Williamson County commissioners heard an overview from the group conducting a compensation study of county employees during a Commissioners Court meeting Jan. 22.

The group wants to look at whether job descriptions and classifications are being accurately reflected and that employees are being fairly compensated for their efforts, Evergreen Solutions Manager Brian Wolfe said.

The Classification and Market Study will also look at how the county is competing in the marketplace, he said.

During his presentation, Wolfe said the ultimate goal of the study is to produce a report that summarizes findings and gives the county recommendations on how to balance any inequities that might be uncovered.

The group is currently assembling employee information and other data for the study, Wolfe said.

This week, Wolfe said he would be meeting with elected officials and department heads to get a consensus of the county's compensation philosophy as well as conducting orientation sessions with employees.

Employees will be asked to fill out a Job Assessment Tool in which Evergreen Solutions will ask them to explain what their jobs are in their own words.

"This JAT is not intended as a performance assessment. We are not here to determine who the good employees are, who the bad employees are, the high performers and the low performers," Wolfe said.

Secondly, this is not a staffing study, he said, meaning that people are not being asked to apply for their own jobs.

He also emphasized that the study is not meant to cut employees' paychecks.

Evergreen Solutions should take from 90 to 100 days to complete the study, Wolfe said.

"While we want this as quick as we can get it, we want a very comprehensive, complete study," County Judge Dan A. Gattis said.

Evergreen Solutions is a Tallahassee, Fla.–based consulting firm that works with public sector clients.