Compensation Systems Surveys, Design, and Evaluation

Compensation system surveys, design, and evaluation are among HumRRO's many personnel services. In fact, two of HumRRO's recent surveys have focused on the membership of professional associations to assess compensation levels and career practices. The first of these was the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) 1997 Income and Employment Survey. The second was the System Administrator Guild (SAGE) 1999 System Administrator Salary Profile. In both cases, HumRRO staff worked with the association to redesign its survey and develop a plan for survey administration. The SIOP survey was administered by mail, and the SAGE survey was administered via the association's Web site. HumRRO provided survey scanning services for the SIOP survey and database development services for both surveys. HumRRO conducted statistical analyses of the survey data and produced reports, complete with graphics, for use in both print formats and on association Web sites. Both associations have printed reports on the survey in their journals. Employers and association members have made many requests for data from the surveys.

HumRRO also provides customized salary survey services for businesses. The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), which manages Reagan National and Dulles International Airports, hired HumRRO to survey fire department pay and personnel practices in jurisdictions in the Washington area and provide recommendations for redesigning the pay structure and career paths for its fire department. HumRRO used the data collected to analyze pay ranges, grade differentials, use of pay premiums, overtime practices, pay range progression, and other details of area fire departments' pay structures. We compared information on job design, advancement requirements, supervisory span of control, and departmental structure as part of the analysis.

For the federal government, HumRRO has been involved in both compensation system design and evaluation projects. Recently, the U.S. Department of the Treasury implemented a demonstration project for employees in science, research, and other key professional occupations. Congress authorized the Treasury Department to conduct this large-scale experiment to introduce a broadbanding pay system in place of the current General Schedule (GS) compensation structure used by the majority of federal agencies. This system replaces the GS structure of 15 narrow pay grades used to determine base pay levels and raises with a structure of four broad pay bands that give managers greater flexibility in setting pay levels and raises. HumRRO managed the compensation consulting team hired to advise the Treasury Department on how to design and implement a broadbanding system to meet their needs. Federal agencies are also often required by Congress to evaluate the impact from changes to their compensation systems. Congress authorized the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to redesign its compensation system. HumRRO provided expertise to the FAA to assist it in evaluating its new Core Compensation and Executive Compensation plans. HumRRO evaluated the use of market survey data, job documentation materials, and the overall design of the Core Compensation plan. We also provided benchmarking and comparative analysis of their Executive Compensation plan with executive pay practices in the private and public sectors.

In another type of evaluation project, HumRRO helped the District of Columbia (DC) Courts satisfy a requirement from Congress to report on how pay and job classification levels of the courts' non-judicial jobs compare to levels for similar jobs in the U.S. Court System and federal government. We compared the job content, classification level, and pay level for 166 jobs and conducted a detailed analysis of pay levels for similar jobs in the DC Courts and in the comparator organizations. We presented our findings in a report for the House Appropriations Committee.

Currently, HumRRO is reviewing the history and use of the federal government's General Schedule job evaluation and classification system and investigating alternative job evaluation and classification systems used in the public and private sectors for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM). OPM will use information from this research to consider options for modifying or providing alternative classification and compensation systems to federal government organizations currently using the General Schedule system.

For more information, contact:
Dr. Gina Medsker or Research Notes