I'm preparing to do performance evaluations. What does the merit increase percentage look like for our industry in 2006?

The short answer is up to 5 percent with 3 percent more common.

But I would add that more practices are creating ranges for each position.

For example, nurses can get 2 percent to 5 percent based on performance in three particular areas of your choosing - say, attendance, clinical quality, and longevity.

Some are even creating tiered positions, like government offices do, so if you get a "promotion" from a level 1 to level 2 radiology tech, it comes with a set salary increase.

Still others, instead of giving a percent of a person's salary, set aside a percentage of the practice's profit at year-end and divide that based on pre-set performance measures.