Wage
finance
Wars HOW TO SET SALARIES THAT
KEEP YOUR TOP STAFF SATISFIED
By Sandra Lavoy
Other than during the initial job offer and perhaps an
occasional pay increase, most managers don’t typically
always have their staff ’s salaries top of mind. But that’s
not the case for employees, of course, who typically
know exactly how much they’re making – or want to make.
Are they happy with their wages, or are there rumbles
of discontent?
Robert Half recently surveyed more than 550 professionals
across Canada to answer that very question. A slim majority of
respondents (51 per cent) said they’re being fairly paid in their
current job – but a sizable 47 per cent feel they’re underpaid. Also,
some of the latter group might be top performers – employees
who would be very difficult to replace if they left your company.
If you believe salary information doesn’t get around, think
again. Although companies with an open salary policy are in the
minority, websites like Glassdoor broadcast how much certain
companies pay their employees – and your people are likely going
there to compare. Those who end up feeling underpaid and, thus,
undervalued – may not stick around for long.
Benchmarking salaries for HR professionals in your city and
industry can go a long way toward keeping your turnover rate low.
What’s more, word gets around about companies that pay at or
above market rates, which makes recruitment that much easier.
This is especially relevant for HR specialists hiring skilled work-ers
in accounting and finance, IT, construction, manufacturing
and healthcare.
SALARY BENCHMARKING – THE EASY WAY
There’s no need to survey peers in other organizations to find out
what they pay their employees – if they’d even tell you. Luckily,
the 2019 Robert Half Salary Guides have done the legwork.
Using data based on thousands of actual placements by special-ized
recruiters across Canada, the guides provide detailed salary
figures and ranges in the fields of accounting and finance, admin-istrative
support, legal, technology and creative services. These
user-friendly publications allow you to easily see where your com-pany’s
salaries sit on the spectrum – and how competitive they are
when stacked up against others in the field.
Location also has a large influence on compensation rates. The
Salary Guides list national averages, but the local variances pro-vide
the data to adjust wages for a particular city. The online Salary
123RF
Calculator does the math for customizing salaries by city.
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