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:

Update NFP’s Compensation Structure to Address Budget Concerns

A not-for-profit (NFP) youth organization needed to realign its approach to pay and compensation in order to address significant budgeting constraints.

Solution:

Conduct Compensation Study to Facilitate Program Changes

To provide a solid foundation for change, The Chatfield Group conducted a salary market analysis for the NFP in which we analyzed all non-exempt positions and recommended changes to the organization’s job grade structure and salary ranges. We also introduced a pay-for-performance matrix to help manage salary costs.

Tags: Market Studies — FLSA — Pay for Performance

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:

Facilitate Open & Transparent Communications about Compensation

A Fortune 100 company wanted to equip its managers and HR professionals with the means to communicate more effectively about compensation. When employees have a good understanding of how they are paid, the company reasoned, they are likely to be more engaged. What’s more, employee survey data indicated that company employees were eager to gain a better understanding of compensation issues, and the company was eager to share insights about its Pay for Performance philosophy and its approach to total rewards.

Solution:

Intranet-Based Compensation Toolkit

To help determine how to strengthen its compensation communications, the company turned to The Chatfield Group, which offered in-depth expertise in compensation, communications, and website development – the three areas deemed critical by the company’s project leaders.

At the outset of the project, a task force of senior HR managers representing all of the company’s U.S. divisions developed guiding principles for their planned compensation toolkit: 1) Discuss pay & compensation in a broad, “total rewards” context; 2) Use clear, concise language to make the Toolkit easy to read and understand; 3) Use a logical and attractive format; 4) Provide fast, accurate and consistent answers to employee questions about pay and compensation; and 5) Keep the information contained in the Toolkit up-to-date.

After assessing the pros & cons of print, PDF and intranet delivery options, the project team opted for an intranet-based toolkit which could facilitate clear, fast and easy access to information presented in an attractive format that could also be easily updated. In its final form, the toolkit features drop-down interactivity and a search function providing quick access to toolkit content, answers to commonly asked employee questions, and a glossary with quick-reading definitions for technical terms.

An immediate success, the intranet-based comp toolkit received more than 1,000 “hits” during its first two days of availability.

Tags: Pay for Performance — Websites

Challenge:

Align Incentive Plans for Management & Sales with Growth-Oriented Behaviors

The sales and installation division of a Fortune 500 company needed to restructure its management and sales incentive plans in order to strengthen the link between pay and performance. The division operated out of 45 field offices across the US, each with separate sales, service, and installation functions. Incentive plans at these 45 field locations were hard to understand and calculate, making it difficult for plan participants to see how their individual activities were tied to potential rewards. What’s more, the plans largely ignored the importance of teamwork.

To address these multiple compensation issues, management needed incentive plans that would provide strong linkage between performance and rewards as well as drive desired business results.

Solution:

Conduct Incentive Compensation Study to Provide Basis for Comp Plan

The Chatfield Group designed and implemented a comprehensive compensation study to provide the foundation for revising the company’s management and sales incentive compensation programs.

Over a six-month period, we brought together representatives from across the country to pinpoint problems in existing plans and to take part in revamping the company’s approach to compensation. We led cross-functional discussions to identify key individual and shared performance metrics as well metrics that were particularly relevant from a functional, regional, and corporate perspective. And we provided continual analysis and modeling of plan options to keep a sharp focus on the study’s primary objectives – simplicity, teamwork, and financial results.

Once the new management and sales incentive compensation programs were approved by senior management, The Chatfield Group created communications materials for regional management to use in rolling out the new plans to covered employees. We also developed a workbook to help employees calculate their individual rewards under multiple performance scenarios.

Tags: Pay for Performance — Incentive Plans — Metrics — Teamwork

Challenge:

Link Pay to Performance in Down Market

A major manufacturer of commercial building systems faced tight budget constraints because of a downturn in the construction business. The company was particularly concerned about losing key employees due to a limited salary budget.

Solution:

Design Pay for Performance Plan to Meet Company Objectives

After conducting a market analysis of the company’s current pay program, The Chatfield Group developed a conservative pay structure covering multiple locations.

To gain maximum leverage from scarce salary dollars and retain high-potential employees, we designed a pay-for-performance matrix and guidelines that optimize rewards for high performers while limiting pay increases for others. In addition, we reviewed performance levels to ensure that the new pay structure could be implemented within budget.

Tags: Pay for Performance — Employee Retention

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:

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