Hiring Platform

A well-designed salary band has a spread — the percentage difference between minimum and maximum — narrow enough to convey meaningful pay expectations but wide enough to accommodate tenure, skill variation, and geographic cost differences within the same level. Bands with spreads below 30 percent create compression problems as employees approach the maximum, leaving no room for merit increases without promotion. Bands with spreads above 60 percent are so wide they provide no useful guidance — an employee told they are in a $60,000 to $140,000 band has received no meaningful pay information. Industry best practice for most professional roles is a 40 to 50 percent spread, reviewed annually against market data to ensure the midpoint remains competitive.