Overview
Philosophy
Wake Forest University seeks to recruit and retain diverse, well-qualified, and highly-motivated faculty and staff members, while rewarding individual contributions to the institution, its students, and the community.
The University is committed to providing a comprehensive Total Rewards package to support its motto, Pro Humanitate (For Humanity), which is a calling to use our knowledge, talents, and compassion to better the lives of others.
Objectives
- Recruit and retain diverse, well-qualified, and highly motivated faculty and staff members; incent equitably and fairly, based on individual, departmental, and organizational performance.
- Provide strategic and operational advice to leadership on pay issues, market trends, and performance management.
- Set policies for managing compensation and career progression that ensure internal equity and consistent application of the program.
- Regularly monitor the effectiveness and compliance of the Compensation program and practices and its continued competitiveness, while mitigating risk for the University.
- Communicate the program to ensure understanding within the university community.
Job Descriptions
- Can be used to recruit, determine salary, orient new colleagues, set expectations, provide ongoing performance feedback, establish titles and pay grades, and meet legal requirements for compliance and accreditation.
- Are maintained by the individual’s department, and should be reviewed annually.
- Enable Human Resources to provide guidance to hiring managers about paying staff competitively for their contributions toward department and University success.
Job Description Tools
Checklist
The Job Description Checklist is a tool designed to help hiring managers think through a job’s critical components.
Template
The Job Description Template is a standard format for depicting position information; essential functions; other functions; required/preferred education, knowledge, skills, and abilities; and accountabilities.
Database
The Job Description Database contains copies of job descriptions for positions across campus. If you are unable to locate an existing job description, contact us and provide the position title and department.
Job Titling
Titling Guidelines provide a standard format to help ensure leadership titles are used consistently across the University. Additionally, the guidelines facilitate cross-university comparisons to advance pay equity.
Titles should:
- Represent the accountabilities and responsibilities of the job, not the individual.
- Create consistency in institutional reporting to federal agencies.
Titles should not:
- Reward incumbent performance or longevity.
- Replace appropriate pay.
- Be used to avoid FLSA.
Job Evaluations
Complete the Job Evaluation form to request Human Resources to review a position that has experienced a significant change in duties and responsibilities. These positions need to be evaluated for:
- Title classification
- Exemption status
- Salary (relative to market and grading)
- Legal and accreditation requirements
Market Data
Human Resources reviews job descriptions and provides departments with market data, broken out by factors such as industry, region, and organization size. Salary information is compared across higher education and other industries to develop the right blend for market pricing. Certain positions are common in the Winston-Salem area, and local wage comparisons suffice. Positions that are less common in the area may rely on state or national market data.
Comparatios (individuals’ salaries, as compared to the market average) are useful for identifying which pay rates fall below the 25th percentile, above the 75th percentile, and within the 50th percentile. Ideally, the majority of pay rates should have room to grow within the market ranges. The target is for staff members to be positioned in their pay range as follows:
- Staff who are new or developing in their position should be paid in the lower third of the range.
- The opportunity, over time, is for staff at the fully proficient level to be in the middle third of the range (at or near the midpoint). These individuals are considered good, solid performers. New staff with a few years of relevant job experience may also be paid in this range.
- The opportunity, over time, is for staff who are fully experienced, high performers to be paid in the upper third of the range. These individuals are considered pivotal performers. Staff with numerous years of relevant job experience may also be paid in this range.
Market Data Example:
| Positions | Market Salary | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 25th Percentile | 50th Percentile | 75th Percentile | |
| Job #1 | $28,000 | $35,000 | $42,000 |
| Job #2 | $32,600 | $41,000 | $48,400 |
| Job #3 | $34,200 | $38,000 | $48,800 |
| Overall Average | $31,600 | $38,000 | $46,000 |
Comparatio Example:
| Time in Role | Current Salary | Market Salary | % of Current Salary Compared to 50th | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25th Percentile | 50th Percentile | 75th Percentile | |||
| 5 years | $40,000 | $31,600 | $38,000 | $46,400 | 105% |