When I started doing compensation work in the 1990s, I was excited to learn something new. My manager taught me how to make good decisions when using salary survey data to market price jobs.

I also spent time interviewing managers and employees to understand what was written in a job description. And then I revised the job descriptions to ensure they accurately portrayed the jobs.

It was the perfect blend of writing and numbers to match my interests and develop my skills.

And now 30 plus years later I find that work boring.

I would much rather review the reports AFTER the market pricing decisions are documented.

I like developing presentations that are shared with senior leaders to help them make smart decisions to ensure they can attract and retain the talent they need to achieve their business goals.

Market pricing 100, 200, or more jobs is a grind. It is slow and deliberate work that ultimately tells a story.

And the market pricing of the jobs depends on well written job descriptions. Reading hundreds of job descriptions and then using that understanding to choose matches from salary surveys can be viewed as tedious. Or I can do the work with a focus on curiosity and learning.

Focusing on the small decisions means that the story I can later share with senior leaders is going to make a difference to the business.

Each row in the report or on a spreadsheet represents a job and an employee. Each pay increase funds dreams of employees and their loved ones.

Choose your mindset. Focus on the outcomes for the business AND for the employees.

Get through the boring stuff to get to the good stuff.

Alignment of strategy, purpose, and organizational capabilities through people leads to amazing results.

#compensation #salarysurveys #marketpricing #rewards #humanresources #leadership