4 Steps for Getting Execs to Care About Compensation

Laleh Hassibi, PayScaleDid you get a chance to attend this informative webinar, 4 Steps for Getting Execs to Care About Compensation, by PayScale's Senior Compensation Consultant Mykkah Herner? This was a well-attended webinar which is really no surprise given that so many of PayScale's customers tell us that having the confidence to talk about compensation with executives is one of their top concerns. In case you missed it, here are the slides and some of the highlights.

May 23, 2013

Laleh Hassibi, PayScale

Did you get a chance to attend this informative webinar, 4 Steps for Getting Execs to Care About Compensation, by PayScale’s Senior Compensation Consultant Mykkah Herner? This was a well-attended webinar which is really no surprise given that so many of PayScale’s customers tell us that having the confidence to talk about compensation with executives is one of their top concerns. In case you missed it, here are the slides and some of the highlights.

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These are the four necessary steps HR professionals need to follow to align with executives about compensation.

Communicate with execs in their language
A good piece of advice for communicating effectively with your executive team (or anyone else for that matter) is to know your audience. Typically, leaders don’t like being told what to do and like to be the decision makers. They can also be distrustful of change and often need to have access to data and information to help them understand its necessity.

A good way to get them to listen to you is by being prepared to offer solutions to any problems you address and to focus on the results you anticipate and not the processes to get them.
Align to business goals
Comp plans should vary from organization to organization, supporting each company’s unique business goals. Aligning to your company’s business agenda will demonstrate you’re in tune with the business goals. For example, is your company focused on growth right now? Or maybe the focus is on cutting costs. Find out what’s on your business agenda so your compensation plan will be structured to support the same goals.
Incorporate leading edge practices
While COLA was the compensation trend of yesteryears, today Pay-for-Performance is the practice you really need to understand. By developing a compensation model that puts your dollars where the performance is, you’ll be achieve the best ROI for your overall compensation investment.

Another trend of yesterday was BroadBanding. The leading edge practice you need to know about now that replaces that trend is setting Pay Grades and Ranges. Stay nimble and be current with today’s compensation best practices if you expect your executive team to have confidence in you.
Keep Execs up to date with quick snapshots
This step is an important one and involves keeping execs informed on a level appropriate for their in-demand time and attention. Use an executive reporting dashboard like the one the comes with PayScale Insight and make sure you get them familiar with what all the terms and graphs represent.

You can also be their partner in managing the business by providing them insight into what employees care about and giving them talking points to be confident in conversations about salary they may be having with employees.