SENIOR HR generalists have received the highest salary increases within the HR profession over the past 12 months
SENIOR HR generalists have received the highest salary increases within the HR profession over the past 12 months.
A HR salary survey has found that HR is a booming profession in terms of escalating salaries, with high levels of demand for both generalist and specialist HR expertise as well as better ratios of HR staff, with 60 to 70 employees for every one HR practitioner.
The survey found the top three grades of HR management received pay increases of between 4 and 10 per cent, with HR directors receiving $260,000 to $375,000, senior HR managers $150,000 to $225,000 and HR managers $100,000 to $150,000 (overall fixed reward, or base plus benefits).
In the past, specialist HR practitioners have attracted premiums, however, the survey pointed to a change in the pecking order with HR specialists paid similar amounts to HR generalists in all categories except remuneration and benefits.
“I think there is a perception of value,” said David Owens associate director of HR Partners, which conducted the survey in conjunction with Hart Consulting.
“I think we know that the senior HR business partner and the HR manager who has experience of leading and managing people are increasingly being viewed as just as critical a success as the HR director role.”
Senior HR managers are experiencing increased pay and recognition as a result of constant interfacing with other senior levels of business, according to Owens.
“They’ll be a member of an executive committee or they’ll be a member of another type of management group where they have to mix it with senior peers, whether they are marketing, IT, banking, insurance specialists, and so on. I think they can expect to be rewarded within cooee of where those people are rewarded as well.”
Senior HR managers have an increasingly valuable skill set, and can be difficult to find and move from company to company, he said.
“They are difficult to move because there is not actually that many of them who would be tremendously well regarded or who are available on the job market,” he said.
In the specialist categories, remuneration and benefits received the highest pay rise. For the senior remuneration and benefits manager, for example, the average pay rate is now more than $200,000.
Remuneration specialists are very highly regarded within HR teams because they tend to be the most fluent in terms of numbers and understanding the financials and commercial impetus of the business, said Owens.
“They are a numerically astute person who can analyse data, and I think that wins respect from the fellow HR people. They’re a vital cog in the wheel of any HR team and I think why they tend to be well remunerated is many fold,” he said.
“Good remuneration people, with good experience with complex financial matters, are incredibly well sought after and because they’re well sought after, they’re well rewarded.”
The survey also found larger numbers of recruitment, learning and development, and other specialist functions in-house, increasing the proportion of HR practitioners to total staff.
“The modern organisation wants to take some fairly significant ownership of their talent management, and that means that they’ve got to develop a capability around talent acquisition, the mobility of existing talent and the development of talent within the firm,” said Owens.
In-sourcing recruitment has been very popular in Australia particularly over the last five or six years. Owens believes the challenge right now for a lot of organisations is to populate their internal recruitment teams, or internal resourcing teams. With high demand and lots of vacancies for recruiters, Owens predicts that recruiters will probably be on the up in terms of remuneration over the coming year.
