Sometimes the best wisdom is found in AC/DC songs. For example - If you rock, I'm going to salute you. That's just the way it is..
Of course, money talks and BS walks. Especially when it comes to compensation philosophies..
Ann Bares has a nice rundown up focused on the pros and cons of compensation broadbanding. For those of you who haven't heard of the term before, broadbanding is defined by World at Work as "a pay structure that consolidates a large number of pay grades and salary ranges into much fewer broad bands with relatively wide salary ranges, typically with 100% or more difference between minimum and maximum."
I know - your eyes are glazed over already, right? Who cares? Where's the AC/DC clip?
Here's why I wanted to post a reaction. I've been in one organization where Broadbanding was attempted. Like cavier and classical music, broadbanding sounds very progressive and high-end, until you try and use it as a HR professional. Then it all falls apart and you end up "fixing the system" to get the very tools you disposed of. From Ann's rundown:
"By collapsing a pay structure into fewer, wider salary bands, at least in the "pure" sense of broadbanding, an organization effectively gives up the control point (midpoint) of a traditional salary range. That is because the broad band does not represent appropriate pay for a job, but rather for an entire class of work (such as "managerial" or "advanced professional"). This is a critical shift to bear in mind because the result is a pay system that is no longer job-based, but rather person-based. No longer do we set and manage pay opportunity by the level and attributes of a job, but rather by the skill, competency and performance of an individual - within a broader "range" established to represent the value of a broader class of work."
That sounds sweet - until you start to attempt to make value calls on candidates or value individual jobs in an organization. As Ann points out, you need midpoints and specific ranges for both activities. If you have an external candidate who is pushing the envelope regarding salary needs, the tradtional range and midpoint (as long as they are based on accurate and current data) give you a feel for what's real, and what's overvalued.
The same holds true when it comes to valuing jobs in an organization. As an HR Pro, or a manager running a division, you have to know what the market bears for the specific positions in your organization. Otherwise you are going to look up in 3 years and have an absolute mess on your hands, with limited mobility for all, because entry points to an organization weren't based on market data. As a result, you hired a VP of Marketing as a Marketing Rep. Then the new boss arrived, only to find a subordinate two levels down was making more than her boss, and was uncomfortably close to the VP's.
So give me the standard "rock and roll" over the classical music that is broadbanding. After all, Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution.
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