Q&A with Jon Shriner, Senior Compensation Manager

Q. Can you describe what your role entails?

A. My role is to ensure our compensation programs align with our culture and strategic direction. More specifically, I help in the development of our compensation philosophy, develop, and administer our job framework, ensure employees are accurately mapped to the job framework, and educate management and employees—it’s always a work in progress. Additionally, I obtain reliable compensation benchmarking data from third party sources, which enables me to conduct a quarterly benchmarking analysis. As we continue to grow as a company, I’ll administer other compensation programs. I regularly work with our talent acquisition team and leaders in each department on compensation programs and help answer questions and address any concerns.

Q. Prior to joining Aviatrix in November 2021, you worked in several senior compensation management roles across various industries—financial services, automotive, utilities, and higher education. What are the similarities and differences between some of the industries that you’ve worked in?

A. The goal of a compensation program is simple. It needs to attract, retain, and motivate employees while aligning with the company’s culture and strategic direction so it’s the same regardless of the company/industry. That said, what varied considerably was how the actual compensation programs were designed, targeted, and administered. For example, the diverse companies I’ve worked at used very broad pay bands, career level specific pay bands, more traditional market-based pay grades, and pure market data. Targeting pay below market, at market, or above market has varied. The types of compensation programs offered were different as well, ranging from performance-based bonuses, discretionary bonuses, no bonuses, and companies with equity programs and some without. They have all been different, but the two high-tech companies I’ve worked at have the most similarities.

Besides high-tech organizations, the utilities vertical has been the most rewarding. The importance of providing reliable electrical service to so many people really hit home when we had a huge ice storm that took down a lot of transmission and distribution lines and left thousands of people without electricity for days. Some for well over a week. People just flip a switch and expect power, but a lot goes into making that happen reliably.

Q. Working in the high-tech industry for a few years now, what top observations can you share?

A. High-tech has been my favorite industry to work in. I think this industry is more employee friendly and more resourceful as they understand and implement a wide variety of technologies for efficiency. From my experience, high-tech is highly competitive, and people tend to move around more. Creating a work environment that fosters growth opportunities and a positive culture is important as employees tend to stay in a company where they feel valued and compensated well for their contributions.

Q You have an impressive three-decade career spanning numerous compensation leadership roles. With a Bachelor of Science in Business Management, why did choose this niche? What adjectives would your colleagues most likely use to describe you?

A. I didn’t choose compensation work, it chose me. Early in my career, I was fortunate to have leaders who recognized my skill set and one offered me a position in compensation. At that time, I had no idea what the role involved. The rest is history as they say. Here I am, three decades later. I can honestly say that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working in the field. I would like to think that my colleagues, past and present, would use the following words to describe me: collaborative, trustworthy, reliable, and pragmatic.

Q. What is your favorite part about working at Aviatrix?

A. Throughout my career, I’ve worked at numerous companies that were all at different stages. What excited me about Aviatrix was being part of a start-up. Being able to develop compensation programs from the ground up and work with others to build what we hope becomes a great, iconic company was very enticing at this time in my career.

Q. For those who may not have had an opportunity to cross paths with you, what can you share about yourself?

A. I was born and raised in Fort Wayne, Indiana. My wife, of more than three decades, and I have lived in the Indianapolis metro area where we raised our two children. I love Indianapolis because it’s large enough to have professional sports teams (Colts and Pacers) and host large sporting events (Indy 500, Super Bowl, NCAA Final Four, etc.) but small enough to avoid many of the hassles of a big city like heavy traffic and the high cost of living. The one thing we don’t love about Indiana is the cold and dreary winters that tend to stick around far too long. When we became empty nesters, we sold our home and downsized to a smaller home one mile from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. We also bought a condo in Sarasota, Florida. We spend about 75-80% of our time in Indiana and 20-25% of our time in Florida.

Q. What is your favorite motto?

A. I have a favorite saying that I regularly shared with my children when they were growing up, and it still resonates with me today— “Be a part of the solution and not the problem.” I want to live a no regrets life and have always been inspired by people who are authentic, resilient, and/or have found or searching for their passion or calling in life.

Prior to joining Aviatrix, Jon spent more than three decades in senior compensation leadership roles spanning various industries—from higher education, financial services, automotive, and utilities. Connect with Jon on LinkedIn. View the Careers page for the latest Aviatrix job openings.