Supporting evidence-based pay decisions
- 5 days ago
- 1 min read
No of Staff: +4,200
UWE and ECC salary benchmarking. Strengthening pay decisions through evidence
The challenge
Like all universities, the University of the West of England (UWE) operates in a highly competitive market, particularly for niche talent. With external pay levels shifting quickly and some roles increasingly difficult to recruit, UWE needed reliable market insight to inform pay decisions and support internal reward discussions.
The solution
As part of its membership, UWE uses ECC benchmarking services mainly for IT roles and selected specialist facilities roles where market pressures are strongest. Having access to clear, role-specific market comparisons has helped UWE understand external positioning and make better informed decisions, particularly where salary flexibility is limited.
The impact
Working with ECC has also saved time internally, allowing HR teams to focus on interpreting insights and supporting the business. The ability to access detailed role-level data has, they say, been particularly valuable when market supplements are required, helping provide solid evidence to support decisions and respond to equal pay queries with a clear rationale.
While recruitment challenges remain market-driven, UWE has seen improved confidence in pay decision-making and greater stability across some hard-to-fill roles.
“ECC really understands our roles and the market we recruit from. Their collaborative approach, taking time to understand exactly what data is needed and how it will be used, has been invaluable. Their benchmarking gives us the evidence we need to back up pay decisions, and it saves us a lot of time. It really feels like a one-stop shop.”
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