Case Study: Manufacturing Firm

This project involved the creation of a Wage & Salary Program.

The company had over 25 different positions without any salary structure or career ladder for the employees.

Our first task was to identify the Anchor Jobs of the business, which were the positions that best represented the core competencies of the organization.

We then bench-marked these positions using regional data, and in a few cases national data, and ranked the salaries of the employees in the Anchor Jobs to this data.

Using an objective point system that we created, we had the managers assign points using 9 compensable factors for the Anchor Jobs and then all company positions.

Next, we tallied the points for each position and assigned jobs to specific pay grades.

Finally, we met with senior management to:

1. Identify the company’s compensation philosophy moving forward,
2. Develop a Wage & Salary Manual to train managers in the new system,
3. Create a methodology for adjusting salaries in the future as determined by the market conditions that affect the Anchor Jobs,
4. Implement a point system for objectively assessing whether additional or changed responsibilities of a position would be eligible for an increase in salary,
5. Confirm our assignment of positions to the pay grades, and
6. Determine how to handle Green Circle Salaries that were below the minimum of a pay grade and Red Circle Salaries that were above the maximum of a pay grade.