Compensation benchmarking for Power Distribution Equipment Makers: fitters who read a new drawing every day
Fitters in this shop read a different drawing most days and estimators price tenders under pressure. Benchmarking sets pay for those skills, and for site staff who travel, against nearby makers and contractors.
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When product mix changes daily, a fitter who can pick up a new drawing and finish a clean board is worth more than one who only repeats a catalogue item. Yet both are often paid the same, since pay was set when they joined. Estimators carry the shop's tender wins but are paid as office staff. Site delivery and installation staff are away for days and receive the same allowance as someone in the shop.
Good looks like a pay sheet with steps for fitters, such as catalogue fitter, special fitter and senior fitter, and clear pay for estimators and site staff. You collect market points from candidates, contractors and leavers, and decide where to sit against them, including allowances for site days.
How to set it up
1. Define the fitter steps
Write catalogue fitter, special design fitter and senior fitter, with what each can do alone. Include reading new drawings, busbar fitting and test support as separate skills.
2. List current pay against steps
Place each person's pay beside his step and years. Look for senior skill paid at a junior rate and for rises given only after resignation threats.
3. Collect market points
Note pay offered by candidates, pay of leavers and what contractors pay for site work. Record role, years and any allowances. Treat each point as a clue, not as proof.
4. Price the site and tender roles
Compare pay for estimators and site staff with what nearby firms offer. Check site allowances against real costs and days away. See a pay structure review for a fuller method.
5. Share steps and review yearly
Tell each person his step and what moves him up. Review once a year and whenever a key person leaves, so pay keeps pace with the market.
Check these first
Before changing anything, find out what is true today. These take an afternoon and use your own records.
- List your three best fitters and compare their pay with that of fitters with half their experience.
- Check how site allowances compare with the days staff actually spend away.
- Count the staff who left for contractors or other makers in the last two years and their reasons.
- Ask your estimator what he would be paid at a nearby contractor.
GullyHR can do this with you. Read how we approach compensation benchmarking in general, or share your requirements and we will tell you where to start.
Questions owners ask
Check how much skill each needs. Special fitters read varied drawings and solve problems, so their step should reflect that. Make the step visible so catalogue fitters can see how to move up.
Often their total pay should reflect travel, longer days and responsibility at a customer's site. Decide through allowances and a clear step rather than ad hoc rises after each trip.
Ask candidates, suppliers and contractors you work with, and read adverts in your area. Pay data from several sources gives a range, which is more useful than any single figure.