Challenge:

Update Compensation Program

A leading cultural institution well-known for its state-of-the-art attractions needed to bring its entire pay & total rewards infrastructure up to date.

Solution:

Compensation Overhaul

In a top-to-bottom restructuring of the organization’s compensation program, The Chatfield Group:

• Rewrote 150 job descriptions and ensured compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) using multiple valid data sources
• Matched jobs to market, including both for-profit and not-for-profit positions, and set up an easy to understand documentation system to facilitate future updates
• Clarified the organization’s pay philosophy, using input from key managers across the organization
• Reviewed its existing pay structure to identify areas for improvement
• Developed a new pay structure, a supporting cost analysis, and guidelines for implementation
• Drafted key messages and talking points for top-down rollout of the program to employees at all levels, describing the scope of the new compensation program and how it would affect individual employees

Tags: Job Descriptions — FLSA — Pay for Performance

Challenge:

University Needed Help Getting the Word Out on their New Pay System

Faced with significant time constraints, a large metropolitan university needed comprehensive communications support for the rollout of its new compensation program.

Solution:

Outsource Rapid-Rollout Communications Support for New Compensation Program

Knowing that time was limited, the university retained The Chatfield Group to produce the broad range of communications materials it needed to support the imminent rollout of its new compensation program. Working in a compressed time frame, Chatfield’s compensation and communications team created a wide range of communications materials for the University’s HR staff and managers to use in discussing the new grade structures and salary ranges and in fielding questions about the new compensation structure. The university also made this information available on its intranet.

Key deliverables in this engagement included a Personalized Employee Statement as well as detailing how specific changes would affect individual employees; Talking Points for Managers – key information for managers to convey to their direct reports about the new compensation program; three different sets of scripted talking points for use by managers in one-on-one meetings with employees whose new pay is either above, below, or within the new pay range; a PowerPoint deck for the university’s compensation staff to explain the new compensation program to managers; and two sets of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and corresponding answers – one for managers and another for employees. In addition, The Chatfield Group produced a description of the university’s Job Families and a Glossary of Key Terms.

Tags: Pay for Performance — Job Descriptions

Challenge:

Restructure Compensation to Support Anticipated Growth

A fast-growing, privately held manufacturer of building materials needed to establish a formal compensation structure to better support its rapid growth and help it transition to a pay-for-performance company philosophy.

Solution:

Design of Comprehensive Compensation Structure

During this engagement, The Chatfield Group teamed with management to restructure roles and reporting relationships. We also wrote job descriptions for every position and market-priced all jobs so they would fall within the company’s new pay structure and salary ranges.

The Chatfield Group worked with management to introduce a formal, performance management program that aligns pay with performance. As part of this program, we designed performance-based incentive plans for both management and sales personnel. We also implemented a 12-month training & communications program to facilitate the company’s transition to a pay-for-performance philosophy.

Tags: Pay for Performance — Organizational Structure — Incentive Plans — Training — Job Descriptions — Market Studies — Performance Reviews

Challenge:

Realign Compensation Structure Following Major Acquisition

A Fortune 500 durable-goods manufacturer had just acquired another global company and needed to align the executive compensation structures of the two companies.

The acquiring company was centralized while the acquired company had numerous decentralized businesses across the globe.

Solution:

Conduct Global Compensation Review to Lay Groundwork for Change

Company management asked The Chatfield Group to develop a single, comprehensive approach to executive compensation that would encompass all of the executive positions at the new, expanded company.

During the engagement, we reviewed the organizational structure globally and updated all job descriptions. We market-priced executive positions on a global basis, making sure that each position accurately reflected its particular industry, business, location, and job market. We aligned grade levels for comparable positions across business units and global regions. And we reviewed every position and grade level with an appropriate HR executive to ensure that the new compensation structure addressed both internal and external job values.

Recognizing that the new, more complex corporate organization would result in more frequent expatriate assignments, The Chatfield Group also conducted a global review of the company’s expatriate compensation practices. Following this review, we created a practical expatriate compensation policy to guide management decisions.

Tags: Pay for Performance — Employee Retention — Job Descriptions — Global HR

Challenge:

Improve Organizational Structure & Performance

A $15-million national association needed to strengthen its performance management process in order to address external pressures more effectively.

Solution:

Team with CEO & Directors on Broad-Based Performance Management Program

Working closely with the association’s CEO and directors, The Chatfield Group developed a comprehensive program to improve performance that included a new organizational structure and new position descriptions in addition to a new competency model for all levels of the organization.

The Chatfield Group also developed integrated performance management processes for the CEO and staff, training in goal-setting and performance management for directors and staff, and a 360-feedback process with development goals for key association leaders.

Tags: Organizational Structure — Performance Reviews — Job Descriptions — Competency Models — 360-Feedback

Challenge:

Restructure Compensation Program

Major not-for-profit organization with 250 employees and more than 100 separate job categories needed to totally revamp its compensation structure.

Solution:

Totally Revamp Strategic Compensation Framework

The Chatfield Group helped the association transition to a more competitive pay philosophy. We developed a strategic compensation framework for the organization to assess the competitiveness and equity of both base pay as well as total cash programs.

The Chatfield Group created a market-based job evaluation system for the association as well as new salary structures for executive and sales positions. We developed a performance-based management incentive plan and a structure and system for sales incentives. We also developed both a salary administration handbook and a training program to introduce the new pay program and pay administration policies to employees.

