• This is my personal favourite and allows you to explore the full spectrum of the salary band, allowing you to understand where an employees salary sits within it.
• I prefer using this metric as it’s a great way to identify anyone who is below the min of the salary band and the cost to move them to within the band. This allows you to make the most important adjustments first to ensure pay equity.
• If you capture the right details in the spreadsheet, you can also look at position in range by gender, ethnicity, age or time within your organisation. For example, if you have lower range penetration rates for females, then you may have an equity challenge with that particular gender.
• A lower range penetration could mean the person is new or a poor performer.
• A higher range penetration could signal progressive performance improvements on the part of the individual.

How the scale works

• The expected range penetration should range between 0% and 100%.
  • Anything above 100% means the employee is paid above the max of the level.
  • Anything below 0% means the employee is paid below the min of the level.
  • 50% represents the exact middle of the band.

You can break the range into smaller segments to get an even clearer sense of where someone sits.

• 0 to 25 percent = Early in band. Often recently promoted or still getting established at the level.
• 25 to 50 percent = Settling in. Performing well and working towards the midpoint.
• 50 to 75 percent = Experienced and consistent. This is where most stable performers sit once they are fully up to speed.
• 75 to 100 percent = Seasoned at the level. Often high performers or people who have been strong for some time.

Formula

• Range penetration = (Employee salary - Min salary) / (Max salary - Min salary)
• A range penetration of 33% in the example below means the person is within the band.