Edit Grade Bands & Assign Jobs to Grades
In a grades-based band set, you manage compensation at the grade level and assign jobs to inherit those bands. This guide covers editing grade bands and assigning jobs to grades.
Overview
Grades-based approach:
- Define compensation ranges for grades (e.g., Engineering 2, G&A 3)
- Assign jobs to grades
- All jobs in a grade share the same compensation bands
Editing Grade Bands
Grade band editing works the same as jobs-based band editing, but at the grade level.
Access Grade Band Editing
- Navigate to Market Pricing
- Open your grades-based band set
- Click the Bands tab
- Toggle View by: Grades
- Select the grades you want to edit (checkboxes)
Edit Operations
Grade bands use the same edit operations as jobs-based bands:
1. Align to market data - Snap bands to benchmark percentiles
2. Apply midpoint progression - Create consistent pay progressions across ranks
3. Adjust band width - Set min/max spreads around midpoints
4. Apply pay zone differential - Adjust bands across locations
5. Adjust bands - Increase/decrease by percentage
6. Round bands - Clean up values to standard increments
See Edit Bands (Jobs-Based) article for detailed workflows and modal screenshots.
Grade View Features
The Bands tab shows grade rows (e.g., BUS1, BUS2, BUS3, BUS4):
- Grade name - e.g., "BUS1"
- → icon - Expand to see jobs assigned to this grade
- # bands - Number of pay zone × grade combinations (e.g., "5" for Brazil zone)
- Pay zone - Geographic zone (e.g., Brazil)
- Range - Visual bar showing min to max
- Min, Mid, Max - Compensation values
- Benchmark - Market data comparison
- Delta to Benchmark - Percentage difference
Assigning Jobs to Grades
The key operation in grades-based band sets: moving jobs to grades so they inherit grade compensation bands.
Assign to Grade
Access:
- Go to Bands tab
- Select one or more jobs (checkboxes)
- Click Assign to grade button in toolbar
Assign to grade modal:
Fields:
Grade dropdown
- Shows existing grades (e.g., "CX8", "BUS1")
- Type to search
- + Add "[grade name]" option appears at bottom
- Example: Type "CX8" → "+ Add 'CX8'" option appears
- Click to create new grade on the fly
Group dropdown (optional)
- Select or create grade group
- Example: "CX"
- Organizes grades into groups
Rank field
- Numeric rank for grade ordering
- Example: 8
- Determines progression order
Impact of changes section (expands when grade selected):
Shows impact for each pay type (e.g., Base pay):
Dropdown: Base pay ▼
- Shows impact metrics for selected pay type
Employees affected
- Count: e.g., "3"
- Number of employees impacted by this assignment
Cost to bring employees to min
- Dollar amount: e.g., "$0"
- Cost to adjust employees below new minimum to the minimum
Cost to maintain employees' C/R
- Dollar amount: e.g., "$0"
- Cost to maintain employees' current compa-ratio in the new band
Buttons:
- Cancel - Close without assigning
- Assign (blue button) - Confirm assignment
How Assignment Works
Important: When you assign a job to a grade, the assignment happens per pay zone.
Example:
Job: Associate Account Manager
Current state: In pay zone "Brazil"
Action: Assign to grade "BUS1"
Result:
- Associate Account Manager in Brazil → BUS1 grade in Brazil pay zone
- The job inherits BUS1's Brazil pay zone bands
- If the job exists in other pay zones, those assignments are separate
Key point: You're assigning the job within a specific pay zone to the grade within that same pay zone. The grade + pay zone combination determines the actual compensation band.
Creating New Grades During Assignment
You can create new grades without leaving the assign modal:
- Select job(s)
- Click Assign to grade
- In the grade dropdown, type a new grade name (e.g., "CX8")
- Click + Add "CX8" option
- Fill in Group and Rank
- Review impact
- Click Assign
The new grade is created and the job is assigned in one step.
Impact Modal Details
The Impact of changes section helps you understand the consequences before assigning:
What it shows:
- Which pay type is being analyzed (toggle dropdown to see different pay types)
- How many employees will be affected
- Financial impact of bringing anyone below minimum up to minimum
- Financial impact of maintaining employees' current compa-ratio
Use this to:
- Verify the assignment makes sense financially
- Identify if you need to budget for adjustments
- Check if employees will fall outside the new bands
- Decide whether to proceed with the assignment
Example scenario:
Assigning "Senior Engineer" jobs to IC3 grade:
Base pay impact:
- Employees affected: 25
- Cost to bring to min: $45,000
- Cost to maintain C/R: $0
This tells you:
- 25 employees will move to IC3 bands
- Some are currently below IC3 minimum
- Would cost $45K to bring them to minimum
- Everyone else already at or above minimum
Related Articles
- Edit Bands (Jobs-Based): Detailed edit operation workflows
- Manage & Edit Grade Structure: Creating and managing grades
- Manage & Edit Jobs: Creating jobs to assign to grades
- Add Bands: Adding initial grade bands
- Reviewing Benchmarks: Benchmarking grades against market
