Salary and Benefits Benchmarking
The Project:
Client Confidential
The Client:
Our client is an international manufacturing group with operations in the Midlands and Southwest. They asked Moon Executive Search to conduct a wide-ranging salary and benefits benchmarking study across all its’ board roles including Managing Director, Finance, Sales and Human Resources Director.
The background to the report was to ensure the business was well aligned to its’ marketplace and that the CEO, Chair and Non-Execs could create a structure that would allow them to build a robust attraction and retention strategy. The Board were cognisant of the after effects of the pandemic and wanted to streamline their remuneration packages and be both innovative and creative in building the best benefits offering in their sector. They already demonstrated a flexible employer approach to working patterns, having introduced a full hybrid working model, so our remit was to go beyond this and benchmark their industry sector to recommend additional options to develop their offering further.
The report considered external factors such as such as competitors, trends, the impact of the pandemic and future proofing. Our top line research looked at pay, bonus, total reward, car value and all other benefits. We looked at current market trends in terms of benefits and did an in-depth analysis of similar businesses.
We researched into set competitor organisations as well as relevant sectors such as their supply chain. We reviewed public records of salary, pension and bonus arrangements at Director level and looked at relevant published surveys and available market data pertaining to business turnover, location and seniority. Lastly, we researched trends in the market place in regards to benefits and options.
In terms of outcomes, we noted many employees are currently seeking evidence from businesses which demonstrates that their company culture aligns well with their own personal values. They are also keen to see genuine corporate social responsibility and understand how this fits in the overall company growth aims. Wellbeing is also high on the agenda in terms of the support on offer to caregivers and working parents – some organisations have also launched dedicated 24/7 mental health hotlines to ensure employees have access to the support they need. Employee satisfaction was high on the list - this typically related to extra training, celebrating work anniversaries and offering additional benefits that the employee values, such as childcare vouchers. Also, employees value extending healthcare benefits for self and family, including dental cover.
In our Client’s market, we also noted competitors at board level did not always offer a standard salary and benefits package but rather allowed the employee to have some ‘buy in’ to the business such as employee shares or via an Employee Ownership Trust – read more here.
In terms of our client feedback, the trends piece was actually the most compelling as we discovered that their salary levels actually aligned well to their sector. They liked the fact that benefits like financial wellness and mental health support could easily be implemented i.e. via access to mental health apps for example. Also, they felt it important to consider having an employee engagement forum such as an employee recognition programmes, employer and employee led education programmes and the opportunity to volunteer collectively as a business in the local community.
Overall, we found that the breadth of things to consider in the overall total compensation package has increased in recent times and understanding how to put each of these elements together to create bespoke and attractive packages to recruit and retain the very best talent, has become ever more complex. In essence however, our findings suggest that the most attractive packages in our client’s industry sector were not all salary driven, but rather were much more about additional non-cash related benefits.
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