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Hiring managers are scrambling to fill open positions with a dwindling pool of qualified candidates as the unemployment rate plummets to 3.9%—the lowest rate since 2000.[1] In this increasingly competitive job market, human resources departments must ensure their compensation is on target to recruit and retain the best talent. Salary surveys are an excellent tool to confirm that your compensation is competitive, but often, even more narrowly targeted data is needed for “hot” jobs that are challenging to fill. A custom survey—one that allows your company to control the content and participants—is an excellent way to source the most up-to-date compensation practices of your competition.
The major advantage of a custom survey is you can design every aspect of the report: the jobs that are included, which companies are invited to participate, and what elements of compensation data will be measured. By tailoring the participant list, you ensure that you are obtaining the most relevant information on “peer” companies that are vying for the same candidates. The benefit for your peers in participating is that they can validate the benchmarks and incentives they are currently using to recruit and retain these candidates and potentially tailor their own incentives to position themselves better in the market.
Many salary surveys cover “traditional” roles that have been reported on for years (e.g., CEO, scientist, and IT manager). Boutique surveys may focus only on one facet of the employee population, for example research and development. A custom survey is useful for uncovering compensation data on emerging and “non-traditional” roles that have been created recently based on employers’ evolving needs.
Cyber security is an excellent example of such a sought-after skillset. Since 2015, Pearl Meyer has been commissioned to run an annual Cyber Security Salary Survey to address the need for targeted pay information for this evolving and in-demand population. The survey includes only two jobs—internal and external cyber security—but examines multiple levels of experience, education, and skill-sets within those two jobs. The sponsoring organizations determined that the survey needed to collect and report key components of pay and relevant policies and practices information including base salary, sign-on and retention bonuses, offer acceptances, turnover rates, and salary increase budgets. The information provided is detailed, objective, and has provided an excellent tool for the participating companies’ recruiting and succession-planning efforts.
The survey results provided extremely valuable insights not available elsewhere to both sponsors and participating organizations including:
This information allows a hiring manager to extend an enticing offer when sourcing potential candidates. In addition, the report’s relevant statics on the frequency and amount of retention bonuses, the career level with the highest turnover rate, and the change in salary increase budgets from last year are extremely useful metrics for performance reviews, annual budget discussions, and designing performance strategies to keep these highly skilled employees engaged.
Cyber security is just one example of an employee population where a custom survey is beneficial. Tailored surveys can also be useful for new or emerging industries such as renewable energy, cannabis, or artificial intelligence. The first step to create your own salary survey is to contact a reputable survey vendor and request a detailed proposal. There are a number of ways to determine if a vendor is credible:
The average timeframe for completion of a custom survey is eight to 10 weeks. The process will include: soliciting participation, developing the survey collection instrument, programming of data, launching to participants, reviewing and verifying results, and distributing the report. The survey sponsor(s) should work with the vendor to determine the date that the data is effective To comply with the Federal Trade Commission/Department of Justice Safe Harbor Guidelines, the survey should be published at least three months after the data effective date.
The fee for a custom survey is largely dependent on the jobs included, the number of participants, the depth of data elements covered, and whether policies and practices information is included in the report. There are numerous ways to make sponsoring a custom survey more affordable:
Custom salary surveys are a creative tool to consider when you are hiring for “hot” jobs and more non-traditional roles. You only have one chance when extending a job offer to a talented candidate, and metrics pulled from custom surveys will ensure that the proposed pay is competitive based on industry standards within your peer group. Similarly, when reviewing compensation for existing employees in non-traditional roles, a custom survey will offer a fresh perspective to help you retain these skilled employees for many years to come.