With some rare exceptions, most startups operate with limited resources. If this sounds like a familiar theme at your own startup, then you’ll understand how difficult it can be to attract good talent when your budget puts a hard cap on what you can offer. You can’t always match the raw compensation offered by large, established companies, and you can’t rely on name recall to do the heavy lifting.
Even so, salary and prestige rarely tell the whole story. These days, more job seekers and employees evaluate jobs based on things outside of image or take-home pay. As you build your startup’s first team, you’ll want to approach compensation more holistically than you might have done a few years ago. Though competitive pay and reputation still matter, these are not the only paths to stronger trust and retention.
As far as these non-financial matters go, work conditions and organizational culture are clearly the biggest factors. However, non-cash components of your compensation package can also matter more than you think. Weigh these ideas carefully when you’re building a compensation package for your startup’s first team.
1. Simple, Digital-First Administration of Compensation
Startups must earn their credibility through consistency. This is why any compensation strategy should involve linking your payroll to a dependable digital business banking setup that minimizes the need for manual processes. Once set up, employees can receive consistent, always-on-time payouts without delays or errors. Over time, your emerging startup will earn the trust it needs to get the best from its team.
Maya Business Deposit builds this vital trust with a fully digital online business banking account that includes tools for smoothly disbursing salaries and benefits. Maya Business merchants can easily disburse employees’ salaries and benefits directly to their designated bank accounts. Because the platform provides free digital transfer capabilities through InstaPay and PESONet, you avoid administrative costs that sometimes bog down new startups. You also gain access to transaction histories that help maintain accurate records for reconciliation and compliance, and also use the scheduled transfers tool to maximize and save time in employee payouts.
Perhaps, best of all, your Maya Business Deposit account earns 2.5% p.a. interest, which is 20 to 25 times higher interest than what the average commercial bank offers. For startups with limited reserves, making the switch is easy.
2. Transparent and Competitive Base Salary Structures
These days, more and more candidates want to understand how you determine base pay. More specifically, they will want to know whether it’s benchmarked against industry averages, skill demand, role seniority, or a mix of all these factors. Clarifying these matters early helps prevent ad-hoc decisions that later create inequity or even resentment within your team. In any case, being transparent about these issues will earn you much more respect, as it reassures applicants that compensation decisions are grounded in logic rather than the founder’s feelings.
3. Performance-Linked Increases and Clear Evaluation Criteria
Once candidates understand how base pay is determined, the next question naturally becomes how and when those figures may change over time. Most startups benefit from performance-linked salary increases and bonuses rather than relying on fixed annual increases, especially if long-term revenue prospects are still up in the air. Tying salary increases and bonuses directly to key performance indicators (KPIs) builds accountability and encourages teams to keep moving towards the startup’s key mission and values.
The major benefit of this approach is that the startup can eke out great performance without promising something for nothing. However, you need to make sure that evaluations are fair and transparent, as perceptions of unfairness can do serious damage to your brand.
4. Lifestyle Benefits That Directly Support Employee Well-Being
Large companies can offer extensive benefit packages and even less practical perks like foosball tables, helping them draw the lion’s share of applicant interest. Fortunately, startups can still compete by focusing on perks that employees genuinely use and value.
Many early team members, particularly those who have worked in corporate environments, tend to prioritize health coverage, skills development, flexible work arrangements, and support for mental well-being. Even partial HMO coverage or wellness stipends can meaningfully reduce financial friction for employees and signal your startup’s commitment to looking after its people.
5. Equity or Profit-Sharing Options
Equity compensation is one of the areas where startups can outperform traditional employers. Stock options or profit-sharing packages appeal to early candidates who are willing to share the startup’s risks and are motivated by the concept of ownership and long-term growth.
However, as good as that sounds, clarity is crucial. You will need to offer a clear explanation of vesting schedules, liquidity expectations, and potential risks. Most importantly, equity should be positioned as a meaningful part of the compensation package, not a vague promise. When executed correctly, ownership-based incentives help you attract singular talents who are seeking more than just a typical monthly income.
Create Compensation Packages That Will Help Retain The Best Talent for Your Startup
Serious startups deserve banking solutions that can keep up with their staffing and operational needs. Sign up for Maya Business today to experience business banking designed for your startup’s challenges.
Signing up for a Maya Business account entitles you to a high-performance Maya Business Deposit account for your disbursements and business banking online. Enjoy an industry-leading 2.5% per annum interest rate on your account and earn PHP 25,000 in interest per year on each PHP 1 million deposit. Your Maya Business Deposit account can also transfer funds to investors, partners, and suppliers for free via InstaPay and PESONet, helping your startup save on transaction fees.
Once you’re signed up, you’re also eligible to receive a Maya Flexi Loan offer of up to PHP 2 million within just 3 months. Use your Maya Flexi Loan to further develop your compensation package or meet emerging payroll challenges. Use Maya as your primary processor for all wallet and card payments to receive better loan offers in the future.
Sign up for Maya Business today to enjoy Maya Business Deposit’s cash disbursement features as well as Maya’s other industry-defining payment solutions.
