Employers increase pay to retain staff


Financial services employees are increasing employee remuneration as a strategy to retain employees who met or exceeded their key performance indicators (KPIs), according to a remuneration survey.
The annual ‘Dawson Partnership Remuneration Trends Survey' found since 2014 there had been an increase of 10 per cent to 23 per cent in employer intentions to increase employee remuneration.
Dawson Partnership's director, Sally Humphris, said the trend in remuneration increases were most notable in compliance/governance roles within advice businesses.
"The 2015 Survey recorded an increased emphasis on employers ensuring that they're offering market based remuneration with respondents wanting to reward employees who had performed well," she said.
The specialist financial services executive search firm's principal, Peter Dawson, said employers were aware that some of their best employees had been approached about other roles and the remuneration increase was part of their retention strategy.
"We are seeing an upward trend in recruitment activity and an awareness by financial planning businesses that to retain their employees they need to ensure they are remunerated in line with the market or they will face the possibility of losing them," Dawson said.
The report said in the aligned financial planner business model, a remuneration increase was cited from a growth in total funds under advice driven by the acquisition of individual financial planner practices, boosting remuneration in compliance and administration roles.
The report found the reasons for increases in remuneration were for employees who met or exceeded their KPIs (55 per cent), retaining valued employees (31 per cent), and paying employees that were not being paid market remuneration (14 per cent).
It said 66 per cent of employers were looking at maintaining remuneration, and five per cent were looking to decrease remuneration.
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