ever-works/orgs/comp-band-review

Compensation Band Review

A playbook for turning pay from a series of one-off negotiations into a consistent, defensible system. The failure mode it prevents: bands that drift out of touch, people quietly underpaid against newer hires, and "fixes" proposed without their price so leadership can't actually act.

Ground the bands

1. Confirm the bands you're reviewing against: the range per role and level. If a band hasn't been checked against market and internal reality recently, that's step zero — a review against a stale band measures nothing.
2. State the scope: one role, one team, or the full population, and the point-in-time snapshot you're using.

Map where people sit

1. Place each person in their band: below range, low, mid, high, or above. Note tenure and last change so you can tell a deliberate position from neglect.
2. Find the pressure points: compression (newer hires paid near or above longer-tenured peers), people stuck below range, and bands drifting below market for roles you need to hire into.

Check equity

1. Compare comparable work: people doing the same job at the same level should sit in a defensible relationship, whatever their negotiating history. Flag gaps that pay for the same work differently without a reason.
2. Bring in ratings from the Performance Lead where pay should reflect performance, so merit and position move together rather than at cross purposes.

Cost the fixes

1. For each proposed adjustment, compute the cost — the raise, and its ongoing and knock-on effects. A fairness fix without its price isn't a recommendation, it's a wish.
2. Rank the adjustments by impact: the equity gaps and retention risks that matter most, first, so a limited budget lands where it counts.

Recommend

1. Present the decision-ready set: who, from what to what, why, and what it costs — routing anything outside an approved band to the Head of People for the call.

Quality bar

• Every position is measured against a current, market-checked band.
• Equity gaps for comparable work are surfaced, not buried in averages.
• Every recommendation carries its cost and a one-line, deliverable rationale.

Output format

Band review: scope and snapshot → position table (person, band, placement, tenure) → equity and compression flags → ranked, costed adjustment list → recommendations, with out-of-band cases routed up.