Case studies

Getting control of salary costs

The Problem

This organisation was worried about rising salary costs and found that they were focusing their time on the wrong tasks due to the way their roles were organised.  With pensions auto-enrolment and rises in National Living Wage, they needed to reduce costs and make sure they were spending their money in the right places through better Human Resource planning.

The Solution

  • We advised regarding reorganisation of roles and duties to enable a greater focus on the organisation’s priority goals, improving their ability to meet their overall aims.
  • We reviewed their approaches to setting and reviewing salaries; we were able to identify some minor tweaks that instantly simplified the whole process for them.
  • After finding appropriate low-cost salary benchmarking data, we completed in-depth analysis so they had confidence that the results were reliable for their organisation. We presented the data in an appropriate format that meant it was understood and trusted by both leaders and employees.
  • We created a salary banding structure that gave greater control and enabled efficient and informed decision making in future years.
  • They saved over 5% of their salary bill in the first year (more than 7 times that invested in the project) with further incremental savings in future years.

Tackling ongoing issues

The Problem

This organisation had previously used a large HR outsourcing company, but as it didn’t include pro-active HR management they had not tackled a number of risk areas.  We worked together on their HR strategy and put a plan in place that made significant progress against their organisational goals in the first 12 months.

The Solution

  • We successfully implemented a change of contracts to ensure significant cost savings in overtime and greater flexibility to support customers.
  • We revised all policies, handbooks and contracts so that they more accurately reflected the reality of how the business operates.
  • We managed long term employee performance concerns which had been ‘bubbling under the surface’ for years, enabling a significant shift in the working environment and motivation of employees.
  • We found solutions to staffing shortfalls that maximised resources in the right areas and reduced operational risks.
  • We improved the management structure, better enabling leaders to get on with what they are there to do without being caught up in so many day-to-day minor issues.

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We needed a review of our organisation structure, role descriptions and salaries and were delighted with the outcomes. Their approach was professional and demonstrated how quickly they were able to grasp our situation and issues.

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