When Global Pay Meets Local Reality

We were working with a multinational client rolling out new pay structures across four regions: India, the Middle East, the UK, and Hong Kong. Each market had different expectations on base pay, benefits, and variable pay. But the bigger challenge wasn't market data — it was the perspective gap between the global HQ and the regional teams. The global team wanted a unified framework — simple bands, one pay mix per level, equity-driven design. But in India, base pay expectations were rising faster than incentive appetite. In the Middle East, the tax-free nature of compensation altered take-home perceptions. In Hong Kong, high fixed pay norms clashed with HQ's incentive-focused design. And in the UK, benefits mattered more than variable pay for mid-level roles. What looked like resistance was actually reasonable concern — rooted in local competitiveness, cultural norms, and talent market shifts. Trying to force-fit one design would have cost them credibility and created hidden inequities. Our advice was clear: global frameworks don't mean global uniformity. Instead, we helped them articulate a set of Global Pay Principles — a few non-negotiables around pay philosophy, fairness, and performance alignment — that gave regions enough flexibility to apply local structure without violating internal logic. Once the principles were agreed upon, the conversations shifted. Local leaders stopped pushing back and started building within the guardrails. And that's when the real design work began. Next up: how we preserved internal relativity across geographies while giving local teams the autonomy to make it work. Moxo helps organisations develop global compensation strategies that honour local complexity. Contact us if you're designing across borders — or follow us for part two of this series.