Can you share an experience where you had to address a compensation-related concern or dispute? How did you approach the situation, and what was the outcome?

I received advice as a young lawyer, which served me in my own requests for raises and bonuses, and has also helped me think about how to address compensation with my own staff. The advice was to do the research, understand the math of the compensation decision, and explain the justification in writing. When I was advocating for my own compensation, I was able to do research about comparable positions and my contribution to revenue that justified significant raises. I have also helped my own staff take similar steps. As someone on the leadership side, now, and someone who has helped employees negotiate around compensation for over a decade, that advice remains sound. I would also amend it to include that the process does not need to be adversarial on either side. Byron Katie says, "Defense is the first act of war," and I find that to be true when I watch employers battle employees related to compensation. For employers, it is important to remember that the realities of revenue and budget exist, and also an employer does not have to stand in the middle of the tension between revenue and pay. The more transparent a business can be about the reasons for pay and the more informed an employee can be about how their position contributes to revenue, the more the process can be mutual rather than adversarial. By allowing an employee to justify higher pay based on the relationship between their position and the organization's revenue, an employer can treat compensation decision making as a shared problem to solve, rather than a battle.

There was a situation where one of our loan officers came to me after noticing their compensation on a recent loan seemed off. They had expected a different payout based on the loan structure, and at first glance, it looked like something might've been missed. Rather than jumping to conclusions, I asked for a copy of the loan file and walked through the numbers with them. After double-checking the calculations and comparing them to our comp plan, we discovered that the discrepancy was due to a small input error in the system. We corrected it right away and made sure the updated compensation was processed in the next payroll. The LO appreciated how quickly it was handled, and we ended up adding another layer to our payroll review process to prevent it from happening again. It was a good reminder of how important it is to stay detail-oriented, especially when commissions are involved.