Practical Guide to Salary Benchmarking Without Third-Party Consultants
By Retention Strategies

Many companies avoid salary benchmarking because they assume it’s expensive, requires subscription tools, or consultant-led. In reality, you can benchmark salaries internally and externally with lean, reliable methods. This guide provides a hands-on, zero-fluff process tailored for Indonesian businesses.

1. Start with Internal Salary Mapping

Before you look outward, assess your internal structure:

  • Create a clean list of roles, job levels, and salary ranges.
  • Include base pay, fixed allowances, and total compensation.
  • Categorize by function (e.g., HR, Finance, Operations) and grade/seniority.

This baseline shows you:

  • Pay inconsistencies
  • Compression issues
  • Gaps between similar roles

Use a simple Excel sheet with filters. No software needed.

2. Use Public Sources for External Benchmarks

No need to pay for third-party reports—use:

  • Job ads on major platforms (Jobstreet, Glints, Kalibrr) for real-time ranges
  • LinkedIn job listings with salary estimates
  • Glassdoor Indonesia for average pay insights
  • Industry-specific job boards (e.g., HHRMA for hospitality)

Focus on:

  • Median salary for each role
  • Differences between sectors (e.g., FMCG vs Tech)
  • Geography-based variance (Jakarta vs regional cities)

Do this 2x a year to stay updated.

3. Cross-Check with Recruiter Insights

Build relationships with 1–2 recruiters in your industry and ask:

  • “What’s the going rate for X role in our sector?”
  • “What range gets offers accepted?”

They often provide more practical and recent figures than formal surveys.

4. Focus on Salary Banding, Not Precise Numbers

Rather than aiming for exact numbers, benchmark within bands:

  • Entry-level HR Officer: IDR 6–8 million
  • Mid-level Finance Manager: IDR 20–25 million
  • Senior Engineering Lead: IDR 40–55 million

Use bands to:

  • Create internal guidelines
  • Support job offers
  • Review pay parity

5. Use Benchmarking for Offers and Retention

Apply the insights to:

  • Make competitive offers aligned with market norms
  • Justify salary adjustments during retention conversations
  • Identify which roles are below, at, or above market

This adds strong business value without high costs.

6. Review Annually Before Budget Planning

Plan a 1x per year review aligned with:

  • Business planning
  • Budget discussions
  • Compensation strategy review

It keeps your salary structure competitive and rational.

Final Notes

You don’t need to outsource salary benchmarking to make informed pay decisions. With basic Excel, some research, and internal cleanup, you can have a robust and employer-friendly benchmark model—tailored to your market, updated when it matters, and actionable from day one.