Compensation analysis
Pay and classification, grounded in evidence.
A compensation study answers a specific pay or classification question with matched peer jobs, comparable pay figures and a report your leadership can examine line by line.
What you receive
- Executive report with findings, market position and costed options
- Benchmarks report with every job match and its rationale
- Market analysis detail by role and peer
- Working spreadsheet for your staff
- Optional briefing for cabinet or board
Questions we address
Start with the decision, not a generic survey.
A focused study can cover one role, a job family or a set of leadership positions.
Job classification
Do the documented duties, scope and requirements support the role’s current grade?
Market position
How do minimum, midpoint and maximum compare with matched roles at peer employers?
Pay structure
Are range spread, step progression and compression between related roles working?
Cost of options
What would a change cost at current staffing, including related positions?
How a study is built
Research and analysis by agents. Review by an expert.
Each agent has one job and a written standard. Work moves forward only when the hand-off passes its checks.
01 · Scope
Facts and peer group
Confirms the client facts and validates the peer group on size, geography and labor market.
02 · Research
Find the adopted documents
Pulls current salary schedules and job descriptions from employer websites and board records.
03 · Evidence
Extract and grade
Extracts every figure with its page reference and grades each source for recency.
04 · Job matching
Match on duties
Compares responsibilities, scope and requirements. Partial matches are labeled; weak ones are excluded.
05 · Market
Normalize and compare
Puts pay on a common basis using each employer’s work calendar, then computes market position.
06 · Reporting
Draft the report
Writes the report and appendices from the verified figures only.
07 · Quality
Recheck everything
Recomputes the math independently and holds release while any issue is open.
08 · Learning
Improve the next study
Keeps verified sources and matches so each study starts with more evidence.
09 · Edwine Michel
Review and sign-off
Checks the matches, the math and the recommendation, then walks your team through the findings.
What makes it defensible
The checks built into every study.
- Duties, not titles. Matches are based on what the job does, with the reasoning shown.
- Adopted documents only. We cite the version the board approved.
- One pay basis. Pay is normalized for different work calendars before comparison.
- Every figure traced. Each number links back to a page in a source document.
- Limits stated. Thin matches and judgment calls are written down.
Common questions
Before you commission a study.
Do you survey other employers?
No. We work from peers’ adopted salary schedules, job descriptions and board records, so the study doesn’t depend on survey responses.
What do you need from us?
The roles and the question, current job descriptions and salary schedule, any preferred peers, and your decision date.
Can you cover a whole pay plan?
Yes, though most clients start with the roles behind a pending decision.
How is the fee set?
We agree on a fixed fee after reviewing the roles and scope, before any work begins.
Who sees our data?
Only the people working on your engagement. Your information is never used to train AI models. See AI and your data.
What decision does your team need to make?
Tell us the roles, the question and your decision date. We’ll discuss fit, scope and a fixed project fee before work begins.
