If you're fortunate enough to hold the purse strings for a brand spanking new company, then eventually you'll have to figure out how to divvy up the loot and keep your troops rewarded and loyal. Obviously, you shouldn't merely consult one or two websites to figure this out, but a good start is Compensation Today's recent post on managing employee pay ranges. Ideally, all your employees will fall within the range you set out for yourself, but just as likely, you'll have employees who fall on either end of that spectrum due to their experience level.
Let's start with the folks beneath your pay floor. They recommend three potential options, but the one that fits your company specifically is to just boost them up to your minimum pay range, because "in the long term, employees will get raises when the market shifts." It involves fewer managers to bargain over the pay rate than other alternatives like offering market-based pay or tying pay to performance.
If you have potential hires above your range, there are far more options. One option, and the easiest, is to just do nothing but let them sit at your cap -- which will risk them leaving eventually if they get to feel they aren't valued properly. There are a bunch others, and you can read 'em at the post over at Compensation Today.
David Wolinsky is a freelance writer and a lifelong Chicagoan. In addition to currently serving as an interviewer-writer for Adult Swim, he's also a columnist for EGM. He was the Chicago city editor for The Onion A.V. Club where he provided in-depth daily coverage of this city's bustling arts/entertainment scene for half a decade. When not playing video games for work he's thinking of dashing out to Chicago Diner, Pizano's, or Yummy Yummy. His first career aspirations were to be a game-show host.
