UPDATE: Staff Compensation & Classification Project

The following message was sent on June 27, 2024 from the Division of Talent & Inclusion

Dear Colleagues,

As you will recall, in order to help WPI continue to attract and retain top talent, we have thoughtfully and thoroughly reviewed all staff positions to ensure the university is providing employees with compensation that’s competitive with peer organizations. Today we are pleased to announce the roll out of WPI’s new Staff Compensation and Classification System.  This new system will help the university:

• Provide competitive, equitable, and fair compensation based on job responsibilities.
• Recognize and reward sustained contributions towards achieving WPI's mission, vision, and strategic objectives.
• Allow for a clearer understanding of WPI’s compensation philosophy and guiding principles—and our practices—through open communication, accessible information, and continued training for leaders, managers, and staff.

The Staff Compensation and Classification System goes into effect on July 1, 2024. Later today, Talent & Inclusion will email every staff member a personalized letter that captures the details pertaining to them and their position, including the following:

Business Title

• Position title visible in Active Directory and Workday. 

Job Profile

• Job Profiles describe their position in terms of major duties and responsibilities. These are generally more generic and may be very different than their business title. Several positions may be included within one Profile when they share job-specific details including Job Level, Pay Grade, and Job Family. 
  
  • For example, Job Profile = Department/Program/Operations Coordinator and Business Title = Department Coordinator. 

Job Level

• A grouping that organizes and structures jobs based on the level of work performed and provides clear distinctions regarding scope, complexity and educational or experience requirements. 

Job Family

• Broad grouping of jobs that involve work in the same field or general occupation. They support accurate comparisons of internal jobs and recruitment of qualified staff. 

Pay Grade and Salary Range

• The structure for the compensation system is made up of pay grades and salary ranges. Each position is assigned a pay grade based on the job description and factors like level of responsibility, skills required, and experience.  Each pay grade has a corresponding salary range that determines the minimum and maximum pay for employees in that grade.   

Equity Adjustment (where applicable)

Annual Salary Rate

This information, along with the associated job description, will be visible in your Workday profile in mid-July. In addition, our new webpage provides details on the philosophy and various features of the new Staff Compensation and Classification System. 

Talent & Inclusion will host training sessions for managers on the new system in the coming months. We appreciate your engagement with this important project. Please reach out to your Talent Strategy Partner and your manager or email compensation@wpi.edu with any questions or feedback.

The Talent & Inclusion Team

Division of Talent & Inclusion