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Functionality Description

Last Updated: January 2024

1. Overall Description

The beqom solution is a software solution dedicated to the unified management of all compensation processes and of continuous performance. It enables Client to manage, on the Platform, business processes related to: 
  1. Compensation, including (i) short term performance-based incentives such as commissions or bonus management, (ii) long term performance-based incentives such as shares, stock options or long-term cash incentives; (iii) salary reviews, pay equity, pay prediction and any kind of benefit and recognition programs; (iv) employee and managers dashboard view; and
  2. Continuous performance.

2. Compensation Management Solution


A single unified logic and a common approach governs the implementation of these processes by modelling the following components:

(a) Hierarchical Relationships and Populations (People Manager)

The beqom solution integrates existing hierarchical people and organization structures and also allows the creation and modeling of additional hierarchy trees and assignments. In addition to hierarchies, populations can be defined based on any criteria and combination of attributes. These populations serve as the basis for eligibility and assignment to different compensation processes and plans.

The combination of hierarchy trees and populations determines which person will be visible to whom and can be assessed by whom e. g. the managers overseeing pay raises or allocation of stock options to payees. 

(b) Compensation Processes (PROCESS Model Designer)

A compensation process is set-up to manage targets and achievements of incentive plans or allocate budgets according to corporate guidelines and approval processes across the organization.

It allows you to retrieve and manage data based on different performance indicators for a given group of people for defined periods. 

Each compensation process, is typically defined by:

    • indicators; a set of key performance indicators which can be a combination of individual, team or group objectives, quantitative/qualitative targets, allocation fields, with free data entry options or linked to achievement rules and corporate guidelines;
    • rules; rules are used to evaluate individual, team or group objectives against compensation criteria during runtime. For each record in the database that meets the criteria, a calculation will be launched;
    • validity periods and repetition; each process is linked to a validity period. This period specifies the start date and end date of the process;
    • populations; a population is a group of people with common attributes. Population is built with filter based on single or multiple criteria (e.g. job, department, division, country). The assignment of populations to a process determines their eligibility to the plan;
    • workflow; workflows ensure that tasks are fulfilled in the right order, e. g. validation of targets set or achievements, evaluations, proposed pay raises or the allocation of bonuses and stock-options according to necessary approval steps;

Process flows guide users through all necessary process steps.

(c)    Information Collection (DATA Manager)

For many processes the values corresponding to the indicators mentioned above do not exist in underlying information systems. The beqom solution therefore enables the collection of any data directly in the compensation solution via grids, forms, and data entry masks, according to process steps, workflows and access rights. 

(d)    Rules Definition (RULES Engine)

The rule engine is one of the core components of the beqom solution. Data gathered through different processes or uploads is processed to calculate achievement and compensation values considering multiple criteria set in rules engine.

Rules for earnings, payments, commission processes, budgetary allocation, exceptions and recommendations linked to salary review processes, bonus processes, and stock option grants, lapses, and exercises are defined with the rule editor and can be setup with free criteria selection and multiple algorithm definitions.

(e)    Reporting & Analysis (ANALYSIS Workbench)

The beqom solution includes a set of reporting and analysis instruments for standard and ad hoc reporting to analyse any information out of the compensation database on any aggregation level in real time. All kind of analysis can be derived using state of the art, integrated business intelligence tools – for individual, collective, management reporting, financial reporting, sales analysis, audit reporting, consolidated reports by country/division, actual vs, budget for bonus/salary increase, historical analysis or comparison, etc. Through these reports, each user can view information specific to his level within the organization in accordance with his profile. All analysis can be accessed through a web interface or exported for example via Excel pivot tables.

(f)    Communication (INFO HUB Component)

The communication and notification capabilities allow managing all kind of personalized or collective information to all people inside or outside of an organization. Tasks, notifications, documents or reports, including corporate guidelines, bonus letters, payee total compensation statements, can be published and directed to all relevant populations or individuals with personalized information, and made accessible via web, mail or mobile devices.

(g)    Simulation (SIMULATION Cockpit)

The beqom solution enables to create, save, compare and publish simulation scenarios out of one screen according to different parameters set; associated rules and populations. For example, the cost of a compensation strategy for an individual or group of people in real time can be simulated and compared to other simulations. The result of the Compensation Simulation is shown in a graphical form in real time once the simulation has been launched. The result shows simulated values versus the originally stored compensation model and one or more saved simulation scenarios.

3. Continuous Performance Management Solution

The Continuous Performance Management solution enables Client to manage, on the Platform, Client business processes related to:

(a) Feedback such as giving and receiving real time feedback privately and publicly;

(b) Agile Goal Setting including assigning company, personal and development goals;

(c) Performance Reviews including check-ins and behaviours

(d) Survey and coaching dashboards to provide personal insights.

4. Scope Overview

The Platform is organised around the following:

(a)    beqom Engine, including simulation, modelling, budgeting, benchmarking and analysis; the beqom Engine is the baseline of, and is required for, the following Scopes:

  • Salary review
  • Bonus management
  • Long-term incentive management
  • Sales incentive management
  • Benefits data management
  • Continuous performance management
    beqom allows you to manage goal plan(s) with individual goals, where each goal is described by name, owner, goal type, weight, priority, and tracking status. Results can be configured with measurement criteria such as description, unit (financial, percentage, numeric, binary), due date, start value, target value, result progress. Result progress percentages can be entered manually or calculated based on the target and result.
  • Promotion management
  • Pay Equity
    beqom allows you to manage the overall pay equity process including WW mandatory reporting and regression analysis on the same platform integrated with the compensation review process to effectively close the gap with remediation actions supported by a flexible advanced analytics solution.
  • Pay Predictor
    beqom allows you to deliver a dynamic pay prediction recommendation and provides the ability to run compensation prediction scenario for merit increase, promotion, transfer, or new hires based on regression models.
  • Recognition 
    beqom allows you to allocate reward budgets and configure recognition events, manage event-based formulaic or discretionary rewards, assign recognition awards and manage the consumption of reward budgets.

