FDs and CFOs willing to promote employees without offering pay rise

RESEARCH from Robert Half UK has found securing promotion is no guarantee of a pay rise for CFOs, as 94% of finance professionals would elevate an employee into a new role without offering any additional remuneration.

The primary motivation for chief financial officers and finance directors promoting employees without offering a pay rise is because they believe employee performance in the new role needs to be assessed first.

For finance and accounting professionals in some companies, it appears promotions are being used as a tool to motivate employees when additional money isn’t available to pay them. The second most cited reason for promoting without a pay rise is a lack of available financial resources.

The speed required to fill a vacancy was also identified as a reason for not having funds available to offer employees more money. One in ten CFOs and FDs have promoted employees without increasing their salary because they thought the employee’s remuneration was too high for their previous position.

Employees working in finance and accounting are most likely to be successful if they make a case for a higher salary during their performance review.

Making a request at a business critical juncture can also be an effective strategy, with 28% of FDs and CFOs recommending the best time to ask is at the start of a major project or when taking on new responsibility.

Phil Sheridan, senior managing director of Robert Half UK UAE and South America, commented: “Offering your employees increased responsibility and the opportunity to learn and develop can be one way to boost your employee retention, loyalty and motivation, even when the funds may not be available for a pay rise.

“The risk with this approach in the long-term is that employees start to feel undervalued and with the new skills they have developed, they look to greener pastures to receive a competitive remuneration. If companies do adopt a promotion first strategy scheduling a six month performance review when salary and benefits can be discussed at the same time as confirming the promotion, can be an effective strategy to avoid a negative outcome.”