The best, most effective pay programs align with business and talent strategies and reflect an understanding of the internal and external factors that influence strategic compensation recommendations and decisions. Yet not all organizations ensure that their compensation programs are designed and delivered in a way that strategically supports business needs.
We will work with you to create a compensation program that aligns with and supports your business and people strategies as well as provides guidance for all employees, from frontline workers to organization leaders.
The touchstone of effective compensation design
The heart of an effective compensation design is your organization’s compensation philosophy. Serving as a blueprint to guide the design, management and communication of compensation programs, your organization’s compensation philosophy typically defines your desired:
- Competitive marketplace (i.e., markets in which you compete for talent)
- Target competitive positioning
- Pay mix
- Pay for performance approach (e.g., fixed vs. variable pay, pay and performance curves)
- Communication and governance methods
Key considerations for an effective compensation program design
Additionally, a compensation philosophy answers fundamental questions about your organization’s approach to compensation design.
Other factors informing your compensation philosophy
Along with your organization’s business and talent strategies, other internal factors such as employee preferences and current compensation programs, also influence philosophy. External factors, such as the broader business climate and current market practices, have a part to play too. Together, these internal and external factors inform your compensation philosophy.
Designing effective compensation programs
With an effective compensation philosophy in-hand, you can:
- Assess current compensation programs
- Identify changes needed to improve those programs
- Create a roadmap for prioritizing changes
- Implement incremental changes or introduce an entirely new compensation design
Based on what you learn from those four steps, you can identify the opportunities for improving your compensation program design. From there, you can take an informed and thoughtful approach to your pay programs and policies to ensure they make sense for your workforce as well as your organization. Your compensation design should be built to address pay at every employee level and segment, from frontline workers through to executives. We can help you get there.