Market supplements: solving recruitment challenges without undermining pay structures
- 21 hours ago
- 3 min read
18 June, 2026
Written by Jo Hunt
You've recruited for a Cyber Security Manager role three times.
The role has been properly evaluated. The grade aligns with similar positions across the institution. Candidates are interested and interviews go well.
Then salary discussions begin.
Candidates withdraw or accept offers elsewhere.
The hiring manager's response is immediate:
"We need to regrade the role."
It's a familiar scenario for many HR and Reward professionals. As recruitment pressures continue in areas such as IT, data, engineering and finance, organisations are increasingly being asked to respond to market challenges without undermining established pay and grading structures.
The question is: does a difficult-to-fill vacancy automatically mean the role is graded incorrectly?
Usually, the answer is no. So, what is the issue?
Is pay really the problem?
Salary is often the first thing people point to when recruitment becomes difficult, but it's rarely the only factor. Challenges can be driven by:
skills shortages
competition from other sectors
location
limited progression opportunities
expectations around flexible working
organisational reputation
lengthy recruitment processes
Before making any pay-related decisions, it's important to understand what's actually causing the problem. Vacancy data, turnover trends, time-to-hire metrics and candidate feedback can all help build a clearer picture.
Competitive doesn't mean highest paid
Being competitive doesn't necessarily mean matching the highest salary in the market.
Universities and colleges often offer benefits that many employers cannot, including strong pension schemes, generous annual leave, flexible working and greater job security.
The key question is whether external market rates have moved far enough away from internal pay levels to affect recruitment or retention.
To answer that, you need evidence.
Why benchmarking matters
Benchmarking helps organisations move beyond assumptions and understand what's happening in the market. It can provide insight into:
salary levels
regional pay differences
sector-specific trends
emerging skills shortages
recruitment pressures
Most importantly, it helps organisations determine whether they're facing a genuine market issue or something else entirely.
From instinct to evidence
Many organisations know they need market data but struggle to access information that's current and relevant.
Salary surveys can quickly become dated, while national averages don't always reflect specialist higher education roles or local labour markets.
ECC members have access to a range of labour market intelligence resources designed to support evidence-based decision-making.
Through Brightmine, members can access established salary benchmarking data. ECC's partnership with HR DataHub also provides real-time labour market intelligence drawn from millions of job advertisements, helping organisations understand current market rates, skills shortages and regional pay trends.
Used alongside the market-leading HERA and FEDRA job evaluation frameworks, these tools help answer three important questions:
What is the internal value of the role?
What is the external market rate?
Is there evidence of a genuine market premium?
Protecting fairness
One of the biggest risks organisations face is using regrading as a response to recruitment difficulties.
If a role is regraded simply because it's hard to fill, it can create inconsistencies within the pay structure, undermine confidence in grading outcomes and potentially increase equal pay risks.
Market supplements offer a more targeted solution.
Rather than changing the assessed value of the role, they recognise that the market may currently place a premium on particular skills or expertise.
This allows organisations to respond to external pressures while maintaining internal equity.
Making market supplements work
Where market supplements are introduced, they should be supported by clear evidence and appropriate governance. Good practice includes:
confirming the role's grade through job evaluation
gathering reliable market evidence
documenting the business rationale
obtaining appropriate approvals
reviewing supplements regularly
This helps ensure decisions remain transparent, fair and defensible.
Final thoughts
Returning to our Cyber Security Manager vacancy, the issue may not be the grade at all.
The role may already be correctly evaluated. The challenge may simply be that the market is placing a premium on scarce skills.
Understanding the difference between a role's internal value and its external market price is critical.
Market supplements won't solve every recruitment challenge, but when supported by robust evidence, they can help organisations balance two important objectives: responding to market realities while maintaining fair and consistent pay structures.
And that's a far better outcome than regrading first and asking questions later.
