I am speaking to an audience of compensation professionals in a month and have been thinking about what is included in an effective compensation strategy.

This is what I came up with.

Millennial and Gen Z workers were nearly twice as likely as Baby Boomers to discuss pay with their coworkers.

Even when employees were subject to a pay secrecy policy at work, over half of Millennials still discussed pay with coworkers, while only 26% of Baby Boomers talked about compensation.

When you are matching jobs to salary survey data, two things are needed: an honest internal job description written by the employer and an external job description in the survey.

It is never a good idea to match a job to survey data by job title only. Some employers give high level job titles to lower-level work. And sometimes high-level work is given a low-level job title to keep the wages low.

An honest representation of the job’s responsibilities is needed so a comparison can be made to the survey description.

When I reflect on things that I regret, it is often because I said “yes” too quickly. I was enthusiastic about the idea and wanted to contribute or I liked who asked me to be involved.

My immediate "yes” didn’t consider my other priorities and my available time and energy.

And my regret increases often because I didn’t say “no” soon enough.

1. Who?
2. Produces what?
3. With What? The right resources, motivation, and authority need to be in place.
4. By when?
5. Because?

We all have one.

Sara is disappointed in her Director job offer. She communicated her expectations that were aligned to the external market data for this work, the industry, and geographic location. The employer offered base salary and a bonus that is more than 15% less than what is competitive. The recruiter said they couldn’t offer more because of internal equity. There was no long-term incentive grant included as a new hire. She would have to wait for the next annual review cycle in 2024 to be considered for a LTI grant.

Jack was given a promotion without a base salary increase.

I've integrated compensation at many businesses. First, you take inventory of the types of pay programs offered and prioritize what changes when. Consideration of strategic goals, business efficiencies, cost savings, and the need to retain key talent are part of this effort.

You map the acquired company's jobs to those of the buyer. Example: Company A's Sr Accountant is an Accountant III at Company B.

Have you ever opened an Excel file to see multiple colors, many tabs, and formulas that are so complicated you internally groan and wonder why you signed on for this madness?

Yep, that’s where I am living today. I’m in “Excel Hell.”

When I want to escape from real life, I often read books and watch movies that are dystopian. There are a lot of these to choose from like George Orwell's 1984, The Handmaid's Tale, The Book of Eli, I Am Legend, The Truman Show, and Blade Runner. (Yes, I’m old so some of these references are old too.)
 
I would like to find more utopian stories to get lost in and have as a more positive vision for the future. Imagine a society or community where people experience the ideal or an almost perfect life.

Early in my career, I remember a manager tell her team of HRIS data analysts to stop sending out the weekly and month reports they created.
 
The analysts were worried that their internal customers would be upset because the reports were needed. The manager reassured them that the reports that were critical to decision making would be requested. Someone would say, "Hey, I didn't receive ABC report. What's up?" Then the analyst could send the report.

I spend a lot of time using Excel. I sort, filter, and run pivot tables.

I look at averages, medians, highs, and lows.

I take the job, pay, and employee data and tell a story to influence decision making.

I spend employer money to attract and retain employees. I design incentives to motivate employees to deliver the results the company needs to achieve.

I consult with a lot of employers who say they pay for performance.

And then you look at the merit increases by performance rating and there isn’t much of a difference between the high performers and the employees who need improvement.

Some employers have bonus programs that payout based on performance at the company, business unit, and/or individual employee level.

I’ve been a team member on numerous compensation system implementation projects. What is true in most of the projects are:

1) The employer’s job and employee data are not clean. Errors exist in the system of record or data that is needed is not available.

Not staying at an employer and job hopping is the norm for younger generations. This isn’t the norm for baby boomers.

There are rewards when you job hop. Typically, you see an increase in pay and you are often valued more as an external candidate than an internal candidate when an employer is trying to fill a job.

The stigma associated with job hopping is diminishing as baby boomers leave the workforce and other leaders become more accepting of this behavior.

I’ve watch company after company announce layoffs and read the posts from the employees impacted.

It can be devastating news if you liked your job, manager, coworkers, or employer. It can be happy news if you were ready to leave anyway.

And to those who don’t get laid off, it can be terrible news because you now have to do the work of those who are leaving.

I’ve worked with many employers who want to make exceptions to their normal pay decision making process for unique employees or candidates. Here are some examples:

(1) Sam has significantly more experience than the job requires, and they are viewed as a future successor for their VP’s role. The requested exception is to pay above the maximum of the base salary range.

March 14th is equal pay day. It represents how far into the year women must work to make what men made in the previous year.

The gender pay gap has barely moved in 20 years.

Women employed in the U.S. lose on average nearly $1.6 trillion every year due to the wage gap. These lost wages mean women and their families have less money to support themselves, care for their families and communities, and save and invest for the future.

Do you remember the feeling when you came home on Spring Break from college?

If your home was a refuge and a place to relax, it felt so good to walk in the door and drop your bags on the floor. To have a big bed, no annoying roommates, and the comfort food you loved ready for you to eat was such a joy.

My daughter is home from college this week. She’s slept in, hung out with friends, enjoyed some of her favorite foods, and has an ever-growing list of all the things she may do this week.

Is it a realistic goal?

• Achieving full gender equality could take close to 300 years if the current rate of progress continues. (Source: UN Women and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs)

• Gallup defines equity as fair treatment, access and advancement for each person in an organization.

• Fair means impartial and just. It is without favoritism or discrimination.

I watched my 18-year-old daughter choose her college major of Construction Science and Management last year. She will complete her freshman year in a few months and is in the same major. (Amazing.) Her roommate changed her major after just a few months of college.  (Normal.)

Choosing what you want to be when you grow up at 18 is a big decision. Or it feels like it at the time.