Consultant recommends moving Wendell pay ranges toward 60th percentile to aid recruitment

Rob from Evergreen Solutions presented the findings of a compensation and classification study the town contracted to evaluate internal equity and external competitiveness. The analysis covered 71 benchmark classifications, used 22 market peers (19 provided data), and combined employee participation and a market survey to create recommended pay ranges and implementation steps.

Evergreen recommended setting pay ranges near the 60th percentile of the selected market to improve recruitment and retention in a competitive regional labor market. Consultant data showed the town's market minimum was, on average, about 15.5% behind market for the 71 benchmark positions; the weighted recommended move averaged about 17.6% across positions. The firm proposed an implementation approach that preserves employees' relative placement within a range (a comp‑ratio approach) while moving pay ranges upward; the recommended implementation preserves roughly 90% of an employee's existing placement when ranges are adjusted.

The study combined an internal job assessment tool (employee survey, sometimes called JAT) and external market matches (an average of approximately 9.6 market matches per position). Participation rates were above national averages for similar studies (about 78% employee survey completion and 85% of job classifications captured). Benefits were reviewed and found broadly competitive; consultants noted non‑pay factors such as flexible scheduling and career development as retention tools. Consultant recommended a one‑time implementation cost (base‑salary adjustments) that would be handled in the budget process and followed by annual percentage increases tied to CPI, tenure, and performance.

Board members asked detailed questions about anchors, compression, how to handle new or specialty positions, and what staff would receive in the final report. Rob said the final deliverables would include the list of market peers, which ones responded, the recommended ranges by classification, and documentation of methodology; staff confirmed that items not fully detailed in the presentation will appear in the written report. Rob and staff also described a Jobforce Manager software tool to help the town maintain internal equity and place new classifications fairly going forward.

No formal board action was recorded on the study at the meeting; staff and the consultant said final reports and job‑description updates would follow as next steps and that the town would use the recommendations in the FY‑26 budget process.