a5c-ai Compensation Benchmarking Skill
Overview
The Compensation Benchmarking skill provides capabilities for analyzing market compensation data and establishing competitive pay structures. This skill enables market percentile positioning, salary range development, and compensation competitiveness monitoring.
Capabilities
Survey Data Analysis
- Import and analyze salary survey data
- Blend multiple survey sources
- Age and trend data appropriately
- Handle different data cuts
- Validate data quality
Market Positioning
- Calculate market percentiles and positioning
- Determine competitive positioning strategy
- Analyze positioning by job family
- Track positioning trends
- Compare against target percentile
Salary Range Development
- Build salary range structures
- Calculate range spread and midpoint
- Design grade structures
- Create multiple range types (broad, narrow)
- Support geographic differentials
Scenario Modeling
- Model compensation scenarios and costs
- Project budget impacts
- Analyze merit increase scenarios
- Model structure adjustments
- Calculate cost of living impacts
Reporting
- Generate market pricing reports
- Create competitiveness summaries
- Build survey participation reports
- Document market data sources
- Track year-over-year trends
Geographic Analysis
- Create geographic pay differentials
- Analyze location-based pay
- Support remote work pay strategies
- Map cost of labor differences
- Handle multi-location structures
Usage
Market Analysis
const marketAnalysis = {
surveys: [
{ source: 'Radford', weight: 40, year: 2026 },
{ source: 'Mercer', weight: 35, year: 2026 },
{ source: 'Compensation Surveys Inc', weight: 25, year: 2025 }
],
aging: {
rate: 3.5,
targetDate: '2026-07-01'
},
cuts: {
industry: 'Technology',
companySize: '1000-5000',
geography: 'US National'
},
jobs: [
{
internal: 'Senior Software Engineer',
surveyMatch: 'Software Engineer IV',
matchQuality: 'strong'
}
],
positioning: {
targetPercentile: 50,
hotJobs: ['Machine Learning Engineer', 'Security Engineer'],
hotJobTarget: 75
}
};
Range Structure Design
const rangeStructure = {
type: 'traditional',
grades: 10,
midpointProgression: 12,
rangeSpread: {
byGrade: {
'1-3': 40,
'4-6': 45,
'7-10': 50
}
},
overlap: 35,
anchoring: {
method: 'market-midpoint',
targetPercentile: 50
},
differentials: {
geographic: {
enabled: true,
tiers: ['Tier 1', 'Tier 2', 'Tier 3']
}
}
};
Process Integration
This skill integrates with the following HR processes:
| Process | Integration Points |
|---|---|
| salary-benchmarking.js | Full market pricing workflow |
| job-evaluation-leveling.js | Job matching |
| pay-equity-analysis.js | Market data input |
Best Practices
- Multiple Sources: Use at least 2-3 survey sources
- Quality Matching: Ensure strong job matches to market data
- Regular Updates: Refresh market data at least annually
- Consistent Methodology: Apply aging and cuts consistently
- Documentation: Document all assumptions and methodology
- Stakeholder Communication: Explain positioning philosophy
Metrics and KPIs
| Metric | Description | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Compa-Ratio | Employee pay vs. range midpoint | 95-105% |
| Market Position | Actual percentile vs. target | Within 5 points |
| Range Penetration | Distribution within ranges | Normal distribution |
| External Competitiveness | Offer acceptance rate | >85% |
| Survey Participation | Surveys participated in | >3 annually |
Related Skills
- SK-012: Job Evaluation (job matching)
- SK-014: Pay Equity (equity analysis)