Here's a scenario I've seen play out in more organizations than I can count. A company hires a new VP of Operations. Six months later, someone notices the Director of Finance — who has been there for eight years — is earning less than a Senior Manager hired last quarter. HR scrambles to explain it. They can't. So they do a series of quiet salary adjustments, apologize to three people in confidence, and promise it won't happen again. Two years later, it happens again. This is