The Roles and Compensation Handbook
Management · Nº 66
The Roles and Compensation Handbook
What to Pay and How People Grow in Your Company
The new hire makes more than your nine-year veteran. The veteran just found out.
24 tools to turn pay set one conversation at a time into roles, pay ranges, and written rules you can explain, with one manufacturing plant worked through start to finish.
You get 24 tools to map your payroll, define roles and levels, score each role, build a pay table with ranges and steps, place everyone without cutting pay, and set rules for merit, promotions, and a bonus. Plus a 7-tab spreadsheet and 14 templates.
A book explains the method. This handbook puts it to work: the tool, a worked example, and a spreadsheet with your numbers.
One-time payment of $29.00. The order form shows the final amount, with any taxes for your country, before you pay.
Digital delivery: PDF handbook, spreadsheet and access on the Consylion platform.
14-day money-back guarantee: if it isn't what you expected, request a full refund within 14 days of purchase.
Your order is processed by Digistore24, our authorized reseller. By purchasing, you accept the terms of use and purchase · refund policy.
Every salary in your company came out of a different conversation. The person who asked at the right moment got a raise. The one who kept quiet fell behind. You hired someone away from a competitor at whatever they asked, and now they make more than the person who's been with you for nine years. Another raise request is coming on Monday. You'll answer it the way you answered the last one: with a number that felt right that day.
THE SPREADSHEET
Roles and compensation spreadsheet
Use the completed example as a reference and enter your business data in the marked fields. Check the instructions and the calculations before you make a decision.
SOUND FAMILIAR?
Three situations this handbook solves
Someone asks for a raise on Friday
Instead of picking a number, you open the pay table. You tell them the step they're on, what the next level asks for, and when the next merit cycle is. The reply template in the kit gives you the words.
Same job, different pay
You put both people on the range position check and compare them against written criteria: role, level, and time in the role. If the gap has no written reason, you correct it in the first stage of placement, without cutting anyone's pay.
The day you announce the plan
One short meeting with the grade table on the wall. That same week, a private conversation with each person, letter in hand: their step, their amount, the date. The rules are public. Each salary stays confidential.
INSIDE
What you'll find in each tool
Five parts, in the order the work gets done. Start with the payroll you have: what each person really costs and where the pay gaps are. Define the roles and levels, then score them with points. Build the pay table from a market survey. Place everyone on it without cutting anyone's pay. Finish with the raise budget, career paths, a bonus, and the announcement. Where local rules matter, it says what to confirm with your accountant or lawyer.
WHAT YOU GET
Everything included in your purchase
- The Roles and Compensation Handbook in PDF: 24 tools, each with a step by step, an example from the same company, and an exercise
- The Roles and compensation spreadsheet in Excel and Google Sheets, with 7 working tabs, filled in with the example company
- The Template kit: 14 ready-made texts, from the one-page pay policy and the job description to the placement letter and the reply to an off-cycle raise request
- 2 worksheets to fill in (role and employee placement) and a 30-day plan, one week per stage
- Access to your handbook on the Consylion platform
Full table of contents
The 24 tools, in the order you'll use them
Part 1 · Part 1 · The payroll you have
- 01Payroll X-rayEvery salary in one table, by role, level, and length of service
- 02Total employee costWhat each person really costs you per month: salary, payroll costs, and benefits
- 03Pay distortion mapFind who earns differently from a coworker in the same role, with no reason on record
- 04Your market positionDecide on purpose whether you pay below, at, or above the market
Part 2 · Part 2 · The roles
- 05List of rolesTurn a pile of scattered job titles into the roles your company really has
- 06One-page job descriptionPurpose, deliverables, requirements, and conditions for each role, on one page
- 07Job title on recordMake the official job title match the work people actually do
- 08Junior, mid-level, and seniorLevels based on what the person can do without help, not on years served
- 09Point-factor job evaluationFive weighted factors to rank roles without guesswork
Part 3 · Part 3 · The pay table
- 10Salary surveyFive sources and a median for each role, compared by the work, not the title
- 11Pay floor and annual raiseCheck the lowest pay that applies and this year's raise before you build any table
- 12Pay linePoints and market pay on one curve that shows what each role is worth
- 13Pay ranges and stepsGrades with a minimum, midpoint, maximum, and five steps everyone can see
Part 4 · Part 4 · Everyone on the pay table
- 14Range positionSee where each salary sits compared with the middle of its range
- 15Placement without pay cutsMove everyone onto a step in two stages, and nobody earns less than before
- 16Outside the rangeBelow the minimum gets corrected first; above the maximum keeps its pay but gets no merit raise, by written rule
- 17Equal payEqual work, equal value, equal pay, backed by written criteria
- 18Promotions and level changesWhen the role changes, when the level changes, and how much pay moves with each
Part 5 · Part 5 · Grow, reward, and retain
- 19Annual raise budgetSplit the year's raise money among general raises, merit, and promotions
- 20Career pathThe next step for every role, including for people who don't want to manage
- 21Total compensation statementOne page a year that shows everything the company pays each person
- 22Performance bonusTargets the team can influence, rules set before the year starts, payout dates agreed up front
- 23Announcing the planWhat to say, in what order, and how to answer every question
- 24Annual plan reviewSurvey, pay table, placement, and budget, reviewed once a year
Who it's for
It's for you if
- You run a company with 10 to 80 employees and set pay one conversation at a time
- You get raise requests and have no clear rule for answering them
- Two people in the same role earn different amounts, and you can't explain why
- You want to show your team how to grow without promising what you can't pay
- Your job titles on record no longer match what people actually do
It's not for you if
- You need to hire people first. See The Hiring Handbook
- You want to set up the review cycle and the ratings. That's The Performance Review Handbook
- You need a sales commission plan. See The Sales Team Training Handbook
- You want to decide how much the partners pay themselves. That's The Business Partners Handbook
- You want someone to hand you the right salary for each role. The handbook shows you how to survey the market yourself
Frequently asked questions
I only have a few employees. Do I need all this?
