The majority of professional job listings do not include salary ranges. Since all positions do indeed have salaries, it is fair to assume that they are left off intentionally. HR professionals need to change the playing field slightly to make the process more efficient for employers and candidates.
I am proposing language to help mitigate any concerns, but first we need to examine the reasons that are often cited for NOT listing pay ranges. Although each reason is valid on its face, there is an alternative. The reasons for keeping salary ranges off position listings include:
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(1) Competitors: Our competitors will know our ranges, putting them in an excellent position to recruit away our best talent.
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(2) Scaring Away Hi-Potential Candidates: Our range can be “stretched” for the right candidate that we see the ability to promote in a short time. We don’t want to miss out on the opportunity to acquire that talent because they were discouraged from applying by the range.
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(3) Disappointing the Minimally Qualified: We may identify a candidate that we see as having potential, but their qualifications are just barely enough. Since no one wants to be at the bottom of the range, we will always be forced to pay above the minimum listed to keep the person from being disappointed.
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(4) Incumbents/Colleagues: Current employees will see the range and become upset. Most are not earning at the top of the range and some internally promoted individuals are not even at the bottom. We will have an employee relations’ nightmare.
Let me address each of these issues:
Competitors: Probably the most specious of the arguments against listing ranges. I suspect with a cell phone, a computer and 15 minutes, any competent recruiter could find out the pay range for any position within your organization. They would not have to breach computer security or be sneaky – a simple search of one of the resume databases of former employees and the numbers will be known. An employer that underpays may want to avoid looking bad, but you are kidding yourself if you think everyone in your industry is not already fully aware of who pays what.
Hi-Potential Candidates: Some higher paid candidates will be turned off by a range that is less than they would demand to accept the position you are offering. My challenge to recruiters and employers is to think about how many times they really paid someone well above the range for a position. As a general rule, though, we are recruiting for a candidate for the range of the position listed.
The Minimally Qualified: This issue is addressed in the sample language. Candidate disappointment comes up frequently. Something gets implied, inferred or casually referenced by someone in the recruiting process and the candidate becomes disappointed when the offer does not include the perk they assumed was coming. If we agree on the minimum qualifications for the position, then we ought to be able to agree on the minimum salary for that position too.
Current Employees: This is a very legitimate concern on the part of employers. The general issue is address by the language below, with the exception of specific positions that are opened very infrequently. If an industry (and a company) have certain positions that are “overpaid” based upon peers in the organization, there will be occasions where listing the pay range is a bad decision. In most cases, though, the sample language should alleviate the headaches.
The Sample Ad Copy – Link to your Position Listing:
We subscribe to Compensation Disclosure in Advertising. We have listed an expected salary range for this position. We do this so that candidates have a good idea of the scope of responsibility – we also hope that potential candidates use it as a guide to gage their level of interest. Particularly for those candidates that move forward in the hiring process, here are a few things to keep in mind:
•The range represents what we would expect to pay for the position – it is not a guaranteed minimum salary;
•The range applies to someone that is currently holding an identical position in scope and responsibility at a competitor and meets every job criteria listed.
• The range is not necessarily the range that position or the range that its position level has within our compensation structure – the listing is for recruiting purposes only.
We frequently consider candidates that do not currently hold a position or do not meet every criterion listed. Our efforts to promote from within often produce candidates that are not “fully” qualified today, but we feel are up to the challenge. Internal or external candidates that we expect to grow into a position will likely be paid at or below the minimum to start.
Also, do not assume that the range is so open ended that an overqualified candidate will be able to stretch it upwards. We put a tremendous amount of work in setting our ranges to be market competitive for the talent that we attract – it may be that our current opening does not meet your needs – we respect that and hope to see your application when we have a position in the right range for you.
Hopefully, we have made it easier for you to know what to expect by listing the pay range. In exchange, we request that all candidates list their current or most recent job title and pay rate in the subject line of their email to make it easier for us to quickly identify and sort candidates. Candidates that read this and provide the information as requested will be given preferential consideration.
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What good will it do? By listing the pay range and using the language, it will filter off a number of candidates to save some time for recruiters. By making the information “public”, it will also set a better platform to negotiate and discuss compensation without having to worry about false expectation setting. I am a realist – employers will always undercut ranges by 5% to give themselves some room to “surprise” the candidate – but the 5% cushion will be a vast improvement versus the infinite cushion that exists for most ads today that do not list the range at all.
Finally, any upfront discussion of pay will improve the credibility of the compensation structure. The more we are able to show employees that pay plans are set fairly based upon objective criteria, the more trust we will generate for the Company as a whole.