Salary benchmarking (compensation benchmarking) is the process of comparing a role in your organisation to similar roles in the market, so you can set pay that is competitive, fair, and sustainable. Done well, benchmarking goes beyond base salary to include allowances, benefits, and incentives because that’s how employees experience “total reward”.
This article outlines how organisations in in any African market can approach benchmarking with more rigour and better results.
Why Salary Benchmarking Matters
1) Compete for talent
Markets move fast. Benchmarking helps you understand what the market is paying today so you can attract critical skills without relying on guesswork.
2) Retain and engage employees
When pay is consistently aligned to market reality and internal job value, employees trust the system. That trust reduces regrettable turnover and improves morale.
3) Strengthen your market position
Many East African markets are growing and becoming more competitive. A clear compensation strategy helps local organisations compete for scarce skills alongside larger employers.
What Good Benchmarking Looks Like
1) Use reliable, local data sources
Start with strong inputs. Common sources include:
- national labour and statistics publications
- industry and sector reports
- structured compensation surveys
- credible crowdsourced and job-ad market data (used carefully and validated)
In many African markets, solid data is scarce and or expensive. TheWorkrate is addressing this critical need. The goal is a complete, defensible dataset; not a single number from a single source.
2) Benchmark by industry and skill demand
Pay varies significantly by sector, location, and talent scarcity. For example:
- technology roles may price higher in major hubs due to demand
- agriculture and production roles often reflect sector-specific allowances and field conditions
- tourism and service roles may include variable pay and shift-based premiums
Benchmarking should reflect how that industry pays, not how another industry pays.
3) Price total compensation, not just base salary
Benchmark the full package:
- allowances (e.g., housing, transport, meal, remote-site, shift)
- benefits (medical, retirement, life cover, well-being)
- incentives (bonuses, commissions, performance pay)
This is especially important in markets where allowances form a meaningful part of take-home value.
4) Update regularly and adjust with discipline
Benchmarking is not a one-off project. Build a cadence (at least annually; more often for high-demand roles) and consider:
- inflation and cost-of-living shifts
- currency movement (where relevant)
- changes in skill demand and supply
This keeps pay competitive while protecting affordability.
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Effective salary benchmarking combines solid market data, industry context, and a total compensation view. When organisations move from “gut feel” to structured benchmarking, they make better pay decisions that support competitiveness, fairness, and long-term sustainability.
