HR consultancy or people advisory firm
Free HR Consulting Proposal Template
A free HR consulting proposal template with compensation benchmarking, org design, implementation support, and milestone payments.
Compensation and Org Design Proposal
A structured engagement to benchmark compensation, redesign the leveling framework, and align organizational structure with Trailmark Software's growth trajectory.
Why now.
Trailmark Software has grown from 40 to over a hundred employees in two years, and the compensation practices and organizational structure that worked at the earlier stage are now creating friction: inconsistent pay decisions, unclear career progression, and reporting lines that no longer reflect how work actually gets done. Equitas People Advisory will benchmark compensation against market data, design a leveling and pay framework, recommend organizational adjustments, and support implementation so the changes land cleanly with managers and employees.
The problem & solution.
Compensation decisions are made ad hoc by individual managers without market data or internal equity analysis, resulting in pay compression between levels, offer rejections from competitive candidates, and attrition among tenured employees who discover newer hires are paid more for similar roles.
Equitas People Advisory will collect and analyze market compensation data for all roles, design a leveling framework with pay bands tied to market percentiles, identify organizational structure gaps, and support the People team through rollout including manager talking points and FAQ documentation.
Success Metrics
- Internal pay equity
- Current
- No structured analysis exists; anecdotal compression reported
- Target
- All roles mapped to levels with pay bands, and a remediation plan for outliers
- Offer acceptance rate
- Current
- 68 percent trailing twelve months
- Target
- Above 80 percent within two quarters of framework rollout
- Regrettable attrition
- Current
- 19 percent annualized, with compensation cited as a top factor
- Target
- Below 12 percent annualized within twelve months
How we engage.
A data-driven compensation and org design approach that pairs external market benchmarking with internal equity analysis and hands-on implementation support.
Client Dependencies
- Access to current employee data including titles, compensation, tenure, and reporting structure
- Participation from department heads in discovery interviews
- Executive alignment on target market positioning before framework design begins
- Timely review of the draft framework and organizational recommendations
What's in & out.
In Scope
- Market compensation benchmarking for all roles using published survey data
- Internal pay equity analysis identifying compression and outliers
- Leveling framework with defined career levels and pay bands
- Organizational structure review with recommendations for reporting and span of control
- Implementation support including manager communication guides and employee FAQ
- Remediation plan for pay outliers with budgetary impact analysis
Out of Scope
- Benefits program design or vendor selection
- Executive compensation or equity plan design
- HRIS implementation or payroll system changes
- Ongoing compensation administration after handoff
Success Prerequisites
- Complete and accurate employee data is exported from the HRIS in the first week
- Executive team agrees on the target market percentile positioning before framework design
- A remediation budget is identified before the implementation phase begins
What you'll receive.
- 01Benchmarking and equity reportEnd of week 3
Market compensation data for all roles, internal pay equity analysis, compression and outlier identification, and a summary of organizational structure observations.
- 02Leveling and compensation frameworkEnd of week 7
Career level definitions, pay bands by level and function, mapping of all current employees to the new framework, and organizational structure recommendations.
- 03Implementation toolkitEnd of week 12
Manager communication guide, employee FAQ, remediation plan with budget impact, and a rollout timeline sequenced with the next compensation cycle.
- 04Review and handoff packageEnd of week 14
Post-rollout review of manager and employee questions, framework adjustment recommendations, and documentation for ongoing administration by the People team.
Phases, deliverables, allocations & dates.
- ·Benchmarking and equity report
- ·Leveling and compensation framework
- ·Implementation toolkit
- ·Review and handoff package
Fees & schedule.
Net 15
Pre-approved travel and expenses are billed at cost. Market compensation survey subscriptions used in benchmarking are included in the engagement fee.
Fees
Employee data collection, market benchmarking, internal pay equity analysis, and organizational structure observations.
Leveling framework, pay bands, employee mapping, and organizational structure recommendations.
Manager communication guide, employee FAQ, remediation plan, and rollout support.
Post-rollout review, framework adjustments, and administration documentation.
Payment Schedule
Why this team.
Team Members
Leads the engagement, stakeholder alignment, and executive-level recommendations on compensation strategy and organizational design.
Owns market data analysis, pay equity modeling, employee mapping, and framework documentation.
Case Studies
Designed and implemented a leveling and compensation framework during a period of rapid headcount growth.
Conducted an internal equity audit and redesigned the pay structure after a merger created overlapping roles with inconsistent compensation.
Differentiators
- Frameworks are built on the client's actual data and market position, not a templated structure applied to every company
- Implementation support is included in the engagement, so the framework is rolled out rather than just delivered as a document
- Organizational design recommendations are grounded in how work flows today, not an idealized org chart
What could go wrong.
The fine print.
This proposal may be attached to a separate services agreement if the parties choose to execute one.
Client owns all deliverables, frameworks, and documentation after all fees are paid. Equitas People Advisory retains ownership of reusable methodologies, benchmarking tools, and pre-existing analytical models.
Either party may terminate with 14 days written notice. Work completed through the termination date remains payable. Any pre-paid amounts for undelivered phases are refunded within 30 days.
What's inside this free HR consulting proposal template
This HR consulting proposal template is a complete, editable example for HR consultancies and people advisory firms scoping a compensation and org-design project. It covers discovery and benchmarking, framework design, implementation support with change management, and a structured handoff.
- Discovery: stakeholder interviews and compensation benchmarking
- Framework design: compensation bands, leveling, and org structure
- Implementation support with manager briefings and communication plan
- Review and handoff with documentation and training
- Milestone payments across the engagement
How to use this HR consulting proposal template
Preview the full example above, then open it in InkDraft to make it yours. Replace the sample scope with your actual project, adjust the benchmarking approach and implementation plan, and set the milestone payments. When the proposal reads the way you want it, send it for review and signature or export a PDF.
Template questions
What should an HR consulting proposal include?
A strong HR consulting proposal covers the discovery and benchmarking phase, the deliverable framework (compensation bands, org structure, policies), implementation support, and a review and handoff. Pricing should be tied to milestones rather than open-ended hours.
How do you price HR consulting?
Price by project phase: discovery, framework design, implementation support, and handoff. Fixed-price per phase is standard because the deliverables are well-defined and the client can budget against them.
Should an HR consulting proposal include change management?
If the deliverable affects how people are compensated, promoted, or organized, change management is not optional. Include communication planning, manager briefings, and a feedback loop in the implementation phase.
What should be out of scope in an HR consulting proposal?
Typically legal review of employment contracts, benefits administration, payroll system implementation, and ongoing HR operations. These are specialist engagements that deserve their own scope.