Are You Meeting New Employees’ Pay Expectations?

In today’s digital world, professionals can access tons of salary information with just a few clicks. Job seekers and employees alike can find out what their skills are worth or what others are earning for performing similar duties. As a result, an increasing number of professionals have clearly defined salary expectations.

This mindset can be challenging for employers. If a company fails to meet pay expectations, they may struggle to land and keep top talent. However, there is also a chance that a professional will believe that a salary is appropriate based on the information they find online, even though it far exceeds the norm for that kind of work in your area and industry.

Companies have to make sure that the salaries they are offering are reasonable. Additionally, they need to be able to show that their pay rates are fair, as employees may expect something more than a basic reassurance from a manager.

If you want to make sure that you are handling pay scales appropriately, here’s what you need to do.

Do Your Research

First and foremost, companies need to be just as diligent (if not more so) about researching salaries as the professionals they hire. On an annual basis, review your pay scales for every position and compare them to norms in your region and industry.

Make use of a range of resources when you are doing your research. Along with formal industry reports and government data, you need to use others as well. It can be wise to head to career sites or your competitors’ recruitment pages to see if salary ranges are listed. This can give you indications about what other companies are offering for various roles, making it a solid data point to include.

Also, always look at the websites that candidates and employees will use, such as Glassdoor and PayScale. Often, pay data on these sites is crowdsourced and unverified, so it may not be accurate. Additionally, they may not account for the nuances of a role and rely heavily on job titles for grouping data, which can also harm accuracy.

It also isn’t uncommon for professionals to look at data on these sites that is from outside of their local area. This may cause them to factor in salary averages from cities where employers offer higher salaries than your region provides, giving them inaccurate expectations. Still, employees may be basing their stances on this data, so you need to know what is out there so that you can anticipate what candidates and employees are basing their expectations on.

Aim to Be Competitive

Once you collect your data, you need to be competitive. While salary plays a big role, you can also factor in the value of your total compensation package when determining where you land in comparison to other area employers.

If adjustments are necessary, make them. Otherwise, your competitors may be able to entice your new employees to leave. However, if what you currently offer is reasonable, be transparent about your findings. Let workers know that you did your research and share the data. That way, if their expectations weren’t realistic, they may see that.

Additionally, keep them informed regarding when salary reviews take place and share the data every time you make a decision about pay scales. Further, make sure they see the value of any other forms of compensation, as employees may not realize that their total compensation beats the norm if it appears that their salary alone does not.

Ultimately, employee pay expectations can be challenging to navigate. However, by doing your research and making adjustments when the data supports it, you can keep your employees satisfied.

If you’d like to learn more about managing salary expectations and remaining competitive, the team at The Advance Group can help. Contact us to discuss your questions or concerns with one of our specialists today and see how our compensation expertise can benefit you.

 

 

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