Transfer w/ lower Hay points and subsequent promotion?

penmark

Hi, I need some advice.  My company is in some economic difficulty,  and despite a wage freeze and hiring freeze, is still hiring new people and promoting some within this new division that was established (read on).  The company is moving ahead with an initiative designed to save a substantial amount annually.  The initiative involves creating a new division which will manage many services that can be shared by the company's subsidiaries (e.g., payroll, HR, etc).  A colleague and I work in the Internal Audit Dept at a pretty high level, and were loaned to this division earlier this year for at least a 10-month period.  The project to develop the needed systems and roll out the shared service initiative is going to take about 4 yrs.  A hiring freeze was announced, but the new division still has about 12 key positions it needs to fill.  All of the 12 are at a level below my colleague's and mine.  My boss's boss suggested that this new division assign us to a couple of these lower level jobs and transfer us officially into the new division with no change in salary.  We use the Hay system for salary determination, but not for raises.  That is, when an across the board increase is announced, as long as performance is satisfactory, everyone gets the same percentage increase. 

The division head is pleased with our work and would like us to join the division at one of these lower level positions.  There may be a higher level position with a greater Hay point value available soon, but it's still uncertain. 

We're conflicted between being a team player and being a pawn.  On the one hand, they have seen our work and want us; on the other, they want us to take what will look like a demotion.

To be eligible for promotional money, the change in Hay points from the old job to the new job must be 15%.  If we take the lower Hay'd positions, and then are selected for the higher level position, the Hay point difference will exceed 15%, but if we remain on loan and fill some needed gaps, the difference in Hay points between the higher level position and our current Hay points will be less than 15%. 

Therefore, does it make sense for us to accept a position with a lower number of Hay points to make us eligible for promotional money for jobs that are 15% or more points higher?  Or, will they likely say something like "you were already compensated for a position that was at the higher level of Hay points, thus, you are not eligible for an increase to this new position."

Another question - how do we tell the requesting boss that we really want to work for his division but don't want to sell ourselves short?

Thanks for the help.