Salary benchmarks are integral to attracting top talent, but they can fall short of what candidates expect. To avoid this, to ensure offers remain competitive and aligned, firms must take a strategic approach to benchmarking.
Although industry analysis is an invaluable starting point (and we know many of our clients really value our annual Salary & Benefits Survey!) the numbers are only the start of the story. When setting salary bands and shaping offers, it’s essential to pair trusted data with a solid understanding of the market and individual candidate motivators. Failing to invest in this can lead to a disconnect between the hiring firm and the talent, causing great applicants to walk away from prospective employers, who in turn lose out on securing fantastic candidates.
A quality recruiter will mitigate the risks of this, ensuring timely, tailored and transparent offer management, and avoiding any disappointing surprises at a late stage. We partner closely with law firms in this capacity, ensuring their offers land in the sweet spot! Our most recent data showed that our clients secured Business Service candidates at an avg. of 96% of the anticipated budget for the role*, which is a great example of how careful benchmarking leads to healthy budgets, satisfied candidates, and an offer that works.
The sweet spot
So, how can all hiring firms strike the right number and set salary bands that are competitive, fair, and compelling? The answer is in a complex sum of many things, from the applicant’s personal drivers, to the urgency of the role, to the firm’s financial landscape. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all rule, but there are things you can think about when you attach a salary to a vacancy, to ensure you hit the right number.
Know your audience, and know them well
Be clear: who are you pitching to? When setting salary levels, consider who the role is truly likely to attract. A position advertised within a certain salary band often appeals most to those earning slightly below that range, rather than those already at the top of it. Knowing where your offer sits in relation to talent pools helps ensure it resonates with the right people.
Understand the candidate’s motivations
Perhaps the most important variable in all this is the candidate themselves. Every person will come to a role with a unique set of drivers, preferences and needs. Taking the time to get to know these – and them! - early doors, is such a great investment.
It’s also worth recognising that people from different generations, backgrounds and world experiences tend to weigh priorities differently. E.g. there is a lot of data to suggest younger professionals are placing more emphasis on value on balance and purpose, compared with more experienced candidates. Salary is just one piece of a much larger picture for most people, and understanding this is where valuable benchmarking begins.
Market availability
How easy is it to find someone with the specific skills you need? If the talent pool is limited, you might need to move beyond the midpoint of your range to attract people in demand. Benchmarking is a guide, not a ceiling, and flexibility is key when you’re looking for specialist skills.
Anticipate an uplift
Employers sometimes base salary points on internal tiers, what the previous person earned, and industry wage averages. While this is a sensible foundation, it overlooks the uplift most candidates expect to reflect progression and offset the risks of moving. For example, our 2025 Salary & Benefits Survey showed that Legal candidates in Business Support roles move with an avg. 17% increase, 23% in Finance, 25% in BD & Marketing, and 28% in Compliance. It’s a very consistent trend, especially in mid-tier roles.
When employers fail to anticipate this, they create an automatic gap between their offer and what it really takes to attract talent to a new job. Instead, hiring panels should factor a reasonable pay-rise into their salary benchmarks for candidates, from the outset.
Strengthen your foundations
Internal culture
Salary decisions shouldn’t come at the cost of internal equity or morale, and it’s important to maintain fairness and consistency across the business. This is not always easy to navigate, and is where we really come into our own as recruitment partners!
Over years of building long-standing relationships with firms, we get to know 1. what matters to them and 2. their internal financial context (budgets, forecasts, what their existing employees are earning). Our consultants align these sets of insight with global market intel to help legal clients stay objective and justify when offers need to flex, whilst preserving internal harmony.
Employer brand
When assessing offers, we always consider a firm’s Employer Value Proposition (EVP). How aspirational is the company? How appealing is their brand and culture? Who will be excited to work for them?
A strong EVP can often bridge part of the gap between what a firm can offer and what a candidate needs, with many applicants more likely to accept a slightly lower offer if they genuinely connect with an organisation’s purpose and values. For example, it’s been reported that 68% of Gen-Z candidates would take a pay cut to work for a company who aligns with their values*.
A clear, authentic EVP can be as powerful as the salary itself, and this is especially important in the current market, which continues to be talent-led!
Are your Job Descriptions up to date?
This is an often-overlooked factor in salary benchmarking. Some employers are working from outdated role templates that just don’t reflect new technologies, systems, and responsibilities that have evolved and expanded over time.
If the role has grown and/or the company has evolved, the salary should too. We work with forward-thinking firms to regularly review and refine their job scopes, ensuring they remain current and competitive.
The overall package
Although many candidates’ eyes quickly go to the base pay, I always encourage them to consider what else is on the table. Bonuses, hybrid working options, private health insurance, enhanced parental leave, and additional holiday can all add significant value, and plug the gap where a salary is lower than a candidate would ideally like. If your company is lighter on perks, a higher salary is a reasonable expectation and vice versa.
In recent years this has become all the truer, with flexibility, wellbeing and other “soft” benefits carrying as much weight as financial incentives for many candidates. Essentially, a competitive offer looks at the total package, with salary just one ingredient.
People first, always
What these considerations tell us is that salary isn’t the only factor in securing great talent, rather an important foundation and tool for attracting the right people with the right skills to the right role! This is where our people-first approach never lets us (or our clients) down.
One of the greatest privileges of my job is having a unique window into both sides of the equation (the motivations, history, and potential of the candidate, and the goals, culture, and values of the hiring firm). This is what enables me and my team to advise with experience, data and our eyes open, and to help bridge the gap between true expectations and offers grounded in market insight and human understanding.
Salary benchmarking is a careful balancing act that requires time, intel, and expertise, and it warrants that investment because of the enormous impact on the future talent of your workforce and success of your firm - which is why law firms across the globe commission us to lead on the entire recruitment process, from initial job scoping to talent search to offer management to onboarding. For personalised salary benchmarking guidance, contact me or any one of the team.
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Authored by Andrea Prendergast, Ryder Reid Legal Co-owner and Director of Executive Search. Andrea started her recruitment career in 1998 in her hometown of Liverpool, before joining Ryder Reid in 2008 and eventually buying the business in 2018 with Business Director Callum Smith. Now, Andrea can be found partnering with clients on their most critical hires, expanding our support to U.S. and International firms, and leading the Ryder Reid team.
References
*Full data available in our 2025 Salary & Benefits survey
* Data re value of EVP