How to Determine a Salary Range for a New Position

If you’re creating a new position for your company, it can be difficult to know what the salary range should be for that new hire. It’s hard to know what this new position is really worth to you when you’ve never had it before.

There are some best practices to follow when determining a salary range for a new position. Here are a few.

Start with what you’ve got.

What are you paying your current employees? How did you decide how much to pay them? You probably don’t want your new hire to be paid significantly less—or significantly more—than your current employees. Use their salaries, and the method for determining them, as a starting point and as an indicator of your company’s compensation practices. Pay particular attention to other entry-level or new-hire salaries, or any position that is similar in some way to the new position.

Decide what you can afford.

Hopefully, you’ve already determined that this new hire is something that your company can afford. That said, it’s still important to run the numbers to see how this new hire is going to affect your finances. 

Define the position.

If you’re going to be able to determine a fair salary, you need to be crystal clear about what responsibilities will fall to the person in this new position. Think about the tasks they’ll do, the training they’ll need, and the education/experience you expect them to have. This will give you a better idea of what the job is, which will help you as you start to research the salaries of comparable positions.

Do market research.

Use reputable websites (or, better yet, a professional staffing company) to research what people in comparable positions are making. Be sure to be specific about the level of education you expect, and about your location, as salaries can vary drastically from place to place. This will give you a clearer picture of what people in this position are making.

Factor in benefits.

If your company offers exceptional benefits, that’s definitely something to consider when figuring out compensation for a new position. Make sure your job ad includes a description of the benefits you offer.

Introducing a new position to your company can be intimidating, but it’s not impossible to do it in a way that works for you and for your new hire. Follow these tips to make sure you’re offering fair compensation from the beginning, and you’ll be off to a smooth start.