To grow your business, you need people who have the acumen to deliver your vision. And whether you're looking for local or expat talent, you need a workforce strategy that sets the right tone for both the sector and the markets you operate in, competitively compensating from the C-suite down to entry-level.
A typical benchmarking project with mselect is delivered bespoke with our expert advisory. On average, clients see:
20% increase in employee retention (industry average 10 to 15%)
30% improvement in offer acceptance rates (industry average 15 to 25%)
10-14 day reduction in time-to-fill
5% productivity increase
A rise in their employer stability index as employee tenures increase
Here’s how we make that happen and why that tailored approach delivers better outcomes for our clients.
Benchmarking Consultation That Focuses on Strategy
Unlike more traditional off-the-shelf salary surveys and benchmarking packages, our proprietary data is sourced directly from our extensive network and tailored to your parameters. Our customised research methods ensure that your insights are not only current and accurate but also deeply relevant to your sector and culture, giving you a better competitive edge in talent acquisition and retention.
Our process begins with in-depth data collection from proprietary and industry sources, as well as specialised market research. To ensure data accuracy and relevance, all information is cross-verified against multiple reliable sources. Our team reviews each dataset to identify anomalies and validate findings through direct benchmarking against current market conditions. We then map and analyse this data using advanced statistical methods to identify relevant trends. Your findings are subsequently compiled into a clear, actionable report detailing pay and benefit structure recommendations across roles and scales, which is delivered with our expert advisory.
Expert advisory is a crucial element here. Built on years of industry experience and expertise, we have been able to really hone in on what candidates are looking for, guaranteeing that clients receive actionable insights that make an impact. For example, we recently helped a client realise that their compensation packages were falling below the industry median for technical roles, which led us to advise on updated salary bands. After implementing this, the company quickly improved recruitment and retention outcomes for these roles.
And we see similar outcomes across the board, whether it’s a client’s ability to reposition their employer value proposition (EVP) or enter new markets effectively.
Our advisory doesn’t stop at report delivery either; we can help you through the stages of implementing your workforce strategy, including offering full EOR capability in new or complex regions, executive search, or contract staffing support. So, you can think of us as a workforce partner, rather than just another advisor.
It’s that partnership approach that sets our workforce benchmarking apart.
We don’t just set the scene, we help create lasting workforce strategy.
Why Off-The-Shelf Salary Surveys Fail
Before we talk about the core benefits of advisory alongside a bespoke pay and compensation report, it’s important to discuss why an off-the-shelf salary survey would be an unwise investment.
Traditional off-the-shelf options will be pre-packaged. You’ll get standardised descriptions used to map your internal roles to industry standards, and you’ll find fixed point data for things like base salary, short-term incentives (STI) and total direct compensation (TDC). All of which can be filtered by industry, geography and company size. A good survey could set you back as much as $10,000.
The problem is that this data is a cleansed snapshot, sometimes at least 6 to 12 months old when it's published, and that’s before you factor in the time from publication to purchase. The risk is that your outdated survey will no longer accurately reflect a real-time median salary. Not accounting for social, economic, or industry change or nuance means candidates could receive offers at a higher rate from your competitors.
Now, let’s say you operate in Fintech, an industry that is rapidly scaling and innovating. Working with outdated data could lead you to create a package that doesn’t reflect the required skills aligned with an organisational level. Underpay and you get under skilled candidates. Overpay, and you could reduce profitability and productivity. A critical error on time-sensitive projects.
Off-the-shelf versions also heavily focus on base salary without capturing what a full or total rewards compensation package might look like. The risk in taking that position is that while you may hit the 75th percentile for a C-suite candidate, without offering a strong benefits package, you could unnecessarily bloat your fixed costs. All of this in a market where candidates are placing more importance on compensation as a way to find a better work-life-family balance.
There’s also a single outlier risk when filtering your survey results. Can you spot the one company paying way too much or way too little that skews your final average? And should the onus be on you to determine that? We don’t believe so.
More than this, you could risk destabilising effects if you pay market rate for a new employee without rebalancing existing employee pay and compensation. A salary survey on its own couldn’t advise you on where readjustments should or shouldn’t take place and what the cost justification of that might look like.
The benefit of receiving expert consultation during the delivery of real-time bespoke benchmarks means you can use the data to build a strategy that counters all of the risks involved in setting pay and compensation scales. Far less costly over the long term.
The Core Benefits of an Advisory Focused Risk-Averse Pay & Compensation Strategy
Each client we work with is unique; they have their own vision for the impact they want to make in their market and their own internal culture. It could be problematic to act on advice that doesn’t account for this when strategically aligning EVP and employee packages with your competition, industry, and region.
On average, our clients have seen up to a 20% increase in employee retention (industry average 10 to 15% and a 30% improvement in offer acceptance rates (industry average 15 to 25%) after implementing our evidence-based benchmarking recommendations that focus on a risk-averse pay and compensation strategy.
They have also reduced time-to-fill by an average of 10 to 14 days.
Productivity also increases, typically by 5%, because market-aligned companies retain experienced, happy staff, outweighing the cost of advisory and adjustments.
Our clients also find that their stability indexes rise as employee tenure increases, from up to a year to 1 to 2 years, sometimes even longer.
Return on investment often occurs within the first year too, as reduced hiring costs and improved workforce stability deliver measurable financial benefits.
Why does this happen? Because mselect offers you support through the entire journey. Not just at benchmarking. And clients who have partnered with us in the early strategy stages quickly see how our consultative framework helps them make positive change in how they approach people and culture.
Our Work in Action: Standard Chartered Bank
In our recent work with Standard Chartered Bank, our objective was to provide comprehensive salary insights across all levels of its organisation. The main challenge was sourcing reliable data in regions with limited transparency and in a highly competitive sector, while ensuring recommendations were both locally and internationally favourable.
Through our advisory, we delivered an actionable benchmark report that enabled the bank to optimise its compensation strategy and maintain its competitive edge by:
identifying 12% of roles below the market median and reducing compensation discrepancies
reducing risk of attrition by 15–25% for critical, standard and supporting roles
Read the full case study here: https://www.mselect.com/case-studies/standard-chartered-bank
As a result of our initial collaboration, our partnership has grown, and we are pleased to say that we now consult on several workforce projects.
Consultative Benchmarking: Driving Value and Results for Your Business
Partnering with mselect means more than accessing accurate benchmarking data. We’ll provide strategic guidance by supporting the conception and deployment of your risk-averse workforce strategy, helping you make confident, informed decisions that strengthen your labour force and deliver measurable results.
Contact us today to schedule a free consultation and see for yourself how partnering with mselect could help you.