Admins
Get familiarized with Compensation management terms and the available actions.
Event details
The fixed sum of money an employer pays an employee in exchange for their accomplishments. This term doesn’t consider salary benefits, bonuses, or any other possible reward from the company.
A type of component that can be awarded as a lump sum payment to an employee, either occasionally or periodically, usually for good performance.
There are two types of cash awards for which recommendations can be made:
Recommendations made are to award payment as an amount or percentage of an employee’s annual base salary, with the payment relative to a previous period.
(i.e., commission, on-target bonus, etc.), which can be weighted by individual, department, and company performance—for which recommendations made are to award payment as an amount or percentage of an on-target amount, with the payment being relative to a previous period.
The ratio between base salary and variable pay, out of the overall OTE (On Target Earnings).
A term used to define two types of components that can be part of the employee’s contractual package.
There are two types of compensation review components for which recommendations can be made:
Recommendations made are to update an employee’s base salary from a defined effective date.
Recommendations made are to update an employee’s variable pay from a defined effective date.
There are two types of cash awards for which recommendations can be made:
Recommendations are made in the form of an amount or percentage of an employee’s current base salary and/or variable plan. A budget can be defined separately for each component.
Recommendations are made as a percentage of an employee’s base salary and variable pay, and the same percentage is applied to all components. Additionally, a budget is defined for all components.
A term used to describe the three compensation-type recommendations that can be made in a compensation event: compensation reviews, cash awards, and equity grants.
A type of component that can be used to award a number of share/stock options. Recommendations are made for when to issue the suggested number of share/stock options from a defined grant date.
One or more people in the organization with permission to convert event recommendations into decisions. This is usually the CEO, CPO, or Compensation and Benefits manager.
An optional field to help Admins and other stakeholders understand the event’s purpose. The description is shown below the event name in the main comp event’s screen.
Is the label and representation of the entire event and appears in the communication emails sent during the event. It can also be the reason for employee payroll table changes when decisions are updated in the employees’ profile at the end of a compensation event.
On-target earnings (OTE) measure the total compensation or potential earnings if all targets are met.
All employees identified as relevant for a compensation event, regardless of their eligibility.
A type of compensation given to an employee in exchange for work accomplished and, usually, for good performance. It is usually offered in addition to an employee’s base salary and comes in various forms, such as a target bonus or commission.
Financials
The currency in which the budget for each component within the event is defined. Recommendations are made in each participant’s local currency, then converted to the event currency using the exchange rates defined when configuring a compensation event, and are recorded as spent against the budget in the event currency. Planners and Reviewers can view recommendations in either the local or event currency for each participant in the worksheet.
Talent
Compares one company’s job descriptions and pay ranges to similar jobs in other organizations to identify the average or market salary for each job. Benchmarking and using that data to adjust where necessary is essential in retaining staff and recruiting new talent. To learn more about our benchmarking powered by Mercer, see Download compensating benchmarking data.
Compares an individual employee’s base salary, for example, to the midpoint of a given salary range.
Shows the last available overall rating in Bob’s Talent module. To learn more about the overall performance rating, see Getting started with Overall Performance rating.
Reflects the percentile to which a given pay range is compared and is based on the uploaded ranges in the benchmark template. The positioning field can range between 0% and 100%, where the bottom of the range, or below, places one in the 0th percentile, and the top of the range, or above, places one in the 100th percentile.
A visible column in the worksheet that enables the event’s Admin, Planners, and Co-planners to edit and add important notes, e.g., promotions, HR input, absences, and performance issues. Reviewers can only view this column, while Co-planners need edit permissions from the Admin.
Components
The overall annual monetary amount, in the event currency, allowed by the company for a specific event. For equity, the budget reflects a pool of units and not money.
The date on which the cash award payment will occur.
The start and end dates of the period for which the Cash Award will be awarded.
The date on which the component change will become effective.
A set of rules that define which participant is eligible for a component change.
The base for the cash award calculation is one time—the base salary. This base can be set either by an effective date or the average of the base and is dependent on lifecycle statuses in the award period.
The base for the cash award calculation is by variable plan—the variable itself. This base can be set either by an effective date or the average of the base and is dependent on lifecycle statuses in the award period.
Set budget system recommendations for Planners using employee attributes such as level, region, department, and performance ratings. Guidelines can also help simulate multiple scenarios on which the required budget can be calculated. Components’ guidelines are set in %, while Equity’s guidelines are set in the number of units.
Allows Admins to prorate the actual Cash Award payout during a defined period and is based on lifecycle status and actual % FTE (Full Time Employee) during the selected lifecycle statuses.
Employee updates
Allow Planners to propose employee updates, like promotions and job information, from a designated column in the worksheet, using existing employee update flows.
Planners & Worksheets
Assign participants to Planners based on your organization’s reporting tree, meaning each planner will review their direct and indirect reports.
Assign participants to Planners based on a matrix reporting structure, like HRBP or Site Manager, meaning each planner will review the employees assigned to them in the employee profile.
