Market-Credible Staff Compensation Playbook

Key Insights

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Growing budgetary pressures, out-of-sector competition, and volatile labor markets have made it all the more difficult for higher education institutions to offer competitive salaries to their staff. Many institutions have already adjusted staff compensation in response to recruitment and retention challenges, which made an initial dent in market misalignment. Now, leadership teams need to develop a longer-term strategy for strengthening the market credibility of staff compensation.

EAB has identified four key imperatives for campus leaders to boost the market credibility of staff compensation and make the most of limited salary dollars:

1. Identify their new competitive set(s) for staff talent so they can benchmark themselves against appropriate competitors
2. Improve staff salary studies to ensure an accurate understanding of current market position and maximize the ROI of consultants
3. Set different pay targets based on their current market position and competition levels for different roles
4. Target where to invest limited salary dollars based on their pay targets and institutional talent priorities