Solicitors Benevolent Association

The Solicitors Benevolent Association, also known as the SBA, was established in 1858, and has been helping solicitors and their dependants deal with a range of issues, from bereavement and debt, to redundancy and stress. “We are a charity set up to support solicitors in difficulty,” says Interim CEO, D’Arcy Myers, “we provide financial support to over 500 people a year. We currently have seven staff in London. As a national organisation we have a large volunteer network as well. We have about 60 volunteers working for us at the moment.”

D’Arcy’s goal when he came to the SBA was to make sure his employees knew they were being supported; with a whole host of variables to consider, he wanted to make sure salary benchmarking was one thing that was covered properly. “I’m Interim CEO, part of my remit coming into an organisation was to check that we are supporting the staff appropriately. Part of that is looking at the salaries, as well as their health & wellbeing, and to develop a culture that nurtured the development of staff. So, salary benchmarking was a good place to start the process.

“We were looking to benchmark everything, from office management to account management, even the chief executive through to the beneficiary offices with case workers.

“I knew from the outset that we wanted to outsource our salary benchmarking review, but I did look at the most readily available benchmarks to use as an indicator going forward.

“I was never going to use standard ones, partly because of the wide variance they can have, we wanted to assure the staff that we were taking this seriously, and were committed to supporting them in the right way. It was all about demonstrating this to the staff, and the best way of doing that was through Croner.”

“I did look at two other providers, but I was fairly confident I was going to use Croner because I’d actually been to Croner on previous occasions for similar matters and was confident in their services.”

Once the consultant was on site, D’Arcy was extremely impressed by the rigorous nature of the review. “The actual survey was done on site, each member of staff was interviewed individually, and Croner’s consultant was very good - very thorough.”

When the review was completed, all of the staff salaries were reviewed against industry standards. “Once the survey was done, the report was compiled and sent within the agreed time- I believe it was around 10 days later.”

“I’d give the Salary Benchmarking services a 9/10, I thought it was excellent really, the service provided was extremely thorough. Part of the reason for using Croner was the high-profile track record and the credibility it gave to both the staff and the trustee board in the findings. Croner’s reputation was reflected in the service we received.”

“For those looking for a comprehensive salary benchmarking service, or help with any other pay & benefits issues, I’d certainly recommend Croner.”