Tags: Pay for Performance — Job Descriptions — Market Studies — Training

Challenge:

Develop HR Tools for Local Managers

A national retailing organization needed to develop a set of HR tools to help local managers deal more effectively with performance-related people issues.

Solution:

Performance-Based Total Rewards Toolkit

The Chatfield Group developed a performance management framework to enable local managers of the national retailer to assess their reward and recognition options and implement cash bonus or incentive programs. The toolkit discusses two key aspects of performance management: first, aligning activities to ensure that goals are consistently and efficiently being met, and second, helping people develop their skills and capabilities and satisfy their own work-related needs while they are, at the same time, contributing to the health and profitability of the business.

The toolkit covers a wide range of topics – from understanding your employees and the importance of employee feedback to the motivational aspects of performance management. It provides sample job descriptions, interviewing techniques, performance reviews and performance improvement plans. It includes tools to keep employees focused on meeting goals and job expectations. And it outlines how developing SMART goals – i.e. ones that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timebound – can motivate employees to achieve high performance. Click here to learn more about SMART Goals.

In terms of retail-specific content, the toolkit covers performance management and the retail experience, achieving a competitive edge through customer service, and creating the optimum shopping experience for retail customers.

Tags: Performance Reviews — Incentive Plans — SMART Goals — Training — Pay for Performance — Job Descriptions — Interviewing — Customer Service

Challenge:

Eliminate High Employee Turnover

A mid-sized technology company experiencing high turnover among its employees needed to address its turnover issues.

Solution:

Use Focus Groups to Identify Reasons for High Turnover and Generate Ideas for Improvement

To determine the root causes for the company’s high turnover, The Chatfield Group conducted a series of focus groups at the firm’s primary operating facilities. The lack of a clear chain of command and poor communications were identified as key concerns. So, too, were the needs to improve employee orientation and to provide training and development opportunities for both managers and employees. After analyzing staff feedback, The Chatfield Group teamed with company management to implement the following six-step plan to correct organizational deficiencies:

• Step 1: Expand Management Ranks – To clarify reporting relationships and improve functional management, the company created a layer of departmental management. Under the company’s revised organizational structure, Department Managers take the lead in communicating with employees on a day-to-day basis, in coaching employees on performance, and developing employee capabilities.
• Step 2: Launch Onboarding Program for New Hires – To increase retention of new employees, the company developed an onboarding program designed to make New Hires feel comfortable and productive in their new work environments from Day One. Hiring Managers developed an Onboarding Plan for each New Hire to address practical concerns of both the new employee and the Hiring Manager. Topics included 1) key people for the New Hire to know; 2) tools of the trade, such as computer log-ins and directory structures, file-naming conventions and reference materials; 3) a review of job basics, including the New Hire’s job description; 4) a “starter” assignment in which the new employee works independently to quickly add value with minimal supervision. To check on New Hire progress, Hiring Managers and HR schedule formal reviews with New Hires after they have been with the company for 90 days.
• Step 3: Strengthen Corporate Communications – A number of focus-group participants expressed the need for more frequent communications from the company. To address this issue, the company launched a company intranet designed to share lessons learned, project updates, job descriptions, job titles and contact information. It developed additional forums for discussion. And it began conducting exit interviews with departing employees to continue gathering feedback about the factors underlying its employee turnover challenges.
• Step 4: Improve Benefit Communications – In response to focus-group feedback about the need for a better understanding of employee benefits, the company benchmarked its current benefit plans with industry standards. During benefit-enrollment periods, it met with employees in small groups to provide them with an overview of company benefits and announce benefit changes. In addition to strengthening some benefit options, the company also began providing vacation accrual information on employee paychecks.
• Step 5: Introduce Performance Appraisal System – To provide greater clarity with regard to performance expectations, the company introduced a performance appraisal system that includes goal-setting, ongoing performance feedback, employee development and coaching. Training managers on setting goals and providing feedback was given high priority.
• Step 6: Provide Training & Development Opportunities – Many employee suggestions focused on the need for better management training. In response, the company developed a multifaceted T&D program that included Quarterly Workshops for Managers covering topics such as Maintaining a Strong Customer Focus, Interviewing Skills for Managers, and Coaching for High Performance. To build its management pipeline, the company introduced a Leadership Development Program. And to respond to employees’ thirst for learning opportunities, the company launched a series of “Lunch ‘n’ Learn” seminars for all employees.

Tags: Employee Retention — Focus Groups — New Hire Onboarding — Management Development — Job Descriptions — Performance Reviews — Interviewing — Coaching — Training — Employee Engagement

Challenge:

Develop Competitive, Performance-Oriented Compensation

Growth-oriented “Tier Two” accounting firm needed to realign its compensation programs in order to compete more effectively with its larger competitors.

Firm management was seeking a more competitive and equitable compensation system that would tie associate and staff pay ranges to performance goals.

Solution:

Market-Based Compensation Structure

The Chatfield Group developed a market-based compensation structure for the accounting firm that was equitable as well as both flexible and competitive in the administration of pay.

Project deliverables included the market analysis of all positions, development of new pay structures, a cost-analysis program implementation, development of pay administration guidelines for managers, and communication of program changes to managers and employees.

Tags: Pay for Performance — Market Studies — Job Descriptions