When infrastructure consultancy Tyler Grange went through the process of becoming a B Corp in 2022, it was the starting point for a wider review of how the business operated.
This led to a greater focus on pay and a commitment to full pay transparency, which came into effect in December 2024.
Jonathan Berry, managing director, says: “We realised we had had people join us where recruitment consultants had driven up salaries while others who had been in the business for a while were on different salaries. We could have two senior associates who were several thousand pounds apart. That felt wrong.”
The starting point was to ensure that the business had a clear structure to it, and every job role had a clear description, against which performance could be assessed.
Every salary in the organisation was then tested against the wider market, which led to some narrow salary bands being drawn up for each role. “We compared well in relation to the market and we also offered a four-day week, which is effectively a pay rise,” says Berry.
The organisation had made a commitment that no one would be asked to take a pay cut, but there were instances where other salaries had to be brought up to achieve parity with someone earning more within the same band. “We knew we needed to be honest and transparent,” he says.
A more problematic issue was that it revealed the senior leaders were at the lower end of the market, which is something it is keeping under review.
There are already signs that this is helping with recruitment, because salary bands are now clearly displayed on job adverts; something which recruiters have also welcomed. “It makes it much easier because we can outline what we expect and what they get for that role,” adds Berry. “Recruitment has become a lot more focused.”
