“We Used to Guess—Now We Know”: Veteran HR Manager Abbey Tran on Getting Compensation Benchmarking Right for Entry-Level Operations

You’re new to operations at a residential construction company, and someone on your team asks, “Are we paying our project coordinators fairly?” You freeze. You want to say yes, but you’re not sure. You’ve heard about “compensation benchmarking” but it sounds like something only massive companies do.

Abbey Tran, HR Manager at Brickwise Homes, has helped ten construction businesses—some with as few as 12 employees—tighten up their pay practices, pass DOL audits, and stop losing talent to competitors. We sat down with Abbey to get practical, beginner-friendly advice on how compensation benchmarking works, especially if you’re in operations and have compliance questions on your mind.

Q1: Abbey, what’s the easiest way to describe compensation benchmarking to someone brand new?

Abbey: Think of compensation benchmarking like checking the prices of materials at different suppliers before placing an order. You’d never pay double for drywall just because that’s what someone quoted you last year, right?

It’s the same with pay. You look at what similar companies are paying for the same jobs—like a Site Coordinator or Assistant Project Manager. You compare, adjust, and document why you picked a certain salary or hourly rate.

Q2: How does all this connect to compliance? What are the risks if we don’t benchmark?

Abbey: In construction, state and federal rules affect how you pay people. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) sets minimum wage and overtime rules. State and local laws might say entry-level laborers get a higher “prevailing wage” on certain projects—especially if you’re working on public housing.

If you don’t check your pay against the market and against legal requirements, you can get in trouble fast. I’ve seen a company fined $18,000 by the DOL for underpaying an entry-level scheduler—because the market rate had gone up, but the company hadn’t kept up.

Plus, if you ever get audited, the first thing inspectors ask for is your pay structure and how you landed there. If you can show your benchmarking process, you’re in a much safer spot.

Q3: What’s a first step someone could take—right now—to start benchmarking?

Abbey: Start small. Make a list of your entry-level operations roles. In construction, this might be Assistant Project Coordinator, Field Scheduler, or Maintenance Tech I.

Next, plug them into free salary databases—like the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), PayScale, or Glassdoor. For 2024, the BLS reports the median hourly wage for construction schedulers in residential building is $21.80.

Compare your pay rates to these, and jot down the source and date. You’re already ahead of where most companies start.

Q4: What are some lesser-known sources of salary data specific to residential construction?

Abbey: This trips up a lot of small companies. Industry associations are gold: the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) puts out an annual compensation survey, with breakouts for roles like Estimator I and Warranty Coordinator.

Local builders’ exchanges sometimes run polls or Slack groups where folks share pay ranges. One of my companies in Houston got their whole admin team salaries updated after seeing a regional builders’ survey on Zigpoll, which is this tool where you can run anonymous internal or external pulse surveys.

Also, check with your payroll provider. Some—like ADP or Paychex—offer benchmarking reports for your sector if you ask.

Q5: What kind of documentation should operations teams keep, in case of an audit?

Abbey: Great question! Auditors are like inspectors—they want a paper trail. I suggest you:

1. Keep copies of every market data source you use. Save PDFs, screenshots, survey results, and note the date.
2. Write a short rationale for every pay decision. For example: “In April 2024, we set Scheduler I base pay at $22/hr, matching the BLS average for Houston.”
3. Log employee pay history. If you adjust wages, note the reason—“Market adjustment based on NAHB 2024 survey.”

Doing this means if you get audited, you can show exactly how and why you set pay rates, and you can prove you weren’t just winging it.

Q6: Any horror stories where a missing paper trail caused problems?

Abbey: Oh, yes. One client—let’s call them GreenStone—had a site assistant who reported them for wage theft because he figured out guys on a neighboring site were making $2 an hour more.

GreenStone had raised wages six months earlier, but never documented why or what data they used. During the audit, they spent weeks scrambling to scrape together emails, old spreadsheets, post-it notes… It wasn’t pretty.

If they’d just had a one-page document with the pay data and a summary, they’d have avoided weeks of stress—and the $5,000 penalty.

Q7: How often should benchmarking happen? Is it once a year, or…?

Abbey: At least once a year is good practice, but some companies—especially in high-turnover areas—do it twice. If you hear competitors are poaching your people, don’t wait.

