The Cambodian economy is growing fast, and you might find it difficult to retain your most skilled staff without re-considering their salary.

A Changing World
In the past, and still to some extent today, salaries for locals were often set by asking around and finding out what other people are paying. While the private sector was still relatively small, this worked out fine and many start-up companies hired family members or friends. But as Cambodian expectations change and the market develops, proper compensation is growing ever more important to keep employees motivated and loyal.

The Gap between Locals and Expat’s has vanished
As the country's talented pool of skilled workers continues to grow, the gap between expat and local salaries taking up these positions has closed. Now, the younger generation of Cambodians, typically aged 28 to 33, can apply for jobs that were previously reserved for expats. In some cases, a Cambodian manager will have better salaries than expats, which was unthinkable a few years ago. Saint Blanquat & A. has recently started securing salary labels of between $2,000 and $7,000 a month for Cambodian candidates, which was previously unheard of.

A Direct Impact on your Salary Grid
Many of our clients have difficulties in retaining their most skilled employees. Typically, a young Engineer recruited 4 years ago at a quite low salary, trained by your company, has become much more valuable on the labor market than you expected. Today, best talents recruited in the late 2000’ can increase their salary by more than 50% by jumping to a new position. Obviously you cannot meet these new salary expectations without endangering your whole salary scale.

What should you do?
Talent retention requires specific HR tools and process. A Retention Policy can be implemented to help your organisation identifying the most skilled of your employees. By promoting them through fast-tracks promotion policy, they will get new responsibilities and gain motivation. Specific Benefits can be offered to these fast-trackers with incentives if they stay on a long-term base in your organization. By building a smart mix of recognition and fringe benefits, and pushing forward fast-trackers, you can retain your best talents.

MORE INFORMATION REQUIRED?

For more information about our employer services, end us an email at contact@saintblanquat.com or call: +855 (0)23 54 45 006