How to structure a compensation and benefits policy for a 50-person company

At 50 people, ad hoc salary decisions start to create serious problems — people find out each other's salaries, resentment builds, your best performers feel undervalued, and your weakest performers feel overpaid. You need a comp policy before you hit 50, not after.

Step 1: Define salary bands per role level. You don't need a Big 4 compensation study. Look at comparable companies on Naukri, LinkedIn, and AmbitionBox. Build 3–4 bands per function (junior, mid, senior, lead) with a 20–30% spread within each band.

Step 2: Decide your positioning. Are you paying at the 50th percentile (market rate), 60th (slightly above), or 75th (talent magnet)? This is a strategic choice tied to your margins. Be deliberate about it.

Step 3: Structure your CTC. For most Indian companies at this stage: fixed base (60–70%), variable pay (10–20%), and benefits (PF, gratuity, health insurance, leave encashment). Keep it clean. Complex CTC structures confuse employees and create compliance issues.

Step 4: Build an annual review cycle. Define when reviews happen (most companies do April, post-financial year), what the criteria are (performance rating, time in band, market movement), and who approves what. Document it.

Step 5: Add a basic benefits stack. Minimum: group health insurance (₹3–5L cover), PF, gratuity, and 18–21 days of annual leave. Above this: meal allowance, learning budget, and flexible work are cheap but high-value retention tools.

TBC designs comp and benefits policies for growing Indian companies — including salary band structures, CTC templates, and appraisal frameworks. If your current comp structure is causing team friction, let's fix it.

For further reading on this topic, check out our guide on How to set up a new office space that your team will actually want to work in.