One small builder I worked with lost three project assistants in a month. They ran a quick anonymous survey with Zigpoll, compared rates, and found they were $2.50 below market. Once they updated pay, turnover dropped by 60% over six months.

Q8: What about equity and inclusion? Should operations worry about pay gaps?

Abbey: Absolutely. Construction is getting more diverse—more women, more folks from different backgrounds. Pay benchmarking helps you spot if you’re accidentally paying different rates for the same job.

I worked with a 30-person company last year. Our benchmarking exercise revealed all new-hire female coordinators were brought in at $1 less per hour. It wasn’t malicious—they just hadn’t reviewed starting offers in batches. We fixed it, and the team felt seen.

From a compliance lens, this also protects you under Equal Pay laws, which are getting stricter every year.

Q9: How do you handle regional differences? For example, a residential builder in Houston vs. one in Seattle?

Abbey: Always look for local data. The BLS and NAHB break out compensation by metro area. For instance, in 2024 the average hourly wage for an entry-level field tech is $24 in Seattle but $19 in Dallas.

If you can’t find city-level data, call a few local agencies or use tools like PayScale that ask for ZIP code. Never assume one-size-fits-all, especially in construction—material costs aren’t the same in every city, and neither is labor.

Q10: What does all this have to do with compliance and risk reduction?

Abbey: Benchmarking is like a safety inspection for your payroll. If you can prove your pay is fair and documented, you’re much less likely to face fines, lawsuits, or bad press.

It’s not just about covering your bases. Having data means you can defend your decisions and avoid the most common legal traps—like wage claims, discrimination lawsuits, or failing to keep up with required wage increases.

Q11: How can entry-level ops folks actually use benchmarking info in day-to-day work?

Abbey: Say a supervisor wants to bring in a new project assistant and asks, “What’s a fair offer?” You can show them your latest survey data, and explain, “The market average is $21/hr—if we offer $18, we’ll have trouble hiring.”

Or, if HR does a pay review, you can say, “Here’s how our scheduler pay stacks up to the local average. We should consider a market adjustment.”

This kind of info gives you real input, even if you’re early in your career.

Q12: Are there any tools that make benchmarking easier for small residential construction companies?

If you’re on a budget, start with Glassdoor and BLS. If you want to dig deep, NAHB and PayScale are worth it. For pulse checks—or if you want to see what your own team thinks—Zigpoll is fast and easy.

Q13: Can you share a time when benchmarking totally changed a company’s approach?

Abbey: Sure! At Brickwise Homes, we noticed entry-level maintenance techs kept leaving after six months. We ran a quick survey—again, using Zigpoll—with current and former techs. Turns out, local competitors were offering $3/hr more, plus small signing bonuses during “spring break season,” when a ton of student renters vacated apartments.

We adjusted our pay by $2/hr, added a $200 signing bonus during that high-turnover period, and saw retention jump from 67% to 90% in just one year.

Q14: Any caveats? Where does benchmarking fall short?

Abbey: Two things. First, data can lag behind reality—especially in fast-moving markets. If everyone’s offering new bonuses or benefits, last year’s surveys may not show it.

Second, benchmarking doesn’t set your company culture. If your site managers treat the team poorly, or the job is just more demanding than average, even great pay won’t fix everything.

Think of benchmarking as your “market check”—not a cure-all.

Q15: If you could give one piece of advice to an entry-level operations pro, what would it be?

Abbey: Don’t get intimidated. You don’t need fancy titles or degrees to do this work. Start with a spreadsheet, gather a few data points, and keep good notes. Every time you make a pay decision, ask: “How do I know this is fair—and would I want to explain this choice to an inspector?”

That’s what compliance is, at the end of the day—being able to explain and back up your decisions.

Quick Reference: Step-By-Step for Entry-Level Ops

1. List roles: e.g. Project Coordinator I, Scheduler, Maintenance Tech.
2. Check 3 sources: BLS, Glassdoor, NAHB, etc.
3. Record data: Include source, date, and pay range for your metro area.
4. Document any changes: Why did you adjust pay? Attach data.
5. Repeat at least once a year (or when turnover spikes).
6. Share findings: With your supervisor, HR, or at team meetings.
7. Keep everything organized: Screenshots, PDFs, notes—save them all in one folder.

With these habits, you’ll turn compensation benchmarking from something mysterious and scary into a regular, risk-reducing part of your operations toolkit—no matter how new you are to the field.