Designing salary bands requires a series of interconnected decisions, each with consequences for fairness, alignment, competitiveness, and budget. Some can be handled by the People Team, but others need input and sign-off from the Executive Leadership Team.

The level of leadership involvement depends on the maturity of the People Team:

• Experienced People function → most decisions shaped by them, leadership gives quick sign-off.
• Junior People function → leadership leans in more, setting philosophy and reviewing detail.

Either way, leadership input is essential at certain points — but the depth of involvement varies. Below are the typical key design principles where leadership oversight is required, along with the expected time commitment.

Compensation Design Decisions

1. Market Data Sources

Decision: Select which market data sources to use (e.g. Radford, Option Impact, Pave, Ravio).

Why it matters:

• Salary bands are only as strong as the data they are built on.
• Market data provides credibility with employees, managers, and investors.
• Data is an input, not an answer — it should guide decisions, not dictate them.

Who decides: People Team evaluates options; Executive Leadership confirms final choice of source(s).

Time required: 15–20 minutes once data comparisons are prepared.

"The strength of your compensation strategy is only as solid as the data behind it."

2. Location Pay Strategy