Delivering an Integrated Talent Solution: Designing a Transparent Compensation Model and Hiring for Growth
Client Context
Our client is a US-based boutique life sciences management consulting firm specialising in change management, brand strategy and launch, and organisation development. As the firm continued to grow, leadership wanted to rethink its approach to careers and compensation to ensure it remained competitive, equitable, and authentic to its values.
The leadership team was keen to move beyond traditional compensation models and design a more transparent and consistent framework. In parallel, they wanted deeper insight into talent motivations — why people were joining and leaving a teach level — and how to make recruitment more efficient while clearly defining what success looked like in each role.
The Challenge
The client faced several interconnected challenges:
- Existing compensation structures lacked transparency and consistency across levels and sat below market benchmarks, limiting the firm’s ability to attract high-quality talent.
- Leadership wanted a model rooted inequity and authenticity, rather than legacy market norms
- There was limited insight into competitor approaches and talent motivations
- Recruitment processes needed to be more streamlined and aligned to clearly defined role expectations
- Addressing these challenges required more than benchmarking or hiring in isolation — it required an integrated talent solution.
Our Approach
KRS was engaged to deliver a combined solution, bringing together talent consulting and talent engagement (recruitment) to ensure insight translated directly into action.
Our approach included:
Compensation Philosophy Design
We worked with leadership to define a clear compensation philosophy grounded in the why and how of hiring, retaining, and rewarding talent. This created a consistent framework aligned to the firm’s values and long-term growth ambitions.
Market Benchmarking and Competitive Insight
We conducted a detailed competitor benchmarking exercise, analysing compensation data across peer firms. This included salary comparisons by level, identification of market gaps, and the use of competitor data to inform a differentiated, evidence-based approach rather than a purely reactive one.
Equity and Consistency Through Data
Using the benchmarking insights, we designed a new, transparent compensation model and introduced a data-driven process for salary updates. This enabled the firm to positively adjust compensation across the team in line with the agreed philosophy, improving equity and internal consistency.
Transparent Communication and Change Management
We supported the client on ways to communicate the model internally to the organisation in a way that helped build trust and ensured alignment as changes were implemented.
Recruitment Aligned to the New Model
Alongside the consulting work, our talent engagement team supported the recruitment of new hires at Director and Senior Director levels. Hiring decisions were underpinned by the newly defined role expectations, compensation framework, and insights into candidate motivations, ensuring alignment between strategy and execution.
Outcome
The client implemented a transparent, competitive compensation model aligned to its values and growth strategy. Leadership gained clarity on talent motivations, clearer definitions of success at each level, and a more efficient, insight-led recruitment process.
By integrating talent consulting with recruitment delivery, the firm was able to attract and retain the right people while building a fair, consistent, and scalable talent framework to support future growth.
