NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - If you are frustrated about your company's pay policies, you are not alone. A recent survey showed that less than half of the nation's employees think their organization's pay policy is fair.

The study, released by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and the cable network CNNfn, found that more than 60 percent of the nation's employees are satisfied with their company's compensation and benefits packages, but only 45 percent of employees like what they see in their paycheck.

In addition, 27 percent of those surveyed felt that base salary does not fairly reflect their contributions to their company, compared to other employees.

The survey also suggested that contributing factors, such as communication about pay and designing policies that employees feel are fair compared to their contributions, can affect job satisfaction -- contrary to popular thought that money is not the most tangible satisfier for employees.

"This survey reveals that employees tend to believe their company's pay policy is fair if HR [Human Resources] professionals explain compensation packages to them," said Ken Jautz, executive vice president and general manager of CNN Business News. "The survey results show that for working Americans straightforward communication from their employers about their compensation is absolutely critical to their job satisfaction."

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Illustrating the importance of communication, the survey found that when employees understand how their compensations are determined, they tend to be more satisfied overall with their compensation packages and jobs.

SHRM is a professional organization for human resources management that represents more than 175,000 individual members, while CNN, CNNfn and CNN/Money are owned by New York-based Time Warner Inc. (TWX: Research, Estimates)