How to find out what workplace amenities and pay other companies are offering
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Chances are, your organization knows it’s important to offer a competitive salary and benefits package to successfully attract top candidates.
Problems can arise if you don’t. More than a third of HR professionals, for instance, say providing pay that isn’t in line with the current market rate has complicated their recruiting efforts, according to a Society for Human Resource Management survey.
However, determining what salary, amenities and job benefits other organizations are offering — when in many cases, that information isn’t publically available — can be challenging.
A little detective work may be required to create the most compelling employee value proposition. Consider utilizing the following techniques:
Check other companies’ websites
Information about the workplace amenities and benefits packages companies in your field offer is often listed on their career-specific microsite or the career page of their main website. Company career sites are the most important aspect for more than half of job candidates when researching career opportunities, according to a Talent Board report. If you find you’re consistently losing candidates to a competitor, note which features the company is emphasizing, which could help you attract applicants.
Scope out online resources
While the going rate in your specific market or industry may differ from the amounts listed on income estimation sites like PayScale and Salary.com, keep in mind candidates may be using those outlets to gauge what they could potentially make. To ensure you’re offering a competitive salary, if your pay range differs significantly, you may want to mention some of the factors that affected the variance in conversations with candidates.
Study your salary benchmarking options
More than 80 percent of companies purchase salary benchmarking surveys at least once a year, according to a Salary.com poll, which are produced by consulting agencies, professional associations and other entities. Professional association and other industry conferences may include sessions that touch on the job benefits and workplace amenities organizations in your industry offer to help you identify the items jobseekers feel are meaningful.
Get input from potential employees
When extending an offer, if a candidate mentions mulling over multiple options, you may want to try to politely ask what specific elements are making the decision difficult. Finding out might help you match a competitor’s offer to convince the person to work for your company — and you’ll get valuable intel about the candidate’s view of what a competitive salary and the most appealing job features are.
Obtain an internal perspective
Similarly, asking employees who are leaving your organization which factors drew them to their new employer during their exit interview can help you get a sense of what workers want to improve employee experience.
Hire other organizations’ employees
Considering a candidate who works for a competitor? Bringing that person in-house can provide you with a valuable source of inside salary, benefits package and other information to potentially help you tailor more compelling candidate offers.
If, after reviewing salary benchmarking information and the workplace amenities other organizations provide, you find your employee value proposition is lacking, you may need to reconsider what pay and other elements you offer.
For help restructuring components of your value proposition, read our blog posts on recent benefit trends, ways you can compete with companies that have big work perks, ways to use job benefits to increase satisfaction — and the employee satisfaction drivers you should be keeping an eye on to ensure new hires stay happy long after you’ve brought them on board.