{"id":10082,"date":"2026-02-13T10:22:45","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T23:22:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.johnsonrecruitment.com.au\/?p=10082"},"modified":"2026-02-23T16:18:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T05:18:09","slug":"the-growing-importance-of-salary-benchmarking-across-business-support-roles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.johnsonrecruitment.com.au\/the-growing-importance-of-salary-benchmarking-across-business-support-roles\/","title":{"rendered":"The growing importance of salary benchmarking across business support roles"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the Business Support market, movement is accelerating, and salary expectations are moving with it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As a recruiter specialising in Business Support roles across community, social services, health and medical organisations, I\u2019m seeing consistent demand across Executive Assistants, Coordinators, Administrators, Fundraising and Project Support professionals. These roles are no longer viewed as purely transactional support; they are increasingly recognised as critical to operational performance, leadership effectiveness, stakeholder engagement and program delivery.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the same time, candidate expectations around remuneration have shifted noticeably. Many professionals are entering conversations more informed, more selective, and more willing to decline offers that don\u2019t reflect current market value. In this environment, salary benchmarking is no longer a \u201cnice to have\u201d; it is a risk management and workforce planning tool.<\/span><\/p>\n

Salary benchmarking matters more than ever right now<\/b><\/span><\/h4>\n

Benchmarking your salary bands matters more than ever before, and this is why:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Market salaries are shifting faster than many internal pay bands<\/b>
    \n<\/b>Internal salary frameworks are often reviewed annually, but market movement doesn\u2019t wait for review cycles. Over the past year in particular, I\u2019ve seen Business Support salaries move in smaller, but more frequent increments. Organisations relying solely on older bands are finding that offers sit just below market, sometimes by only a few thousand dollars, yet that gap is enough to lose strong candidates.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Top candidates are often choosing between multiple offers<\/b>
    \n<\/b>High-performing executive assistants, senior administrators and experienced coordinators are rarely on the market for long. It\u2019s increasingly common for candidates to be in two or three processes simultaneously. When responsibilities and flexibility are comparable, remuneration becomes the tie-breaker. Employers are sometimes surprised to learn they were competitive on culture and role scope, but not on salary.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Counteroffers are rising and succeeding when pay is out of step<\/b>
    \n<\/b>We are seeing more counteroffers from current employers, particularly when a valued Business Support professional resigns. When the counteroffer brings the salary up to market rate, candidates frequently stay. In several recent cases, candidates told me they hadn\u2019t been actively looking, they responded to an approach, discovered their market value had increased, and their employer adjusted pay to retain them. Without benchmarking, organisations risk unintentionally creating these situations.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Replacement hiring costs typically exceed proactive salary reviews<\/b>
    \n<\/b>Replacing an experienced support professional is rarely cost-neutral. There are advertising and recruitment costs, onboarding time, training investment, and the productivity gap while a new hire gets up to speed. Leaders also feel the operational impact, especially where Business Support staff hold key organisational knowledge. A proactive salary adjustment is often significantly less expensive than a reactive replacement process.<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Pay transparency is now part of candidate decision-making<\/b>
    \n<\/b>Candidates are talking more openly about salary with peers, networks, and recruiters. Many come to first interviews with a clear understanding of current ranges. I regularly hear candidates say, \u201cI\u2019m seeing similar roles advertised higher than this,\u201d or \u201cMy peers in comparable organisations are earning more.\u201d Transparency is reducing information gaps and increasing the importance of accurate, current benchmarking data.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    What I\u2019m hearing directly from Business Support professionals<\/b><\/span><\/h4>\n

    In conversations with candidates, a few themes come up repeatedly:<\/span><\/p>\n