People Office
Classification and compensation studies you can defend
Amanex runs classification and compensation studies for school districts and other public employers. You get a clear answer on where your pay stands, what each option would cost, and a source behind every figure, delivered on your timeline.
The question behind the study
Is this role paid at the right grade?
Most studies start with a pointed question. A union asks why a role sits where it does. A department head says the job has grown. A board wants to know whether the pay plan still holds up against neighboring employers.
You need an answer that will stand up in a board meeting and at the bargaining table. That means peer employers chosen for good reasons, jobs compared on what people actually do, and numbers anyone can check. Classification and compensation studies elsewhere commonly take months. We build ours to land on the date your decision is due.
What you get
Everything a board needs to decide
A direct answer
Whether the role or roles belong where they are now, stated plainly up front.
Your market position
Where your pay sits against matched jobs at your peer employers, at the minimum, midpoint and maximum of the range.
The cost of each option
What each choice would cost at your current staffing, so the budget conversation starts with real figures.
Options with trade-offs
Usually three, each with what it fixes, what it costs and what it could set off elsewhere in your pay plan.
What would change the answer
The evidence that would move our recommendation, so your leaders know where the judgment calls are.
A benchmarks appendix and market detail
Every comparator job, every match and every figure, laid out so your staff or an outside reviewer can follow the trail.
Why it holds up
Three things that make our numbers hard to argue with
Every figure is traceable
Each number in the report links back to a cited source: an adopted salary schedule, a board record or a published job description. If someone asks where a figure came from, you can show them.
Jobs are matched on content
We match jobs on what the job description says the person does, including scope, supervision and required credentials. Two roles with the same title can be very different jobs, and two different titles can be the same job. We note where a match is close, partial or excluded, and why.
A comparator panel you can explain
We choose peer employers on size, geography and shared labor market, the places your people could realistically go work. If you already have a peer list, we test it against the same criteria and tell you where it’s strong or weak.
How the study runs
Five phases from question to board-ready report
Scope and panel
We confirm the question, the roles in scope and the decision date, then build or validate your comparator panel.
Source collection
We gather current, adopted pay documents and job descriptions for each peer employer from public records, and confirm each one is the latest version in force.
Job matching
We compare duties, scope and requirements role by role, and record the reason for every match or exclusion.
Market analysis and costing
We put pay on a common basis, calculate your market position, and cost each option at your current staffing.
Report and briefing
You get the report, the appendices and, if you want one, a briefing for your board or cabinet. Every figure is checked against its source before it reaches you.
We agree on the timeline at the start, built around your board calendar or bargaining date. Fixed fees, agreed up front, and we work with procurement for public agencies.
A recent study
One role, one grade, one clear answer
The HR chief of a large metro Atlanta school district asked whether one support role belonged one pay grade higher. We ran a document-based study across eight comparator districts and delivered it on the district’s date.
The district received a clear answer, its market position, the cost of each option, three options with trade-offs, and the evidence that would change the answer. Every figure in the report traced to a cited source. It was one of six consecutive engagements that district has brought us back for since 2023.
Who you work with
Led by someone who has sat on your side of the table
Amanex is led by Edwine Michel, a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt with 20 years running operations and former Director of Recruitment and Retention in the nation’s 10th-largest school district. He knows what a pay recommendation has to survive once it leaves the report: the budget office, the board and the people whose jobs it describes. You’ll have one point of contact throughout.
Common questions
Questions about compensation studies
What’s the difference between a classification study and a compensation study?
A classification study asks whether a job sits in the right grade or job family, based on its duties and scope. A compensation study asks how your pay compares to the market for matched jobs. Many studies do both, and we’ll scope only what your question needs.
Do you send salary surveys to other districts?
Our studies are built from published, adopted documents such as salary schedules, pay plans, board records and job descriptions. That means we don’t depend on other employers returning a survey, and every figure can be checked against its public source.
How do you choose comparator districts?
We look at size, geography and shared labor market, meaning the employers your staff could realistically leave for. If your board has an established peer list, we test it against the same criteria and explain any changes we’d suggest.
How long does a study take?
It depends on the number of roles and comparators, and we agree the timeline before we start. We plan around your board meeting or bargaining date, and we deliver on the date we agree.
Can you study just one or two roles?
Yes. Some of our most useful studies answer a single question about one role. A focused study can give you a clear answer without reopening your whole pay plan.
Do you work with public employers outside K-12?
Yes. The same approach works for other public employers that set pay through adopted schedules, scoped to fit. Tell us who you see as your labor market and we’ll build the panel around it.
Tell us which role you’re unsure about.
In 30 minutes we’ll tell you honestly whether we can help, and how a study would answer your question.
