When we’re recruiting someone, we’re often asked the salary range for the position, but we never disclose it. Candidates think that knowing the salary range will help them decide if an opportunity is worth pursuing. In fact the opposite is true. Whether you are above, below or in the middle of the salary range, talking about it just gets in the way.
Talking about salary up front is like specifying the requirements for your engagement ring on a first date – it gets in the way of the real priority – deciding if you should be in a relationship.
Our clients are small to midsize organizations, and our searches are often for one-of-a-kind, mission-critical positions. So in that world, salary ranges are rarely set in stone, they are simply a budget guideline, a best guess. Even formal salary surveys are only an approximation – you never really know the true market rate until you have interviewed at least 3 or 4 people who meet all the qualifications for the job.
As a search firm, finding perfect candidates is our priority, and perfect candidates are not always within the target salary range. To rule out great people before talking with them – based on salary alone – would be a disservice to our clients. We’ve often seen clients pay above their target salary range to attract someone with unique skills. In the long run, hiring and retaining high performers is the only thing that matters. And talking about salary too early in the hiring process prizes budget conformity over job performance. (Full disclosure, we operate on a pre-arranged flat fee basis, so this is not a self-serving argument to raise our search fees – we’re paid the same regardless of final salary).
OK, so we’ve discussed the problem with people who are ABOVE the stated salary range, but what about people who have a salary BELOW the target range. That’s just as big a problem.
What happens when I tell a relatively junior candidate who is currently earning $90k that this position has a target salary range of $100k – $125k? They proceed to ignore all the other variables that go into deciding if this is the right job, they ignore all the factors the employer uses to set a salary and they lock in on the size of the engagment ring salary range, like it’s the only thing that matters. Big mistake. The candidate thinks “If they really like me, they will pay me at the top of the range … at least $120k.” Without ever discussing whether $120k is realistic, given their actual skills, they begin to fantasize about how to spend the extra thirty grand.
But salaries are not determined by the target range, they are determined by market rate – what other people with similar skills are earning. The candidate never knows who they are competing with for the job. Our $90k junior candidate does not know about:
- The industry guru who currently earns $130k but would happily accept $125K for a better commute.
- The strong senior person who could hit the ground running (with no training and little supervision) and would happily accept the job at $115k
- The even more junior person who is earning $85k but is hungry to prove themselves and would be thrilled with a salary of $90k.
If I share a salary range up front, and then later offer my $90k candidate the job – at a very reasonable $105K, with tons of room for future salary growth – they feel like they just took a $15k pay CUT (from their fantasy $120k) instead of receiving a $15K pay RAISE from their actual $90k salary. Instead of being happy, they are disappointed, and the employment relationship is poisoned before it even started.
Yeah, you can ask all you want, but we’re not sharing that salary range with anyone.
What happens when you get the 90k candidate who is great, and the job pays 65k? Are you not doing them a disservice by discussing a role that could be a drastic cut for them? Rather than have them go down the rabbit hole, shouldn’t this be discussed more up front? It’s part candidate experience and part brand protection, no?
Good point. As recruiters, our job is to protect not only our brand, but the reputation of our clients. We’re going to learn candidate salary expectations very early on – usually in the first phone call. Usually the gap is not as drastic as your example, but let’s say a candidate fits the qualifications for a job, and is interested, but is paid 20% or more over the “market rate” for the same skills. (Job target salary is $90k and they earn $108). We’ll advise the candidate that might be over the target range, but that we’ll go back and explore it with the client. If the client wants to move forward to interview, then the salary issue is on the table – no surprises for anyone. If they client is not willing to stretch, then nobody is too far “down the rabbit hole” – the candidate has only lost a few minutes talking with us on the phone.
Bob…if I’m going to share the real problems and responsibilities of the job then I’m sure as heck going to share the real salary simply because (a) I want to be transparent and honest, and (b) they might be able to refer some people whose compensation is more “in alignment.”
Steve,
Thanks for your comment. Clearly there are lots of ways to handle this issue. When people ask this question, I think half the time it is for exactly the reason you stated – to refer someone in alignment. Of course the other half is probably to guage whether their own compensation is in alignment
[...] Increase Employee Engagement and Productivity- ALWAYS Disclose Salary Range Human Capital Management Add comments Aug 032011 Disclaimer: I like and respect the opinions and writings of Bob Corlett on his blog, The Staffing Advisor. I believe Corlett has tremendous insight and experience combined with a talent for writing succinct, pithy, and relevant content (and here’s the impending ‘BUT”), but I couldn’t disagree more with is perspective on whether or not to disclose salary range to candidates in his recent post: What’s the Salary Range for that Position? « The Staffing Advisor. [...]
Bob, I couldn’t disagree more, though I definitely respect your position and your blog as a whole! I think the salary range leads to discussions that can increase productivity and employee engagement of new hires. I’ve expanded on this on a new post in response to yours here:
http://jasonblais.com/increase-employee-engagement-and-productivity-always-disclose-salary-range/
Jason, Pete and Steve,
I think we all agree that talking about money is important. (Steve, your comments on Twitter about the importance of couples discussing finances is a very clever extension of my engagement ring analogy – well put!). So we have to talk about money, but who shares their number first, candidate or client?
Our approach is to ask candidates about money, and if we’re in the range where a deal is possible – move forward. If we’re not in the range, but the candidate is highly desireable, we can then ask the client about raising their range. If client can’t budge, we can always go back to the candidate and say “Is this even worth talking about at this (lower) range?”
Here, and on our twitter conversation, you all make great points about trust in the relationship, and what builds/destroys it.