Welcome back to the FNDN Series, where we continue our deep dive into startup compensation with industry leaders from across the startup world. In our conversation with Andrew, an HR veteran with 30 years of experience including CHRO roles at S&P 500 companies, we explore how to maximize compensation impact when resources are constrained. Andrew shares his insights on the power of differentiation in compensation, the importance of realistic performance distributions, and why tough conversations about performance are essential for organizational health. We dive deep into how to move beyond the "everyone gets the same" mentality and create meaningful compensation strategies that actually drive performance and business outcomes.

Chapters:

00:00 Welcome and Introduction to FNDN Series

02:41 The Challenge of Overcomplex Compensation Systems

03:30 First Principles: What Are We Really Trying to Achieve?

05:15 The Magic of Differentiation in Compensation

07:45 Why Distribution Matters: The 20-70-10 Model

08:08 Communication and Manager Capability in Compensation

11:00 The Budget Reality: Funding Differentiation

11:49 Compensation Philosophy as Attraction and Repulsion Tool

14:53 Alternatives When Cash Budget Is Constrained

16:16 Budget as Choice: Connecting Compensation to Company Goals

18:15 Market Informed vs Market Led Approach

19:45 Strategic Benefits and Workforce Planning

Connect with Andrew

Visit: https://linkedin.com/in/bartlow/

The People Leader Accelerator helps HR professionals and their organizations to grow. They exist to support the success of Human Resources leaders.

Resources Mentioned:

Companies/Organizations Mentioned:

General Electric - Referenced for their historical 20-70-10 performance distribution model
Pepsi - Andrew's background experience
HR Transform Conference - Event where budget strategy insights were shared
Pave - Mentioned for their performance reward data report showing market differentiation gaps

Concepts Discussed:

Performance differentiation and distribution curves
Merit budget strategic planning
Market informed vs market led compensation philosophy
Benefits renewal strategic approach

More FNDN Episodes:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4GeBIeZOKrFxG1oiiPxmiM

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fndn-series/id1794263484

Julian Zelizer & Bradley Tusk