Running head: COMPENSATION TOOLS
Compensation Productivity and Automation
Keller Graduate School of Management
HRM530- Human Resources and Technology
November 10, 2020
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COMPENSATION TOOLS
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Compensation Productivity and Automation
Overview
Global Corporation is faced with challenges that require modernization of the
compensation administration functions of the organization. Specifically, the corporate
compensation manager is seeking input on appropriate automation software to assist with salary
surveys, benchmarking, and analysis of market-based compensation data. The chief concerns to
be addressed are salary analysis and market comparison, benchmarking capabilities, salary
planning and budgeting, and salary range development. These concerns need to be addressed
with a solution that provides automation, external comparisons, and integration with existing
human resource systems. This report will discuss the decision criteria used in evaluating
potential solutions and the solution options recommended for consideration when making a
purchasing decision.
Decision Making Criteria
In reviewing potential solutions for a recommendation, three primary considerations were
used for comparison. In keeping with Global Corporation’s high standards, product quality is the
primary consideration applied during the evaluation process. Multiple solutions that provided
adequate capabilities were compared and ranked based on the user interface, time in the market,
and customer reviews. To accommodate the maximum user community, the solutions reviewed
will allow end-user customization as well as be flexible enough to adapt to corporate change in
the years to come. Additionally, a requirement of a five-year minimum time in the market and
one thousand user reviews were adhered to.
The second consideration utilized is software functionality. As conveyed by the corporate
compensation manager, all solutions that were reviewed meet the minimum capability
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requirements provided. An additional review of short-listed software was conducted to determine
additional functionality that was available though not required. This additional functionality
appears to provide additional benefit at no additional cost and considering this information is
recommended as the potential for greater return on investment is plausible.
The final consideration in preparing this recommendation is flexibility and expandability.
To ensure the maximum lifecycle of the solution, the recommendations include software that
could easily scale with Global Corporation and provided enough flexibility to accommodate
future strategic changes to the organizational structure and environment. Maximum automation
and integration capabilities that could be utilized by the corporate compensation manager as well
as potentially other departments were focused on when researching viable solutions. It is
recognized that an investment in automation products will be costly, therefore, a focus on
solution longevity was taken into consideration to ensure maximum reward.
Solution Recommendations
After assessing more than a dozen potential solutions and reviewing the most recent
Gartner research available, two solutions providing exceptional capability and value are
recommended for consideration. Both solutions meet or exceed the required capabilities as
outlined. Additionally, both solutions ranked high in the evaluation of quality, adaptability, and
longevity of market presence. It is recommended that a more in-depth assessment be performed
to compare these solutions for the specific need of the company.
Oracle Cloud HCM (http://www.oracle.com) provides a robust list of capabilities and
scored very well against the previously described criteria. The quality of product and support, as
well as pre/post-sales consultation, were highest among its competitors. Oracle is well adapted to
providing services to companies in sizes equal to Global Corporation and they have a forty-year
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history in the industry. With a robust set of capabilities as well as access to and utilization of
global payroll and human capital data, Oracle proves to be very flexible and adaptable to changes
in business and market environments. Oracle was placed as a leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant
and placed in the top 2 vendors for customer experience (Cerrato et al., 2020).
Workday (http://www.workday.com) has a fifteen-year history of providing services to
human resource and payroll functions. Like many of its competitors, Workday provides a healthy
set of services and capabilities that accommodates businesses of medium to large size and
geographic diversity. Among their strengths noted by Gartner is their partnership strategy which
should prove beneficial to Global Corporation’s return on investment (Cerrato et al., 2020).
Additionally, Workday was praised in the same Gartner report for their responsiveness during
COVID-19 which bolsters the positive industry reviews received.
Conclusion
In researching potential solutions for Global Corporation, many viable solutions were
revealed and each had their strengths and weaknesses. An overview of each company revealed
gaps in their offerings which allowed us to narrow the focus and provide the most suitable
solution for overcoming today’s challenges. Oracle Cloud HCM and Workday are highlyrespected companies and excel in the services they provide to the human resources community.
Salary analysis, benchmarking, and salary planning are all part of the total solution offering by
each vendor and both would provide significant value to Global Corporation. Lastly, the agility,
flexibility, and expansion potential of each solution will prove to increase the company’s return
on investment.
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References
Cerrato, J., Pang, C., Freyermuth, J., Hanscome, R., Grinter, S., Chandra, R.,… Poiteven, H.
(2020). Magic Quadrant for Cloud HCM Suites for 1,000+ Employee Enterprises.
Retrieved from: https://www.gartner.com/doc/reprints?id=124KNRBNM&ct=201110&st=sb