More than two-thirds (38%) of employer respondents in the financial services industry plan to change their organisation-wide parental leave policies over the next 12 months, according to research by Mercer.
Its Global financial services executive compensation snapshot survey, which reviewed the pay practices of 42 global financial services organisations in 14 countries across Europe, North America, Asia and South America, also found that 33% of respondents plan to make changes to flexible benefits over the next 12 months.
The research also found:
- 40% of European respondents plan to make changes to their organisation-wide formal pay equity policy over the next year.
- 38% of respondents allow for non-financial performance measures to override financial performance measures in their annual incentive plan, and 32% of respondents allow for this in their multi-year incentive plan.
- Just under half (48%) of respondents have increased fixed pay for employees in control functions, and 19% have increased total compensation levels.
- Base salaries in the financial services sector are expected to increase by between 1.9% and 2.4% across all roles in 2017.
- Base salaries are expected to increase by 1.4% to 2% in Europe, and by 1.6% to 2.6% in North America on average in 2017. This compares to 6% in India, 3.5% in Latin and South America, and 3.8% in Asia.
Vicki Elliott (pictured), senior partner and financial services leader at Mercer Career, said: “With compensation remaining relatively flat, [organisations] are challenged to go beyond pay and emphasise their broader employee value proposition to continue to motivate and retain people.
“To protect key talent, [organisations] should also put more focus on recognising and differentiating high performers.”