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Compensation Strategy

It's Time to Pay Differently

New market realities require a different approach to compensation.

Strategy Brand
What We See

The Talent Market Is Demanding A New Approach to Pay

We've been paying the same way for decades, based on "best practices" that no one can prove actually work. It is time for compensation structures to evolve and reflect a changing talent market.

Legacy Practices

What We've Been Doing


  • Reliance on salary ranges - by office - centered around market medians
  • Focus on pay as the primary lever for talent attraction and retention
  • Using consultant-driven pay surveys as the only trusted source of data
  • Design incentives assuming "coin operated" employees

New Realities

What Challenges These Practices


  • Office locations become less prominent as workplaces virtualize
  • Pay exists in a greater context of meaning, balance, and impact
  • Proliferation of publicly available data shaping talent expectations
  • Human behaviors often invalidate incentive "best practices"


Our Compensation Insights

Pay Transparency Has Changed. Technology is Catching Up

February 5, 2026
For years, pay equity and pay transparency lived on the edge of the compensation function. Important, yes—but often...

Nobody Cares About How Many Grades You Have

January 13, 2026
Here’s a bit of tough love for compensation professionals everywhere: nobody outside our world cares about midpoint...

Unpacking the WTW and Bettercomp Partnership: What it Really Signals

January 13, 2026
WTW’s announcement of a strategic partnership with Bettercomp is the kind of news that can be easy to skim past....

From Charts to Clarity: Why Payscale Compass Is a Meaningful Step Forward

December 19, 2025
One of the most consistent conversations we have with compensation leaders isn’t about data access anymore. Core...

Nobody Cares About Your Average Compa-Ratio

November 12, 2025
Here’s a hard truth for compensation pros: nobody cares about your average compa-ratio.

ADP Acquires Pequity: Proof of the Pattern and a Test of What Comes Next

October 29, 2025
We’ve predicted that the cycle management space would consolidate rapidly. Today’s announcement that ADP has acquired...