45, Part 2. Why Pay Will Never Feel Fair At Work (And It's Not The Money)
About this episode
Rodney and Sam discuss the complexities of compensation systems and propose foundational principles for designing fair pay structures.
Compensation is where human psychology and organizational systems collide—and in Part 1, Rodney and Sam named why it so often turns into a hedonic treadmill: every lever you pull to reduce dissatisfaction tends to raise expectations and create new dissatisfaction. If you haven’t listened to Part 1 yet, start there for the “why this is so messy” foundation. In Part 2, Rodney and Sam move from diagnosis to design: what principles should a compensation system actually be built on—and what do you do next? They walk through practical comp first principles and explore concrete moves teams can experiment with—like simplifying comp, reducing negotiation, and creating healthier feedback loops. -------------------------------- Ready to change your organization? Let's talk. Get our newsletter: Sign up here. Follow us: LinkedIn Instagram -------------------------------- Mentioned references: "previous comp episode": AWWTR Ep. 45, Part 1 "JEDI": BNW Ep. 40 with Sharan Bal "Midnight Zone": Depthfinding Miniseries BNW Ep. 6 with Joel Gascoigne BNW…
More episodes of At Work with The Ready
- AUA: How Does HR Rewrite Job Descriptions for AI?
- 47. The Chaos Tax is Slowing Your Org Down
- AUA: What Keeps Us Together When AI Does The Work?
- 46. Embracing the Beautiful Mess: How Organizations Actually Work with John Cutler
- AUA: Why Won't The Rest Of The Org Copy What’s Working?
- AUA: Why Is My Small Org So Hard To Run?
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the At Work with The Ready podcast page.