Procedural failures and unclear employment agreement led to a $27k trial period dispute - New Zealand construction company missteps in clarifying duties.
With the average full-time weekly wages on the up, the ability for employers to undertake effective job evaluation and salary sizing is crucial to recruiting the best talent for your organisation.
Amendments to the national minimum wage, pay equity and pay settlements all came into effect last year; therefore it’s no surprise that latest Government stats show that the average weekly earnings for full-time employees (FTEs) increased 2.9%.
Being able to stay ahead of the curve and complete effective job evaluations / salary sizing is paramount to successful recruitment.
EQ Consultants’ Consultant and job evaluation / salary sizing expert, Jenny Barr shares her top tips for best practice.
What is a job evaluation / salary sizing?
Job evaluation: A job evaluation is a systematic approach to determine the ‘size’ of a role in comparison to other positions within the organisation and similar roles outside of the organisation.
Prior to recruiting for a role, a job evaluation is undertaken to determine the value / worth of the position.
Jenny explains: “It is essential that employers get their job evaluation right from the outset to ensure that they can salary size effectively in line with business budgeting and goals. A thorough job evaluation will also ease development of job descriptions and specifications, performance standards, competencies and performance appraisals.”
Next steps: Set job evaluation criteria for your organisation.
Salary sizing: A job evaluation assists with determining a salary range for a role; a minimum and maximum pay rate. Other factors to take into account when salary sizing include market rates, level of education, experience, knowledge and skill required to fulfil the role.
Jenny advises: “With low unemployment and skills shortages, talent competition for New Zealand employers is higher than ever. Employers need to ensure that their salary ranges are fully researched from trustworthy sources and open to negotiation if they want to secure the best talent for their business.
“Remember, retention is as important as recruitment. Consider a review of existing salary sizes to ensure that your organisation’s current pay rates are in line with national wage increases.”
Next steps: Research and review salary ranges
How can salary sizing help recruitment?
Having job evaluations and salary ranges in place helps to provide a smooth recruitment process and fairness across the organisation.
Benefits include our three ‘Big Cs’:
• Clarity: Knowing what you want to achieve from the role, what’s involved, and ultimately what you’re willing to pay, improves profile targeting, better matching and candidate experience.
• Confidence: Increase offer acceptance rate by staying ahead of your competitors. Being aware of what they’re offering puts you in a better position to negotiate other incentives and improve employer branding.
• Consistency: Avoid risks of pay inequity across the organisation by researching salary ranges thoroughly and taking into consideration market trends.
EQ Consultants’ Executive Recruitment
EQ Consultants’ Executive Recruitment includes salary sizing for all roles where necessary. Whether we’re working with existing ranges or sizing a new role from scratch – we work closely with managers and business owners to develop solutions that deliver.
For more information about our salary sizing and recruitment solutions call Jenny on 021 223 5118 or email j.barr@eqconsultants.co.nz
The national minimum wage is set to increase from next month (April 1) - you can find more information about this here.