Are You Paying Your Lab Technicians Enough?
Posted April 26th, 2016
People go to work for lots of reasons – to satisfy creative and intellectual interests, to work on projects they believe in, even to simply pass the time. But the first and foremost reason that people go to work is to make the money they need to live the life that they want.
This is something we all know, but something it’s easy to lose sight of in today’s recruiting discussion. In the desperate rush to fill skills gaps and attract and retain top talent, there is a lot of theorizing about improving company culture, embracing new recruiting strategies, or attracting millennial candidates. What gets talked about much less is paying people enough.
There is a mountain of data that could be cited showing the link between compensation and success in recruiting, retention, and employee engagement. But simple common sense tells us that if you pay people what is fair, or more than fair, you’re likely to be a more enticing employer. And if you don’t, HR is always going to be a problem.
With that in mind, consider how much you pay your lab technicians. According to Indeed, the national average salary for lab technicians in April 2016 was $38,000. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median salary for lab technicians in 2014 was $49,310. If your compensation levels do not coordinate with those figures, you can expect to have holes in your lab.
There are other factors to consider, of course. For instance, salaries for these professionals are some of the highest in the country on the West Coast. And they vary widely depending on the type of lab work being done. That means a more granulated investigation is necessary to determine if your specific technicians are adequately compensated.
If after doing the research you conclude that they’re underpaid, expect them to know this as well. That could account for your recruiting woes. The simple solution is to raise wages, but this is often impossible. The good news is that you may be able to offer less than average if you offer value in other places, or value of a different kind. For example, your benefits package may be more competitive, you might offer tuition reimbursement, or you might give younger, newer technicians a chance to participate on important projects. Savvy technicians will know that the right professional development opportunity now can translate to a lot more money down the road.
Keep in mind, too, that even the highest paying labs have holes in their ranks. For lots of complicated reasons, recruiting and retaining talent is always a challenge. Before you make an expensive and uncertain investment to fix your staffing woes, contact Bayside Solutions.
