Designing and Managing Base Pay Systems
Delve into the role of base pay in a comprehensive Total Rewards strategy and learn approaches to crafting, implementing, and assessing a base pay system aimed at attracting and retaining top talent. Explore effective methods for job analysis, documentation, evaluation and the development of base pay structures that align with and support your organisation’s talent objectives.
Who will benefit from this course?
This course is ideal for HR and compensation professionals who are getting started in developing pay structures. In addition, those leading total rewards, remuneration, and compensation and benefits programs will benefit, as will people leaders who want to better understand salary structures.
Course requirements
Knowledge of basic mathematical concepts is recommended, including mean, median, weighted average, compa-ratio, percentiles, and calculating percentages.
Inclusions
- Access to the WorldatWork learner dashboard
- 1 exam towards the GRP® accreditation
- Classroom style learning for group focused activities
- Lunch, morning & afternoon refreshments (In-person workshops only)
- A networking event with drinks & nibbles (In-person workshops only)
Duration
Two days - 8:30am-4:30pm AEST/AEDT
Workshop locations
Mercer Melbourne, Collins Square, 727 Collins Street, Melbourne
Mercer Sydney, One International Towers Sydney, 100 Barangaroo Avenue, Sydney
What will you learn?
- Important concepts like compensation philosophy, internal vs. external pay equity, relevant labor markets, benchmark jobs and market-pricing.
- Key steps to build a base pay structure – job analysis, documentation, evaluation and job worth hierarchy.
- Base structure design components like range spread, minimum, midpoint, and maximum, midpoint differentials, range overlap plus methods to adjust and maintain pay structures.
- Determination of individual pay rates, including concepts like new- hire rates, pay differentials, step rate pay progression, merit increases, skill-based pay, promotions, equity adjustments and pay compression.
- Merit pay programs, pay for performance and merit matrix development.
- Pay transparency, communications about pay programs and compensation program audits.
Topics covered
The role of base pay in total rewards
● Elements of compensation
● The Total Rewards design process
● Introduction to base pay
● Job evaluation methods
● Job worth hierarchy
Compensation designing base pay structures
● Base pay structure
● Building base pay structure
● Pay structure design and
considerations
● Broadbands
Practical applications of base pay structure design
● Market pricing approach
● Point factor approach
● Integrating market data into point factor
Base pay implementation and delivery
● Pay approaches
● Job-based pay
● Differentials
● Pay actions
● Communicating pay actions
● New hire rates
Pay for performance and salary budgeting
● Pay for performance
● Compensation strategy and philosophy
● Principles of merit pay programs
● The base pay investment
● Merit increase guidelines
● Components of market-based
salary budget
Administering and evaluating base pay programs
● Monitoring pay levels
● Compression
● Maintaining pay structures
● Base pay program review and audit
Mergers, acquisitions and base compensation
● HR involvement
● Key priorities for HR in the process
● HR participation on teams
● Integrating compensation plans
● Communicating compensation changes