Chris Barrow’s Blog

“Chris

In your Jan newsletter you mentioned reviewing salaries which we already do regularly.

I would be interested to know if you have collated data regarding these recently, to ensure that we are still on target in having well remunerated staff.

(We already know they are better paid than others in our immediate vicinity but as we want to be the best practice in the region then I felt we should look further a field?”)

1. I do not take much notice of the “bands” that are published by the various trade associations such as BDNA, BDPMA, BDHA, BDRA – because they seem to be a very broad brush approach and reflect what I think is often an out-moded view of the responsibilities involved in each job – you certainly will not find them talking about care nurses!;
2. I do not have examples from the client base – this is something we have never asked for as a KPI – you have planted a seed in my mind;
3. What I do find is that it’s more useful to keep an eye on the press in your own community so as to discover what rates of pay are in businesses that require a similar skill set – and focus on customer service. For example, I would be looking for top rates for a receptionist in a legal or accountancy firm to establish a dental receptionists pay – get the picture?
4. Nursing staff are a bit more of a challenge, because exactly what do you compare with?
5. I am all for engaging your team members in a conversation in this process – ask the nurse to go out into the local community and do the research for herself. If she comes back with a big pay demand and a valid explanation of why – then she has a point! If not – she gets a reality check.