Compensation Structure Update and Job Evaluation Implementation

Background

A Canadian food manufacturer and distributor with operations in U.S. and Canada requested Southlea’s assistance in updating its existing job evaluation plan for applicability to entire organization and to reflect current trends. In addition, the client wanted to review the organization’s fair pay practices, as well as to establish its Ontario Pay Equity plan. 

To support the client, Southlea: 

• Reviewed the existing point-factor job evaluation plan based on emerging market trends and best practices 
• Proposed modifications to the plan to accommodate both senior leadership and hourly jobs, and draft a plan document with a comprehensive users’ guide and an interactive tool 
• Evaluated a representative sample of the organization’s jobs anchor roles, and provided training and ongoing support on job evaluation 
• Updated the organization’s pay scales to ensure alignment with market  
• Based on the job evaluation outcomes, conducted fair pay and Ontario Pay Equity analyses and created Ontario Pay Equity plan

Challenges

As a company run by owner-operators, the plan needed to reflect the company’s values and its overarching total rewards philosophy.  In addition, the combination of salaried and hourly workforce creates complexity in ensuring fairness and equity in the work measurement approach, a key pillar of their values. 

Results

With Southlea’s support, the company updated its U.S. and Canada pay grids and provided one-time compensation adjustments for select roles. The updated job evaluation plan was implemented across all jobs in the company, with Southlea’s ongoing support in job evaluation, fair pay, and Pay Equity reviews. The alignment between their strategy, total rewards philosophy and compensation design will support greater transparency and open communication with employees.