
Some companies are pleased when they are able to recruit a person based on an offer that is considerably lower than the market rate. We believe this is a false economy.
We make every effort, in the lead up to candidate selection, to ensure that both parties are acting in good faith. Very occasionally we have heard from companies who made a low salary offer, which the person accepted, and they called to thank us as a result! We usually tell companies in such cases that it is a very short-sighted policy because they will inevitably find it hard to retain staff.
Why? Firstly, because the employee will invariably begin looking for a better paid job immediately. Secondly, working for a below-market-rate salary is demotivating and as a result employers won't get the best from their staff. Thirdly, under-paid staff may begin to take up as much sick leave and annual leave as they can. They may also show signs of stress if they are worrying about their finances. There may be a whole host of reasons why they accepted the role in the first place, but this is no excuse for under-paying.
If your organisation has a genuine reason for only being able to offer a low salary, then consider adding other incentives to the package to make it more attractive and fair – such as the chance to receive bonus payments based on performance or offering other perks on top of the basic salary.