In today’s shifting economy and talent market it’s especially hard for companies to align what they spend on their people with their strategic business goals. The reason is that alignment actually requires a holistic approach to total people investment, or TPI. Because of the tremendous impact TPI has on business outcomes, Sequoia, Carta, and Rippling have partnered to deliver a first-of-its-kind “Guide to Navigating Total People Investment.”
The guide combines expert knowledge and best-in-class data insights from our three companies with the purpose of helping you and your leadership team tie your company’s largest area of spend to the people-related outcomes that matter most.
Reframe How You Think About Your Investment in People
So how can companies get better at investing in people in 2025? The 2025 TPI report first sets a foundation for what TPI is and why it matters. At its core, TPI is a holistic approach to measuring and managing your people spend to drive key business outcomes. It centers around smartly using your comp, equity, and benefits strategies to optimize the financial impact of how you compensate and care for your people.
Focus on Comp Practices that Lead to Better People Outcomes
How your company approaches compensation — salaries, merit increases, bonuses, and other incentives — is one of the most impactful influences on TPI and your company’s ability to meet its objectives. As your company’s single largest expense, it’s also your most important lever in attracting and retaining talent.
Combining a sustainable salary structure that provides ample opportunity for career growth, as well as a data-driven approach to bonuses and other short-term incentives, will help you balance market competitiveness with internal equity and cost constraints. Be sure to check out the 2025 TPI report for more data and insights about how a thoughtful comp strategy drives better people-related outcomes.
TPI INSIGHT
“The more data you have at your fingertips to support the budget planning process — from industry benchmarking to a well-defined job architecture — the easier it is for your leadership team to make decisions that reward your people and support your business goals.”Kyle Holm
VP Compensation Advisory, Sequoia
Use a Balanced Approach to Equity to Gain a People Advantage
Equity plays an extremely important part in the TPI equation for companies feeling the pressure to balance shareholder value with workforce incentivization. However, market trends are in your favor if your company is looking to limit equity burn because, according to Carta’s data, the size of new-hire grants continues to shrink year over year for all roles other than executives.
While attracting talent with equity may not be as critical as it once was for most job levels, retention is still a driving force for equity refreshes. Depending on your company’s growth stage and goals, it’s important to consider how you balance equity grants for new hires and performance-based refresh grants designed to improve ownership opportunities for top performers. In the 2025 TPI report you’ll find additional data and insights around new hire equity grants, equity refresh strategies, and more.
TPI INSIGHT
“While limiting equity burn makes for happy investors, it also puts more pressure on companies to get their pay right and to explore other equity vehicles to attract and incentivize talent of all seniority levels.”Peter Walker
Head of Insights, Carta
Don’t Overlook the Impact of Benefits on Attracting and Retaining Talent
Even though employee benefits represent a smaller portion of your TPI than cash compensation, they are still a critical component in your company’s ability to maximize its return on people. A diverse benefits package can help create a more loyal, productive, and healthy workforce – all factors that translate to your company’s bottom line.
TPI INSIGHT
“When you can see your benefits investment in the context of the bigger picture, you can take a more balanced approach to weighing what’s good for your people and your business.”
Lesley Grady
VP Enterprise Practice, Sequoia
According to Sequoia’s data, the continuous rise in healthcare costs has led to it comprising nearly 80% of most company’s benefits spend. As you look to implement your own containment strategies in response to rising costs, be mindful of how your approach to healthcare coverage factors into your company’s overall priorities and goals with regard to talent. For more specific ideas around getting the most out of your benefits spend, the 2025 TPI report is a great starting point.
Get the Report Today
To make sure your company is on the right path with its approach to TPI, you can download the Guide to Navigating Total People Investment starting today. If the data and insights shared in the report have you ready to take your people strategy further, connect with an expert TPI advisor.
