What does the ideal salary distribution curve look like, anyway? Should it be a bell curve? A long-tail distribution? Should it have distinct peaks, i.e. everyone with the same YOE is paid exactly the same?
Should the salary distribution mirror the talent distribution, or no?
Good questions. I think that compensation should mirror the value an employee provides to the company. However, in many cases, that is very hard or even impossible to measure.
In large companies with many career levels, the role level indicates the perceived value for the company. Then, the distribution within the level doesn't matter that much, as long as the difference between minimum and maximum pay is relatively small, and there is not much overlap to the neighborhood levels.
Of course, there is no objective criterion what "relatively small" means in this context.
And, as the article already points out, this only covers fairness within the same level. Maybe even more important is if everybody is evaluated in the same way when it comes to career progress.
Should the salary distribution mirror the talent distribution, or no?