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Comp and Coffee

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Comp and Coffee is a podcast by Payscale where we explore the art and science of compensation management. Grab a cup of coffee, settle in, and join us for conversations on pay and performance—packed with insights, practical tips, and strategies to help you stay ahead in a rapidly evolving world of work.

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20 episodes
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Avg 37 min
English

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September 7 · 28 min
Is compensation always-on?
For the longest time, compensation has revolved around an annual rhythm. One yearly market data refresh. One compensation planning cycle. But that rhythm no longer matches the pace of today's workforce. Jobs evolve faster than ever. Skills become outdated in months instead of years. AI is changing work, labor markets shift overnight, and new pay transparency regulations require organizations to make compensation decisions with greater consistency and confidence. So what happens when the business changes every day, but compensation only changes once a year? In this episode, we explore why more organizations are rethinking compensation as an ongoing business capability rather than an annual event. We'll discuss what's driving this shift, how technology and AI are changing the role of compensation teams, and what leaders should do now to prepare for a more continuous approach to pay. Host: Ruth Thomas – Chief Compensation Strategist, Payscale Guest: Matthew Carson – Senior Director, Compensation Strategy & Analytics, UnitedHealth Group
August 31 · 32 min
The job is changing faster than the job description
For years, organizations could define a role and expect its responsibilities to remain relatively stable. Today, that assumption no longer holds. AI is reshaping work. New skills emerge constantly. Responsibilities evolve faster than organizations can update job descriptions, job architectures, or compensation frameworks. The result? Employees are doing work that doesn't match their job descriptions. Recruiters are hiring for skills that don't fit existing roles. Compensation teams are trying to benchmark jobs that seem to change every quarter. So what happens when the work changes faster than the systems designed to define it? In this episode, we explore why organizations need to rethink job architecture for a world of continuous change, how AI is accelerating skills evolution, and what HR leaders can do to build job frameworks that are flexible enough for the future. Host: Ruth Thomas – Chief Compensation Strategist, Payscale Guest: Katrina Kibben – Founder, Three Ears Media | Recruiting Trainer, Author, and Keynote Speaker Episode resources: Watch recording: How to prevent offer and pay alignment issues that create hiring delays Watch recording: The right and wrong way to use AI in job descriptions
August 9 · 30 min
Aligning talent acquisition and compensation when jobs keep changing
Jobs aren't changing once every few years anymore. They're evolving constantly. Skills are shifting, AI is reshaping roles, and organizations are redefining jobs faster than traditional job architectures can keep up. At the same time, Talent Acquisition and Compensation teams often evaluate talent through different lenses. Recruiters are responding to hiring realities and candidate expectations, while Compensation is balancing market data, internal equity, and long-term pay strategy. In this episode, we explore how these two functions can stop speaking different languages and start working from the same playbook. We'll discuss what alignment looks like in practice, how organizations can create a shared understanding of talent and market value, and why stronger collaboration leads to better hiring decisions and more sustainable compensation strategies. Host: Ruth Thomas – Chief Compensation Strategist, Payscale Guests: Danielle DuBois – Director of Global Rewards, HR Technology, HR Operations & Talent Acquisition, American Dairy Queen Corporation Michelle Antonsen – Talent Acquisition Leader, American Dairy Queen Corporation Join us for our upcoming live events to get your questions answered in real time by compensation experts and earn HRCI and SHRM recertification credits: https://www.payscale.com/events
July 13 · 32 min
You don't have to be on a compensation island all by yourself
Compensation has never been more visible, more complex, or more connected to business outcomes. Yet many HR and compensation teams are expected to manage pay transparency, market movement, budget planning, manager enablement, and executive expectations with limited resources and little specialized support. In this episode, we explore why compensation expertise has become one of the most valuable resources organizations can access and how strategic partnerships can help HR leaders move beyond administration and become more influential business advisors. Guests: • Jenny Walling – Senior Manager, Comp services and benchmarking • Kim O’Grady – Compensation Supervisor at Designer Brands Learn more about Payscale Services: https://www.payscale.com/products/services
July 13 · 57 min
Why your top performers may be a flight risk
