The pandemic has had a massive effect on companies all over Canada. Hiring, specifically, became one way that organizations were able to adapt to the changing demands of their market. Whether it was hiring IT positions to manage cybersecurity concerns, call center positions to attend to customers while stores are closed, or remote admin roles to keep the company running while everyone works from home, immediate hiring concerns may have looked quite different in the adjustment period.
As we enter the long recovery period, hiring and retention concerns are still top of mind for many companies. After all, getting the right people and keeping them happy goes a long way towards achieving an organization’s goals. And yes, that includes offering your employees a comparable compensation package for the market.
Continue reading for our top insider tips on the latest salary trends, how to attract talented candidates, and how to retain your best employees with the help of the 2021 Salary Calculator from Adecco.
Salary trends in 2021
The job market in Canada is currently taking a hit, with just over 60,000 jobs being lost over the holiday period due to the ongoing pandemic and a less than lucrative Christmas for some sectors. Organizations in previously-booming sectors, such as banks, are set to resume cost-cutting initiatives resulting in widespread job losses throughout the financial sector.
But it’s not all doom and gloom. Despite these obstacles, experts predict that Canadian employees may see a minor pay increase in 2021, possibly due to some sectors of the economy thriving during the pandemic. An example of this is the e-commerce industry, which increased its slice of the retail sector in Canada considerably and grew to new heights all over the world in 2020. This means that companies that are digitalizing and moving online could need highly skilled talent to take them forward in 2021.
Attracting the best candidates
To attract the best candidates, you need to make a good offer.
We know that offering a competitive rewards package is a big part of that puzzle, but don’t overlook the other elements that make your organization an enticing place to work. Build a strong employer brand by looking for elements that enhance your reputation as an employer, such as your organization’s positive work culture, professional development opportunities, room for advancement and strong market position.
And once you’ve attracted those top candidates, it’s just as important to keep them.
How to retain talent
Failing to hold on to your best employees can be extremely disruptive to your organization. Avoid the costs associated with a bad hire by offering access to training, providing strong work benefit programs, having an effective recruiting process, creating an open and communicative workplace, and, you guessed it, making sure your employees are getting paid what they deserve.
Why is this important? Because the cost of replacing employees can be very high. Some studies show that employee turnover can cost as much as 2.5 times an individual’s annual salary in some cases, making it much more cost-effective to negotiate a better salary and keep your top employees.
Establishing a valuable total compensation package
Now that you’ve considered the (often intangible) ways to attract top candidates and retain your best employees, let’s look at the most important piece of the puzzle: establishing a competitive compensation package.
How Adecco’s 2021 Salary Calculator can help
Every year, we release our updated Adecco Salary Guide to help orient businesses all over the country in making salary-related decisions. Our salary guide includes information for over 150 positions in different industries from all over the country. We don’t just have data on big city jobs, we also research salaries in smaller cities and Canada’s rural areas to make sure you can make an informed decision, wherever your business is located.
Here’s an example of how you could use Adecco’s 2021 Salary Calculator when recruiting new talent: If you’re looking for a Bookkeeper in Edmonton, the salary calculator will show you that a candidate with low experience should earn around $44,400 a year, but if you’re hiring an experienced candidate, then their salary expectations would be closer to $55,700 (based on the size of your organization).
If you have a highly experienced Data Analyst working at your company in Montreal, on the other hand, you should be offering around $93,800 (based on the size of your organization) to make sure you’re keeping in line with market rates and have a greater chance of retaining your employee.
As these examples show, job title, location and experience have a large impact on an individual’s salary expectations. So, whether you want to attract new talent, or hold on to your best-performing employees in 2021, our updated Salary Calculator is a powerful tool in identifying salary expectations helping you move your business forward.
And don’t forget these elements of a total compensation package
When we say “compensation package,” we mean more than just the cash compensation you offer. Especially in uncertain economic times, this portion of an employee’s total compensation package may not be completely moveable, however, offering benefits and income protection as well as pension and RRSP programs can help you offer your employees a competitive compensation package beyond salary considerations. Additional benefits can also include employee assistance programs, group home and auto insurance discount rates, education reimbursement programs, referral bonus programs, corporate gym rates, onsite daycare, competitive time-off policies and flexible work schedules.
The pandemic has had an undeniable impact on the labour market. When it comes to hiring and retention, however, understanding candidate expectations when it comes to salary is still essential to offering competitive compensation packages to the best people for your organization. With Adecco’s 2021 Salary Calculator, you can make better-informed decisions about salary compensation in as easy as a few clicks.