A valuable client of ours, who we had previously supported to review their pay and benefits and job evaluation process, had asked for our assistance to investigate, and identify options for implementing a new pay structure, pay progression process and review their current appraisal system to ensure that their employees could be fairly and consistently rewarded and that pay progression was both easily understood and transparent.
The Client’s Needs
Based on the results of the client’s recent employee engagement survey, they identified that there was a requirement to:
- Simplify their pay structure.
- Provide more clarity on the descriptions of their pay bands.
- Identify a consistent approach for the Performance Management process.
- Create a uniform approach to the determination of pay increases.
- Identify individual training and career development requirements.
- Define a pay and performance management process timeline with deadlines.
Our Solution
We reviewed the client’s current pay structure, process and procedures and created a questionnaire to gain further understanding of the requirements of the client. We conducted interviews with a number of stakeholders, from employee representatives, Heads of Departments, and the CEO. There were a variety of themes identified:
- a strong consensus to have consistency and transparency across the current pay structure and performance management process.
- a need for more clarity and simplification of the pay structure, as well as reduction in the number of pay bands.
- A clear process for job progression at the organisation.
- Improving the management of performance to recognise and develop employees linked to their values and expected behaviours.
We recognised that it was a holistic process with many options linking into each other to support the success of their Pay and Performance Strategy. We conducted research into best practice and current trends and identified the following options and recommendations:
- New pay and grading structures, which included options of broadbanding, fewer bands, wider pay ranges, and creating midpoints for effective performance in the role linked to benchmarking against market rates, and based on several internal criteria:
- affordability,
- performance, and
- contribution to the organisation.
- New pay progression options such as job families and competency frameworks, and
- Recommendations for performance management from consistency meetings, defined ratings for levels of performance, a framework for What Good Looks Like, structured 121s, and career and training and development discussions.
All of which was to support the client’s objective of improving its pay structure, pay progression and performance management.
Our research and recommendations provided our client with options to develop a fit for purpose pay and pay progression structure, and performance management process for their employees to improve employee engagement, talent development and recruitment.