From Chaos to Clarity: Introducing Our Compensation Review Module

From Chaos to Clarity: Introducing Our Compensation Review Module

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At Figures, we believe that compensation review season is the most important time of the year. It’s your annual opportunity to correct any internal inequities, ensure your salaries are aligned with the market and reward your employees for their hard work. 

Running regular compensation reviews demonstrates a commitment to paying your employees fairly and competitively — which has a huge impact on engagement, motivation and retention. 

But let’s be honest: it can also be a bit of a nightmare. 

If you’re a seasoned HR or compensation pro, you’ve likely spent many hours grappling with unwieldy Excel sheets, chasing managers for their input and trying to get to grips with your budget. 

We get it — we’ve been there. 

That’s why we decided to create a tool that makes compensation reviews smooth, easy and efficient, for everyone involved. This not only helps you ensure your talent is rewarded fairly, but it also gives HR teams back the time they need to focus on what matters: people. 

Read on to find out more about our new compensation review module. 

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The old method of running compensation reviews 

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Excel has long been the tool of choice for HR and compensation leaders when it comes to managing the compensation review process. But that doesn’t mean it’s the best tool for the job. 

For one thing, any process that involves manual data entry carries an inherent risk of human error. And that’s not a risk you want to take when something as important as your employees’ compensation is at stake. 

Plus, the compensation review process involves a lot of different stakeholders, who may all have to edit your spreadsheet at one time or another. That means the potential for error is multiplied — and there’s no guarantee you’ll spot a mistake once it’s been made. 

And there are lots of other problems too. Here are some of the biggest drawbacks of using Excel to manage your compensation review process: 

• Wasted time and inefficiencies: Manually creating, editing and updating spreadsheets takes a lot of time. And that’s without mentioning the time it takes to split your sheets so you can send the right info to the right people, chasing stakeholders for their responses, and then merging everything back together. We’re getting a headache just thinking about it. 
• Lack of security and confidentiality: Manual, decentralised processes carry a huge risk of data breaches — intentional or not. And this could mean big trouble from a compliance standpoint, not to mention serious reputational damage. A process as sensitive as your compensation review needs to happen on a platform with security and confidentiality built in. 
• Lack of budget visibility: When you manage your compensation reviews with Excel, reviews for different teams tend to happen on different spreadsheets. That means you often have no global overview of where you stand in relation to your budget until the very end of the process. And if you have gone over budget? It’s back to square one. 
• No compensation insights: Excel can do a lot of things, but it can’t give you solid, data-backed recommendations for salary increases. With pay transparency legislation on the horizon, you need to be certain that your salary decisions are fair and effective — but manually aggregating data in Excel is nothing short of a nightmare. 

You get the point… in 2024, Excel is no longer fit for purpose as a tool for running effective, compliant and stress-free compensation reviews. So, what’s the alternative? 

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Introducing our compensation review module

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At Figures, we knew there had to be a better way. The compensation review process is such an important moment in the year — and it shouldn’t happen on clunky, outdated and confusing software like Excel. 

That’s why we decided to build our new compensation review module, to help you streamline the review process by gathering all the information you need in one place, and giving you real-time insights to drive stronger, data-backed decisions. 

Here’s how it works in three simple steps: 

1. Simple campaign set-up: Set up your campaign and tailor it by setting a custom start and end date, eligibility criteria, budget and more. You can then invite teammates to join Figures, giving them custom access depending on their role. Figures even gives you automatic, data-backed review recommendations based on market data, your budget and your organisation’s objectives.
2. Clear validation steps: Reviewers can quickly view pending requests on their dashboard, and make their suggestions directly within the platform. Each employee has their own card with a history of suggestions, validations and pending requests, so it's easy to see where everyone stands at a glance. Plus, HR can set up automatic email reminders for reviewers — which means no more chasing up managers for their reviews. 
3. Data analysis made simple: During and after the review cycle, you can use Figures to view detailed analytics about your budget, median increase, increase per quartiles and more. You can also see details about the number of Figures recommendations that were manually adjusted by managers. 

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3 reasons to use Figures for your next compensation review 

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Still not convinced? Here are three reasons why we think it’s worth giving our compensation review software a try in 2024: 

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1. A holistic approach to compensation management

Figures is not just an app to help you manage your compensation reviews. And it’s not just a salary benchmarking tool either. It’s a full suite of compensation management tools, rolled together into one engaging and intuitive platform. That means that when you use Figures, you have all the information you need to make fair, effective compensation decisions in one place. 

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2. Integrated performance reviews

While there’s plenty of software available to help you run performance reviews, Figures integrates these reviews directly with compensation management. The result: smooth, streamlined processes and better coherence between performance assessments and compensation decisions. 

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3. Deep customisation and flexibility 

At Figures, we understand that every business is different. And the way you run your compensation reviews is strongly influenced by your internal compensation philosophy and strategy. That’s why we’ve built our entire platform with deep customisation options that let you manage compensation in the way that makes sense for you. As a bonus, that means that Figures will continue to work for you for years to come, even as your needs change. 

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What this means for your team 

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So, how does this all translate into real, tangible benefits for you and your team? Here are some of the biggest advantages of using Figures to manage your compensation reviews: 

• Smooth and efficient workflows: Figures gathers all of the information you need in one place, and records every action as it happens — saving you invaluable time. 
• Secure and seamless collaboration: With Figures, you can easily set permissions and bring stakeholders into a secure, dedicated space where they can track and contribute to revisions. No more endless email chains or chasing managers for input — just smooth and secure collaboration.
• Data-driven salary recommendations: Our platform provides intuitive visuals and analytics based on market data, salary positioning and performance insights. In other words, everything you need to make fair, effective compensation decisions. 
• Real-time insight and control: In 2024, the time for grappling with complex, unwieldy spreadsheets is over. With Figures, you can quickly understand spending, fairness and review times, and make sure your compensation review strategy meets your company goals. 
• Compliance with tomorrow’s pay transparency laws: Pay transparency is coming — and with Figures, you’ll be ready when it does. Our module makes it easy to record pay decisions and justifications, setting you in good stead for upcoming pay transparency legislation. 

Simply put, Figures takes the chaos out of compensation reviews and delivers a smooth, streamlined process that just… works. 

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How to get started 

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Want to find out how Figures could transform your next compensation review? Sign up for a free demo of our platform to see it in action. 

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