Hiring Best Practice 
Find out how common hiring and salary negotiation practices contribute to wage gaps in the social sector in the US. 

 

ABOUT THE STUDY  

We know that the root causes of pay inequity for women and minorities vary greatly. One particular cause gaining the attention of employers and regulators is the practice of asking “current compensation” during the job interview, offer and negotiation stages. There is growing sentiment that asking for salary history is improper, overly intrusive and is likely to be unfair to minorities and women. 

Our goal is to explore current hiring best practices in the social sector, perceptions among sector hiring executives and pose the question: what would salary negotiation look like if the practice of asking salary history was against the law.

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 The Impact of Current Practice 

A lower salary history has resulted in unfair pay practices as well as different people being paid different amounts for the same job. Women are less likely to recover from below market value early in their careers than their male counterparts.                                                            

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The Legislations are Changing 

Under the Pay Equity for All Act of 2016 (H.R. 6030), an employer could be subject to a fine of up to $10,000 if it asks questions about an applicant’s salary history. 
It would be a change of practice and quite an education for hiring managers. It would take some time to shift their perceptions of the decreased importance of the historical data, and more importantly, increase the importance of paying to market based on education, skills, and experience.

 METHODOLOGY

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Targeted organizations included US-based nonprofits and foundations with budgets or assets above $100 million as of 2015, or with operating budgets above $50 million. The target population consisted of management-level HR professionals—including CHROs, VPs, and managers.

 

 
Waldron Hiring Best Practice 2017
Waldron Hiring Best Practice 2017

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We emailed 1,019 individuals inviting them to participate by following a link. The 42 replies established a response rate of 4.1 percent. We recruited an additional 64 participants via targeted ads on Facebook and LinkedIn. For incentives, we offered participants a $5 Starbucks gift card and an opportunity to win a $250 Amazon gift card.

 

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To achieve a thorough and more robust variety of responses, we employed a variety of question formats in the survey, including Likert scale items. The survey’s descriptive results appear in terms of counts, percentages of total responses, and means, as applicable.

 
Waldron Hiring Best Practice 2017

 

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Organizational culture should accomodate those candidates who wish to keep their current salary private and compete on the basis of credentials and ability. Educating hiring managers on this approach will be a change effort worth doing. Women and minority colleagues will appreciate new policies aimed at erasing the pay gap issue.

 

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