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compensation & benefits

Best Practices in compensation & benefits

Compensation matters: Higher pay has been linked to stronger student outcomes [1].

Designing a competitive and equitable compensation system is a goal of many organizations. To do this well, assess equity in your current structures, articulate a core philosophy that anchors decision-making, and engage staff in discussion and decision-making.

[1]: Garcia E and ES Han. 2022. Teachers’ Base Salary and Districts’ Academic Performance: Evidence From National Data. SAGE Open, 12(1).

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Step

Assess Current State

Before embarking on (re)designing your compensation system, ask yourself two primary questions: 1) Why is change needed?, 2) Why is it needed now? Outline the answers to these questions, and include quantitative, qualitative, and/or historical data you have to show the need for a compensation system (re)design. To answer these questions, gather any available data, including Culture Surveys (i.e., TNTP Insight, Gallup Q12), Exit Interviews, Stay Conversations, and/or Candidate Decisions (i.e., are high quality candidates declining offers due to compensation?). You may also want to include completed equity audits or benchmarking, retention/attrition data, and alignment with organizational priorities.

RESOURCES

DEIA Callout

As you assess your current compensation structure, ensure you are looking through the lens of various staff members across lines of difference. Accurate, up-to-date job descriptions provide an anchor for assessing whether roles are equitably compensated and grouped within a broader compensation system.

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Make the Case for Organizational Change

In order to secure commitment from a coalition of key decision makers, the critical first steps to make the case for why compensation should be prioritized are by analyzing the current state of your compensation practices, conducting a root cause analysis, and generating a compelling call to action. These items are crucial to taking action towards designing a more competitive and equitable compensation model.

RESOURCES

DEIA Callout

Leverage insights from your current state analysis to articulate the impact on subgroups of staff, particularly those from historically marginalized groups.

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Design Inclusive Stakeholder Engagement

Who, how, and when you engage stakeholders are indicative of the level of success long before you edit your first excel formula. Design a stakeholder engagement model that ensures those most impacted have multiple opportunities to have their voices heard. Likewise, ensure that those who are making decisions have a meaningful opportunity to listen, digest, and reflect those voices in the final system design.

RESOURCES

DEIA Callout

Ensure that focus groups, survey, and other similar action-items reflect the diversity within your organization across dimensions such as race, gender identity, caregiver status, tenure, and role groups. By doing so, you have the opportunity to gather insights that resonate with the varied perspectives and experiences of your team, fostering inclusivity and effective- decision-making.

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Define Success Metrics

Improving recruitment and retention is typically the primary long-term goal of (re)designing a compensation system. That being said, we suggest breaking success metrics into two other categories: short-term (within two weeks of the roll-out) and medium-term (within three months of the roll-out). Short-term metrics usually focus on employee satisfaction with the process and outcomes, while medium-term metrics usually focus on intent-to-return statistics.

DEIA Callout

Including subgroup breakdowns in success metrics ensures that project teams consider marginalized identities, aiming to minimize disparities across different groups, particularly those historically impacted negatively by previous policies. This approach fosters equity and inclusivity within organizations, creating a supportive environment for all employees.

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