing number of companies arehanding out more and larger bonuses. However, PayScale noted, “This trend …is the result of continued low wages for employees.”

The survey adopted a theme others have moved to, that of cullingout “top-performing companies” to see what they do to encourageengagement compared with the bulk of corporations. Notsurprisingly, the survey revealed that top performers are ahead ofthe pack in finding progressive ways to reward and manage workers.

Who Makes Decisions Around Employees' PayRaises?

First things first, most employers gave raises to theiremployees last year. Of those who gave raises, about four in 10gave them to essentially all employees. Overall, 90 percent of topperformers gave raises, compared with 84 percent of averageperformers.

Most average and top-performing companies gave raisesin the 0 percent to 5 percent range; meanwhile, 14 percent ofaverage companies and 15 percent of top performers shelled outbetween 6 percent and 10 percent.

Transparency continues to be the exception rather than the rule,even with top performers, as 47 percent of them checked the littlebox that said “we have transparent, open communication around pay,”whereas 40 percent of the average Joes agreed with that.

Human resources is still the most likely place to find theperson who sets the pay raise level, but only by a hair. Half ofaverage companies said HR set comp structures, and 55 percent oftop performers said they delegate that to HR. CEOs are the mostcommon alternative compensation setters, particularly at small andmedium-sized companies.

The survey suggests that HR's independence from finance issecure, at least for now. More than two-thirds agreed that HRshould make decisions independent of finance, and less than 8percent said they have HR reporting to finance.

Developing a Compensation Strategy

Having a compensation strategy was far more common among topperformers (49 percent) than among average companies (38 percent).Almost twice as many large companies have a comp strategy than dosmall employers, although there's really no reason a small companycan't develop one.

Across all company sizes and industries, recruiting remains difficult. The proportion of respondents ineach industry who report a lack of qualified candidates for theirpostings was as follows:

1. Engineering and science—71 percent
2. Manufacturing—65 percent
3. Tech—59 percent
4. Retail—58 percent
5. Health care—56 percent
6. Business and marketing—50 percent
7. Education—47 percent
8. Nonprofit—44 percent

Top performers are much more likely to cite this candidateshortage. For instance, 80 percent in the science sector said theycouldn't find enough good job seekers. And to fill top-gunpositions, top performers were about 10 percent more likely to saythey shelled out more to acquire talent than their averageperforming peers.