Are You Paying Too Much For New Talent?

Stubborn inflation is forcing many organizations to pay more for new hires, especially given the shortage of key talent. According to a recent Gartner survey, 57% of CFOs say they’ll increase funding for compensation, which is the second-highest spend category for increases after digital technology. What’s more, 42% of survey respondents plan to increase spending to backfill vacant roles, and 35% say they will increase expenditure for hiring new roles.

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But that same inflation is reducing the real income of existing employees. Although many companies are starting to offer one-time bonuses in addition to regular pay adjustments, among other tactics, employees are increasingly underpaid as inflation rises. And this could look quite different for varying regions of a global company. So what compensation strategies can you use to both attract and retain important talent?

“Inflationary pressures have worsened talent retention issues in an already hypercompetitive labor market,” says Aaron McEwan, VP, Advisory, Gartner. “Executive leaders must select a compensation strategy that mitigates talent risks while minimizing cost pressures.”

While you may not want to risk making long-term salary changes when inflation could be lower in a year, employees feel the impact now. Inflation is increasing the cost of living and lowering incomes. Almost half (45%) of U.S. households report financial hardship due to recent price increases, but only 37% of organizations plan to factor inflation into their compensation budgets or decisions. And only 13% plan to increase compensation for all employees as a result of inflation.

Organizations that don’t adjust pay to fully match inflation increase the risk of turnover as employees find new job opportunities that pay more. In 3Q21, employees expected on average a 10.5% increase in total compensation when switching employers — more than enough to cover the increase in inflation.

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Chief human resources officers (CHROs) must focus on retaining top performers and employees in mission-critical roles and prioritize staffing of these positions. Without the right people in the right roles equipped to do the job, organizations will fail to meet business objectives and could be outperformed by competitors. Explore ways to attract top talent relative to existing employees: 

1. Collaborate with the CFO to create budget-neutral ways of retaining and attracting talent. This may include sign-on and retention bonuses, spot bonuses for hourly employees, accelerated investment in employee retirement plans and repriced employee stock purchase options.

2. Place a limit on new hire packages to ensure you’re within a reasonable switching premium range.

3. Offer fully generous remote- or hybrid-work arrangements.

4. Extend leave and PTO policies to give new hires more options for time off and vacations. 

5. Differentiate yourself by promoting radical flexibility options such as work from anywhere or four-day workweeks.

6. Consider sign-on bonuses, home office stipends, share options and other one-off payments to new hires that do not contribute to widening the pay gap.  

7. Clearly articulate opportunities for career progression, professional and personal development. 

8. Build support options into packages that address capacity and workload issues.

9. Promote the organizations’ ethics and sustainability credentials. 

10. Accept candidates from unconventional backgrounds to widen the talent pool.

In short:

• As the competition for talent tightens, CFOs plan to invest in new hire compensation.

• However, due to inflation, existing employees are increasingly underpaid, and few organizations plan to fully adjust compensation in response.

• There are 10 ways you can attract good talent without overspending or worsening pay equity.