In its simplest form, a compensation philosophy summarizes an organization’s guiding principles around employee salaries and benefits. Some companies do this exceptionally well, and you’ll find 14 of the best compensation philosophy examples below.
A good compensation philosophy reflects a company’s culture, strategy, and human capital needs. It also provides a framework for setting competitive pay standards, defining the roles of various compensation elements, and aligning these with the company’s values and objectives. However, organizations that do not have compensation policies in place or are not transparent about how they pay employees can quickly lose trust (and talent). According to a Gartner survey, only 32% of employees believe their pay is fair and that organizational trust is the main driver of employee perceptions of pay equity.
The good news is that, as an HR professional, you can help your organization become an employer of choice by following in the footsteps of market leaders.
Contents
What is a compensation philosophy?
Compensation philosophy template
Compensation philosophy examples: Companies regularly voted ‘best places to work’
Hubspot
Wells Fargo
Buffer
TD Bank
Gitlab
Sourcegraph
Affirm
Basecamp
DHL Express
IKEA
AbbVie
NVIDIA
Adobe
Accenture
8 steps to develop your company’s compensation philosophy
What is a compensation philosophy?
A compensation philosophy is a formal statement that defines an organization’s approach to employee compensation. It aligns pay and reward practices with the company’s values, goals, and competitive strategies. The philosophy serves as a framework to ensure that compensation supports the organization’s business objectives and meets workforce needs (including base pay, variable compensation, and benefits).
The philosophy also emphasizes equity and fairness in pay practices, ensuring compliance with legal standards and competitive market positioning. By clearly communicating this philosophy, HR can help enhance job satisfaction, build trust, and drive performance, contributing to overall success and sustainability.
Compensation philosophy objectives and quality criteria
Compensation philosophy objectives include:
- Identifying the organization’s pay programs and total reward strategies
- Determining how pay programs and strategies align with the organization’s business strategy, competitive outlook, operational objectives, and human capital needs
- Attracting new talent to the organization
- Motivating employees to perform at their highest competencies, abilities, and skill sets
- Retaining key talent and rewarding high-performing employees
- Establishing the organization’s competitive market position regarding base pay, variable compensation, and benefits
- Defining the organization’s approach to competitive pay and rewards based on business conditions, competition, and ability to pay
- Ensuring equal pay for equal work, with allowable differences based on lawful factors.
Quality criteria for an effective compensation philosophy include:
- Overall equity
- Defensible and perceived as fair by employees
- Fiscal sensitivity
- Legal compliance
- Easy to comprehend and communicate
- Fairness, competitiveness, and consistency.
HR tip
From a career perspective, compensation specialists are still fairly niche, even though pay transparency and compensation strategies are increasingly important from a regulatory and competitive perspective. As an HR professional, this is the ideal time to focus on upping your compensation knowledge and skills. AIHR offers a Compensation and Benefits Certificate Program to help you become a total rewards expert.
Compensation philosophy template
This free compensation philosophy sample in a Word document will serve as a foundation for creating your own:
Compensation philosophy examples: Companies voted ‘best places to work’
1. Hubspot
HubSpot’s compensation philosophy centers around transparency, fairness, and flexibility. Candidates are asked about compensation expectations instead of compensation history, promoting fairer and more consistent salary discussions.
Compensation bands are also anchored to one major city per country, providing stability for employees regardless of their relocation within the country. This decision supports employee mobility and flexibility without affecting their compensation, reflecting HubSpot’s commitment to adapting to a hybrid working model.
2. Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo conducts an annual objective statistical pay equity analysis encompassing both gender and ethnicity. The results of these reviews are reported to the Board’s Human Resources Committee, after which they take appropriate actions to maintain fair, equitable employee compensation. Through these regular reviews, Wells Fargo can improve their processes to uphold pay equity.
3. Buffer
Buffer is well-known for implementing and maintaining transparent salary practices since 2013, ahead of current trends and practices. The company’s compensation formula has evolved to reflect the labor market better, especially for a remote-first environment. By openly sharing its approach to compensation, Buffer aims to build trust, hold itself accountable, and provide a resource for the industry.
4. TD Bank
TD Bank’s compensation philosophy aims to attract, retain, and motivate talented employees, ensuring market competitiveness. The company follows the principles of paying for performance, promoting internal equity, and supporting long-term value creation for stakeholders. It regularly reviews and adjusts its compensation practices to maintain fairness and market alignment.
5. Gitlab
Gitlab’s compensation model is data-driven and iterative, making adjustments based on survey data, feedback, and market changes. Transparency is a key element in the company’s approach, thanks to a compensation calculator that ensures consistent and transparent pay.
GitLab’s compensation model includes restricted stock units (RSUs) for most positions and bases salary increases on performance within market pay bands. It continuously monitors other companies’ pay philosophies to stay competitive in the tech industry, especially as remote work becomes more prevalent.
6. Sourcegraph
Sourcegraph aims to offer more competitive salaries than other companies. It uses data from thousands of technology companies in high-cost labor zones to set its compensation bands in the 75th percentile. This guarantees above-average pay for Sourcegraph employees. Salary bands are determined by role, level, and location, and are re-evaluated every 12 months to remain competitive.
