Traditional salary survey and benchmarking houses typically collect and report data based on job titles and broad role families, often aggregated across multiple industries. While useful for high-level trends, this approach lacks the precision required in a specialised sector like renewable energy. Renewable energy operates as a sector in its own right, with different risk profiles, delivery timelines, and scarcity dynamics to most other industries.
Benchmarking parameters are often extremely wide, masking meaningful differences within the same title. As a result, two roles labelled the same can carry very different levels of accountability, delivery pressure, and commercial risk — yet sit within the same generic salary band, offering little clarity on true market value.
Salary Benchmarking vs Salary Surveys
Salary surveys reflect general market pay trends across job titles, usually without context around role scope, outputs, or accountability.
Salary benchmarking, as we apply it, is role-specific and measured directly against the job description. Each role is assessed based on:
• responsibilities and delivery expectations
• decision-making scope and risk exposure
• required qualifications and experience
• project context and operating environment
Our benchmarking is therefore built JD-by-JD, not title-by-title.
We use live market data from South Africa’s renewable energy sector, informed by years of placing specialist, senior, and leadership roles, to benchmark:
– realistic salary ranges for the actual role being hired
– how accountability, risk, and delivery pressure influence pay
– where expectations may be misaligned with the market
– how package structure impacts attraction and retention
How Salary Benchmarking Is Used
– attract the right level of candidate, not just more CVs
– avoid pricing a role so far out of the market that searches stall and timelines stretch
– support informed offer decisions and negotiations
– reduce late-stage fallout caused by misaligned expectations
– Inform bid and tender pricing models where accurate resourcing costs are required
– Support annual budgeting, salary increases, and forward workforce planning