Consultant outlines market update process, recommends point‑factor review for pay‑grade changes

Dr. Victoria McGrath of McGrath Human Resources Group walked the commissioners through options for a market update of the county’s pay system. She described the original study process, including job questionnaires, point-factor scoring and alignment to comparable jurisdictions, and explained that a market update can be done quickly if the point-factor system is available and current — or it will require reissue of position questionnaires if the documentation has not been maintained.

McGrath emphasized objective documentation: if departments propose classification changes, the county should use an updated job questionnaire and point-factor scoring to evaluate whether a reclassification is warranted rather than making ad‑hoc step or grade jumps. She also said the county can augment local comparables with subscription market data from the Economic Research Institute (ERRI) to capture private-sector pay pressures where municipal data is thin.

Commissioners raised concerns about step compressions, who maintains the system and whether department heads should participate in the update; McGrath recommended a single department-head meeting (with follow-up as needed) and said her firm can both run the update and advise on individual reclassification requests for budget timing.

Next steps: McGrath will begin collecting market data and coordinate with county HR on a timeline; the board will decide whether to have employees complete online questionnaires or to rely on updated job descriptions for point-factor scoring.