0203 026 3870
Newsom Consulting
Delivering Leadership Talent
Newsom ConsultingNewsom Consulting
  • Sectors
    • Rail
    • Aviation
    • Highways
    • Power & Utilities
    • Buildings
    • Defence
    • Major Projects
    • Transport Operators
    • International
  • Our Services
    • Executive Search
    • Talent Mapping
    • Leadership Assessment
    • Outplacement
  • Opportunities
  • Testimonials
  • Insights
    • Blogs
    • Reports & Guides
  • About Us
    • Our Team
    • Diversity & Inclusion
  • Contact Us
  • Sectors
    • Rail
    • Aviation
    • Highways
    • Power & Utilities
    • Buildings
    • Defence
    • Major Projects
    • Transport Operators
    • International
  • Our Services
    • Executive Search
    • Talent Mapping
    • Leadership Assessment
    • Outplacement
  • Opportunities
  • Testimonials
  • Insights
    • Blogs
    • Reports & Guides
  • About Us
    • Our Team
    • Diversity & Inclusion
  • Contact Us

Money Matters – A Guide to getting the compensation package right

Agreeing on a salary and compensation package

“A wise person should have money in their head, but not in their heart.” – Jonathan Swift

 

So when it comes to attracting new senior hires – does money make the world go round?

 

It is true to say that people are motivated by a range of different factors at work, many of them are non-financial and do change in relative importance throughout an individual’s career. But experience tells us that 9 times out of 10, you have to offer people more money to move.

Last week, I talked about how to write a foolproof job description to attract high calibre candidates to your company. While this is a critical starting point for attracting the best talent, an attractive and well-defined role is just the first step. In order to convince anyone to leave their current job, you’re going to have to get your compensation offer right.

The remuneration package is the most tangible aspect to the offer and finding an optimal balance that works for all parties can be a fine line. It has to be enough to incentivise the candidate to move, within budget, and fair when compared with internal and external candidates with similar experience.

 

Here is my guide to getting your compensation package right for new hires;

 

1. Benchmark salaries

 

It’s essential to have a realistic salary in mind right at the beginning of the recruitment process. As an executive search firm, we plan out a project according to its budget and scope, it will influence where (and at what level) we will be able to attract people from.

It is very rare that clients come to us with a salary figure in mind for a position and we tell them they don’t need to pay that much. Much more often they underestimate.

Sometimes they will look to benchmark people in similar roles within their own company. Be careful when making comparisons to internal people who may be underpaid for their experience; if they have been a long-term employee, their salary won’t have increased in line with the market.

Take a look at your main competitors to get an idea of the market rate for similar positions. You can do this via contacts you have at these firms or those at consultants and clients who work closely with them. Executive search firms such as ourselves will also have a vast amount of data and industry knowledge to help you understand the market. We provide benchmarking information for free to our clients.

 

2. Incentivise

 

Once you know how much your role is worth, you need to make sure you are paying enough to convince the right people to leave their current jobs and work for you.

There can be an assumption when you’re immersed in a company that everyone is dying to work for you – but there are a lot of good firms out there and many people are settled in their jobs. They know their way around their existing roles and they may have built family routines around them. Put yourself in their shoes – why would you change all that to work for your company?

It is important to bear in mind that most candidates with a solid and successful career history will often seek an increase of 15-20%, with many actually moving for a c10-15% rise.

 

3. Get the balance right

 

Ultimately there is a trade-off between the job specification and the salary. If the salary is not moveable then you may have to be flexible on the level of skills and experience you require. Put simply, the more responsibility and skill requirements attached to a job, the higher the salary will have to be.

Be positive, look at the impact of the job. How much money could the right person make or save you, and therefore how much can you afford to pay to get – and retain – that person?

 

4. Be flexibleemployee benefits package with calculator and pen

If you can’t change the base level of salary, little things can make a difference. You could base a role at home to allow travel to be claimed as an expense, or offer additional holiday allowance.

