Compensation & Salary Benchmarking

Build competitive compensation plans using market data, salary bands, equity, bonuses, geographic pay adjustments, and retention risk scoring.

Security Scan

The skill is an instruction-only compensation planning framework that is internally consistent with its stated purpose and requests no credentials or installs.

Purpose & Capability

Name, description, and runtime instructions all align: the skill provides frameworks, checklists, and metrics for building compensation plans and does not request unrelated access or tools.

Instruction Scope

SKILL.md is self-contained and describes how to build salary bands, audits, and retention scoring. It references external data sources (Levels.fyi, Glassdoor, Radford, Mercer, LinkedIn, BLS) and AfrexAI product links; this is expected for benchmarking but could lead an agent to request or aggregate employee data or to consult external services if the user supplies credentials or datasets.

Install Mechanism

No install spec or code files — this is instruction-only, so nothing is written to disk or fetched at install time.

Credentials

The skill requests no environment variables, credentials, or config paths. No disproportionate secret access is required for the stated functionality.

Persistence & Privilege

Skill is not always-on and is user-invocable; it does not request persistent agent-level privileges or modifications to other skills/configs.

Assessment

This skill appears coherent and low-risk because it is instruction-only and asks for no credentials or installs. Before installing or using it, consider: (1) avoid pasting sensitive employee PII or full payroll exports into the agent unless you trust its context and storage policies; (2) the framework references paid/third-party data sources — you will need to supply or fetch data manually (and may require subscriptions); (3) the README/SKILL.md contains promotional links to AfrexAI products — be cautious about following purchase links or sharing credit card/account info; (4) if you ask the agent to perform audits, confirm what data it will access, how it stores results, and who can see them. Overall, the skill is consistent with its stated purpose — treat it as a guidance/template tool rather than an automated data connector.

Compensation & Salary Benchmarking Planner

Build data-driven compensation structures that attract talent without overpaying. Covers base salary bands, equity/bonus frameworks, geographic differentials, and total rewards packaging.

When to Use

• Building or revising salary bands for any role
• Preparing for hiring sprints and need market-rate data
• Conducting annual compensation reviews
• Designing equity/bonus/commission structures
• Benchmarking against competitors to reduce turnover

How It Works

When asked to build a compensation plan, follow this framework:

1. Role Architecture

Define job levels and salary bands:

Level	Title Pattern	Base Range (US)	Equity %	Bonus Target
L1	Associate / Junior	$45K-$70K	0-0.01%	0-5%
L2	Mid-level	$70K-$110K	0.01-0.05%	5-10%
L3	Senior	$110K-$160K	0.05-0.15%	10-15%
L4	Staff / Lead	$150K-$210K	0.1-0.3%	15-20%
L5	Principal / Director	$190K-$280K	0.2-0.5%	20-30%
L6	VP / C-level	$250K-$400K+	0.5-2%+	30-50%+

2. Geographic Differentials

Apply cost-of-labor multipliers (not cost-of-living):

Tier	Markets	Multiplier
Tier 1	SF Bay, NYC, London	1.0x (baseline)
Tier 2	Seattle, Boston, LA, Chicago	0.90-0.95x
Tier 3	Austin, Denver, Manchester, Berlin	0.80-0.85x
Tier 4	Remote US/UK secondary markets	0.70-0.80x
Tier 5	Eastern Europe, LATAM, SEA	0.40-0.60x

3. Total Compensation Package

Break down total rewards:

Cash Compensation

• Base salary: 60-80% of total comp (varies by seniority)
• Performance bonus: 5-30% of base
• Commission (sales roles): 40-60% of OTE

Equity Compensation

• Startup (pre-Series B): 0.01%-2% based on level, 4-year vest, 1-year cliff
• Growth stage: RSUs, lower % but higher dollar value
• Public company: RSU grants refreshed annually

Benefits & Perks (typically 20-35% on top of base)

• Health insurance: $6K-$24K/yr employer cost per employee (US)
• 401(k)/pension match: 3-6% of salary
• PTO: 15-25 days (US), 25-33 days (UK/EU statutory + company)
• Learning budget: $1K-$5K/yr
• Remote stipend: $100-$250/mo
• Parental leave: 12-26 weeks (competitive)

4. Pay Equity Audit

Run these checks quarterly:

1. Compa-ratio by role: Actual pay ÷ midpoint of band. Target: 0.90-1.10
2. Gender pay gap: Compare median comp by gender within each level
3. Tenure compression: Are new hires making more than 2-year veterans? Fix with retention adjustments
4. Band penetration: % of employees above 1.0 compa-ratio (flag if >30%)

5. Annual Review Cycle

Month	Action
Jan	Market data refresh (Levels.fyi, Glassdoor, Radford, Mercer)
Feb	Manager calibration sessions
Mar	Budget allocation (typically 3-5% of payroll for merit increases)
Apr	Communicate adjustments, effective date
Jul	Mid-year equity refresh grants
Oct	Prepare next year's comp budget proposal

6. Offer Benchmarking Checklist

Before extending any offer:

• Check 3+ data sources (Levels.fyi, Glassdoor, Payscale, LinkedIn Salary)
• Confirm geographic tier and apply multiplier
• Calculate total comp (base + bonus + equity annualized + benefits value)
• Compare to internal peers at same level (±10% band)
• Document justification if above band midpoint
• Get sign-off from hiring manager + finance/HR

7. Retention Risk Scoring

Factor	Weight	Score (1-5)
Below market rate (>10% under)	25%
Time since last raise (>18 months)	20%
Flight risk signals (LinkedIn active, disengaged)	20%
Critical role / hard to replace	20%
Tenure > 3 years with no promotion	15%

Score > 3.5 = immediate retention conversation needed Score 2.5-3.5 = include in next review cycle, prioritize Score < 2.5 = monitor quarterly

8. Commission & Sales Comp

For revenue roles, design OTE (On-Target Earnings):

• Base:Variable split: 50:50 (hunters), 60:40 (farmers), 70:30 (CS/AM)
• Accelerators: 1.5-3x rate above quota (motivates overperformance)
• Decelerators: 0.5x rate below 80% quota (protects company)
• Clawback policy: Define for churned deals within 90 days
• SPIFs: Short-term incentives for strategic pushes ($500-$5K per qualifying action)

Key Metrics to Track

• Offer acceptance rate: Target >85% (below = comp is off-market)
• Regrettable attrition: Target <10% (above = retention issue)
• Time to fill: If increasing, may signal comp competitiveness problem
• Cost per hire: Include recruiter fees, signing bonuses, relocation
• Revenue per employee: Benchmark against industry ($200K-$400K SaaS, $150K-$250K services)

Data Sources (2026)

• Levels.fyi — Best for tech roles, real verified data
• Glassdoor — Broad coverage, self-reported
• Payscale — Small business focus
• Radford (Aon) — Enterprise-grade, paid surveys
• Mercer — Global comp data, paid
• LinkedIn Salary Insights — Good for role-specific ranges
• BLS Occupational Employment Statistics — Government baseline

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