Job Architecture, Pay Structures and HR Data Readiness
A new HR system needs clear decisions about jobs, grades, pay rules and approvals before configuration begins. Which jobs belong in the same family? How should craft, certification and site differences be treated? Who may approve a requisition or an exception? Grahall helps your managers settle this design in a form that can be mapped to the selected system.
Grahall leads the compensation methodology and pay-design work described here. Wider ERP and AI advisory is provided through a third-party partner. The client approves policy and pay decisions; its selected providers carry out separately scoped configuration, integration and engineering.
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Job Architecture and Pay Structure Build
We build the job catalog, job families, grades and pay bands, including the differentials that matter in the real world: craft, certification, shift, site, state and per diem. We add the requisition approval rules and tie them to budget. Approved AI can assist grouping job titles and rate-sheet lines into a first draft. Our consultants make the judgment calls with your managers, and we model what it costs to move people into the new structure.
Pay structures with or without a system change
A pay-structure review can start with a compensation decision, even when no new HR system is planned. We match benchmark roles to market evidence, compare responsibilities and career levels, and develop a common salary structure.
The work connects job documentation, market positioning and salary-range minimums, midpoints and maximums so managers can understand how roles fit together.
Possible outputs include a market-pricing workbook, salary-range model, compensation-review materials, job descriptions and a career-level framework. Incentive-model scenarios may also be included in the agreed scope. The client approves pay policy and individual pay decisions; any system configuration remains separately scoped with its selected providers.
Hourly, Craft and Multi-State Workforces
Most pay structure advice is written for salaried staff. Much of our work is for employers whose workforce is hourly, skilled and spread across states and client sites, where the rules are more numerous and the cost of getting them wrong shows up in payroll every week.
Craft Pay-Band and Rate-Sheet Governance
For industrial contractors, a pay structure also has to work at the craft and client-site level. We connect helper-to-journeyman progressions, certification premiums, per-diem and zone rules, and negotiated site rate sheets to named owners, effective dates and approval paths. Employee pay rates, client billing rates and estimating assumptions remain distinct, with a documented relationship between them.
The design provides a shared basis for payroll inputs and labor-cost estimates. Where a system is needed to maintain and distribute approved rates, Grahall defines the methodology and controls, and the client’s chosen engineering provider builds it under a separate scope. Explore craft pay and rate-sheet governance.
HR and Pay Data Readiness
We set standards for job codes, grades, pay components and history, map them to the selected system and write reconciliation rules. A data engineering partner or your own team builds the pipelines. The aim is to identify and reconcile issues before migration and payroll transition.
Shared Data and Operational Handoffs
People and pay data must connect to the right entity, job, cost code and client site. With named business owners, we define shared identifiers, the source of record, effective dates, approval rights and reconciliation checks across HR, time, payroll, job costing and billing. The wider program may also require customer, vendor and asset identifiers, with standards approved by the owners of those processes.
Where field readiness matters, we document requirements for onboarding, training and credential status, renewals and dispatch eligibility. We specify required fields and handoffs; the client's selected providers implement them. Migration rehearsal, historical access, security roles and reconciliation responsibilities are agreed as part of the delivery scope. Wider discovery is described in ERP and HCM Selection Advisory.
Pay Equity Before Migration
A migration can be a useful point to review pay equity before existing gaps are carried into a new structure. Grahall's pay equity practice can support that review under the direction of your employment counsel.
What Comes Next
Once the design is settled, we can stay on your side of the table through implementation. See ERP and HR Implementation: Client-Side Delivery, or all of our Enterprise ERP, HR Technology & AI.
Common Questions
Can’t the integrator design grades and bands during configuration?
An integrator's design responsibilities depend on its agreed scope. The client remains responsible for approving pay policy and exception authority. Agreeing these decisions before configuration helps avoid rework.
Does the design work if we have not picked a system yet?
Yes. It is built system-neutral and mapped to the target once you choose.
What do you need from us?
Job and rate lists, pay policies, organization charts, relevant data definitions and system samples, and time with the managers and data owners who understand the rules and operational handoffs.
Related Grahall Services
Total Rewards Strategy Services | Organization Design and Development, including position analysis
To talk it through, contact Ali Riyaz at ali.riyaz@grahall.com or 603.205.5033.
Grahall does not provide legal or tax advice.