—
Note on AI-assisted analysis: Holly's similarity algorithm surfaces comparators based on job class specifications and salary data. Its recommendations are designed to support your professional judgment, not replace it. You are always in control of which comparators make the final cut.
—
Components of a Salary Suvey
How to Review and Validate Your Analysis Results
Step 1: Open the class spec go to the “Market” tab
In the Market tab, you can generate a table of potential benchmarks underneath the "Configure market benchmarks".
If a blue button with "Start Analysis" exists, click on it to load the benchmarks
If a table is already loaded, check to confirm that the desired set of comparators has been included. If there were any additional agencies added post-analysis, you can refresh the table to incorporate these agencies by clicking the "Refresh" button in the three vertical dots on the right.
Step 2: Confirm your list of results list has the desired agencies
Open your Market Analysis and review the full list of jurisdictions and job classes surfaced as comparators. At a glance, confirm that the expected jurisdictions are present and that the role names look relevant to your study.
Review the comparator list for coverage — are the key jurisdictions you'd expect represented?
If you know you will always want a match that shows up for each jurisdiction, reach out to the Holly team via chat support. Holly has the ability to set an organizational preference so a match always shows up for each jurisdiction.
If not, look into adding them manually. It could be that the agency may not have class specs that have a high enough similarity score to be included.
Step 3: If desired, use Holly’s filter tools to limit the number of benchmarks displayed
Holly's default is to provide as many relevant benchmarks as possible, with the ability for users to filter out by agency, top matches, match quality, etc. Our intention is to ensure transparency in the total number that can exist while giving users the power to reduce how many matches they want to look at based on certain metrics.
Step 4: Drill into entries to validate each comparator
Holly makes it easy to investigate each source without leaving the platform within the comparator detail view. When you open a comparator's detail view, here's what each section tells you:
Class Specification — The full job spec as uploaded to Holly: duties, scope, requirements.
Analysis — Holly's explanation of why this role was rated a strong match.
Sources — Where the spec and salary data came from, with direct links to original documents.
Use the Sources links as your primary verification tool. If the original document supports what Holly is showing, you can move forward with confidence.
Click the arrow next to the comparator you want to investigate.
Review the class specification as it was uploaded to Holly. Read through the role's duties and scope
Check the Analysis section to understand why Holly's algorithm rated this as a strong match.
Open the Sources section to see where the class specification and salary data originated.
Click the specification source link to open the original document in a new tab and verify the data directly.
Cross-check the salary source as well — confirm it aligns with what you'd expect for that jurisdiction and role level.
If you notice a discrepancy, let the Holly team know by clicking the three vertical dots on the right and marking the data as incorrect. Include an explanation for why. A Holly team member will investigate the matter.
Step 5: Refine your analysis list
With full context in hand, you're ready to make informed decisions about which market specifications belong in your study. This is where your professional judgment shapes the final dataset.
If a comparator's data matches its source and the role is a genuine fit, keep it by clicking “toggle on”
If a comparator is sourced accurately but doesn't align with your study's scope, you can leave it as is with the “toggle off”
If data doesn't match its source, flag it for the Holly team to investigate by clicking the three vertical dots on the right-hand side to select the data issue option
Repeat this review for each comparator you flagged during your initial scan.
Why Validation Matters and Questions to Consider
Why Validation Matters and Questions to Consider
Compensation benchmarking is one of the most consequential workflows an HR team performs. When you run a Market Analysis on a class spec in Holly, the platform's similarity algorithm does the heavy lifting: scanning job class specifications across jurisdictions and surfacing the comparators most likely to match your target role. But at Holly, we believe in a “trust but verify” approach to ensure you have the means to confirm the best comparator benchmarks for a class spec. A strong study isn't just about what the algorithm finds. It's about what you confirm.
Validating the top comparators in a class spec’s Market Analysis means reviewing each comparator with a critical eye:
Does this role actually reflect the work your classification performs? Is the scope of duties comparable?
Lead/supervisory responsibilities: Does the comparator have the same level of supervisory or lead duties?
Agency-wide vs. department-specific: Is the class broadly used across the org, or siloed to one department?
Prior match history: If the class was used in a previous study, use that as a reference point. If a previously-used match doesn't appear in Holly (below 70% threshold), manually add it and assess why.
These questions matter because a number is only as meaningful as the role it came from. A well-matched comparator strengthens your study; a misaligned one, even with accurate data, can undermine your conclusions.
That's what makes validation the difference between an analysis and a defensible analysis — the kind you can present to leadership or bring to a labor negotiation table with confidence.
Holly makes this process fast and transparent. Every comparator comes with its source documents, algorithm reasoning, and direct links to original data so you can assess relevance quickly and move forward with clarity.
Step 6: Export your results
After you've "toggled on" the desired comparators, you can click the three vertical dots at the top right of the tab.
You can then export the data as an Excel, CSV, or two different types of Word documents. You can also limit the reports to only show the "toggled on" comparators, or all of them (the latter is helpful if you'd like to show all options for internal reference).
The Result: A Study You Can Stand Behind
A validated Market Analysis isn't just cleaner data — it's a stronger foundation for every decision that follows. Whether you're presenting recommendations to department heads, preparing for labor negotiations, or building the case for a classification study, a well-validated benchmark gives you the evidence base to move forward with authority.
If you encounter data that can't be verified or need guidance on an unusual comparator, reach out to us at [email protected] - we're here to help.