How High-Performing Comp Teams Run Faster, Fairer Merit Cycles

Successful compensation leaders build systems that enable them to execute merit cycles on time and on budget. But understanding what it really means to modernize your compensation planning cycles isn’t always clear. 

Here, discover three key benefits of implementing a modern compensation management solution, directly from the compensation teams who put it all into practice. 

1. Reduce Compensation Cycle Time Without Adding Headcount 

Many compensation leaders rely on spreadsheets to plan and execute their merit cycle. But this approach is time-consuming and error-prone, and becomes increasingly complex to manage as the team grows.

Trisha Feldman, Head of Compensation and People Analytics at Chronosphere, knew this challenge all too well. It took two months to gather data, aggregate manager recommendations, validate decisions, and communicate merit cycle outcomes. 

As a compensation team of one, Trisha needed a way to make more informed decisions, faster, and without additional headcount. By moving onto Pave’s Compensation Planning tool, Trisha centralized data, standardized logic, and created a single source of truth for managers and leaders. Now, compensation cycles take three weeks—and everyone involved has complete clarity.

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“My north star for a compensation cycle was ‘no noise,’” shared Trisha. “If managers understand the rules, the tradeoffs, and the timelines upfront, compensation stops being reactive and becomes a tool for aligning incentives with what the company is trying to achieve.”

This new compensation planning approach also helped Trisha make time-sensitive decisions during an acquisition. Almost overnight, Chronosphere gained employees in 19 new countries, and Trisha was able to benchmark roles, apply geographic differentials, and communicate total rewards with speed and confidence.

2. Create Custom, Scalable Compensation Planning Processes

Modern compensation teams don’t just need to move quickly—they need to create processes that scale. As companies grow, their workflows should be able to adapt to the changing needs of the business.

The team at Databricks was at a turning point. They were growing rapidly, and with three distinct multinational teams, they needed a way to support the compensation planning nuances of each division without relying on technical support.

By using Compensation Planning, the Databricks team was able to set custom approval chain processes and configure varying levels of visibility on their own. “As nontechnical users, we can directly configure so many different aspects of our compensation cycles,” shared Josh Metzler, Compensation Programs Lead at Databricks. 

This flexibility and ease of use drove significant adoption. 100% of R&D team members said this updated process made compensation planning simple and easy to navigate, paving the way to a company-wide rollout. 

3. Improve Total Rewards Communication 

Merit cycles are only effective if employees understand the outcomes. But compensation teams are often reliant on manual processes, resulting in unclear and inconsistent communication.

At Krazy Coupon Lady, Jessica Adams, Chief People and Culture Officer, and Alyssa Snyder, HR Business Partner, were hearing from employees that they wanted more visibility into total compensation, but the team didn’t have a scalable way to communicate this information.

Using Pave’s Total Rewards portal, Jessica and Alyssa created custom, on-brand statements that included salary and benefit information. The results were impressive—93% of employees said they have a better sense of their total compensation since using Pave. 

And with an easy-to-use portal, the compensation team can make updates on their own. “Total Rewards are customizable. I like that it’s not set in stone, so we can add benefits and update it on a cadence that makes sense for us,” shared Alyssa.

Build a Compensation Planning Process That Actually Works

Chronosphere, Databricks, and Krazy Coupon Lady didn't just stumble into better compensation planning. They built the right processes, with the right tools, and got everyone on the same page.

The good news is, you can borrow their playbook.

Download Compensation Planning Best Practices: How to Design & Execute Pay Programs, a guide from Pave and Nua Group, to learn how mature compensation teams build fair, consistent, and effective merit cycles—and how you can too.

Inside, you'll find:

• The elements of effective compensation planning
• Key steps to running seamless merit cycles
• How to measure success and gather feedback on your programs

Download the guide today.

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