However, even if compensation bands decrease, employee salaries remain the same. Sourcegraph avoids compensation negotiations to prevent inequitable, biased outcomes. However, in business-critical cases, negotiation is permitted and subject to multiple rounds of approval. The People Team owns Sourcegraph’s compensation strategy and makes final determinations if primary data sources do not align with business needs.
7. Affirm
Affirm’s compensation philosophy is structured around three key elements: Competitive salaries based on market data, skills, and experience; providing pay raises, advancement opportunities, and discretionary bonuses for outstanding performance; and ensuring employees benefit from company growth through equity awards, promoting an ownership culture.
8. Basecamp
Basecamp does not negotiate salaries or raises — instead, the company pays everyone in the same role and level of seniority equally. Raises are given automatically once a year, based on the 90th percentile of San Francisco market rates and regardless of employees’ location. This ensures that all employees are paid in the top 10% for their position. Promotions are accompanied by raises that align with the market rates.
Basecamp does not offer traditional bonuses or stock options but has implemented a profit growth sharing scheme, where 25% of profit growth is distributed to employees annually. This approach supports a remote-first work culture by allowing employees to choose where they live without impacting their compensation.
9. DHL Express
DHL’s compensation philosophy revolves around recognizing and rewarding each employee’s unique contributions, promoting a culture of innovation, dialogue, and respect.
By integrating employee input into workflow design and extending leadership principles throughout the organization, DHL aims to create an engaging work environment. The company uses performance-based remuneration, complemented by non-financial incentives, to retain talent and encourage employees to excel in their roles.
10. IKEA
IKEA’s approach to compensation is rooted in its vision of creating opportunities for “decent and meaningful work.” This philosophy extends beyond its products and includes its employees.
The company maintains a healthy, safe, and inclusive workplace while advocating for fair wages and working conditions, both within IKEA and across its supply chain. It also prioritizes personal development, job security, and predictable working hours to enhance its workforce’s overall wellbeing and satisfaction.
11. AbbVie
AbbVie’s compensation philosophy centers around providing competitive, differentiated rewards and benefits that cater to employees’ diverse and evolving needs throughout their careers and lives.
The company offers a comprehensive package that includes competitive base pay, short- and long-term incentives, extensive health coverage, retirement plans, and various work-life balance options. AbbVie also emphasizes support for families and holistic wellbeing, ensuring employees have the resources and flexibility they need to thrive both personally and professionally.
12. NVIDIA
NVIDIA values diversity and inclusion, offering reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities. NVIDIA’s work culture emphasizes collaboration, innovation and respect, with a commitment to enabling employees to make meaningful contributions to technological advancements and community support.
The company’s comprehensive benefits package includes health plans, flexible time off, and family support tailored to meet the diverse needs of employees at every life stage.
13. Adobe
Adobe achieved global gender pay parity in 2018 and pay parity between underrepresented minorities (URM) and non-URM employees in the U.S. in 2020. Adobe continues to monitor and maintain this parity by reviewing compensation practices, adjusting pay where necessary, and eliminating practices that may perpetuate inequities. The company also shares its process and lessons learned to help other organizations advance their pay equity initiatives.
14. Accenture
Accenture offers a comprehensive range of insurance options, financial rewards, and wellness programs to promote the wellbeing of employees and their families. Benefits include medical, dental, and life insurance, long-term disability coverage, retirement plans with matching contributions, and financial perks (like share purchase programs). Employees can customize these to meet their individual needs.
8 steps to develop your company’s compensation philosophy
- Understand your organization’s strategy and goals: Align your compensation philosophy with the company’s overarching strategy and objectives to ensure that pay practices support business priorities.
- Conduct market research: Analyze industry standards, competitor pay practices, and regional salary data to inform your compensation strategy and make it competitive.
- Define your company’s compensation and benefits strategy: Outline specific compensation elements (e.g., base pay, bonuses, benefits) and how they align with the company’s goals and employee expectations.
- Establish guiding principles: Develop core principles, such as market competitiveness, internal equity, pay for performance, and transparency, to guide the compensation philosophy and ensure consistency.
- Design the compensation structure: Create a structured framework that includes pay grades, salary ranges, and criteria for performance-based incentives. This framework should also be scalable and adaptable.
- Communicate the philosophy: Clearly communicate the compensation philosophy to all employees to ensure transparency and understanding and foster trust and engagement.
- Monitor and adjust regularly: Continuously evaluate the effectiveness of this compensation strategy through employee feedback and market trends, making necessary adjustments to stay competitive and fair.
- Ensure legal compliance: Review and update your compensation practices to comply with local, state, and federal regulations. Ensuring legal compliance helps to avoid potential legal issues and demonstrates the company’s commitment to fair and equitable treatment of employees.
Getting started
Developing a comprehensive compensation philosophy is crucial for aligning your organization’s pay practices with its strategic goals. It will also help you attract, motivate, and retain top talent.
Get to know your company’s strategy, conduct thorough market research, define clear compensation and benefits strategies, and establish guiding principles to help lay a solid foundation for fair and competitive pay at your organization.
