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How a 200-person healthtech built fair, market-aligned pay and a stock option plan people understand.
A Skillfi fractional CHRO built job levels, benchmarked 140 roles against the market, closed unfair pay gaps and designed a clear employee stock option plan, all in 10 weeks.
Pay decided by whoever negotiated hardest.
The company had grown from 60 to 200 people in under three years, hiring fast and setting each salary on the spot. With no levels and no market data, pay came down to timing and negotiation. Two people in the same role could be up to 22% apart, and most of them knew it.
Equity was just as inconsistent. Early hires had generous grants, later hires had small ones, nobody received top-up grants, and few employees understood what their options were worth. Offers were losing to competitors with clearer packages, and 19% of the people the company wanted to keep were leaving each year.
Two engineers doing the same job could be $30,000 apart, and both of them knew it.
CEO, client
Build the structure first, then fix pay fairly.
Raising a few salaries would only have moved the problem. We built a framework that makes every future pay decision consistent, then used it to correct today's gaps. Every change was costed with finance, working alongside a fractional CFO on the budget and the size of the option pool.
7 levels across 9 job families
Clear scope and expectations for every level, so pay and promotions were tied to the work, not to who asked loudest.
140 roles benchmarked
Every role compared against 3 market salary surveys, with bands set at the 25th, 50th and 75th percentiles of market pay.
An employee stock option plan
A 10% option pool, grant guidelines for each level, 4-year vesting with a 1-year cliff, and annual top-up grants for strong performers.
Ten weeks, step by step
From negotiated pay and ad hoc equity to a total rewards system everyone can see. Here's how the engagement unfolded.
- Week 1–27 levels, 9 families
Job levelling framework
We defined levels and job families with leadership, then mapped every employee to a level.
- Week 3–4140 roles
Market benchmarking
Every role matched to market data from three salary surveys, adjusted for company stage and location.
- Week 525th–75th percentile
Salary bands set
A minimum, midpoint and maximum for every level in every job family, approved by leadership and finance.
- Week 6–72.8% of payroll
Pay equity audit
Every salary reviewed against its band. Unexplained gaps were corrected in a single, budgeted round of adjustments.
- Week 8–910% option pool
Stock option plan
Option pool sized with finance, grant guidelines set by level and a top-up policy agreed with the board.
- Week 10200 statements
Rollout & communication
Managers trained to talk about pay, and every employee received a personal total rewards statement.
Four parts of a pay system people trust
Fair pay isn't one big raise. It's a system that makes every offer, review and promotion consistent, and explains itself to the people it pays.
Job architecture
- Clear scope for every level
- Promotion criteria in writing
- Every employee mapped
Salary bands
- 3 market salary surveys
- 25th, 50th & 75th percentiles
- Location adjustments
Stock options
- 10% option pool
- Grant guidelines by level
- 4-year vesting & annual top-ups
Transparency
- Pay philosophy published
- Manager pay conversation training
- Total rewards statements
One year after rollout
Offer acceptance rate
Candidates said yes more often once offers came with clear bands and an equity story.
Candidates now ask about our equity plan instead of negotiating around it. And our people finally know where they stand.
VP of People, clientPay decisions getting harder as you grow?
A fractional CHRO will build your levels, salary bands and equity plan, then help your managers explain them. We can set it all up in your HRIS so bands and statements stay current.
- A job levelling framework
- Market-aligned salary bands
- A pay equity audit & fix plan
- A stock option plan & grant guidelines
30 minutes. No obligation.
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