Occasionally as I am coaching someone through a job offer pay negotiation, I find that the internal HR person is not willing to negotiate.

They may be from Talent Acquisition or Compensation, but their attitude is the same. They have a number in mind for the “right” base salary and they are not going to give any more.

They say it is because they need to maintain internal pay equity or because that number is competitive.

And yet, when I learned more from the candidate the base salary range posted on the job vacancy was wide.

For instance, one large company in California posted a range for a Salesforce Technical Lead job in Los Angeles that is from $131,000 - $219,000. That’s a Range Spread of 67%.

Typical Range Spreads are:

Manufacturing or service jobs – 20% to 30%
Clerical or technical jobs – 30% to 40%
Supervisory or professional jobs – 40% to 50%
Management or executive jobs – 50% or more
(Source: Compensation dot BLR dot com)

TA and Comp people need to let go of their “one number for base salary” job offer philosophy. It is not in alignment with the wide range.

And digging in and not being flexible is a great way to lose great candidates.

Don’t let excuses become reasons why jobs stay open longer than necessary. Your employer needs to get work done and you’re not adding value by being stubborn.

Paying an equitable base salary isn’t one number in a competitive pay range. Instead, an equitable base salary is a narrower range within the ridiculously wide range you posted.

#payequity #negotiation #paytransparency #compensation #rewards #humanresources