Compa-Ratio & Range Penetration

Where pay sits against the range, per worker and rolled up. The formulas are one line each; the value is in the basis rules and in one signal most dashboards miss, pay compression.

RuleCompute per worker against their profile's range, as of the date, then aggregate. Show counts beside every average.Neveraverage ratios computed on mixed bases. One currency rule, one frequency rule, one FTE rule, stated on the report.

◆ The two metrics— against the midpoint, and against the spread. They answer different questions.

Metric	Definition	What it answers
Compa-ratio	Pay divided by the range midpoint. 1.00 is at market anchor; 0.80 to 1.20 is the common guideline band.	How pay compares to the market-set anchor. The merit-planning number.
Range penetration	Pay minus range minimum, over maximum minus minimum. 0% at the bottom, 100% at the top.	How far through the band a worker has progressed. The headroom number.
Quartile	Which of the four range segments pay falls in.	Placement reporting for managers.
The basis rules	Pay in the range's currency and frequency, and one FTE choice. All three from Compensation Grade & Range.	Because midpoints are market-set rather than centered, the two metrics can rank the same workers differently. Report both.

◆ Reading the numbers— the distribution, the compression signal, and what a range refresh does to a trend.

Signal	What it means
The distribution	An average compa-ratio of 0.98 can hide a quarter of the team below 0.85. Report the buckets and the below-guideline count next to every average.
Pay compression	Cut compa-ratio by tenure band. When recent hires sit at or above long-tenured workers in the same grade, the market moved faster than merit budgets. This is the signal that predicts regretted exits, and it is invisible in any single-number view.
Range refresh drops	A refresh raises the midpoint, so every ratio falls overnight with no pay change. Annotate refreshes on trends, and expect a below-minimum cluster right after one; that cluster is the merit-budget case, quantified.
Grade mix shifts	An org's average ratio moves when its grade mix moves, not only when pay does. Compare within grade, or hold the mix constant, before reading a trend as generosity or drift.

◆ The owned model, and the SQL— per-worker ratios from the snapshot and the grade dimension, then the rollup, one query.

The report reads fct_worker_snapshot, which carries annualized full-time-equivalent base pay in the range's currency after the landing conversions, joined as-of to dim_comp_grade:

-- per-worker ratios, then the org rollup with the guideline counts
WITH ratios AS (
  SELECT d.month_end_date,
         o.level_2 AS organization,
         f.annualized_fte_base / g.range_mid AS compa_ratio,
         (f.annualized_fte_base - g.range_min)
           / NULLIF(g.range_max - g.range_min, 0) AS range_penetration
  FROM fct_worker_snapshot f
  JOIN dim_date d ON f.date_key = d.date_key AND d.is_month_end
  JOIN dim_org  o ON f.org_key  = o.org_key
  JOIN dim_comp_grade g
    ON  f.comp_range_key = g.range_key
    AND d.month_end_date BETWEEN g.valid_from AND g.valid_to
  WHERE f.worker_type = 'Employee' AND f.is_primary
)
SELECT month_end_date, organization,
       COUNT(*)                                       AS workers,
       ROUND(AVG(compa_ratio), 2)                     AS avg_compa,
       SUM(CASE WHEN compa_ratio < 0.80 THEN 1 ELSE 0 END) AS below_guideline,
       ROUND(AVG(range_penetration) * 100, 0)         AS avg_penetration_pct
FROM ratios
GROUP BY 1, 2
ORDER BY 1, 2

Sample output, same population as the Core HR reports, 145 workers at April-end, 147 at May-end. The March range refresh from the grade page sample is why April's average sits lower with more workers below guideline, and the May merit cycle recovers part of it:

month_end_date	organization	workers	avg_compa	below_guideline	avg_penetration_pct
2026-04-30	Revenue Org	145	0.96	9	46
2026-05-31	Revenue Org	147	0.98	6	49

Swap dim_org for dim_job and the same query is ratio by level; group the CTE by tenure band and it is the compression report. For how base relates to the rest of the package, see Pay Mix & Total Compensation. Sample values are illustrative, never client data.

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Terms on this page

compa-ratio: Pay over the range midpoint. 1.00 is at the market anchor.
range penetration: Pay minus min, over max minus min. Progress through the band.
guideline band: The accepted ratio window, commonly 0.80 to 1.20. A convention, not a law.
pay compression: New hires at or above long-tenured peers in the same grade. Found by cutting ratios by tenure.
tenure band: Workers grouped by time since the chosen hire date.
range refresh: A new range version. Ratios drop overnight with no pay change; annotate it.
grade mix: The share of workers per grade in a group. Moves averages without pay moving.
basis rules: The currency, frequency, and FTE choices behind every ratio. Stated once, on the report.