Back in reward after six years away and trying to work out what changed

I returned after four years out in 2022. The first two months I felt slow and told myself so every day. By month four I realised the fundamentals had not moved: jobs, markets, ranges, judgement. The vocabulary had. Give yourself a term.

On skills-based pay, do not let the phrase intimidate you. In most organisations I have seen it means a premium for a short list of scarce skills, reviewed annually, sitting on top of an ordinary grade structure. Ask your colleagues which version they mean. They may not agree with each other.

Fellow university reward person, in Scotland. Higher education has its own additions: pay for casual and sessional staff has had a lot of scrutiny in the last few years, and I believe particularly so in Australia. Worth asking early who in your team owns that.

Thank you, all of you. I asked the skills question in our team meeting and got three different answers, which made me feel considerably better. Sessional pay turns out to sit with a colleague two desks away.