If you’re reading this, you’re likely leading a mission-driven organization that’s at a crossroads. Perhaps you are facing funding shifts and uncertainties, employees are advocating for a more transparent approach to compensation, or you are preparing for budget negotiations with unions or boards. Maybe you’re facing tough questions from staff or losing people you can’t afford to lose.

In our work with nonprofits, schools, and community health organizations, we’ve heard this story again and again. And we know this much is true: compensation touches everything. Employee engagement, morale, recruitment, retention, and trust. And when it’s not working, it doesn’t just cause tension—it threatens organizational goals.

This eBook is for leaders who are committed to doing better but feel stuck, overextended, or unsure of where to begin. We’ll walk through what’s going wrong in compensation systems today, what happens when you try to fix it alone, and what an equity-centered, sustainable path forward can look like.

Too often, compensation issues are treated as isolated complaints or one-off requests. But they’re rarely about a single salary. They’re symptoms of deeper, systemic gaps that grow more costly every day they go unaddressed.

Let’s look at what might be showing up in your organization:

• You’ve made ad hoc employee compensation decisions based on who pushes the hardest or loudest.
  Now you’re fielding complaints, losing trust, and watching unproductive behavior play out across teams.

• You have a compensation structure, but staff only learn about it when they see salary ranges on job postings.
  Queues whispered comparisons and doubts about fair pay.

• Your organization has evolved rapidly, but your pay system hasn’t.
  Now it’s out of sync with your values, your growth, and the market.

• You're headed into union or board negotiations without clear data.
  You feel unprepared for the tough questions you know you will face, and want to balance being strong advocates for your incredible staff and responsible stewards of organizational funds.

These challenges aren’t random, they are signs that your people systems weren’t built for the moment you’re in, and without a thoughtful, people-centered approach, even well-intentioned efforts can backfire.

After all, compensation isn’t just about spreadsheets. It’s about people and the perception of fairness, value, and recognition.

We’ve seen many organizations attempt to fix their compensation systems internally, only to
end up doing it twice. Here’s what usually happens: 

A compensation structure may be in place, including salary ranges, job levels, and internal
logic, but if your staff doesn’t know it exists or understand how it works, it’s almost as if it isn’t even there. What’s hidden quickly becomes suspect.

As soon as a new job is posted online, with a publicly listed salary or a vague title, staff take
notice. They compare it to their salary and the role they hold. They make assumptions. And
without a clear, consistent explanation, those assumptions solidify into something harder to
undo: mistrust.

Here’s what starts to happen:

• Employees interpret silence as secrecy and secrecy as unfairness.
• People assume new hires are being prioritized over existing staff.
• Questions about internal mobility often go unanswered, fueling feelings of being undervalued or stuck without growth opportunities.

The result?

You lose control of the narrative. Morale takes a hit. And even if your compensation
structure is sound, the lack of transparency undermines its effectiveness. In people systems, perception often becomes reality.

Our take:

Transparency doesn’t mean oversharing every detail—it means providing enough clarity so
that staff feel respected, informed, and aligned. When people understand how pay decisions
are made, they’re more likely to trust the process, even if they don’t always agree with every
outcome.

The organization undertook the effort to establish a compensation structure that felt thoughtful and fair at the time, but the organization has evolved significantly, and your pay practices haven’t.

Markets shift, teams grow, roles expand, and suddenly, the structure that once made sense is no longer keeping up with the reality on the ground.

We hear this all the time:

• “We have a framework, but it’s based on a version of our organization that no longer exists.”

• “Our staff size has doubled. We’ve added new roles, but our pay scales haven’t moved.” 

• “We’re seeing pay compression, and it’s getting harder to explain who makes what, and why.”

Why this matters:

When your structure doesn’t evolve with your organization, it ceases to serve its purpose. You risk underpaying critical roles, overpaying others, and sending mixed signals about how growth is recognized. Internally, it leads to frustration and disengagement. Externally, it makes you less competitive in a tight hiring market.

Our take:

 Compensation design isn’t a one-and-done exercise—it’s a living system that should flex with your mission, your people, and the world around you, requiring annual exams to stay current, equitable, and aligned. 

When it’s time to make the case for a new budget, a staffing plan, or a union contract, data is your foundation. Without it, even the most well-intentioned leaders can appear unprepared, reactive, or out of touch.

We’ve seen this play out many times: You’re sitting with your board, making a case for salary increases. Or you’re entering labor negotiations, trying to justify pay practices. However, without credible, market-informed compensation data, the conversation becomes defensive rather than strategic.

Here's what's at stake:

• You lack a clear rationale for what constitutes fair pay, opening the door to pushback or mistrust.
• Union partners may view the absence of data as a lack of seriousness or transparency.
• Board members may assume the goal is to pay as much or as competitively as possible, rather than to pay competitive compensation that’s both equitable and sustainable.