Flight risk is rarely loud. Most of the time, it shows up quietly in compensation data long before it shows up in resignation letters. Across organizations, roles, and levels, the same pattern is emerging: the market is moving faster than internal pay structures. New hires are coming in at higher rates than tenured employees in similar roles. Certain jobs are consistently priced higher externally than they are internally. And top performers are paying attention. This creates a different kind of retention challenge. Employees don’t need to be disengaged to start looking elsewhere. They just need to recognize that the market value of their role has already lifted off. Amy Stewart from Payscale and Kelly Voss from Korn Ferry explore what compensation data is revealing about where organizations are most exposed, and how those signals show up before talent leaves. You will learn: Where pay gaps between new hires and tenured employees are creating hidden flight risk Which roles and levels are most exposed to external market pressure How compensation leaders can spot early warning signals in their own structure Check out the full report here: https://www.payscale.com/featured-content/flight-risk-report
June 22 · 46 min
Compensation in the age of AI: Innovation, governance, and trust
Compensation professionals are no longer asking whether AI will change their work—they're asking how, where, and how fast. Teams are experimenting with tools like Claude, Copilot, and ChatGPT to help analyze data, draft communications, support pay decisions, and streamline compensation processes. Vendors are rolling out AI features and workflows in their products. At the same time, leaders are navigating legitimate questions about data privacy, governance, accuracy, and trust. Some see AI as the next major transformation in compensation management. Others worry we're moving faster than our ability to validate the outputs these tools produce. The reality is probably somewhere in between. In this episode of Comp and Coffee, Ruth Thomas is joined by Paul Reiman, Founder and Managing Partner at Novo Insights, and Giac Soliman, Founder of Range and former Head of Compensation, to explore how AI is reshaping compensation—and what leaders should do next. Resources: The comp pro’s definitive guide to AI - https://www.payscale.com/research-and-insights/ai-compensation-management-guide Connect with Giac on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gsman/?skipRedirect=true Connect with Paul on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulreiman/ Connect with Ruth on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruththomas1/ Email: coffee@payscale.com for listener questions and suggestions
June 16 · 39 min
EU pay transparency directive debrief: The deadline has passed. Now what?
For the last three years, organizations across Europe have been preparing for the biggest shift in pay transparency and pay equity regulation in a generation. The EU Pay Transparency Directive promised to reshape how employers think about compensation — from pay structures and job architecture to reporting obligations and how employees access pay information. Now, the transposition deadline has arrived. And the picture is... complicated. Some countries met the deadline. Many didn't. What's emerged is a patchwork of requirements across member states — some with finalized legislation, others still working through it. Employers are left interpreting new guidance, confronting practical challenges around job evaluation, data governance, and pay reporting, and figuring out how to communicate all of this to their workforce. So what should employers actually be doing right now? We've brought together an expert panel today to cut through the noise. In this episode of Comp and Coffee, Ruth Thomas is joined by pay transparency experts Vicky Peakman, Founder of Fair Pay Partners, David Lorimer – Partner, Lewis Silkin, and Tom Heys, Pay Reporting Lead at Lewis Silkin. Resources: Pay transparency tracker: https://www.payscale.com/featured-content/pay-transparency-legislation EU pay transparency directive FAQ's: https://www.payscale.com/compensation-trends/eu-pay-transparency-directive-faqs
May 22 · 1 hr 2 min
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
May 8 · 33 min
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.
April 21 · 19 min
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.
March 25 · 39 min
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 for listener questions and suggestions
March 15 · 32 min
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 Email: coffee@payscale.com for listener questions and suggestions
February 24 · 37 min
When pay research speaks: What HR and compensation leaders need to know now
In this episode of Comp and Coffee, Ruth Thomas sits down with Stacey Harris, Chief Research Officer at Sapient Insights Group, and Amy Stewart, Payscale’s Manager of Content & Research, to unpack how HR and compensation leaders can turn data into strategic, defensible decisions. We explore the latest research on HR systems, compensation trends, and the growing role of AI in pay and talent management. Stacey shares insights from the 28th annual HR Systems Survey, highlighting the tension HR leaders face between driving growth and managing costs, navigating workforce shifts, and understanding mid-market versus enterprise trends. Amy provides a sneak peek at Payscale’s 2026 Compensation Best Practices Report, including pay increase trends, “peanut butter” pay practices, and strategies for retaining top talent while controlling costs. Key takeaways include: Data-driven decision making: Use multiple validated data sources to interpret trends and avoid overreacting to headlines. Strategic compensation: Confidence in pay offers and total rewards is critical, especially in uncertain markets. Technology & AI: AI is transforming compensation strategy, enabling smarter market pricing and strategic insights—but trust and validated data remain essential. HR as a business partner: Compensation isn’t just an HR function; it’s a strategic lever that should inform enterprise-level decisions and connect to business outcomes. Whether you’re evaluating HR tech, managing tight budgets, or planning for AI integration, this episode provides practical guidance for leaders who want to leverage research to make smarter, more strategic decisions in 2026. Episode resources: Sapient Insights Group HR Systems Survey Report: https://bit.ly/4rB1zos Payscale 2026 Salary Increase Preview Report: https://bit.ly/3NWIQ8a Payscale Salary Budget Survey: https://bit.ly/4qYwlaD Payscale Pay Trends and Market Pricing Research: https://bit.ly/4kj5hk4 Email: coffee@payscale.com for listener questions and suggestions
