A published white paper has found that almost three in five employers (58%) are expecting to see an increase in resignations over the next 12 months in what has been dubbed the ‘Great Resignation.’

The same research also found that nearly half of employers (48%) only review their pay and benefits package once per year – something they may want to reconsider given the current threat to employee retention.

Salary is cited as the most important factor for new candidates according to 54% of HR professionals, so reviewing people’s pay may go a long way to helping retain employees. However, a third of employers (32%) believe we will see the increase in resignations within the next six months, meaning an annual review of pay and benefits will not suffice. Instead, employers should review their reward package on a regular basis, and some companies are already doing this. Cendex research found that 19% of employers report to making reward revisions once a quarter, 12% every month and 6% even do it weekly.

Over one in ten (14%) of HR professionals reported keeping up with salary expectations as a challenge, but by continually checking the standard of their pay and benefits against other organisations, employers are able to remain competitive. To do this, Cendex recommends HR and reward professionals arm themselves with the right remuneration and reward data to properly benchmark their roles and make informed reward strategy decisions. With pay remaining a key priority to employees, doing so will be pivotal for keeping hold of top talent.

Scott Walker, Managing Director at Cendex comments: “In a year which saw many people working from home, time away from the office has given employees the opportunity to reflect on their employment status and what’s important to them. As a result, one of the biggest challenges for employers in the coming year will be employee retention, yet despite this threat to turnover rates employers still only review pay and benefits once a year.

“Regularly reviewing pay and reward will put employers in the best position for retaining and attracting new talent so it’s essential that organisations are able to confidently benchmark their offering and remain competitive in the market.”

Cendex provides high quality data, intuitive workflow tools and expert insights to help employers benchmark roles and rewards packages, all in a single, trusted platform 24/7. With this tool, HR and reward professionals can retain talent by providing a competitive pay and benefit package to ensure employees are not lured away elsewhere.

*whitepaper from Cendex, part of XpertHR,