Why this matters:

Equity in compensation strategy isn’t just about internal policies—it’s also about how you advocate for your people externally. Entering negotiations with solid, defensible data signals that you’ve done the work and are operating from a place of fairness, not guesswork. It turns the situation into a constructive conversation rather than a confrontation.

Our take:

You need more than numbers—you need the right data in the right context to build a compensation story that’s both equity-aligned and strategically sound—allowing you to step into every conversation with clarity, confidence, and credibility.

Here’s what we want you to know: the cost of inaction is far greater than the cost of getting support.

If compensation isn’t handled intentionally, you risk:

• Eroding staff trust and morale, thereby negatively impacting employee performance.
• Triggering costly turnover (which can run anywhere from 33% to 200% of an employee’s salary).
• Strategic misalignment of resources (paying more than is necessary for certain roles, and underpaying for others, leading to difficulty attracting and retaining the right people).
• Being unprepared for negotiations with boards and unions.
• Compromising your organization’s values in one of its most high-stakes systems.

Compensation is the single largest line item in most budgets. Failing to invest in equitable, transparent, and data-informed practices isn’t only risky, it’s also irresponsible stewardship.

Let’s bust a myth: Relying on external market data alone doesn’t guarantee pay equity. In fact, it can reinforce historical bias. While using market data is an important input, it shouldn’t be the only thing informing an employee’s compensation package. 

Consider this: roles historically held by people from dominant demographic groups, like software engineers or financial analysts, tend to have higher market rates. Meanwhile, caregiving and community-based roles—disproportionately held by individuals from historically marginalized backgrounds, such as women and people of color—are undervalued by the same market.

That’s why we encourage organizations to use a tri-lens approach:

1. External benchmarks: What’s the market paying?

2. Internal value: How essential is this role to your mission?

3. Organizational values: What does equitable pay look like for your community?

For example, a social impact tech company might find that software developers command higher salaries than curriculum designers. However, if an exceptional curriculum is core to the company’s goals and product, shouldn’t that role carry similar strategic weight?

An effective compensation strategy empowers leaders to make intentional, informed choices, rather than simply accepting the status quo. It also means having the courage to revisit internal priorities and value the work that’s central to the mission, even when the market doesn’t.

Designing equity-centered compensation plans involves navigating trade-offs. It’s an art and a science. It requires values, strategy, and expertise. That’s where a trusted partner matters most.

Not all compensation firms are created equal. If you’re considering bringing in outside help, ask:

• Have they worked with organizations of a similar size, sector, and with similar values?
• Will they co-create a program aligned with our culture?
• Do they offer implementation support, or will they just drop off the data?
• Who will we work with, and what is their experience?
• Will they engage the right people along the way and be thoughtful about building buy-in with our team?

We believe the best partner is one who not only delivers answers but also builds your capacity to lead.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to designing a strong compensation strategy. An effective partner will co-create a system that reflects your mission and functions effectively in real-world applications.

Here’s how we approach compensation design:

We begin with an in-depth discovery process which includes stakeholder interviews, an all-staff survey, focus groups, and compensation diagnostics to understand your challenges, values, and current state.

Together, we define the principles that guide your pay decisions. This philosophy serves as the guiding principle for your structure and communications.

We compare your roles to similar organizations—by sector, geography, and size— while factoring in internal value and strategy. No shortcuts. No copy-paste.

We test for disparities, compression, and misalignments. Our goal is fairness that’s both visible and defensible.

From job family matrices to new hire tools, we give you the infrastructure to implement consistently and adjust as you grow.

We help you message your program clearly, train your leaders, and build trust with your staff. Because the best systems only work when people believe in them.
We’re not just a consultant—we’re a capacity builder. Our goal is to equip your team to lead this work long after we’re gone.

You could purchase salary surveys. You could build a spreadsheet. You could even ask ChatGPT for a comp policy template. And you might get part of the way there.

But here’s the catch:

• Data doesn’t replace judgment. 
• Frameworks don’t replace philosophy. 
• Policy doesn’t replace trust.

You need all three of the above.

That’s why our clients trust us—not just for the numbers, but for the nuance as well. We’ve helped organizations avoid costly missteps, like benchmarking based on job titles instead of actual responsibilities, or selecting the wrong peer group and inadvertently inflating pay by 10% without realizing it.

Outside consultants bring a clear, unbiased lens—focused on the role, not the person in it—ensuring decisions are grounded in equity rather than influenced by internal dynamics or personalities.

We bring not only technical expertise but also lived experience with organizations like yours—nonprofits, schools, and community-based orgs that care deeply about equity, their people, and also need systems that work.

Download the eBook: Operationalizing Your Values: How Edgility Talent Partners Strengthens People Systems Through Equity, Sustainability, and Market Alignment.

Book a Discovery Consultation

Let’s talk about what’s keeping you up at night—from compensation questions to equity misalignment. In just one conversation, we’ll explore how we can partner to design people systems that reflect your values, support your team, and move your mission forward. Schedule your call today.