More and more companies are offering flexible compensation packages, allowing people to pick which benefits they like from a range of options. This works because different people have different situations and motivations, which also change throughout their career.

Some smaller companies can even work out specific plans to attract individuals, such as flexing pension contributions or bonuses up. Any flexibility you can find is a potential benefit.

 

If you have put together the best compensation package you can, you’ve re-evaluated your job specification and you still can’t find the person you want from within your market sector, it is always an option to investigate allied sectors.

For example, if you’re looking for a health and safety director with rail experience, but they are all in high demand, you could look to the oil and gas sector, which is not as buoyant at present. This sector may have strong people whose futures are uncertain and who may be keen to move.

Another approach is to recruit someone who is currently at the level below the role you are filling but is ready to take a step up in their career. They will be more affordable than someone already in the equivalent role at a competitor.

In both these cases you should expect to give more support at induction and anticipate a longer learning curve.

Flexibility can work well but to capitalise you need a broad sense of what is happening around you. Again this can come from research and contacts or you can look to tap into the knowledge of executive search firms who have a wealth of research at their disposal.

 

**This blog post is the second of seven based on Newsom Consulting’s ebook The Ultimate Guide to Hiring Senior Managers in Transport and Infrastructure***

 

To get your free copy of the e-book of “The Ultimate Guide to Hiring Senior Managers in Transport & Infrastructure” please click HERE

By Jim Newsom11th November 2016

Author: Jim Newsom

Jim Newsom leads our work in construction and infrastructure having worked in executive search since 1998, recruiting for both public and private sector companies in infrastructure, transport, engineering and construction. Prior to forming Newsom Consulting, Jim spent 11 years working for the one of the UK’s largest independently owned executive recruiters and then two years at a boutique search firm. Jim is a graduate in civil engineering from Liverpool University.

Post navigation

PreviousPrevious post:How to write a foolproof job descriptionNextNext post:It’s a buyers’ market

Related posts

UK Major Projects Pipeline Update – May 2022
17th May 2022
3 lessons learnt from Crossrail for future Major Projects
9th May 2022
Movers and Shakers in Transport & Infrastructure – The Headlines from April 2022
3rd May 2022
Executive Search vs Recruitment Agencies – what’s the difference?
25th April 2022
Movers and Shakers in Transport & Infrastructure – The Headlines from March 2022
24th March 2022
Movers and Shakers in Transport & Infrastructure – The Headlines from February 2022
25th February 2022

To recieve our weekly blogs please fill in your details below:

Recent Posts
  • UK Major Projects Pipeline Update – May 2022
    17th May 2022
  • 3 lessons learnt from Crossrail for future Major Projects
    9th May 2022
  • Movers and Shakers in Transport & Infrastructure – The Headlines from April 2022
    3rd May 2022
Testimonials

We recently worked with Newsom Consulting to recruit a key Director position for our UK leadership team. They understood our requirements well, spending time to come and meet with us so they could fully understand our needs. The longlist and shortlist reports were good and very user friendly. Assessment of candidates was accurate and we were presented with a good diverse selection of candidates with different backgrounds. The quality of candidates was first class and we were able to appoint a high-calibre candidate. The process was thorough and good value for money.

Managing Director, STRABAG UK

Thanks for supporting us in securing some of our industry’s leading talent. Your candidates are always excellent and I find you a pleasure to work with. Looking forward to furthering our partnership in the new year.

Managing Director (Transportation), Faithful+Gould

Over the last few years CAF Rolling Stock UK has worked closely with Jim and Richard of Newsom Consulting to recruit several leadership roles across the business. We have found Newsom to be effective in providing high calibre candidates. We would recommend Newsom for recruiting key leadership roles.

Chief Operating Officer, CAF Rolling Stock UK
Newsom Consulting
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
Footer Menu

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings.

Newsom Consulting
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.