GreatWork Blog

Building better workplaces through compliance, culture, connection

Outpacing frontline worker wage gains, executive pay has increased dramatically over the past several decades and continues to grow as leaders are faced with managing business activities in increasingly complex and risky macroeconomic environments.

AI has quickly become one of the most dominant forces in workplace conversations, shaping everything from executive strategy meetings to everyday employee concerns. The pace of innovation has fueled big expectations about what AI can do and how it will reshape the workforce. Yet as organizations roll out these tools, a gap is emerging between the buzz and the reality. Early findings show that the story is more complex than simple narratives of miraculous transformation or widespread job loss. Understanding what AI is truly capable of and where it still falls short is becoming essential for leaders trying to navigate the future.

As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly integrated into HR and compensation practices, it’s critical to understand its broader influence on the overall function. Many professionals are turning to AI as a potential solution to minimize bias in several aspects, like pay decisions. However, like any tool, AI can just as easily introduce or amplify bias if not used carefully and responsibly.

Understanding what it truly means to pay a living wage is more important than ever. As organizations navigate rising costs, tight labor markets, and growing expectations for fair pay, distinguishing between the cost of labor, cost of living, and a living wage is essential.

As organizations plan for 2026, understanding how compensation is evolving has never been more important. This year, compensation is all about balance, managing costs while keeping key talent engaged. Economic pressures continue to shape pay decisions. Inflation, rising costs of living, tight labor markets, and fluctuating interest rates are forcing organizations to carefully balance budgets with retention needs. In this environment, broad-based pay increases are becoming less common for some organizations, replaced by targeted adjustments for critical roles, retention risks, or market corrections.

Despite the time and effort organizations dedicate to performance reviews, few believe they truly work. Leaders and employees alike are skeptical of their impact. In fact, According to a Gallup study, just 2% of Fortune 500 CHROs express strong confidence that their performance management systems truly inspire employee motivation. In the same study, employees express a comparable sentiment, with only one in five reporting that their performance reviews are handled transparently, equitably, or in a manner that actually supports their growth and effectiveness.  

Organizations aren’t born into existence as large and complex constellations of purpose, people, processes, and projects. They often start small, with the seed of an idea which is then tended to as it grows and is supported by its ecosystem. At some point during an organization’s growth and development, a clear division of labor becomes necessary over and above simply organizing tasks and responsibilities into individual jobs. This is where defining job levels and how all jobs work together in an organization, commonly referred to in whole as job architecture, can create a scalable blueprint for additional organizational growth.

Looking ahead to 2026, many employers have started mapping out their salary budgets, with the prevailing expectation being that salary increases will remain steady.

With annual increase season coming up for many employers, one question we hear often is, “What should we do when employees are at or near the top of their salary range?” Whether it’s due to tenure, limited advancement opportunities, or tight salary bands, this is a moment that calls for strategic attention. How you handle it impacts equity, morale, and your ability to stay competitive.

“We pay fairly, we have a scalable and defensible system to set and adjust pay rates, and we’ve never had anyone complain about being paid unfairly before.”

These are sentiments each employer hopes to express to its employees but this situation doesn’t just happen without intention and planning. As Oregon’s Equal Pay Act is coming up on its eighth birthday this year, some employers may be preparing for their third Equal Pay Audit and some employers may just be getting around to their first. Regardless of how many times your organization has conducted an equal pay audit, there are compelling reasons to start or continue this practice.

Nonprofits play a critical role in strengthening communities, but balancing competitive pay with a mission-driven purpose presents unique compensation challenges. Tight budgets, donor expectations, and a focus on social impact can limit flexibility, making it harder to attract, retain, and motivate top talent. At the same time, nonprofits must compete for talent against private sector employers who can often offer more generous compensation packages.

Who is accountable and responsible for ensuring workers can afford the products or services they make/offer? The employer of the workers? The government? Is anyone responsible at all?

Spring is here, re-energizing our winterized minds and filling our noses with fresh air, pollen, and scents of lilacs and daphne. For gardeners, it’s planting season, and for organizations, it is an excellent time to do a different spring activity – updating job descriptions!

qual Pay Day highlights the ongoing wage gap between men and women in the U.S., emphasizing financial inequality in the workforce. This symbolic date marks how many extra days the median woman must work into the new year to match the median man's earnings from the prior year. Established in 1996 by the National Committee on Pay Equity, Equal Pay Day raises awareness about wage disparities between genders. In 2025, Equal Pay Day fell on March 25.

Despite the economic uncertainty in the U.S. right now, organizations are still pushing forward with including variable pay as part of their overall compensation strategy and compensation programs.

