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Brainstorming for a compensation cycle

Create a cycle for managers to propose compensation changes including promotions, salary increases, bonus awards, and equity grants

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Written by Katelyn Lopez
Updated over 2 weeks ago

You can create as many cycles as you'd like with any combo of elements, subset of employees, any approval structure, etc. With unlimited customization and flexibility, it's oftentimes helpful to have a high-level idea of what your cycle entails prior to creating a new cycle.

Align on cycle logistics

  • Timeline - when is your expected launch date for managers, final approval date, award letter distribution date, etc? How long do you need for each of those portions?

  • Cycle components - which components will your cycle include? It can cover any combo of promotions, salary increases, bonus awards, and equity grants.

  • Are all employees to be included for review? Common exclusions include executives and recently hired employees.

  • What's the review and approval structure?

    • Do all people managers review direct reports or is it limited to a certain list of people? Example, directors and above.

    • When a review is submitted, who should be tasked with approving it? Examples, follow the reporting chain, to the applicable c-suite, directly to the admin.

Outline eligibility & calculations

  • If you're doing promotions:

    • Are there rules for an employee to be eligible for promotion? These typically involve tenure and performance.

  • If you're doing salary increases:

    • Are there rules for an employee to be eligible for a raise? These typically involve tenure, role, and last increase date.

    • What scenarios would lead to salary increases and is there a way to formulaically suggest those increase amounts? These typically involve performance and market data.

      • Promotions

      • Regular increases

      • Market adjustments

      • Merit Increases

  • If you're doing bonus awards:

    • Are there rules for an employee to be eligible for a bonus? These typically involve tenure, performance, level, and department.

    • Are bonuses formulaic or discretionary? If discretionary, would you like managers to enter the actual value of the desired bonus or the % attainment of the total eligible bonus?

  • If you're doing equity grants (for each type of grant)

    • Employee eligibility rules (typically includes start date and date of last grant)

    • Logic/Rules and order of operations

      • Promotions

      • Tenure

      • Merit

      • Other

  • Will reviewing managers have budgets for any of the cycle components? If so, how should each budget get calculated?

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