I'm not worried about the situation where Bob the slacker is getting top dollar. I agree that market can and should solve that (if it doesn't already).
My cynicism is other way around:
What happens when Bob the slacker, and also all the people along all parts of bell curve, demands to get same as Fatima the rock star? Or worse, make aspersion and assumptions that she is in fact Bob the slacker?
In other words, my cynicism is specifically focused on my perception of our general societal lack of, and interest in, self-awareness :-/
Fatima likely gets promoted, and you get transparency into paths to become someone like Fatima. In the case of Emily who toils away tirelessly holding up the backbone of the company, but isn't as visible as Fatima, now Emily has a clear path to advocate for higher compensation and if the company decides she isn't worth it, she can leave and that company will immediately feel the pain.
I don't really follow the logic that this pushes salaries to the bottom of the bands. Companies want to push them to the bottom, employees want to be at the top, if in a single instance a company and employee can't agree there's a more transparent market for the employee to explore. If they apply for jobs in a certain band and have zero success, they will need to adjust their expectations to find a job at all and should search out lower-bands or improve as an asset or be out of the job entirely.
Bob the slacker can demand it. But unless Bob is unable to find another job that pays him what he demands, he has no leverage over his current employer.
My cynicism is other way around:
What happens when Bob the slacker, and also all the people along all parts of bell curve, demands to get same as Fatima the rock star? Or worse, make aspersion and assumptions that she is in fact Bob the slacker?
In other words, my cynicism is specifically focused on my perception of our general societal lack of, and interest in, self-awareness :-/