A salary scale starts with evaluating jobs and ranking them into grades by their weight, then comparing each grade with market pay, then setting a salary range for each grade with a minimum, a midpoint and a maximum, and clear rules for moving between them.
Step by step
- 1
Evaluate the jobs
Use fixed criteria such as responsibility, required experience and the job's impact on results.
- 2
Rank them into grades
Jobs of similar weight fall in the same grade, even if they sit in different departments.
- 3
Compare with the market
Collect pay data for similar jobs in your city and sector, and decide where the company stands: above the market or in line with it.
- 4
Set a range for each grade
A minimum, a midpoint and a maximum, with reasonable overlap between consecutive grades.
- 5
Write the movement rules
When an employee earns a raise within the grade, when they move up to a higher grade, and how this links to performance appraisal.
A scale without written promotion rules turns into a list of exceptions, and exceptions are the fastest way to make a team feel things are unfair.
Salary scale and grades template
Ten grades, each with a minimum, midpoint and maximum, then where each employee's salary sits in the range of their grade.
Download the template free- how to create job grades
- salary structure for companies