New research finds automated and integrated compensation systems are fueling employee satisfaction and driving bottom line savings

Cezanne Software, the leading European-headquartered provider of integrated solutions for compensation, talent and employee management, announces the release of Aberdeen Group’s “Total Compensation Management – Taming Costs and Rewarding Employees”.

The benchmark report surveyed more than 470 organizations worldwide — representing companies of all sizes and industries — highlights how best-in-class organizations are using Compensation Management strategies and processes to drive improved business performance and workforce retention.

The report found that 87% of organizations that achieved Aberdeen’s Best-in-Class status have partially or fully integrated their total compensation data collection with other workforce management applications. In doing so, 90% have increased their revenue per employee, 83% have decreased labour costs as a percentage of sales, 73% have improved employee job satisfaction, and 64% have increased employee retention.

The study also found that Best-in-Class organizations with respect to total compensation management are more likely to:

  • Integrate total compensation with employee performance management applications
  • Survey the local market to ensure that compensation plans are competitive
  • Determine who the top performing employees are, to ensure that the plan rewards them based on their contributions
  • Clearly communicate with employees what goals they are being measured against, and how their compensation amounts are determined

From a total compensation perspective, “Best-in-Class organizations are more aggressive at recognizing, acknowledging, and rewarding individual performance,” says David Weldon, a research analyst with Aberdeen and the author of the report. “That aids in the strategy of being perceived as an employer of choice. And it makes current employees feel more appreciated, and more likely to stick around.”

The greatest gains from total compensation programs are achieved by companies that are aggressive at automating and integrating the data collection process, and especially by linking a total compensation management application to benefits management systems.

While companies in North America are more aggressive at adopting total compensation strategies (77% of North American companies survey have implement elements of total compensation, versus 43% of European companies surveyed), European companies are more aggressive at integrating total compensation with other applications such as employee performance management (66% of European companies surveyed, versus 55% of North American companies); workforce analytics (49% of European companies, versus 34% of North American companies); and competency and assessment tools (56% of European companies, versus 43% of North American companies).

Sue Lingard, Marketing Director of Cezanne Software comments: “Aberdeen’s research shows that the greatest gains are where organizations automate the process of collecting compensation data and integrate compensation management with other workforce management applications. This reflects our experience, were we find that companies are increasingly looking for compensation software solutions that not only streamline the compensation planning and management process across all of their employees, but also offer integrated functionality for performance and talent management as well as core HR administration. As a vendor offering integrated, web-based, international HCM solutions, Cezanne Software is ideally positioned to respond to this need.”

About Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company

Aberdeen is a leading provider of fact-based research and market intelligence that delivers demonstrable results. Having benchmarked more than 30,000 companies in the past two years, Aberdeen is uniquely positioned to educate users to action: driving market awareness, creating demand, enabling sales, and delivering meaningful return-on-investment analysis. As the trusted advisor to the global technology markets, corporations turn to AberdeenTM for insights that drive decisions.

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