For those of us old enough to remember using libraries, looking for relevant pay data can be a similar experience. You decided what book or information you were looking for and went along to look for it. Most of the time, it worked – the book was there on the shelf. But sometimes you weren’t so lucky. The book was either not stocked, out on loan, or missing, and you had to come up with Plan B.
Getting relevant pay data is essential to inform your decisions around pay management. You need to understand market rates and related benefits packages so you can agree your pay stance and inform pay structures and reward strategies. It’s this or risk losing your talent to the competition.
Plan A is like going to the library and finding your book – it involves subscribing to established, relevant pay surveys from publishers such as Willis Towers Watson, Xpert HR etc. But these surveys don’t suit every organisation. If you have specialist jobs in your business that are not covered by the mainstream pay surveys, then club pay surveys are your Plan B.
Club surveys allow groups of employers with similar specialist roles to come together, agreeing to share pay data for these roles, revealing market conditions in these niche industries. Using the services of an outside expert to gather and report on the data means confidentiality of sensitive pay data is maintained, and output results have real validity – especially if most of the competing employers are participating. The results of a club survey are only available to its participants, so you have to be in it to win it.
Plan B isn’t a second best option. A club survey will not only provide you with real life pay and benefits data in organisations like yours. It will also help you understand competitive pressures for pay, and identify your key talent at risk of leaving the business, meaning you could potentially save thousands on both direct and indirect recruitment costs.
We have run club surveys for a diverse range of organisations – everything from national governing bodies of sport, luxury casinos, builders’ merchants to internet fashion retailers – most things are possible.
Don’t settle for empty library shelves – pay intelligence is invaluable in helping you attract and retain the best talent. Email sarah.nash@innecto.com or call us on 020 3457 0894 to see how we can help.
