Q. "How do we prevent inconsistencies in our pay scale?"
Answer:
The three easiest ways to create more structure within your staff's salaries are:
Define pay grades. Order your staff into different levels of pay, or grades, by evaluating their responsibilities, experience, and education. Hint: look at your org chart and Job Descriptions for a good starting visual!
Create a salary structure. Define the pay range and median pay for each pay grade. Some overlap may occur between grades, but try to avoid it as much as possible.
Evaluate your staff's current pay. Assign each staff member a pay grade and review their salary to make sure they fit within that band. Once you've gone through all staff members, be sure to look for inconsistencies such as long-time admins who might be paid more than newer core staff members. Also, take into account your location's current and projected cost of living and the benefits you do or do not offer.
Take the time to make sure each staff member is not only paid fairly for their workload and qualifications but is paid well enough that they can provide for their family. This not only promotes healthy culture, but staff longevity!
Want to deep dive into Salary Structure and Pay Grades? Check out this article from Church Salary!