In an increasingly competitive job market, transparency about your salary offers helps boost your chances of attracting (and retaining) top talent.
Not sure why? Here are 6 reasons why salary is important to attract candidates:
1. Salary info attracts highly-qualified candidates
A Fairygodboss study on How 2020 Changed the Job Search Landscape shows:
“60% of men and 52% of women viewed financial benefits as the most important factor when looking for and evaluating potential employers and job opportunities.”
To remain competitive in the job market, you’ll need to know what salary range to offer for a specific position based on experience and skills. Why?
- you might not get top talent to click “apply” without listing salary info
- you risk losing the right candidate by offering less than industry standards
- you attract low-quality applicants because the salary is below market value
2. Listing salary info optimizes your hiring process
LinkedIn research shows 61% of applicants highlight compensation as the #1 part of a job description. Most candidates can’t wait for the interview to know how much they’ll make when applying for a job.
Tech-savvy job seekers are looking for companies that practice transparency in their hiring process, especially with salaries.
Most Millenials and Gen-Z candidates ignore job postings that don’t include salary or a salary range. There’s a perception that if an employer doesn’t disclose wage details, they’re underpaying their staff.
So, publishing your salary offers helps manage candidates’ expectations. That means only qualified candidates satisfied with the salary range (and know their worth) will apply for the role. This saves time and effort during your recruitment process.
3. Attractive salaries deliver a good employee experience
Workable’s “Great Discontent” survey of 750 U.S.-based employees gauged why salary is important to workers.
Results show compensation remains the #1 driver in career opportunities across the board. 57.4% of respondents picked “salary/perks/benefits” when asked what could be improved in their current job for a better employee experience.
It’s crucial to demonstrate an engaging employee experience to capture your ideal candidates. And the key to that good employee experience is providing an attractive salary.
Be sure to conduct regular salary benchmarking by evaluating your company’s pay standards. And, check how competitive salaries are in the market.
Doing this not only helps improve employee experience but also prevents your employees from jumping ship. You’ll also lower the risks of counter-offers from other employers.
4. Offering bonuses boosts employee productivity
Employees are more productive when they’re paid right.
While a sense of purpose and job satisfaction drives a person’s performance, a salary increase also plays a crucial role in productivity. Productive employees are awarded raises (or bonuses) to encourage positive behavior. But, low-productivity workers are denied raises (or given minimal bonuses) compared to their high-performing peers. In these cases, you can integrate time-tracking software to keep up with employee productivity and reward your team members accordingly.
Offering salary increases motivate people to do better at work and attracts top talent.
In Appcast’s study on how job ad content benefits impact candidate attraction, the following industries/job functions showed a notable increase in application rates when job ads mentioned a regular incremental bonus:
- Construction & Skilled Trades 9.96% vs. 4.60%
- Customer Service 26.44% vs. 10.64%
- Science & Engineering 8.54% vs. 5.85%
- Technology 17.40% vs. 7.67%
There were also smaller upticks in these industries/job functions:
- Healthcare 4.63% vs. 4.43%
- Retail 6.48% vs. 5.97%
- Sales 7.02% vs. 6.26%
5. Market pay drives employee retention
More crucial than attracting suitable candidates is retaining them for the long haul!
A July 2022 report by Willis Tower Watson revealed:
“(64%) of U.S. employers have budgeted for higher employee pay raises than last year.”
The Great Resignation — where many people voluntarily left their jobs in late 2020 and early 2021 for better opportunities — is the culprit for wage growth.
In the same WTW study, 73% of these employers said the competitive job market is the top reason for increasing salaries. And, 46% of these employers will increase their staff’s pay to help cope with inflation.
Many employees consider salary the primary reason for staying in their current role. But, if they feel they’re not well compensated for their efforts, it’s just a matter of time before they start researching and applying for other companies (that offer the same role at a higher salary).
Remember, employee turnover is expensive. So it’s better to retain your top talent than to take the risk of constantly hiring new employees.
6. Offering equal pay addresses the “Gender Pay Gap”
If you’re working to become an inclusive organization, disclosing your salary info helps address pay gaps between genders (especially when hiring women).
Women earn .82 cents for every $1 made by men, according to Payscale’s 2022 State of the Gender Pay Gap Report. Occupational segregation based on gender norms is a big factor in the overall pay differences between male and female candidates. This segregation results from unconscious bias in the types of careers considered “suitable” for women vs. men.
Including your salary range (for all genders) in your job descriptions sends a message to your future employees that you value their skills and time. You also inform applicants of the actual compensation for a specific role, giving a fair chance to everyone who applies.
Shout-outs:
- 2022 State of the Gender Pay Gap Report (by Payscale)
- Tight labor market drives U.S. employers to boost 2023 pay raises (by WTW)
- Is salary important to workers? Bet your bottom dollar it is (by Workable)
- This Job Description Heatmap Shows You What Candidates Really Care About (and What They Ignore) (by Greg Lewis)
- 5 Insights from LinkedIn’s Latest Research on What Candidates Want (by Kate Reilly)
- How 2020 Changed the Job Search Landscape (by Fairygodboss)
- Job Ad Content: How Benefits Impact Candidate Attraction (by Appcast)
Why I wrote this:
Listing salary info in your job descriptions helps attract and retain candidates. It also sends a message that you’re an inclusive organization. Ongig’s software ensures your JDs are inclusive — and have all the right info (like salary) — so you attract top, diverse, talent.
