Round and round it goes, where it stops, everyone knows. Lately, I have been wondering what it will really take to change things in the world of compensation. It would seem that we have more than enough motivation to result in real changes to compensation practices that have been ineffective, or worse, seemingly forever. There seem to be enough incentives to create more successful companies and pay people in a way that allows them to have better lives. A large number of Human Resources and Compensation professionals seem engaged enough to give them the push to make materials improvements. But the hamster wheel keeps squeaking.

Good ‘ole Talent Acquisition. Two words that most hiring managers hate to hear, because most of the time, it means one of their best has just left for a “better opportunity”. Why does it always seem that the grass is greener; and why does it seem that other companies, dare I say your competitors, are always attracting the best candidates?

Equity is a term that has become a keystone in the world of compensation. We use it in a wide-ranging list of topics including stock-based compensation, pay transparency, gender, and race. I recently did a presentation about the topic titled “Three Buzzwords and One Truth. The buzzwords being fairness, transparency, and internal equity, the truth is the continued growth in variable (differentiated) pay.

As an American, I am incredibly proud that our Women’s National Team has, once again, won the World Cup. As a compensation professional, I have had enough. When our country’s (and the world’s) best team in one of the truly international sports cannot be remunerated at least equal to a less-accomplished men’s team, we have the foundation of a problem that seemingly only compensation pros can fix. This article is not about facts and figures (there are links to those at the end). This is about what it takes to accomplish gender equity (and what that actually means) even after you have the facts.

If we cannot expect this team to be paid for their performance, how convincing can we possibly be when we claim that ANYONE is being paid for their performance? (I know, I know, some of you work at companies that have fixed this problem, but you are still the minority.) More importantly, if this is such a difficult thing to fix for a group of fewer than 30 women, how can most companies expect to fix pay issues for much, much larger groups?