Assess the Situation

Have you had people who have been doing the same job for a long time? Have you likewise hired people to do a similar job within the last year? If so, you may want to make sure that both of those compensations are similar. If they are not and your older employees are paid less, bring them up to par. If they are not performing up to the level that your new employee is, then you have another issue to address.

I recommend: Don't Run From Career Conversations

Change the Compensation or Change the Employee

What you are willing to pay someone is a clear indicator of how much you value him. Like I said, when you do this type of assessment of bringing all compensations in line, you will either be happy about increasing the salary of a long-time employee, or you will feel they are not worth it. This should be a clear indicator of whether you should keep them on your team or not.

I recommend: Salary.com

Remember, People Talk

Years ago I sold for a start-up company. There were four salespeople and every Thursday night we went to the local pub before heading home. We soon discovered that we were all on a different compensation plan. And, none of us felt too good about it. Within a year, two of us were gone.

Here's what I think you should do to prevent this type of situation. If you have a sales force that is all doing the same job (similar territories, same type prospects, same quota, etc.) they should all have the same compensation.

If, however, you have some extenuating circumstances where there may be a difference in quota or territory or product set that may require more experience, then you should have levels that have ranges in your compensation plan. For example, on a junior inside salesperson, your base range might be $35,000 to $45,000 based on experience. On an enterprise application software sales position, your base range may be $80,000 to $100,000.

I recommend: Creating Sales Incentive Programs That Work

Use Your Resources

If you're big enough or lucky enough to have an HR professional on staff, use them to bring these compensations into alignment. If not, here are a few suggestions:

Salary.com is a great source of information - it even takes into account geography.

Your industry association should be able to provide you with compensation information.

Your recruiter spends her life talking to candidates so she should have up-to-date figures. If you have a good relationship with her, I'm sure she won't mind your picking her brain a bit!

I believe people are loyal to a company when they believe that the company is looking out for their best interests. And bringing pay scales in line demonstrates that immensely.

I recommend: USDOL, Bureau of Labor Statistics