174
EXERCISE 12
PAY STRUCTURE DESIGN: RECOGNIZING PAY STRUCTURE ARCHITECTURE
With this exercise, the student develops a possible pay structure for Olympia Data Design.
With a completed copy of the “Gathering Pay Survey Data” form from Exercise 12 and the “Pay
Structure Design-FES Points and Proposed Midpoints” from the software for this exercise, the student can
begin the task of designing a new pay structure for Olympia Data Design.
It is important to remind students that this process may require several iterations before
they arrive at the best fitting pay structure. Students should also look at Olympia’s policy on market
pay in setting their rates.
Note on Pay Survey Data Points That Falls Outside the Proposed Pay Structure
If the instructor decides to use the data provided in this exercise, it will be evident that the
“market” rates for some of the benchmark jobs do not fall inside the proposed pay structure or, in some
cases, at the extreme points in the range. Certain jobs may be underpaid and a few may be overpaid. This
provides a warning to the compensation specialist to review the job evaluation ratings for these jobs or the
survey data to find out why these jobs appear to be out of line.