Pay attention to those salary surveys

To win the battle for talent, progressive organisations invest in compensation benchmarking

Where compensation is concerned, Indian organisations are not going to tighten their purse strings in 2018.

That’s one of the key findings of Mercer’s 2017 India Total Remuneration Survey. It has predicted a 10 % increase in salary across industries and career levels for 2018, a slight improvement from 2017.

Consulting firms will pay close attention to findings of this survey, as they will to those of 22nd Annual India Salary Increase Survey by Aon Hewitt which sees the light in February.

In the next few weeks, a raft of other salary surveys, including one by KPMG, will be released, which again will give consulting firms some computing to do.

Salary benchmarking

Consulting firms help organisations by advising them on right compensations to paid for every role. In other words, they do salary benchmarking, which enables organisations to learn about the market rate for each position. This information is of vital importance to them in the battle for talent. Ensuring a competitive salary structure is necessary to draw the best talent.

“Salary benchmarking is a pulse check; it helps organisations take informed decisions on recruitment and talent management strategies,”says Robert Inniah, assistant vice president — HR, Excelra Knowledge Solutions.

Win-win situation

Salary benchmarking, which is mostly published in the first quarter, can be beneficial to both employer and employee.

For an employee considering joining an organisation, the salary benchmarking published by the company/ industry is a factor that will influence his decision. This benchmarking tool will save both employer and employee a lot of time.

Salary benchmarking helps employees working in the company make up their minds about staying on or leaving. For, they know how much of a pay hike can be expected.

The challenge before organisations is to see good intentions translate into action. Where compensation is concerned, the challenge is almost always steep.

Uncertain economic conditions and the need for cost-cutting in an organisation can contribute to this challenge. Despite these factors, organisations are faced with the necessity of making pay checks attractive.

Engagement factor

While salary is undoubtedly an indispensable component of talent retention, it should be treated on par with another factor — An environment for growth.

Ikshit Sharda, Total Rewards Lead at Freshworks, says that there is no alternative to getting employees engaged. When the canker of disengagement is spreading through an organisation, the best of salary structures will not arrest attrition.

Employees may rather go in for a job with a slightly lesser pay than stick on in an uninspiring workplace.