Helping mission-driven organizations build compensation programs that are competitive, compelling, and consistent.

Ben Crosby Thruline

Hi, I’m Ben. I work side-by-side with leaders across the country to build compensation programs they are proud to share with their teams.

I believe social justice is firmly rooted in economic justice for all people, especially those doing mission-driven work.

expertise & services

Market Benchmarking

Getting reliable market data is an important step in the process, but even more important is how you think about and act on your data. I do the legwork of developing market benchmarks, then help you be a critical benchmark consumer and make strategic decisions on behalf of your team.

    • Job function analysis and leveling

    • Market research and benchmark creation (industry surveys, 990, and internal sources)

    • Market competitiveness report

Pay Gap & Pay Equity Analysis

I am passionate about pay equity and committed to helping you do right by your community. Using a mix of statistical and observational techniques, I help organizations of all sizes identify potential wage gaps and design solutions to make sure they don’t come back. In addition to gaps by race and gender identity, I’m interested in more inclusive approaches that make room for LGBTQIA+ and immigrant identities, living wage, and other design principles that go beyond federal and state pay equity definitions.

    • Statistical (pay equity) and observational (pay gap) analysis

    • Summary of findings in formal pay equity report

    • Recommendations for remediation and/or staff communication materials (if appropriate)

Compensation Philosophy Design & Staff Engagement

The best compensation structures are grounded in the shared values of your organization. To define these values, you usually need to engage with your team. This work takes many forms but often includes some combination of surveys, focus groups, or staff steering committees. I have a tried and true set of survey + focus group questions (refined over many iterations) that help teams clarify their thinking.

    • Compensation Perspectives survey

    • Stakeholder focus groups and/or steering committees

    • Staff communication strategy

    • Compensation Philosophy design

Structure Design & Change Management

I work with leadership teams to design (or redesign) their compensation programs from the ground up. We make decisions about the shape of your structure, how to group roles and job levels, and where you want to sit relative to market. I build robust budget models that help you make decisions quickly and facilitate conversations that drive towards consensus. When ready, we’ll work side-by-side to train managers and communicate your new structure to staff through a values-based approach.

    • Structure prototypes

    • Policy design

    • Leadership team facilitation & decision-making

    • Budget modeling

    • Staff training, sample communications, and leadership team coaching

Executive Compensation Design & Board Facilitation

I partner with boards and leadership teams to design executive compensation packages that are fair, compelling, and tailored to your specific talent goals. Our design work includes base salary, incentive or variable pay, benefits, and other perks or elements of total compensation unique to executives. I also sometimes work with candidates for executive positions to evaluate the strength of a given offer in comparison to market.

    • Executive compensation benchmarking and range recommendations

    • Design of total compensation packages (salary, variable pay, benefits, etc)

    • Facilitation of Board meetings or committees

    • Final report summarizing research and recommendations