When filling a new position, the issue of salary often comes up quickly. What is a reasonable level? How does the salary compare to the market? And how do you avoid the next hire creating pay gaps that need to be corrected later on? In this article, we take a closer look at how to work smart with market pay and salary ranges as part of your pay equity analysis.
This is part of our blog series on pay equity analysis in practice. In the series, we share concrete tips and best practices for those who want to get the most value out of Pay Equity Compass—the tool that makes it easy to get everything right when it comes to pay equity analysis and pay transparency. Read the other parts here.
When the pay equity analysis also supports your next recruitment
Before we dive into the details, let’s start at the beginning: how do market pay and salary ranges actually fit into the pay equity analysis? Well, here’s the thing: at its core, the pay equity analysis is about understanding the current situation—what salaries we have today, whether there are unjustified differences, and how pay compares between women and men in equal and equivalent roles.
But if the pay equity analysis stops there, you miss out on some of the value. By also working with market wages and salary ranges, the pay equity analysis can become a more forward-looking tool that supports more well-considered recruitment, talent acquisition, and pay decisions. .
Market wages help you understand how a specific role is positioned in the labor market, while the salary range helps you define a reasonable level for, say, new hires, based on both market conditions and internal pay structure.
Together, these elements provide practical decision support when HR, payroll, and managers need to discuss what salary a role should be offered and how new salary decisions fit into the bigger picture.
How it works in Pay Equity Compass
In Flex HRM Pay Equity Compass, you can compile market salaries and salary ranges directly within job profiles. This means the information is linked to the role structure you already use in your pay equity analysis.
When you create or update a job profile, there are fields for, among other things, the salary range for new hires and current market salaries.
In this way, the job profile becomes not just a description of the work, but also a tool to support future salary decisions. When a manager needs to recruit, you can go back to the relevant job profile and weigh up:
- what the market says
- how the role is valued internally
- where the role fits within the job architecture
- what the salary structure looks like for similar jobs.
This makes it easier to propose a salary that works well for recruitment and aligns with the organization’s overall pay structure.
Learn more about Pay Equity Compass.
Three tips for working smart with market salary and salary ranges
Enter the data right away. Don’t wait until a recruitment becomes urgent. Add market salary and salary ranges when you create or update the job profile.
Link the data to the job architecture. Use job families and career bands to determine the type of role and its level.
Use the information even after the mapping process. Let the job profiles serve as a support for recruitment, salary decisions, and long-term talent planning—not just in the annual analysis.
Want to know more?
Do you use Flex HRM Pay Equity Compass and want to learn more about how to work smart with market salaries and salary ranges (and everything else related to the pay equity analysis)? Read more in our Knowledge Base.
Have you yet to take the step to Pay Equity Compass, but are curious to learn more? Get in touch and we’ll show you how it works!