February 24 · 36 min
The business impact of confident pay
Pay decisions do not live in isolation. They shape hiring speed, retention, employee trust, and ultimately business performance. According to Payscale’s 2026 Compensation Best Practices Report, 63% of organizations believe their compensation policies drive positive business outcomes. That confidence shows up in measurable ways, including lower voluntary turnover, faster time to fill, and stronger employee sentiment. In this episode of Comp and Coffee, Ruth Thomas brings together leaders from across Payscale’s people, research, and total rewards teams to unpack what “pay confidence” really means, how organizations are building it in a constrained market, and why compensation is increasingly being treated as core business infrastructure rather than an HR function of last resort. This conversation moves beyond theory to explore how confident pay decisions are made today, how they are being tested by flat increases, AI, and misinformation, and how leaders can connect pay strategy directly to outcomes executives care about. Speakers: Ruth Thomas – Chief Compensation Strategist, Payscale Amy Stewart – Manager, Research and Insights, Payscale Brittni Beers-Branco – VP of People, Payscale Lauren Hein – Head of Total Rewards, Payscale Episode Resources: 2026 Compensation Best Practices Report: https://www.payscale.com/featured-content/cbpr?utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin&utm_campaign=cnt_awr_2026-cbpr-podcast_wv_fls&utm_content=2026-cbpr-podcast_rpt_pst Your insights matter and shape the future of work. Participate in the 2027 Compensation Best Practices Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/cbprsignup Email: coffee@payscale.com for listener questions and suggestions
January 20 · 38 min
What's in and out for HR and compensation in 2026: Predictions, opportunities, and challenges
HR and compensation leaders are facing a new set of challenges and opportunities in 2026. From new pay transparency laws to AI-driven decision-making, the landscape is shifting fast. This episode unpacks what is in and what is out for the year ahead and explores the trends that will define the future of work. Email: coffee@payscale.com for listener questions and suggestions. Payscale End-of-Year report and HR Predictions: https://www.payscale.com/featured-content/end-of-year-top-jobs-report?utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin&utm_campaign=cnt_awr_eoyreport_wv&utm_content=eoyreport_pst Compensation translator: https://www.payscale.com/research-and-insights/your-compensation-translator?utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin&utm_campaign=cnt_awr_comptranslator-asset_wv&utm_content=compensation-translator-asset 2026 Pay increase report – https://www.payscale.com/featured-content/2026-salary-increases-preview?utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin&utm_campaign=cnt_awr_payincreasereport_wv&utm_content=payincreasereport_pst
January 5 · 34 min
Lost in translation: How HR, finance, legal, and leadership can finally speak the same language about pay
Everyone agrees that pay matters. What they do not agree on is what it means. HR talks about fairness and equity. Finance talks about cost and ROI. Legal talks about compliance and defensibility. Leaders talk about performance and business outcomes. These perspectives are all correct, yet they often conflict. When they collide, compensation decisions lose clarity, employees feel confused, and managers deliver mixed messages—leaving HR as the translator. In this episode, Ruth Thomas is joined by Hannah Beaver, Director of Compensation at Trilogy Health Services, and Kim O’Grady, Compensation Supervisor at Designer Brands. Together, they break down how organizations can turn pay into a shared language that builds trust, alignment, and credibility from the C-suite to the front line. Episode resources: Email: coffee@payscale.com for listener questions and suggestions. Compensation translator: https://www.payscale.com/research-and-insights/your-compensation-translator?utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin&utm_campaign=cnt_awr_comptranslator-asset_wv&utm_content=compensation-translator-asset
Nov 13, 2025 · 35 min
Pay transparency again? What you actually need to know for 2026
Another conversation about pay transparency? We know what you are thinking, haven’t we already covered this? But the truth is, 2025 changed everything. From a wave of new state laws in the U.S. to Canada and the EU rewriting the playbook, pay transparency has moved from policy talk to daily reality. With 2026 around the corner, the stakes are only getting higher. In this episode of Comp and Coffee, host Ruth Thomas sits down with Vicky Peakman, Director at Fair Pay Partners, and Lulu Seikaly, Senior Corporate Attorney at Payscale, to unpack the year’s biggest developments and what is coming next. Episode resources: 2025 – 2026 Salary budget survey - https://www.payscale.com/featured-content/salary-budget-survey-sbs?utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin&utm_campaign=cnt_awr_payforperformance-blog_wv&utm_content=payforperformance-blog_sia Your voice deserves to be heard! Participate in this year’s compensation best practices survey - https://www.research.net/r/CBPR26Coffee Email: coffee@payscale.com for listener questions and suggestions.
