The Value of Acting Fast on Great Talent
- Dexterous
- Jun 6, 2025
- 3 min read
Acting Fast on Great Talent Prevents Costly Turnover
Eighteen months ago, a company needed to fill a specialized role within its payments function. The position required deep industry expertise, but the compensation range offered was well below market expectations for that level of experience.
Despite this limitation, a highly qualified candidate was identified. This individual possessed the technical skills, regulatory knowledge, and business acumen required to contribute immediately. At the time, the candidate was not employed and accepted the below-market offer.
From the company’s perspective, the hire was successful.
Eighteen Months Later: A Clear Market Signal
The same employee recently received an external offer. It came with a salary increase of 30,000 USD—aligned with current market benchmarks for that level of expertise. It was not just a higher offer. It reflected how the market valued the candidate’s contributions, relative to the company’s internal compensation structure.
The CFO reached out for guidance.
“We want to keep him. He’s excellent. But the person he reports to makes less than what he’s been offered. What should we do?”
The answer was straightforward: match the offer, and exceed it slightly.
The employee had proven their value across 18 months of consistent performance, business impact, and domain leadership. Yet the CFO hesitated. A full week passed before the decision was made.
Fortunately, the company did match the offer—just in time to retain the employee.
What This Reveals About Compensation Strategy
This situation illustrates a common but avoidable challenge. Many organizations wait until a competitor intervenes before reassessing compensation for key roles. This reactive posture is shortsighted. It places the employer in a defensive position, trying to retain employees who already feel undervalued.
In Payments Recruiting, Delay Comes at a High Cost
Payments professionals with specialized skills are in limited supply. These individuals manage critical infrastructure, compliance frameworks, settlement systems, and product innovation. Their departure impacts:
Revenue continuity
Product development cycles
Institutional knowledge retention
Client confidence
Losing high-performing talent introduces both tangible and intangible costs that extend far beyond salary.
Direct Costs of Turnover in Payments Roles
Category | Estimated Cost (USD) |
Recruitment & Sourcing | 20,000 to 30,000 |
Onboarding & Training | 10,000 to 15,000 |
Lost Productivity | 15,000 to 25,000 |
Project Disruption | Variable; often substantial |
Total | 45,000 to 70,000+ |
This does not account for the internal strain placed on teams expected to absorb responsibilities during the vacancy period.
Cultural Impact: The Hidden Cost of Delay
The financial burden of replacing talent is only part of the equation. There is also a cultural cost when employees leave due to compensation misalignment:
Perception of undervaluation: Colleagues take note when talent leaves for better pay.
Decreased morale: Remaining staff may question their own value within the organization.
Increased risk of attrition: One exit can trigger others, especially among top performers.
Talented employees rarely leave without warning signs. In most cases, a pattern of misalignment—between contribution and recognition—precedes their departure.
Why Proactive Compensation Matters
Organizations must take a forward-looking approach to compensation for payments and fintech professionals. Waiting until an offer arrives is not a strategy. It is damage control.
Acting fast on great payments talent requires:
Routine market benchmarking using tools like LinkedIn Salary Insights
Internal equity reviews to identify pay compression and structural imbalance
Retention-focused budget planning to support mid-cycle adjustments
Strategic recruiting insights from firms like Dexterous Talent
When leadership anticipates market conditions and recognizes performance early, retention becomes far less reactive.
Addressing Pay Compression
The CFO’s hesitation was based on internal equity. The employee’s new offer exceeded their manager’s current salary. While that concern is valid, it should not prevent decisive action.
In many cases, functional specialists in payments or fintech roles out-earn their managers due to:
Scarcity of technical expertise
High market demand for niche skill sets
Critical impact on revenue operations
To address this:
Adjust managerial compensation based on updated benchmarks
Redefine role architecture based on market function, not hierarchy alone
Ensure transparency in compensation philosophy and growth paths
Companies that tie compensation strictly to titles often fall behind market realities.
Strategic Implications for Executive Teams
Payments and fintech companies cannot afford to underreact to emerging compensation gaps. Executive teams must lead with data, clarity, and speed. This includes:
Using salary insights to validate offers and counteroffers
Building compensation flexibility into annual workforce planning
Partnering with specialized recruiters for market intelligence
At Dexterous Talent, our focus on payments and fintech talent gives us access to real-time data on salary movements, candidate motivations, and employer value propositions.
We help clients make informed decisions that protect their internal talent pipeline before competitors can intervene.
For more insights, explore Career Benefits to Resigning Gracefully and use LinkedIn’s Salary Insights to benchmark compensation strategies.
