Section Fourhierarchies, employee empowerment efforts, and cross-
functional initiatives. Although a very different compensation
approach than skill-based pay, it also encourages skill
acquisition and development. With broadbanding, an employee
who is paid the market value for a job, such as $56,000 for the
professional band, can earn more by acquiring more skills. A
second-generation version of broadbanding abandons most of
the traditional compensation system components, such as job
evaluation, and shifts to an individual focus rather than a job
focus. For example, the second-generation approach would
develop a market value for an individual based on his or her
individual skills.^29
In moving toward a broadbanding approach, some of the
same advice applies as with conventional compensation
systems. There must be sufficient employee understanding of
the salary determination process, trust, a culture that
emphasizes performance, and sufficient communication.
Employees also must be aware of the skills that must be
mastered for increased compensation as well as the means for
their acquisition.^30