(b)    Optional add-ons such as Advanced Analytics and Mobile Apps.

5. Description of Functionalities

5.1    Beqom Engine

(a)    Product components

  1. People Manager – Org and Populations Management
  2. Process Model Designer
  3. Data Manager
  4. Security Manager – Roles and Access Rights
  5. Rules Engine
  6. Analysis Workbench
  7. Info Hub
  8. Simulation Cockpit.

The beqom Engine components can be used to perform tasks such as plan/process modelling, budgeting, benchmarking, simulation and analysis, to provide insight and support to comp experts and finance in their planning processes.

(b)    Platform components

    1. PMC Application (Platform Management Centre)
    2. Passport (SSO)

(c)    Technology components

    1. Logging
    2. Security
    3. Performance
    4. Integration
    5. Other services (Cube, Cognitive, etc.).

5.2    Salary Review

  1. Manage a multi-company, multi-division, multi-currency, multi-language application
  2. Define cluster of employees
  3. Analyze existing salary distribution (current and history) and benchmarks (internal and external)
  4. Employee performance calibration
  5. Set up of different merit increase policies
  6. Simulate and optimize costs connected to the different scenarios
  7. Manage management approval of proposed merit increase
  8. Create merit salary increase employee letters
  9. Export final salary data to core HR and/or payroll systems.

5.3    Bonus Management

  1. Manage a multi-company, multi-division, multi-currency, multi-language application
  2. Define specific cluster of employees
  3. Set up compensation plans
  4. Simulate the cost of plans versus budget
  5. Manage communication to employees
  6. Calculate bonus
  7. Analyse and report
  8. Export final bonus data to payroll system.

5.4    Long-Term Incentive 

  1. Manage a multi-company, multi-division, multi-currency, multi-language application
  2. Define cluster of employees
  3. Define different LTI instruments, with vesting amounts and schedules
  4. Create an LTI campaign by the cluster of employees
  5. Link assignment to performance
  6. Simulate and compare LTI cost with assigned budget
  7. Calculate LTI employee earnings and simulate based on current or future values entered
  8. Analyse and report.

5.5    Sales Incentive Management

  1. Manage a multi-company, multi-division, multi-currency, multi-language application
  2. Define specific cluster(s) of employees, dealers, and agencies
  3. Organization management
  4. Set up alternative commission plans
  5. Simulate commission plan cost
  6. Manage target setting
  7. Manage sales performance
  8. Calculate commissions
  9. Undertake analyses and create standard reports
  10. Export final bonus data to the payroll system

5.6    Benefits Data Management

  1. Support a multi-company, multi-division, multi-currency, multi-language application
  2. Define eligible populations
  3. Define collaborative benefit approval and freezing process
  4. Creation of benefit summary statements by population and by individual.

5.7     Continuous Performance Management

  1. CPM engine
  2. Platform components
  3. Technology components
  4. Product component: feedback
  5. Product component: goals
  6. Product component: check-ins
  7. Product component: performance reviews
  8. Product component: 360 feedbacks
  9. Product component: coaching.

5.8    Promotion Management

  1. Build and launch your promotions process
  2. Define cluster of employees
  3. Define hierarchy and budget assigned to a promotions process
  4. Manage management approval of proposed promotions
  5. Create employee promotion letters
  6. Define manager access presenting all the information they need to make objective decisions based on performance, potential, and the ambition of their people
  7. Define employee access and manage employee career story
  8. Export final promotion data to core HR and/or payroll systems.

5.9    Pay Equity

  1. Calculate the gender pay gap and other demographic pay gaps based on numerical and categorical variables. The Solution enables the user to build models using a backward variable selection
  2. Publish the results of the pay analysis
  3. Propose pay raises to reduce the pay gap using a maximum and minimum pay raise per individual raise, based on the user’s preference. Proposals are based on budget only, fairness only, or a mixture of budget and fairness
  4. Give an overview of the employees and the pay raises, both graphically and in a table
  5. Give an overview of the cost of reducing the gender pay gap
  6. Suggest salaries for new employees or employees who move into new positions
  7. Compare salary information data sets
  8. Give an overview of the salary structure and the gender distribution
  9. Equity mandatory reporting
  10. Pay equity analysis and insights.

5.10    Pay Predictor

  1. Generate datasets for model training purposes
  2. Standardize datasets into model-ready formats
  3. Define eligible populations
  4. Build regression models for each eligible population
  5. Train, deploy, and run the models within beqom infrastructure
  6. Publish and analyse the output of the regression models
  7. Make recommendations available in compensation processes.

5.11 Recognition

  1. Allocate reward budgets
  2. Configure recognition events to be rewarded
  3. Manage event-based formulaic or discretionary rewards with approval workflow
  4. Assign recognition awards
  5. Manage consumption of reward budgets. 

6. Languages

  1. The following  languages are available as standard (depending on the module):
    • English
    • German
    • French
    • Icelandic 1
    • Italian
    • Portuguese (Brazilian) 2
    • Polish 2
    • Spanish
    • Swedish 1
    • Chinese (simplified) 2
    • Chinese (traditional, Taiwan) 2
    • Japanese 2
    • Russian 2
    • Turkish 2

      1 Pay Equity only, 2 except Pay Equity

 

Additional languages can be purchased separately