design-comp-bands

name	design-comp-bands
description	Design defensible comp bands tied to leveling and dated market data — set midpoints/spreads, compute compa-ratio and range penetration, surface over/under-band outliers. Reach for this on a banding or offer question.

Skill: Design comp bands

Pay to a band, not the counteroffer (§3 #2); a band is only as defensible as its dated survey (§3 #8).

Step 1 — Anchor to leveling

Map roles to a level ladder before any number; comp follows level, not tenure or negotiation.

Step 2 — Set band geometry

Midpoint to market (named survey + data-effective date), spread (min–max), and overlap between adjacent bands.

Step 3 — Score the population

Compa-ratio (salary ÷ midpoint) and range penetration per person. Use ../../scripts/people_calc.py comp-band.

Step 4 — Surface outliers

Green-circled (over band — freeze, don't compound), red-circled (under band — fix to band, not ad hoc), and compa-ratio outliers (§3 #2).

Output

A band structure with midpoint/spread per level, the compa-ratio/penetration distribution, the outliers flagged, and the dated survey cited. See ../../knowledge/people-ops-economics.md §3.