Brand Basics
Astron Solutions is a compensation and HR consulting agency that primarily serves nonprofits and small and mid-sized businesses. When it comes to compensation, we take a total rewards approach to ensure our clients receive a holistic overview of their compensation strategy, strategically allocate their budgets, and provide compensation packages that retain employees.
Compensation Consulting
Astron Solutions provides compensation consulting services to nonprofits and small and mid-sized businesses. In particular, Astron Solutions specializes in total rewards compensation to help organizations with tight budgets provide competitive, holistic compensation packages.
As part of our compensation consulting services, we offer:
- Market analysis and benchmarking
- Compensation system redesign
- Executive compensation consulting
- Incentive compensation consulting
- Pay equity analysis
- Custom total compensation surveys
HR Consulting
While Astron Solutions specializes in compensation consulting, we also provide HR consulting services. These include:
- Employee recruitment, engagement, and retention support
- Performance management assistance
- Career progression program creation
- Custom employee survey development and execution
Web-Based Talent Management Software with Flare®
Flare® provides organizations with web-based templates and online management tools that allow them to engage employees throughout the entire employment lifecycle. Flare® is a modular tool, allowing organizations to customize their talent management system to their exact needs.
Flare® has modules for:
- Job Description Development
- Job Evaluation
- Compensation System Administration
- Pay for Performance System Administration
- Performance Management
- Total Rewards Statements
- Employee Recognition
- Incentive/Compensation Tracker
- Exit Interviews
- Staff Advancement Monitor™
- Organization Charts
Finders Keepers™ Employee Retention
Finders Keepers™ is Astron Solutions’ employee retention tool that helps organizations survey employees about their experiences. With this tool, organizations can create the following surveys to better understand and retain their employees:
- First Impressions Survey
- Stay Interviews
- Organizational Opinion Survey
- Exit Interviews
Industries Served
Astron Solutions primarily serves nonprofits and small and mid-sized businesses. Specifically, we work with:
- Nonprofits
- Small Businesses
- Mid-Sized Businesses
- Healthcare Organizations
- Social Services Organizations
- Associations
- Foundations
- Financial Organizations
- Educational Institutions
- Manufacturing Companies
Problems Astron Solutions Solves
Compensation Policy Creation
Creating a compensation policy requires understanding relevant compensation laws, balancing your organization’s budget, and staying competitive with similar organizations. Astron Solutions provides the research and knowledge necessary for creating fair compensation policies that attract and retain top talent.
Pay Equity Challenges
Pay equity challenges can occur at any organization, with rapid growth, mergers, and legacy pay practices being common reasons why these challenges crop up. Astron Solutions can analyze an organization’s pay practices and policies to identify issues, suggest solutions, and implement long-term, sustainable fixes.
Legal Compliance
Astron Solutions’ team of experts stays up to date on all relevant compensation and HR laws for each of their clients. This enables us to help clients navigate complex laws, adjust processes to comply with pertinent legislation, and implement processes that help them maintain compliance.
Company History
Astron Solutions’ founders got the idea for Astron during their time working for a large compensation consulting firm that primarily served Fortune 500-level organizations. While the work was strong, the fee structure was often out of reach for smaller organizations. Projects typically included not only consulting fees, but also pass-through expenses, administrative charges, and minimum profit thresholds that made many engagements cost-prohibitive.
They realized there was a clear need in the compensation and HR marketplace: high-quality, comprehensive compensation consulting services that nonprofits and small to mid-size organizations could actually afford.
Astron Solutions then began in 1999 with two National Partners working out of an apartment in New York City. Over time, Astron has grown and remained open to expanding its services when client needs align with the firm’s mission and capabilities. One such area was human resource automation support. Many client organizations were seeking practical, lower-cost alternatives to emerging human resource information systems. By 2000, Astron began providing total rewards support systems built initially around Microsoft Word and Excel. These early tools focused on automating job descriptions and compensation structures, and later expanded to support performance appraisal systems.
As client needs evolved, it became apparent that Microsoft-based systems alone were no longer sufficient. Astron brought on a Technical Director to help develop a cloud-based total rewards support system. This became the foundation for Astron’s Flare® suite of talent management modules.
From the beginning, Astron’s purpose has been clear: to provide nonprofits and small to mid-size organizations with comprehensive, high-quality, timely compensation consulting services at the same level of professionalism they would expect from larger firms, but at a price point that is realistic and accessible.
