About Us
Applied HR Strategies, Inc. (AHRS) was founded in 1999 by Doug Sayed. Since that time, AHRS has advised many northwest companies in all aspects of compensation and total rewards, from complete ground-up compensation program development (one of our specialties) to the development of sales, incentive, executive, equity and board compensation programs and analysis.
In 2005, Jill Odegard joined AHRS, and is now a principal of the firm too, in addition to Doug Sayed. See "about us" for more information.
Current happenings
AHRS is offering compensation training via the HR RoundTable (HRRT) in January through March of 2018. If you are an HRRT member, you should have already received an announcement. If you are interested in becoming a member of the HRRT, please contact Carol Olsby at carol@carololsby.com. We will offer this training again later in 2018, in the fall (dates TBD).
For local/regional technology pay data, consider the 2017 edition of the Northwest Technology Survey, which is a regional survey of pay for benchmark technology roles (over 220 of them). While the participation period has ended, the survey results are now out and available for purchase. For more information, and to order the survey results and/or to sign up to participate in the 2018 version of the survey
We also offer custom training for your group or organization. Please contact us for more information.
What is your company's most valuable asset?
Applied HR Strategies (AHRS) was formed in 1999 to assist the business community to more strategically and effectively manage the human assets of their business, especially with regard to pay, pay competitiveness, short and long-term incentives, and the strategic management of people for the mutual benefit of the business and its workforce. Many businesses claim that people are their "most important asset," but often don't put forth the significant efforts required to assure that their people are managed effectively, paid competitively, and have the proper incentives to move the business toward its strategic goals.
AHRS is devoted to helping businesses manage their most important asset more effectively, to help attract, retain and motivate their workforce, while getting the most "bang for their buck" in compensating their employees. In addition, AHRS helps companies comply with relevant laws and statutes in the management of their human resources.
While strategic compensation consulting is our primary business, AHRS is also the developer of the StrategicPay® Series (a series of "do it yourself" toolkits for developing your own strategic compensation programs*) and a partner with Milliman, Inc. in the Northwest Technology Survey, a survey of pay in technology and related jobs in the northwest.
AHRS offers services in the following areas:
Strategic compensation consulting (see the "consulting" page for more detail)
Compensation and related training and workshops for HR and compensation professionals and executives (see the "training" page for more information)
Industry compensation surveys (see "surveys") and custom salary surveys
HR and compensation audits and strategic HR/compensation reviews (see "consulting" for more detail)
Visit us on Facebook page to stay up on the latest compensation and rewards trends and research! "Like" our page and you'll be able to keep up on the latest rewards-related information. We will be regularly posting information and links of interest to HR and compensation/rewards professionals.
AHRS Strategic Partners
Testimonials
The StrategicPay® Series is About Value. Some may look at the cost of the various StrategicPay® Series toolkits and say "that sort of seems like a lot." But think about what you get in terms of real value. You'll receive the expertise, tools and the intellectual property of highly experienced consultants (that no consultant would ever just give away), for a small fraction of the cost of using a consultant to do most or all of the work in building your organization's strategic compensation programs. You might think of it this way: if I'm willing to supply my own "elbow grease" to accomplish our compensation development objectives, I can accomplish it for approximately 1/5th to 1/20th of the cost of having a consultant do the work! As an added bonus, I'm going to learn a lot, improve my skills and career options, plus save my company a bundle. Now that's value!
- StrategicPay Series is About Value
"I like to think of Doug as one of Seattle's compensation celebrities. This year I attended two sessions from the StrategicPay Series and was impressed with his knowledge, experience and enthusiasm for all things pay related. Doug's presentation of compensation trends and the local labor market offers a competitive advantage for tech companies looking to recruit, retain and motivate employees in the Pacific Northwest."
- Sr. Compensation Consultant InfoSpace, Inc.
"Thanks to Doug for helping us get our new enterprise off to a great recruiting start. Doug worked with us to understand the current market for top talent. His annual salary survey, counsel and referrals have been valuable ongoing resources for DS-IQ as we build our team."
- President and CEO DS-IQ, Inc.
"I like to think of Doug as one of Seattle's compensation celebrities. This year I attended two sessions from the Strategic Pay Series and was impressed with his knowledge, experience and enthusiasm for all things pay related. Doug's presentation of compensation trends and the local labor market offers a competitive advantage for tech companies looking to recruit, retain and motivate employees in the Pacific Northwest. Additionally, Jill Odegard's presentation on the salary planning process was refreshing and gave me a new way to think about my company's annual process. Overall the time spent attending their seminars was a great investment and I look forward to working with Doug & Jill again in the future."
- Windsor Lewis-Gloy, CCP, GRP, PHR InfoSpace, Inc.
"Doug Sayed and Applied HR Strategies provide the highest value, quality compensation consultation services in the Northwest. I have been a client for many years and found their work and customer service outstanding!"
- VP, Human Resources Concur Technologies, Inc.
"Doug is a great resource, a solid and knowledgeable HR Consultant and a pleasure to work with. I have found him to be responsive, thorough and professional. He worked within the agreed upon scope and completed the project on time with a very good final product."
- VP of Human Resources Overlake Hospital Medical Center
"Applied HR Strategies (developer of the StrategicPay® Series) is the consulting company for software industry compensation expertise in the Northwest". "When our company formalized its compensation practices, Doug and his team were the obvious partners for us. They blend theory and insight with a practical approach and bring years of hands-on experience. The tools and structure that they built with us are widely used and have made a tremendous difference in how we manage compensation in our company."
- Sr. Director, Human Resources Varolii Corporation
"Applied HR Strategies, Inc. (developer of the StrategicPay® Series) is theconsulting company for software industry compensation expertise in the Northwest." "When our company formalized its compensation practices, Doug Sayed and his team were the obvious partners for us. They blend theory and insight with a practical approach and bring years of hands-on experience. The tools and structure that they built with us are widely used and have made a tremendous difference in how we manage compensation in our company."
- Sr. Director, Human Resources Varolii Corporation
My boss just asked me to develop a new compensation plan - HELP!
Your boss just asked you to develop a new compensation program (base pay plan, incentive plan, performance management program linked to pay, etc.), but you're not sure where to start. That's where the StrategicPay® Series shines. The various Series toolkits are developed by highly-experienced compensation practitioners and consultants, and can lead the way for you. The toolkit's step-by-step instruction, pre-built tools and templates will take you further than any currently-available books on compensation, because they were designed for one key purpose: to help HR professionals, executives, and even experienced compensation professionals, to develop plans and programs that are normally contracted out to compensation consultants (at a cost many times greater than the Series toolkits), using many of the same tools that the consultants themselves use.
- You Can Do it Yourself!
Why the StrategicPay® Series?
Not every company can (or even wants to) afford using a compensation consultant every time a new compensation-related need arises. If you're trying to tackle a new or difficult compensation project, tell your CEO you can save the company thousands of dollars, but it will take a bit more time and work. If your CEO likes the idea of saving thousands, then the StrategicPay® Series makes sense for you! Save your company money, enhance your skill set and career, and show your CEO (and CFO) you're all about increasing the company's return on investment (ROI) on the money it spends.
- Save Money, Enhance Your Career
"AHRS is the firm I go to when I need solid compensation data and/or analysis. In addition, Doug's HR experience helps put the compensation picture into perspective. I find Doug to be extremely knowledgeable and professional and able to explain concepts in easy-to-understand terms. The consulting work he has done for us has hit the target for what we needed every time."