Professional services firm Moore Kingston Smith looks to balance salary, recognition and benefits equally as part of its holistic approach to its people and their reward.
The organisation, which employs 75 partners and 700 employees based in and around London, regularly reviews its pay strategy according to the current climate, the markets and internal equity with the need to differentiate individuals based on their personal contribution. As part of one of its two yearly pay reviews, of which the most recent took place in November 2022, it ensured each employee who had been with the firm for 12 months or more had a minimum of an 8% salary increase over that period.
The firm has a clear vision for sustainable, lasting success and is mindful of the changing needs of its people and the market, explains Maureen Penfold, managing partner at Moore Kingston Smith. “People are at the heart of our strategy, as we are committed to ensuring an inclusive, inspirational workplace that has a strong ethical core,” she says. “We know from regular listening that our people value the wider benefits we offer as much as they do our competitive pay and benefits package.”
In addition, last year, Moore Kingston Smith enhanced its wider reward package with generous sick pay and family-friendly leave from day one of employment. It also introduced a new flexible benefits platform, which enables its employees to see their total reward package and select benefits that are suited to their individual needs.
In terms of whether these changes are sustainable in the long term, Penfold believes that continuous blanket salary increases are not, but that people’s needs are more wide reaching than this.
“While salary may be high up the agenda currently due to the cost-of-living crisis, at other times it might be flexibility, career development, or other factors,” she says. “Offering a competitive salary is important but it’s not enough, people have wide-ranging and sometimes complex needs. They want an employer that supports them in a multitude of ways, not just by ticking the salary box. Our approach, in line with our vision for sustainable success, is to keep listening to our people and to the market, and to flex our reward package as appropriate.”
Moore Kingston Smith is committed to doing all it can to ensure the financial wellbeing of its people, as it recognises that financial circumstances impact mental health and that the cost-of-living crisis is affecting personal finances. It listens to its workforce’s needs through the anonymous engagement platform Peakon and supports financial wellbeing through educational activities such as Talk Money Week.
“There’ll always be competition for talent, and businesses that overlook having a robust reward package risk being left behind in retaining and attracting the best people,” Penfold concludes.