Damakant Jayshi
Marathon County staff compensation is “significantly behind market” rates and should raise pay by of 8% to 12% to realign into the market, a human resources firm conducting a class compensation study said last month.
The firm, McGrath Human Resources Group, told the Human Resources, Finance & Property Committee meeting that they should be at 5-6% above the market average to remain competitive, to attract new employees and retain existing staff.
The county needs a sizable amount of adjustment and “so no one should be terribly shocked” when they see significant changes in the salary ranges, a representative from the McGrath HR Group told committee members in August. She was referring to the compensation study report that is being finalized.
The county has not adjusted their rate in the past 10 years, Halvorson Maes said.
McGrath and the Marathon County staff are making a presentation on the “revised compensation schedule” to the HRFP Committee and the County Board on Tuesday, County Administrator Lance Leonhard told Wausau Pilot & Review, adding they are still working on compiling information for the presentation.
McGrath met with each of the department heads and the county administrator earlier this month to discuss their proposed schedule, Leonhard said. Their input will be part of the recommendation on the compensation.
The final report, which will include recommendation on adjusted pay for each position in the county government and likely realignment of some positions, is not expected until October, the firm said.
The county’s 2023 budget discussion will soon become more detailed. Chair of the HRFPC, John Robinson, pressed McGrath representatives to provide at least a preliminary report so that supervisors would know what the costs are going be if the adjustments are made.
The McGrath presentation compared Marathon County’s staff compensation with 20 other counties and 19 other comparable organizations, including the cities of Wausau and Eau Claire. Nine of these entities have launched or are scheduled to conduct their own compensation study. The City of Wausau has hired a firm to conduct a market wage study as well.
Halvorson Maes said the comp ratio – a comparison of the county’s salary range and/or salaries to the ‘market’ – needed adjustment. She said that the average market rate is 50% and acceptable comp ratio range is 45%-60, adding they would like to see comp ratio of 50% or higher. Sharing further details, she also said that 81% of the county’s hiring rate “is too far under the market competitiveness to be competitive at this point.”
Dr. Victoria McGrath, a principal from the HR firm, said they conducted statistical analyses around the compensation average so as to eliminate any organizations that are either too high or too low compared to Marathon County’s compensation. She was responding to a question on whether the differences in cost of living with other counties could impact the compensation recommendation.
According to the Department of Employee Resources, Marathon County has about 780 regular employees and approximately 165 casual/seasonal/temporary employees.
Significant staff turnover at Marathon County government
Although there is labor shortage across the country, turnover at the Marathon County is a particularly serious problem. According to documents shared by McGrath, one-third of the county government’s workforce has been employed for less than four years and 45% of the current workforce has been with the county for less than four years in their current positions.
The report indicated the county had “a significant amount” of turnover, Halvosorn Maes said. “That may not bode well for you long-term because those individuals are the ones that are going to get trained and then they are going to leave,” she added. “Then you are going to become training ground if you are not already and that turnover has a true cost – financial and cultural cost to the organization.” The average tenure within government sector is six and a half years, she said.
Leonhard said officials are still compiling information to show which departments or services have been most impacted by staff turnover, but the information is expected this week.
Since the coronavirus pandemic, more employees have been seeking hybrid or remote work. Another study said “flexible working arrangement” was the third most popular reason for a job search, behind pay and better career opportunities.
Leonhard acknowledged that some of the staff turnover was likely caused by an employee’s desire for “hybrid work, workforce flexibility.” He told the HRFP Committee that the administration was doing all it could “to remove the reasons that sometimes cause people to leave the organizations or the county.”
