Compensation Projects
Compensation system surveys, design, and evaluation are among HumRRO's Strategic Human Capital Management (SCHM) program's services. For example, we have conducted customized surveys that focused on the membership of professional associations to assess compensation levels and career practices for the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology's (SIOP) since 1997, as well as for the System Administrator Guild's (SAGE). In both cases, HumRRO staff worked with the organizations to redesign their surveys and develop a plan for survey administration. Both the SIOP and SAGE surveys have used web-based administration. HumRRO conducted statistical analyses of the survey data and produced reports, complete with graphics, for use in both print formats and on association websites. Both associations have printed reports on the survey in their journals. Employers and association members have made many requests for data from the surveys.
We also provide customized salary survey services for businesses. Between 1998 and 2008, the SHCM program conducted several surveys and compensation analyses for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (Airports Authority), which manages Reagan National and Dulles International Airports. This work has included market pay surveys for the Fire, Police, Dispatcher, Salaried and Trades job structures several times in the last 10 years. HumRRO has used the data collected to analyze pay ranges, grade differentials, pay premiums, overtime practices, pay range progression, and other details of pay structures in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. We have used published surveys for the for-profit, non-profit, and public sectors, as well as customized surveys of the Washington metropolitan area public sector. We conducted a similar study for salaried positions at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Commission (WAMTC). In addition, we conducted a literature review on traditional job analysis and competency modeling approaches for the Airports Authority and described the advantages and disadvantages of different approaches. HumRRO staff reviewed the Airports Authority's current job analysis and evaluation practices and compared them to professional standards.
For the Federal government, HumRRO has been involved in both compensation system design and evaluation projects. Congress authorized the Treasury Department to conduct a large-scale demonstration project experiment to introduce a broadbanding pay system in place of the current General Schedule (GS) compensation structure for science, research, and other mission critical professional occupations. This system replaced 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. For instance, Congress authorized the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to redesign their compensation system. HumRRO provided expertise to the FAA to assist it in evaluating its 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 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 D.C. Courts and comparator organizations. We presented our findings in a report for the House Appropriations Committee.
For the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), HumRRO reviewed the history and use of the Federal government's General Schedule job evaluation and classification system and investigated alternative job evaluation and classification systems used in the public and private sectors.
