5 Compensation-Related Hiring Strategies & Insider Tips

by | Jun 15, 2022 | Hiring Strategies, Sales Leadership | 0 comments

You know that getting compensation right boosts your hiring strategies and makes it easier to attract top talent.

But how much should you be willing to pay? What perks and benefits should be built in so that you can fill your team with A-players?

Let’s find out.

5 Insider Tips and Hiring Strategies All About Compensation

1. Start with a trend analysis

To recruit top talent, your offer must be on par with or better than what competitors and major employers in your area offer. A broad trend analysis will give you an understanding of your candidate’s expectations. Here are 3 questions to jumpstart your evaluation.

1. What do our competitors pay?

Don’t limit your analysis to local competitors. Companies can and will recruit remote workers in your area.

2. What’s the average salary range for this position?

As you look at data, it’s important to remember that job titles are not standard. What you call a “Marketing Director” another company could call “Chief Content Officer,” or maybe even “Brand Evangelist” (yes, really).

3. Is there a talent shortage?

Answer this question 3 ways:

  • For this position
  • In our industry
  • Locally

If you answer “yes” to any of the above, you may need to pay more to get an A-player.

2. Insider hiring strategy: Don’t write off nontraditional backgrounds

We encourage everyone to consider candidates who lack direct experience but have a great mindset. Only 20% of success is determined by skillset. The other 80% depends on the person’s mindset.

So broaden your search, and count all their years of experience in your salary calculations.

Look at what they did, not what they were called

Like we said earlier, job titles aren’t standard. You could miss out on your ideal candidate if you only scan their resume for the exact title you’re hiring for instead of the experiences and skills you want the employee to possess.

Compensation Research Is Overwhelming

Get One of Our Experts To Analyze Trends for You

3. Strategically consider if remote, in-person, or hybrid changes your pay structure

Some companies, like Google, change pay structure based on whether an employee works remotely or comes into the office. Data suggest employees could be on board with this. 46% of respondents to an Owl Labs survey said they’d take a 5% pay cut to work remotely.

Just because you can …

The pay issue cuts both ways. 58% of survey takers said they would want more money in exchange for returning to the office full-time. Plus, what will you do if a remote employee switches to in-person or vice versa? Are hybrid employees going to be docked for days they spend at home?

Think of it from the perspective of your superstar employees

It will feel demoralizing and unfair to know they earn less simply because they don’t go into the office.

Wait – isn’t remote work a benefit?

Not to people who like working from home. One-third of respondents to an Owl Labs survey said working from home was their preferred arrangement. If they could not continue working remotely, about half would start looking for a new job.

Are there limits on where people can work?

Work from home and work from anywhere are not synonymous. While you don’t want to shackle employees to their dining room tables or home offices you probably also don’t want to allow people to work in time zones that are wildly out of sync with your usual operating hours.

4. Decide if the role is eligible for commissions, incentives, or bonuses

The chance to earn bonuses or commissions attracts confident, high-performing professionals. It’s common in sales and for executive positions.

Other times you could offer bonuses include:

  • Sign-on and/or retention bonuses
  • For referrals
  • Performance-based bonuses
  • At the holidays

Sales-specific commission considerations

If you have a sales team in place, you’ve already sorted out the commission structure. Hiring additional reps or a new executive is a chance to review it and see if your plan still makes sense for your company.

Tip for businesses starting a new sales team: Pay attention to your competitors

If they offer a better commission-based compensation package than you do, you could lose exceptional sales talent.

5. Offer a unique mix of benefits and perks

Your employees expect standard benefits like healthcare and retirement plans. Other benefits are emerging. But like the ability to work from home, whether someone views it as benefit, perk or standard part of any job will come down to how that person views the work world.

Standard

  • Health insurance – including dental and vision
  • Retirement plans
  • Life insurance
  • Tuition assistance
  • Paid vacation, holidays and sick days
  • Maternal and paternal leave

Emerging trends

  • Adding mental healthcare coverage to insurance
  • Paid leave
  • Team retreats
  • Company-issued technology
  • Fitness reimbursements
  • Childcare assistance

Turn Our Insider Data Into a Winning Compensation Package

Compensation has many moving pieces. You don’t have to figure it out on your own. Our experts have access to internal data and industry trends that you can use to win top talent. Call us today.

Get Insider Compensation Insights