Bonus plans at all levels of roles are still in action and seek to provide extra pay for meeting specific outcomes and goals, on top of the employee’s agreed upon base salary. 

Cascade recently announced a new resource for our members: a free compensation report featuring data on the top 50 most frequently reported jobs, coming this May. We are excited to report that we will also be publishing a Non-Profit Only version of this report as well. We have called out 150 of the top requested non-profit positions and need your help filling in the data for these.

Oregon’s Pay Equity Law is all about making sure employees are paid fairly for the work they do. It’s designed to eliminate wage gaps and ensure compensation practices are transparent and equitable. This law prohibits employers from paying people differently based on their protected class if they’re doing work of comparable character. It also prevents employers from basing compensation decisions on someone’s current or past salary and bars them from asking applicants, employees, or their past employers about salary history.

Before diving into a pay-for-performance system, it’s important to get the basics right. Think of it as building a sturdy foundation before adding the layers. Start by making sure every job description is up to date, clearly spelling out the responsibilities, qualifications, and expectations.

Base and variable pay are two fundamental components of employee compensation that play a crucial role in attracting, motivating, and retaining top talent. While base pay provides a stable foundation, variable pay offers the potential for additional earnings based on performance. Understanding the importance and effective use of both can significantly impact an organization's overall success.

It's almost 2025! Well, sort of. At least, some of us may be planning for the new year to turn its page in just three short months. Before we make it to 2025, how will you share with your employees how much they earned by working for your organization this year?

In today’s competitive business environment, attracting and retaining top talent requires more than just offering a competitive salary. Organizations need to have a clear, structured approach to compensation that aligns with their overall business goals. This is where the concepts of compensation philosophy and compensation strategy come into play. Establishing these two elements is essential for driving employee satisfaction, performance, and long-term business success.

Pay compression is not one-size-fits-all and shows up in various situations. For example, pay compression can exist when: there is little to no difference between a new hire’s and a tenured employee’s salary in the same role; a manager is making only a little bit more than their direct report; or similar situations. In general, employers collectively don't want their employees to pay a “loyalty tax,” or be negatively rewarded for their loyalty and tenure without it being reflected in their compensation.

It is possible to administer merit increases and still comply with Oregon’s Equal Pay Law, but a strong performance management system is crucial. This system should establish clear, objective criteria to ensure consistent and fair evaluation for all employees. 

COVID made a significant, far-reaching impact on many aspects of how we live and work in the modern age. Within this era of disruption, more and more companies are choosing or resorting to hiring employees who don’t come into an office, whether regularly or even at all.

“We can’t afford to give you a pay increase this year.”

“Your work performance hasn’t met expectations, so you aren’t receiving a salary increase this year.”

These are hard messages, both to deliver and receive. Many times, we keep constructive feedback, “bad news,” and other information to ourselves because we are concerned about navigating the potential reaction(s) others may have about what we share.

We ask ourselves questions like “will I make things worse?” or “what if it negatively affects our relationship?” Discomfort and challenging emotions can rise in the acute moment when the interaction occurs. In the long-term, it may be just the message they needed.

Salaried, hourly, non-exempt, exempt, salaried non-exempt, exempt hourly, goodness gracious!

These are common terms in the world of compensation, but what do they mean?

These phrases are used to explain the frequency and form of payment for work performed. Different combinations of exempt, non-exempt, salaried, and hourly can be partnered together based on the nature of the job’s duties. All in all, it can be very confusing!

Cascade is excited to have successfully launched our new compensation platform Payscale Peer last fall and we are happy to announce our spring participation period is about to begin. If you’ve previously participated in Cascade’s Regional Pay survey, now is the time to register and submit your data for Payscale Peer as this replaces our Regional Pay Survey in 2024.

Total rewards, at a high level, divide into two categories:  1) direct compensation (i.e., salary), and 2) indirect compensation (i.e., benefits, schedule, training, development, etc.). These two pieces work together to provide rewards to employees for performing work on behalf of the organization, and ideally motivate them to continue working toward the organization's goals.

As you probably already know, Payscale Peer is replacing Cascade’s Regional Pay Survey.  We think you’ll love this new option.  Even better, it further enhances our Compensation Team’s resources to provide exceptional support for your strategic compensation challenges. We’ve been getting questions about how we plan to use Payscale to better help you in your compensation work, so we thought we’d give you some insights around the work our team does.

Cascade’s new compensation data platform, Payscale Peer, is now open for participation. Payscale is an online compensation platform that collects regional and national data on 5,000 benchmark positions. Payscale currently has 2,200 participants nationwide, representing over 6 million employees. This platform will be replacing Cascade’s traditional Regional Pay Survey in 2024.