Re-energize Your Organization’s Compensation Strategy: Link Pay to Success
Does your organization’s compensation program actually drive company success? Or is it stuck on autopilot, doling out automatic raises without considering individual contributions?
If you want to inspire top-notch work, you pay structure can’t remain static. Compensation should dynamically respond to the value each employee creates.
Today’s Workforce Demands a New Approach
A new approach is needed to engage today’s workforce. Millennials now make up the largest generational group in the labor force, and they expect pay based on their individual value, not merit or tenure. Remember “merit pay is dead” because most employees associate merit with cost-of-living increases. It’s time to build a flexible compensation strategy tailored to your organizational goals and culture. This strategy needs to support both retention and high performance.
This article explores how to:
- Structure pay-ranges that attract talent
- Assess employee value and calibrate pay accordingly
- Train managers to make smart compensation decisions
- Link rewards to results for a performance edge
If you want to revitalize your organization’s compensation program, follow this blueprint – by doing so, you’ll drive productivity, profitability, and employee satisfaction to new heights.
Set the Foundation with Competitive Base Pay Ranges
Gone are the days of lockstep pay grades. Today’s workers want pay aligned to growth and contributions.
Therefore, start by defining competitive base pay ranges for every job. Structure them into “career tracks” that map out advancement opportunities. Outline distinct job groupings within each department. Finance may have ranges for accountants, financial analysts, and finance managers, and so on.
Determine competitive base pay ranges for entry-level, mid-level, and senior positions. Make wide enough ranges to encourage development. Narrow ranges constrain retention and mobility. You’ll want to attach clear definitions and expectations to each level. This helps employees understand how to progress.
By moving from grades to competitive base pay ranges, you build a compensation structure linked to value and advancement. Employees can see how boosting skills and scope drives higher compensation.
Calibration: Paycheck Reality Checks
With competitive base pay ranges set, you can pay-calibrate existing employees through a market variance analysis. This analysis ensures pay matches expectations for the role and level.
So start by pricing each job against current market data. Identify gaps where pay lags behind the market rate. Then compare employees to range midpoints. Who falls above or below? Why? Assess factors like experience, skills, performance, and potential.
Use these insights to align pay to the value the employee brings to the business. For example:
- Successful employees paid lower in the base pay range can receive larger increases than employees paid hire in the range.
- Move employee base pay higher in the range periodically as they continue to deliver positive results and demonstrate desired behaviors.
- For top performing employees, proactively develop a plan for their career progression with your company
Regular pay calibration ensures you distribute compensation equitably and support employee development.
Empower Managers to Make Strategic Decisions
Technology has made compensation data readily accessible. This democratizes pay decisions, but also demands smart guidance for managers. Train managers to consider individual base pay in the context of consistent performance, potential, and market variance. Equip them to answer questions like:
- Does the employee consistently deliver outstanding results that impact the business?
- Does the employee demonstrate skills and competencies needed for the next level?
- Is the base pay of a successful employee below the competitive base pay range midpoint?
Guide your managers to think long-term and strategically. Effective pay practices should enable engagement, motivation and retention. HR should have ongoing conversations with managers to ensure the Company’s pay practices are effectively utilized. The goal is a transparent process employees understand and trust.
Incentivize Performance to Drive Results
Pay drives performance only when tied to results. Use incentives to connect metrics and goals to company success. Incentive pay can include:
- Individual or team incentives for achieving key metrics
- Incentive pay based on sales results
- Incentive pay when company goals are met
- Short-term incentives for major projects or deals
- Spot bonuses for above-and-beyond contributions
Align incentive criteria to your strategic priorities for the year. Develop metrics focused on growth, innovation, customer satisfaction or other goals.
Incentive pay gives employees skin in the game. They see how excelling individually helps the company at large. It motivates work that moves the needle.
The New Era of Strategic Compensation
Rethinking pay structures, calibration, training and incentives takes compensation into the 21st century. You create a program that responds to evolving needs and propels performance.
Are you ready to transform compensation into a strategic asset?
Download our eGuide now to learn how leading companies inspire top talent through compensation. You’ll gain actionable tips to maximize pay effectiveness and employee excellence.
