Comp and Coffee

What your ELT really wants to know about pay. A CPO and CFO conversation

Compensation is no longer just an HR process. It is a business decision that executive teams are paying close attention to.  In this special podcast episode, adapted from a recent Payscale webinar, Chief Product Officer Lexi Clarke and Chief Financial Officer Philip Watson discuss how organizations can rethink compensation reporting to better align with business goals and executive expectations.  Drawing from insights in Payscale’s 2026 Compensation Best Practices Report, they explore the questions leadership teams are asking after recent merit and pay cycles, including how compensation impacts retention, performance, and financial outcomes. The conversation also covers why traditional HR metrics often fall short and what compensation leaders should bring into strategic business discussions instead.  In this episode, you will learn:  • The compensation questions executive teams are asking right now and why they matter  • Where traditional HR metrics fall short and what to bring into the conversation instead  • How to connect pay decisions to outcomes like retention, performance, and cost  Want the full experience? Watch the webinar recording and access the presentation slides to dive deeper into the discussion: https://www.payscale.com/research-and-insights/what-your-elt-really-wants-to-know-about-pay [https://www.payscale.com/research-and-insights/what-your-elt-really-wants-to-know-about-pay]

Why skills-based pay is finally within reach

For decades, organizations have talked about paying for skills instead of jobs.  The idea is simple. Reward people based on what they can do, not just the role they hold.  But in practice, it has always been difficult to execute.  Skills are hard to define, harder to measure, and nearly impossible to track consistently across a workforce.  At the same time, the market is shifting fast.  AI-related skills are in high demand, showing up in job postings across industries. But new data shows those skills don’t always translate into higher pay.  So organizations are facing a disconnect.  They know skills matter more than ever. But they don’t yet have the systems or structures to consistently pay for them.  In this episode of Comp and Coffee, Ruth Thomas is joined by Sara Hillenmeyer, VP of AI and Data Science at Payscale, to explore why skills-based pay has remained out of reach and why that may finally be changing.  Together they unpack how AI is reshaping demand for skills, why the market isn’t consistently rewarding them yet, and what needs to happen for skills-based pay to become a reality at scale.  This conversation looks at the data, the technology gap, and the structural shifts required for organizations to move from jobs-based to skills-based compensation.

We have an announcement...

Recorded live from WorldatWork Total Rewards 2026 in San Antonio, this special episode of Comp and Coffee gives you an inside look at the launch of Payscale Intelligence Cloud. Host Ruth Thomas is joined by Chief People Officer Lexi Clarke to share what they are hearing on the ground, including a key insight that 54% of practitioners are struggling with disconnected tools, systems, and processes, and what that means for the future of compensation. They explore how compensation is evolving from a behind the scenes function into a strategic, always on business lever. You will hear how Payscale Intelligence Cloud is built to support that shift with a unified experience across stakeholders, richer data including skills and demand insights, solutions that scale with your maturity journey, and contextual intelligence to help you make better pay decisions in real time. The conversation also covers the growing importance of pay transparency, the expanding role of HR teams in compensation, and why stronger alignment with finance is becoming essential to driving business impact. If you are navigating complexity, data overload, or the pressure to make faster and more defensible pay decisions, this episode is for you. Grab a coffee and tune in.

Pay equity isn't dead

The gender pay gap has widened.   New data from the 2026 Gender Pay Gap Report shows the uncontrolled gender pay gap increased from $0.83 to $0.82, meaning women earn 18% less than men on average. That difference translates to $14,300 per year in lost earnings, and over $1 million across a career.  At the same time, organizations are navigating a new era of pay transparency legislation, tighter compensation budgets, and growing scrutiny around fairness in pay practices.  So what does pay equity actually look like in 2026?  In this episode of Comp and Coffee, Ruth Thomas is joined by Vicky Peakman, Founder of Fair Pay Partners, and Lulu Seikaly, Senior Corporate Attorney, to unpack what the latest gender pay gap data really means and why transparency and equity are now inseparable.  Together they explore why the uncontrolled gap still persists, where inequities show up most clearly across careers and industries, and how organizations can move beyond compliance to build compensation strategies that are both equitable and sustainable.  This conversation looks at the legal landscape, the operational realities inside organizations, and the strategic choices leaders must make if they want pay transparency to strengthen trust rather than expose gaps.  Episode resources: * 2026 Gender Pay Gap Report:  https://www.payscale.com/featured-content/gender-pay-gap * HR’s 2026 Guide to Pay Equity: https://www.payscale.com/research-and-insights/hr-2026-guide-to-pay-equity * Email: coffee@payscale.com [coffee@payscale.com] for listener questions and suggestions

The hidden cost of peanut butter pay

When budgets shrink, performance pay is put to the test.  The 2026 Compensation Best Practices Report tells a clear story: budgets are tighter, bonuses are shrinking, and organizations are reaching for simpler pay strategies to get through the year.   Today we're exploring what happens when compensation decisions prioritize administrative ease over strategic intent — and what leaders can do about it.  In this episode of Comp and Coffee, Ruth Thomas is joined by Founder of Payformance Partners Marc Mullis and People Operations leader at Leapfrog, Brittany Vogel to explore how organizations can maintain performance differentiation, employee trust, and retention in an era of tiny budgets.  This conversation goes beyond theory. It examines how leaders are creatively rethinking frequency versus size of rewards, leveraging non-base pay tools, strengthening communication, and avoiding the long-term consequences of oversimplified pay strategies.  Episode Resources: * 2026 Compensation Best Practices Report: https://www.payscale.com/featured-content/cbpr   * Your insights matter and shape the future of work. Participate in the 2027 Compensation Best Practices Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/cbprsignup [https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/cbprsignup] * Email: coffee@payscale.com [coffee@payscale.com] for listener questions and suggestions