Mission
Astron Solutions’ mission is to develop and implement human resources programs that support the strategic direction of organizations through the creation of a positive employee relations environment.
Throughout our 27 years of consulting under the Astron brand, our focus has been on the design and implementation of programs that impact an organization’s two most important human resources concerns: rising human resources costs and retaining qualified staff. Astron’s consulting services focus on the areas of total cash compensation, employee surveys, reward and recognition, performance management, and employee communication.
Subject matter expertise and themes
Astron Solutions primarily focuses on compensation and HR for nonprofits and small and mid-sized businesses. This includes content themes of:
- Employee compensation
- Employee recruitment and retention
- HR consulting
- Nonprofit HR
- Total rewards compensation
Leadership & Thought Leaders
Jennifer C. Loftus
Jennifer C. Loftus is a Founding Partner of and National Director for Astron Solutions. Her primary areas of expertise are the development, design, and implementation of base pay compensation systems, primarily as they impact non-profit and small-to-moderate-sized organizations. Jennifer also focuses on the design, administration, and analysis of customized cash compensation, benefits, and employee surveys. Jennifer has 30 years of consulting and industry compensation experience. Jennifer holds several HR and Total Rewards certifications, including SPHR, PHRca, GPHR, SHRM-SCP, CCP, CBP, and GRP.
Michael F. Maciekowich
Michael F. Maciekowich is a National Director for Astron Solutions. His areas of expertise include the development, design, and implementation of executive, physician, and employee base pay systems, short- and long-term incentive programs, sales incentive programs, and performance management systems in all industries. Michael has also pioneered the use of job competency in developing employee career progression programs. Michael has over 47 years of consulting and industry compensation experience.
Cassandra Carver
Cassandra Carver is a Project and Marketing Coordinator at Astron Solutions. With over 16 years of HR expertise at Astron, Cassandra supports the firm in managing client projects. This includes developing and submitting project proposals and facilitating project start-up. She is also the liaison between clients and assigned consultants at project start-up. In addition, Cassandra is part of Astron’s HR Generalist consulting team, providing these services directly to clients and their employees.
Contacts & Socials
Get in Touch With the Astron Solutions Team
Stay Up-to-Date on Company News
News & Updates
Astron Solutions Welcomes New National Business Development Director
Astron Solutions is pleased to announce the addition of our new National Business Development Director, Chad Hoover, to our growing team.
With over 25 years of experience in business development and human capital solutions, Chad brings a wealth of industry knowledge and a proven track record of driving strategic growth and building strong client partnerships. In this role, he will lead national business development initiatives to expand Astron’s reach and deliver innovative solutions to clients nationwide.
Jennifer Loftus Speaking at SHRM26
SHRM’s annual conference is the top conference for HR professionals, bringing together the entire community of HR consultants across the country. Jennifer Loftus will be a speaker on pay transparency with her presentation, “Pay Transparency Starts Here: A Playbook for HR Professionals.”
Frequently Asked Questions
How does Astron Solutions handle pay transparency and equity?
The Astron Solutions team are experts on pay transparency and equity. Our compensation consulting services involve assessing clients’ pay practices to identify potential inequities, providing recommendations for how to resolve them, and working to help implement them. Additionally, we advocate for pay transparency and aid clients in creating transparent pay practices and communicating compensation policy changes openly and professionally.
What is the pricing model for Astron’s consulting services?
Astron Solution is unique in that it offers one price consulting: a set price for each project that includes all fees and expenses. There are no hourly or daily charges. Astron provides human resources management consulting services equivalent to those provided by large consulting firms, at a cost similar to those charged by small independent consultants. Our consulting services and Flare® are flexible and robust, tailored to each client’s specific needs.
Can Astron Solutions help with nonprofit-specific compensation?
Yes. Astron Solutions works with a wide range of nonprofit organizations and is deeply familiar with standard nonprofit compensation practices, compliance concerns, and other nonprofit-specific needs.
How do the “Custom Total Compensation Surveys” work?
To help your organization understand its compensation practices, business needs, and employee perspectives, Astron Solutions can develop custom surveys for your organization’s staff.
These surveys are based on industry trends and your organization’s specific needs. To maintain privacy and legal compliance, all surveys are confidential, and collected information will be reported in averages and group summaries.
Our team will then provide detailed reports that summarize the survey findings and provide guidance on how your organization should interpret and use the gathered data.
Does Astron offer fractional HR or just project-based consulting?
Astron Solutions offers our clients both project-based consulting services and ongoing support through affordable retainers.