I’ve been writing a lot of Compensation Guidelines documents for clients recently. The document’s audience varies but includes candidates, employees, and managers of employees. And sometimes there are sections that are reserved for HR only or managers of employees only.

It includes the following sections:

· Compensation Philosophy Statement

· Guiding Principles

· Your Total Rewards Consists Of

· Our Approach to Compensation

· How We Evaluate Jobs

· Our Commitment to Transparency

· Our Pay Decision Making Process

· When Employees Relocate

· How We Measure Success: Incentives

· The Promotion Process

· Compensation Change Guidelines

· Frequently Asked Questions

I’m starting to have more conversations about adding sections like:

· Our Pay Grades and Base Salary Ranges

· Global Pay Considerations

· Compensation Term Definitions

· Allowances

· Differentials

· Recognition: You Matter

· Cost of Living vs. Cost of Labor

· Fair Pay

· Our Job Architecture and Career Paths

· Employee Pay and Retention Solution Framework

· Our Pay Equity Audit Results & Initiatives

I’ve found documentation like this to be helpful when you are trying to have more compensation decision consistency. It gives all members of HR the answers to the test. And it helps managers and senior leaders know how to respond consistently to employee questions.

It takes time to write but once it is written, it saves time and makes it easier to become a strategic partner to business leaders.

Consistency in baking requires a recipe. The same ingredients in the same amounts and put together in the same way each time. The same thing applies to compensation decisions. Write down what you are doing and why so you can follow the recipe.

And if you need help, let’s talk. I have templates and pre-written examples I can share as we work together on your recipes and cookbook (aka Compensation Guidelines).

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