Definition

Grouping similar jobs into broad pay grades rather than individual job-specific ranges. It reduces administrative complexity while somehow making salary decisions even more arbitrary.

Example Usage

HR moved to banding, so now engineers, marketers, and project managers are all in Band 3, earning wildly different amounts with zero transparency.

Origin

Gained popularity in the 1990s as an alternative to traditional job-based pay structures

Fun Fact

Broadbanding can have as few as 4-5 pay bands for an entire organization, compared to traditional structures with 20+ grades.

Source: Compensation structure and pay architecture

Related Terms

Advanced

top grading

A rigorous hiring methodology involving extensive interviews to ensure only 'A players' are hired, popularized by Bradford Smart. It's exhausting for everyone involved and assumes you can actually define an 'A player.'

👥 Human Resources
Advanced

red-circled employee

An employee whose salary exceeds the maximum of their pay range, typically marked with a red circle in compensation systems. They're earning more than their job is worth, usually grandfathered from a previous role, and won't see raises until the range catches up.

👥 Human Resources
Intermediate

seagull manager

A manager who swoops in unexpectedly, makes a lot of noise, dumps on everything, and flies away leaving others to clean up the mess. They're absent until there's a crisis, then arrive to criticize without context or solutions.

👥 Human Resources
Intermediate

deadwood

Employees who contribute nothing but somehow haven't been fired yet, occupying desks and drawing salaries like workplace furniture. HR knows who they are; everyone knows who they are.

👥 Human Resources
Intermediate

grievance

An official complaint filed by an employee who feels wronged, usually involving a multi-page document detailing how management has failed them. It's the workplace equivalent of writing a strongly worded letter to your mother, except this one goes through HR and potentially arbitration. Often the opening salvo in what becomes an epic saga of meetings, documentation, and passive-aggressive email chains.

👥 Human Resources
Advanced

bona fide occupational qualification

A legally permissible reason to discriminate in hiring based on characteristics like age, sex, or religion because they're essential to the job. Abbreviated as BFOQ, the rare loophole in anti-discrimination law.

👥 Human Resources

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