Should You Worry About Your Starting Salary in HR?

Songyan Jiang was the first to be interviewed in our New To HR Professional Series.

She was a real pleasure to speak to, honest and direct. Songyan also has some great questions for those in HR and Senior Management positions. She tells it as it currently is in the world of HR!

Why do we actually see HR in a way that it is the saviour of all things?

It is not really like that in the normal day-to-day world…

Hooray!

Let’s start focusing on operational/tactical skills.

Compensation and benefits represents a balancing act between competition and legislation and it is clear that when you start out in HR negotiating your salary is a daunting task. You may need to think about what factors will impact the job in the future – such as the current economy, what your current peers around you doing, and what is the company’s plan for future investment in training, development and possible other strategic plans that will help you with your career? When you start out as a New To HR professional, it should not only be about the $$$!

The foundation of reward is to get the organisations base pay levels, pay structures and review process right. Organisations often manage different elements of reward separately. This means that employees will often miss some of the value which may not be so obvious (for a New To HR professional this may be HR experience and future opportunities). It is critical to maximise the value of everything the organisation spends on reward.

The organisation should have a well-designed compensation plan that motivates employees, controls compensation costs, and ensures equity. The best compensation plans mirror the culture of the employer.

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