Our approach

EBRS developed a staged approach that established a consistent internal framework before applying external market evidence.

a) Evaluating roles and establishing the hierarchy

We began by analytically evaluating a representative sample of roles using the EBRS Role-Check job evaluation system.

The results were used to test the organisation's existing hierarchy and identify the characteristics that distinguished each level. Drawing on this evidence, we developed a job profiling framework defining the requirements of roles across the structure.

After confirming the framework with the client, we profiled the remaining roles and allocated them to the appropriate levels. This provided a consistent organisation-wide structure without requiring every role to undergo a separate full analytical evaluation.

The framework also gave the organisation a practical basis for assessing new and changed roles in the future.

b) Benchmarking the roles

Once the internal hierarchy had been established, we benchmarked the roles against the external market.

Rather than relying on job titles alone, we considered the purpose, responsibilities, organisational contribution and assessed level of each role before selecting appropriate comparisons.

The benchmarking drew on established salary surveys, using our experience to match roles to the provider's methodology, as well as EBRS Salary-Check and Advert Tracker evidence, relevant vacancies, comparable education and not-for-profit organisations and wider labour-market indicators.

Where roles combined responsibilities that would normally sit in different jobs, we blended or calibrated the available evidence rather than forcing them into a single imperfect comparison.

This produced a more reliable assessment of the market position of individual roles and the organisation's overall salary structure.

c) Developing and modelling the pay structure

EBRS developed a dynamic pay model bringing together the job profiling results, market benchmarks, current salaries and existing pay ranges.

The model enabled the organisation to:

• compare current salaries and pay ranges with the market evidence;

• identify roles, groups and ranges requiring particular attention;

• undertake equal pay and distributional analysis;

• develop recommendations for adjustments to the pay ranges;

• model alternative implementation options;

• calculate costs and assess the effect on individual employees; and

• consider affordability and internal pay relationships.

This allowed senior leaders to compare different approaches and understand their implications before deciding how any changes should be implemented.

d) Supporting consultation and negotiations

We provided clear supporting evidence for senior decision-makers and helped the organisation prepare for negotiations with its recognised trade union representatives.

This included explaining how analytical job evaluation, job profiling and market benchmarking had been used within the review.

Our advice recognised that external market evidence can inform salary decisions but should be considered alongside internal relativities, equal-value principles and equality impact.