MARKET-LINKED PAY
Market-linked pay is a hot topic at the moment, with the public-sector pay review bodies having been asked to look at "how the public sector might be more responsive to local labour markets". We review their progress to date.

We have also conducted a survey of market-linked pay - almost all of the 145 responding organisations use market comparisons, most commonly to provide a spot check on salaries and to support the annual pay review process. The process can be complex as organisations seek salary, benefit and pay settlement information by industry, region, occupation and company size from around five different sources of information. Unsurprisingly, some do run into problems, but they have shared their suggestions as to how these might be overcome.

I discuss the findings of the survey in the XpertHR weekly podcast.

We also look at how the Scout Association introduced a competency-based pay and grading structure. The organisation tells us what it did at each stage of the process, and how regularly consulting and communicating with employees helped to ensure a smooth transition to the new arrangements.

Sheila Attwood
Pay and benefits editor, XpertHR