Nov 7, 2025 · 36 min
AI overload? What HR Tech 2025 got right (and wrong)
At HR Tech 2025, AI stole the spotlight, but not everyone was convinced. Amid the hype and bold claims, HR and compensation professionals were asking tougher questions: What’s actually working? What’s just marketing? And how can AI really make their jobs easier? In this episode of Comp and Coffee, host Ruth Thomas sits down with Peh Keong Teh, Chief Product Officer at Payscale, Olivia Sedler, Product Manager at Payscale, and Mark Feffer, contributing analyst at 3Sixty Insights and editor of WorkforceAI.News and HCM Technology Report. Together, they cut through the noise from HR Tech, unpack what vendors got right and wrong, and discuss where AI can and cannot move the needle for HR and comp leaders today. Episode Resources: Pay trends report - https://www.payscale.com/featured-content/pay-trends-report How AI is reshaping your workforce - https://www.payscale.com/compensation-trends/how-ai-is-reshaping-your-workforce AI 101 - https://www.payscale.com/compensation-trends/ai-101-the-hr-and-compensation-starter-p[…]gn=brd_ai-blog-engagement_wv&utm_content=data_blg_ai-101_pst AI Webinar - https://www.payscale.com/research-and-insights/how-ai-is-reshaping-pay-decisions-on-d[…]ement_wv&utm_content=data_wbn-o_how-ai-is-reshaping-comp_pst Email: coffee@payscale.com for listener questions and suggestions
Nov 3, 2025 · 36 min
The most important pay conversations you're not having
In a year of tight budgets and increasing expectations of pay transparency, pay conversations are more critical than ever. Skipping, delaying, or diluting these conversations can erode trust and leave employees disengaged. In this episode of Comp and Coffee, host Ruth Thomas is joined by Payscale leaders to explore the “compensation telephone game,” share how HR trains managers to deliver clear messages, and discuss strategies for keeping the right talent engaged in a volatile environment. Guests: Lexi Clarke – Chief People Officer, Payscale Lauren Hein – Head of Total Rewards, Payscale Lauren Cole – Senior Director, Services & Customer Education Resources: 2025 – 2026 Salary budget survey - https://www.payscale.com/featured-content/salary-budget-survey-sbs?utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin&utm_campaign=cnt_awr_payforperformance-blog_wv&utm_content=payforperformance-blog_sia Your voice deserves to be heard! Participate in this year’s compensation best practices survey - https://www.research.net/r/CBPR26Coffee Your pay communications playbook - https://www.payscale.com/compensation-trends/your-pay-communications-playbook-building-trust-through-compensation-transparency?utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin&utm_campaign=cnt_awr_payforperformance-blog_wv&utm_content=payforperformance-blog_sia Email: coffee@payscale.com for listener questions and suggestions
Sep 29, 2025 · 29 min
Pay transparency in practice: Making pay a universal language
Pay transparency laws are forcing the conversation—but alignment is what makes it stick. When it comes to pay transparency, HR, Legal, and leadership often speak in different “dialects.” HR frames it around equity and structure, Legal around compliance and risk, and leadership around outcomes and cost. The challenge? These perspectives rarely align into a shared understanding that employees can trust. In this episode of Comp and Coffee, we’re bringing together three leading voices to explore how organizations can move beyond compliance and turn transparency into a universal language of trust and alignment: Ruth Thomas – Chief Compensation Strategist and pay equity thought leader and advisor, helping organizations build consistent, bias-free pay practices. Lulu Seikaly – Corporate attorney guiding employers through the legal realities of pay transparency laws. Elaina Van Kirk, PHR – Principal Consultant at Exude Human Capital, advising organizations on compensation, performance, and inclusive culture strategies. Together, they’ll uncover how HR, Finance, and Legal can stop speaking past each other—and start building a pay narrative that employees not only understand but believe.

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