Not all of it. With fewer than ten people, build the list of roles, the market survey, and one range per role, without points or grades. The merit and promotion rules work at any size.
What if I can't afford to fix everyone's pay at once?
Do the placement in two stages, or three. Start with the people below the minimum and the equal pay cases. One rule doesn't move: nobody's pay gets cut to make up for it.
Do I have to show the pay table to my team?
Show the grades, the ranges, and the rules. Each person's salary stays confidential. The handbook walks you through the announcement and the question you'll hear most: "How much does so-and-so make?"
Where do the market numbers come from?
From a survey you run yourself, with five kinds of sources: job posts, official wage statistics, sector and industry association surveys, and aggregated consulting data. You compare roles by what the work is, not by job title, and you never swap payroll data with a competitor.
Is this legal advice?
No. Rules on the lowest pay allowed, contract changes, equal pay, and bonuses differ from country to country. The handbook flags what to confirm with your accountant and your lawyer at each step, before you publish anything.
Do I need HR experience or strong math skills?
No. It's written at an intermediate level, with a step by step, an example, and an exercise in every tool. You enter the payroll and the survey; the spreadsheet does the math: points, pay line, ranges, steps, and the cost of placement.
What do I get, and in what formats?
Each handbook is a PDF of about 100 pages with 24 to 27 tools. Every tool has step-by-step instructions and a worked example. You also get the handbook's spreadsheet in Excel (.xlsx), which opens in Google Sheets too, with the example already filled in. The message, policy, and clause templates are in the Template Kit inside the PDF, ready to copy and adapt. Read it in the member area or download the files.
How do I know if it fits my business?
Each handbook's page shows the problem it solves, who it is for and who it is not for, the full table of contents, sample pages, and the company used in the examples. The examples come from small businesses in several industries, with illustrative numbers. If it is not a fit, you can ask for a full refund within 14 days of your purchase, as described in the Refund Policy.
What is the difference between a handbook, an area set, and the Series?
A handbook solves one problem. An area set brings together every handbook and spreadsheet in one of the 6 areas, for less than the price of 5 single handbooks. The Consylion Handbook Series brings together all 100 handbooks and 100 spreadsheets, for less than the price of 8 single handbooks, and includes the next handbooks in the Series. Products outside the Series, from Consylion Life or Consylion Business, have their own price. They are sold separately and are not part of an area set or the Series.
Do I need to read everything before I start?
No. Each tool works on its own. Open the table of contents, pick the tool for today's problem, and start there. You can also read it cover to cover.
Do I need to know Excel?
The basics are enough: open the file and fill in the marked fields. The formulas are already built, and the handbook's example is filled in for reference.
How do I pay, and when do I get access?
By card or bank transfer, as a one-time payment with no subscription. Once your payment is confirmed, you get access to the member area by email. Approved card payments are confirmed right away. Bank transfers are confirmed when the funds clear. If access does not arrive within 24 hours of confirmation, check your spam folder and write to team@consylion.org.
How long do I have access, and how can I use the files?
Access does not expire, and you can download the files for offline use. The license is individual. You may read the handbooks, print them for your own use, and fill in and adapt the spreadsheet and templates with your company's data. If you are a consultant, accountant, or manager, you may apply the tools with your clients and deliver the result of your work, not the files. You may not share, resell, or distribute the files or the access.
How do support and refunds work?
Support is by email at team@consylion.org, on business days, with a reply within 5 business days. It covers questions about access, files, and payment. It does not include consulting or advice on applying the material to your case. You can cancel within 14 days of your purchase, without giving a reason, and get the full amount back through the payment method you used. Send the request to the same email. The details are in the Refund Policy.
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One-time payment of $197.00. The order form shows the final amount, with any taxes for your country, before you pay.
Digital delivery: PDF handbook, spreadsheet and access on the Consylion platform.
14-day money-back guarantee: if it isn't what you expected, request a full refund within 14 days of purchase.
Your order is processed by Digistore24, our authorized reseller. By purchasing, you accept the terms of use and purchase · refund policy.
Management · Nº 66
Pay by rule, not by whoever asked last
Every raise you give sets a precedent, whether you meant it to or not. This handbook gives you the tools, the spreadsheet, and the templates to build roles, ranges, and rules you can explain to anyone who asks. How much you pay is still your decision. Now it comes with a reason.
See all 100 handbooks · $197.00
One-time payment of $29.00. The order form shows the final amount, with any taxes for your country, before you pay.
Digital delivery: PDF handbook, spreadsheet and access on the Consylion platform.
14-day money-back guarantee: if it isn't what you expected, request a full refund within 14 days of purchase.
Your order is processed by Digistore24, our authorized reseller. By purchasing, you accept the terms of use and purchase · refund policy.