Pre-IPO Company
Our Services
- Compensation plan design (Base, Bonus, and Equity Guidelines)
- Job Leveling and Career Pathing
- Detailed Implementation and Communication Plans
Designing compensation plans that work for your company’s future
Designing compensation plans for your company is usually just one item in a long list of daily to-dos. Companies often struggle to keep their workforce engaged and attract top talent. Employee turnover is a very expensive problem, and workers who “retire on the job” can have a serious impact on productivity. If you check out current economic forecasts, you’ll see that the greatest challenge to companies is maintaining their human capital.
Here’s a 30-second compensation check-up—is your organization checking all these boxes?
☐ Pay matches performance—and we know how exactly how to determine that.
☐ Turnover is low for key positions within the organization.
☐ We have positions quickly filled by quality candidates in less than 90 days.
☐ Performance reviews for our key executives and middle managers are consistently high or improving.
☐ Our job and salary data is reliable and consistent with market-averages.
☐ Our job titles, levels, roles, and responsibilities are accurate and consistent.
If you’ve got some unchecked boxes, you may need some major adjustments to your pay design—and what’s more, it’s smart to get serious and nail down a solid compensation plan for your company sooner rather than later.
But it’s just another expense. Is it worth it?
The better question might be: “Can you afford not to do it?” Compensation planning, like any foundational business activity, is an investment. It takes time and expertise to do it right, but the plan pays for itself—and beyond—in several ways.
- Efficient spending
Imagine that 25% of your employees (including some underperformers) are above market for their roles. That’s money out the window, and the financial hit will continue every year you give those above-market employees an increase. If you’re unaware of this situation (as is often the case), you run the risk of permanently inflating the fixed expense and associated costs of employee pay. A compensation study can help you avoid this scenario and make the most of what you spend on payroll.
- Enhanced recruiting and retention of key performers
The flip side of the scenario above is underpaying top talent, which creates a different set of problems. A key player leaves, and you spend the next six to eight months recruiting someone new. (Even worse, you may need to hire two people to cover all the skills you need). It takes a while for new hires to get up to speed, and you lose traction as a result. A compensation study can help you identify and reward your top performers, which shows them they’re valuable and motivates them to stay put and continue contributing at a high level.
- Increased employee engagement and satisfaction
All companies have issues and problems that fester among their employees. Employees might perceive inequities in pay, for example, or see a disconnect between their title or role and what they’re actually doing.
If you haven’t had a compensation study, chances are those issues still haven’t been addressed. And if the problems persist, with no response from HR or the company, how is that going to impact employee engagement, morale, and productivity? What is it worth to your bottom line and to your customer satisfaction goals to move these numbers up instead of down? (Think about your numbers and productivity metrics. Even an increase of just a few percentage points would likely make a big impact.) Compensation planning can help you identify and address those engagement and productivity issues—and build credibility and trust in the process.
- Better traction with strategic initiatives and objectives
Your company’s leadership team is focused on the bottom line and driving business results. They have a high-level understanding of the organization, and they know the key drivers and strategic initiatives needed to meet objectives. Whether it’s driving accountability and better financial forecasting across business units or making sure you have the right talent and organizational structure to support the next critical mission, having a compensation plan ensures that company leaders across the organization have the information they need to make these programs a success.
- A roadmap for the future
You might not be able to address all issues immediately, but with a well-designed compensation plan in place, you’ll have a roadmap of where to go in the future and how to prioritize decisions that are the most impactful and congruent with your business objectives and activities. A basic study is the first step. From there, you can build a compensation program and related methodology that lets you say, “Our company is a great place to work because we offer competitive pay, learning and development opportunities, and employees who love working here.” And you’ll be able to back it up.
The sooner it’s done, the sooner your company will be reaping the benefits. When you’re ready, let me know! I’m here to make sure that you have a compensation plan that works for you. Contact me, and let’s make a brighter future for your organization a reality.
Designing Compensation Plans Bay Area
Designing a competitive compensation plan in the Bay Area has never been more important. With the significant challenges of engaging and retaining talent, you need to have an up to date and informed approach on how you are going to differentiate your compensation program from your competitors.
Our Services
- Compensation plan design (Base, Bonus, and Equity Guidelines)
- Job Leveling and Career Pathing
- Detailed Implementation and Communication Plans
Let’s talk!
Got questions about how we can help you?
We are trusted advisors to Silicon Valley’s emerging companies as they design competitive programs and look for tools and support to help them grow their business to the next level.