Salary increases in the financial industry will thrust HR into the limelight
as companies search for innovative ways to recruit and retain staff across
industry.
Last week, Personnel Today reported that a boom in salaries and bonuses for
specialist bankers would ripple out across the financial sector, followed by
other industries. This will lead to an increasing pay gap between high and low
performers.
Experts predicted this would put more pressure on HR to provide
non-financial incentives to retain staff at the lower end of the business. Now
the Morgan McKinley 2004 Salary Survey shows salaries in banking and financial
services are indeed set to increase across the board.
Gary Simmons, HR consulting partner at Pricewaterhouse-Coopers, said an
increased pay gap would put further pressure on companies to make themselves
‘appropriate’ to the needs of a modern workforce.
"People are looking to build their skills, but if they don’t like the
business culture, then they will move on," he said.
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Robert Thesiger, managing director of Morgan McKinley, agreed that HR would
need to find innovative ways to win the retention battle likely to follow
increased pressure on salaries.
"The key for [HR] will lie in identifying alternative methods of
employee reward," he said. "The importance of the employer brand and
creating appealing working environments has never been more pertinent."
