NRC Iraq Salary & Benefits Review Consultant

BACKGROUND

NRC Iraq conducted a review of its salary scale for national staff at the end of 2015 with implementation following in January 2016. The salary scale review was completed by the Head of Support, Change Manager and benefits team in Oslo.

The implementation of the new salary scale has been challenging for NRC Iraq as some staff were regraded lower than they had been on the previous scale leading to retention specifically of senior national staff and NRC has had a higher number of rejections of offers of new staff. The new salary scale ranges from Grade 1 (Cleaner) to Grade 11 (Country Director). The grade ranges from: Cleaners, Drivers, Assistants, Officers, Core Competency Team Leaders, Coordinators, Project Managers, Middle Managers/Experts/Advisors, Area Managers, Head of Support/Programme and Country Directors. In each grade there are 8 steps.

In the 2015 Salary Scale: there were 10 grades (National Senior Manager, Coordinator, Senior Officer, Officer, Senior Assistant, Assistant, Support III, Support II, Support I and Auxiliary Staff) and there were 7 steps in each grade. As a result of the new salary scale, some positions; i.e. Senior Officers were adjusted to Coordinators. The salary ranges of the 2015 scale were a higher amount compared to 2016 scale. As a consequence, some staff were slotted to steps above 1. This has created lots of differences in salary for new staff as they started on the scale from step 1, while others have reached step 4-5 in the grade. In addition, some staff also reached the highest step in their grade and their salaries cannot be adjusted/increased any longer. There were no guidelines on how the salary scale should be implemented and HR officers would use the staff handbook as a guideline, as a result there are inconsistencies across staff doing the same role.

In terms of recruitment, NRC Iraq have faced challenges as the salaries for some positions are no longer competitive in the market.

NRC Iraq would like to review the current salary scale and benefits (Social security, tax, insurance), the review must be benchmarked against other similar organisations.

The consultant’s assignment will be to review NRC Iraq’s current salary scale and benefit package and make recommendations. These recommendations must be backed up by benchmarking and justifications for change. The Consultant must follow NRC guidelines and policy related to pay and benefits in this review, with any recommendations reflecting the part of the market NRC aims for.

In addition, NRC Iraq would also like a review of incentive workers daily rate and benefits, with a comparison against other NGOs. The Consultant will be required to review policies applicable both internally in NRC and against similar organisations in Iraq summing up with recommendations to NRC Iraq.

Any proposed changes must be in line with NRC policies and guidance on salary and benefits for national staff. NRC-105991

OBJECTIVES

The main objectives for the consultancy:

To review the current salary scale and benefits package for national staff in NRC Iraq, make recommendations based on solid research and benchmarking. If changes are recommended, the consultant should produce guidance for NRC Iraq on implementing any changes consistently across NRC Iraq for HR staff and managers in Iraq.

Review the current package for Incentive workers in NRC Iraq, produce a report detailing information found and any recommendations for change which would ensure NRC remains competitive and fulfils basic duty of care (i.e number of days off taken on average per incentive worker).

PROGRESS PLAN

10 days: Detailed written report analysing (with supporting evidence) the National Staff salary scale and benefits and current challenges for NRC on recruitment and retention.

1 day: Recommendations against evidence found in report of point 1 including a proposed new salary scale for NRC Iraq (if research warrants it).

4 days: Guidelines on the implementation of any recommendation changes to salary or benefits; including presentation to the management

2 days: Business Case for some staff salary adjustment

3 days: Analysis of current Incentive worker’s payment and benefits against other similar NGO’s, report on recommendations to be made (if any) and proposal of how NRC can implement the changes.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION  

 PHASE 1 

Review and assess National Staff salary scale and benefits producing data to back up research, reviewing current challenges for NRC on recruitment and retention and benchmarking data against other NGO’s and NRC guidelines.

• 1-2-1 interviews with CMG HR recruitment staff, a selection of line managers and staff reps. or staff on recruitment and retentions of national staff and incentive workers in Iraq. Compensation and Benefits Adviser in Oslo.
• Review NRC’s current salary structure & compensation package against other INGO’s Rewards packages

·         NRC is part of Birches* market Survey, undertake a Market Survey data for Iraq using birches

·         (In the unlikely case) this does not work, recommend a list of possible organizations that should be considered for salary survey. Collecting information on salary and benefits given by other organizations in the Country (DRC, IRC, Save the Children, etc)

• Provide an overview of staff benefits, compare against other NGO’s and review where NRC could be more competitive and attractive as an employer
• Assess the growth possibility of staff within the pay grade of their current positions
• Research and produce data comparing NRC payment and benefits for Incentive workers
• Produce report outlining findings

PHASE 2

Based on research and solid data, make recommendations to NRC CMG about potential changes if research from Phase 1 justifies it.

• Produce a suggested salary scale based on research, data collection from the market and NRC Guidelines* (*Any recommendations must adhere to NRC policies and guidelines).
• Develop suggested guidelines on the implementation of the new salary structure.
• Develop solutions to in order to retain/attract the right staff (e.g. market supplements, possible adaptations for the salary structure, other comps and benefits etc.)
• Present in written report form and verbally with presentation, present to NRC CMG, HR Manager, Regional HR Adviser (MERO) and Compensation and Benefits Adviser in Oslo .
• Produce written recommendations on Incentive worker’s payment, suggested benefits and Duty of care (working hours/time off) to NRC CMG, HR Manager, Regional HR Adviser (MERO).

 PHASE 3: IMPLEMENTATION AND GUIDANCE.

Produce guidance in documented form for NRC Managers and HR staff on how to use the salary scale and implement consistently and fairly.

• Develop a clear and easy to use guidance on how to implement the salary scale including guidance on consistently grading staff and awarding benefits package in line with NRC Global Grade Profiling (and the Job Evaluation and Grading Manual).
• Develop solutions to in order to retain/attract the right staff (e.g. market supplements, possible adaptations for the salary structure, other comps and benefits etc.)
• Implement the solutions, staff representation, HQ approval, writing business case for HQ HR.
• Produce guidance on incentive workers, payments and benefits with suggestions for implementation.

ENQUIRIES:

Candidates are requested to send their expression of interest via email to Yudit Yuhana yudit.yuhana@nrc.no