About employees

This issue of Cutting Edge PR e-News is all about employees. Research consistently shows that employees are the most important stakeholder group of all, so in this issue we discuss recruitment ads, employee recognition and increased employee retention.

Should we disclose salary ranges when advertising jobs?

When seeking new staff, many public relations managers are faced with the decision of whether to disclose the salary range of jobs in the recruitment ads. What are the arguments for and against indicating the salary scale in recruitment advertisements?

There is no perfect answer. Each organization has its culture, type of position and precedents. Some further discussion may help your decision-making:

For
It ensures potential candidates know the job salary.
Some potential candidates search for available jobs by including a desired salary range if available, so showing the salary level is helpful. It can ensure the candidate immediately knows if the position falls within the range they are pursuing.

It makes sense to show the salary for some positions.
These positions tend to be at entry-level and government. It is OK to post because most people have a general sense of what these positions pay.

There are many ways to find out a salary.
Candidates can find salary ranges by job type, industry and geographic area for many positions advertised online. Also, organizations have benchmarking data within their industry that gives them insights on pay scales. In view of this, we might consider it is reasonable to post salary because people have access to that information anyway.

Against
It may turn off some candidates from applying for a position when they otherwise might have done so.
High-caliber candidates may not apply because they feel the salary being offered is below their acceptable pay range. As a result, your organization could miss opportunities to hire good people.

Posting a set salary or even a range could hinder the flexibility associated with salary negotiations.
Perhaps your organization is willing to pay extra to land a highly qualified candidate. Disclosing the salary may undermine a recruiting interview before it begins.

Advertising will allow competitors to know what you pay your employees.
Posting salary guarantees your competitors will learn how much you pay for some positions. Since pay often is a source of competitive advantage, you need to decide how closely to guard this information.

Salaries may not be known within your organization.
If one of your current employees finds a similar position to theirs being advertised for more, they might feel they are not valued properly could start feeling disgruntled.

By taking these considerations into account, you are likely to be better placed to put a strategic focus on acquiring new talent rather than following precedent without sufficient thought.

Until next time,

2008 PRIA national conference

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