Los Angeles, Feb. 23, 2022 – Amid a global talent shortage, a new Korn Ferry (NYSE: KFY) rewards survey shows that leaders are looking beyond compensation to other forms of recognition as a means to attract and retain employees.

The global survey found that company leaders are searching for ways to establish deeper connections with their workers and provide them with more opportunities for growth and development. Some examples of what companies said they are focusing on more now than a year ago:

• 40% of survey participants said they are investing more to improve manager and leader effectiveness in building employee connections and inclusion.
• 36% said they are engaging more with employees around organizational change priorities.
• 31% are providing more clarity and communication about employee growth and career development opportunities.
• 30% said they are increasing their effort to connect the work that employees do to the organization’s mission, vision and values.

In terms of compensation, survey respondents said they are using the following tools even more than they did before the pandemic:

• Special incentives/bonuses outside of regular bonus programs (20%)
• Retention bonuses (18%)
• Sign-on bonuses (18%)
• Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) metrics in their incentive programs (17%)

The survey also found that there are differences in salary increases depending on the job type.

“When it comes to compensation increase budgets, not all roles are created equal,” said Don Lowman, Global Leader of Korn Ferry’s Total Rewards business. “Several hot skills areas were cited as having separate salary increase budgets, including analytics & data science, engineering, IT and sales.”

In addition, median base-salary increase estimates for 2022 have grown from estimates reported in the summer of 2021. For example, the U.S. increased from 3.0% to 3.5%, the U.K. from 2.5% to 3.0%, Brazil from 6.4% to 7%, Turkey from 18% to 30%, and Russia from 5.0% to 7.5%. Nearly two-thirds (65%) of respondents said that top performers will average 1.5 to 2.0 times the base salary increase of competent performers.

About the Global Rewards Survey

The Korn Ferry survey conducted in mid-January 2022 generated more than 5,000 responses from companies in 116 countries and provides data for 24 industry segments. A full copy of the report can be found here.

About Korn Ferry

Korn Ferry is a global organizational consulting firm. We work with our clients to design optimal organization structures, roles, and responsibilities. We help them hire the right people and advise them on how to reward and motivate their workforce while developing professionals as they navigate and advance their careers.

Media Contact:

Tracy Kurschner

Tracy.kurschner@kornferry.com

612.309.3957