There’s more evidence than ever that companies with a successful compensation strategy retain employees better, promote productivity, and become more profitable. Being transparent about compensation is one of many healthy outcomes of a successful pay strategy. It is becoming increasingly necessary, even when there is no regulatory mandate to disclose salary ranges in that location. 

Companies should take steps to define their compensation structures and get ahead of the pay transparency demands that fuel and support communications with managers and employees. 

Regardless of your company lifecycle stage, size, or maturity of your HR function, every organization should define compensation strategies that support pay transparency. Let’s look at two real company scenarios that use market compensation data and best practices compensation strategies.

Brinqa

Cyber risk management platform Brinqa utilizes Kamsa's market compensation data to ensure they make informed hiring decisions for the base salary and equity of their nearly 100 employees. Brinqa and Kamsa have collaborated to craft a compensation strategy to ensure fair and competitive pay as they scale and grow while steadily managing their equity dilution rate. 

"Our Board of Directors is often impressed with the structuring work we've done at our stage," said Brian Moriarty, Chief Financial Officer at Brinqa. The team at Brinqa has collaborated with Kamsa's compensation consultants to develop a scalable structure within their organization, including conducting job leveling and establishing career paths that align with their growth goals. They've also customized their compensation philosophy and ranges to meet their business needs to attract and retain the right talent. 

Shopmonkey

Shopmonkey, an auto-shop management platform, leverages Kamsa for its compensation program, including salary and equity. With around 200 employees, their People team has calibrated their workforce through job leveling to ensure they can accurately compare their employees to the market and budget for compensation reviews. 

The Shopmonkey and Kamsa team have worked together to define their market data cut approach using a geographic differential and to establish their new hire and refresh grants for their global workforce. The People team at Shopmonkey works collaboratively with their leaders to make informed pay decisions via Kamsa's compensation review tool, incorporating performance ratings, tenure, and salary increase guidelines. 

Final Thoughts

A successful compensation program can drive a company's retention and profitability statistics. When companies have transparency surrounding their pay strategies, their employees are more likely to commit to the company long-term and embody the company culture, driving productivity. 

With pay transparency becoming indispensable, companies must take the proper steps to define their compensation structures. Doing so not only gets them ahead of the pay transparency laws but also brings awareness to all the work that goes into cultivating a healthy compensation program. 

The steps companies should take to define their compensation strategies include the following:

1. Choose the right market compensation data provider
2. Job level to align all employees to a market title
3. Articulate a compensation philosophy
4. Customize the compensation ranges to fit business needs
5. Budget & plan compensation reviews, collaborating with leaders & managers

About Kamsa

Kamsa is a global market compensation data and management platform built by compensation experts to help companies make data-driven pay decisions. Our platform allows HR teams to work collaboratively to job level, establish career paths, and access market compensation data that contributes to pay transparency. Our hybrid approach to compensation includes expert compensation consulting advice + data that support an organization's efforts to pay employees fairly and make strategic compensation decisions.