Work with Planners during the compensation event, e.g., HRBP, peer managers, and matrix managers. They can view and comment on Planners’ work and collaborate according to the permissions granted by the Admin in Step 6: Planners & Worksheets.
The main stakeholder(s) working on the worksheet. They are the first to directly evaluate and suggest compensation changes for participants in their worksheets.
After Planners, Reviewers will review and submit worksheets. They can propose new compensation changes and edit and comment on existing recommendations. They can also send the worksheet back to the previous planner for suggested edits. Reviewers are also Planners for their direct reports.
Represents a worksheet status. To learn more, see Key stakeholders and worksheet statuses.
The term used to describe all of a Reviewer’s visible participants, direct and indirect, within a compensation event.
Alerts
Activated when a recommendation doesn’t align with the company policy. Planners cannot submit the worksheet until they rectify the error within the worksheet. An exclamation point within a red circle will be shown.
Activated when a recommendation doesn’t align with the company policy. Planners can still submit worksheets with warnings. An exclamation point within an orange triangle will be shown.
Notifications
Email notifications will be sent to Planners once the event is fully approved by the event’s approver(s).
Email notifications will be sent to all Planners and Co-planners, if selected, to enter their worksheets and submit their recommendations.
Email notifications will be sent to Planners and Reviewers that have not submitted or approved their pending worksheets.
Equity terms for admins
The price an employee pays the company for shares purchased when exercising options.
The date on which the company’s board of directors approves the equity grant.
Can be either approved by the board or pending the board’s approval.
Can be either approved by the board or pending the board’s approval.
The last available date when an employee received an equity grant.
The date that reflects when options can no longer be exercised.
An open text field to be used for convenience.
A preset schedule that dictates when employees can take advantage of their equity grants.
The date from which the vesting schedule starts. This date can be retroactive to the Grant date.
The overall vesting period. Another free text field for the Admin to add important notes.
Equity is fully earned and owned outright. One can sell or otherwise dispose of them at will. If one were to leave the company, they could take them.
Equity promised to an employee, but that has yet to be fully earned under vesting schedule terms. So, if one were to leave, they would have to forfeit the stock.
Planners and Reviewers
The fixed sum of money an employer pays an employee in exchange for their accomplishments. This term doesn’t consider salary benefits, bonuses, or any other possible reward from the company.
Compares one company’s job descriptions and pay ranges to similar jobs in other organizations to identify the average or market salary for each job. Benchmarking and using that data to adjust where necessary is essential in retaining staff and recruiting new talent. To learn more about our benchmarking powered by Mercer, see Download compensating benchmarking data.
The overall annual monetary amount, in the event currency, allowed by the company for a specific event. For equity, the budget reflects a pool of units and not money.
A type of component that can be awarded as a lump sum payment to an employee, either occasionally or periodically, usually for good performance.
There are two types of cash awards for which recommendations can be made:
Recommendations made are to award payment as an amount or percentage of an employee’s annual base salary, with the payment relative to a previous period.
(i.e., commission, on-target bonus, etc.), which can be weighted by individual, department, and company performance—for which recommendations made are to award payment as an amount or percentage of an on-target amount, with the payment being relative to a previous period.
Work with Planners during the compensation event, e.g., HRBP, peer managers, and matrix managers. They can view and comment on Planners’ work and collaborate according to the permissions granted by the Admin in Step 6: Planners & Worksheets.
The ratio between base salary and variable pay, out of the overall OTE (On Target Earnings).
Compares an individual employee’s base salary, for example, to the midpoint of a given salary range.
A set of rules that define which participant is eligible for a component change.
Allow Planners to propose employee updates, like promotions and job information, from a designated column in the worksheet, using existing employee update flows.
A type of component that can be used to award a number of share/stock options. Recommendations are made for when to issue the suggested number of share/stock options from a defined grant date.
Activated when a recommendation doesn’t align with the company policy. Planners cannot submit the worksheet until they rectify the error within the worksheet. An exclamation point within a red circle will be shown.
One or more people in the organization with permission to convert event recommendations into decisions. This is usually the CEO, CPO, or Compensation and Benefits manager.
The currency in which the budget for each component within the event is defined. Recommendations are made in each participant’s local currency, then converted to the event currency using the exchange rates defined when configuring a compensation event, and are recorded as spent against the budget in the event currency. Planners and reviewers can view recommendations in either the local or event currency for each participant in the worksheet.
Set budget system recommendations for Planners using employee attributes such as level, region, department, and performance ratings. Guidelines can also help simulate multiple scenarios on which the required budget can be calculated. Components’ guidelines are set in %, while Equity’s guidelines are set in the number of units.
The term used to describe all of a Reviewer’s visible participants, direct and indirect, within a compensation event.
On-target earnings (OTE) measure the total compensation or potential earnings if all targets are met.
All employees identified as relevant for a compensation event, regardless of their eligibility.
Shows the last available overall rating in Bob’s Talent module. To learn more about the overall performance rating, see Getting started with Overall Performance rating.
The main stakeholder(s) working on the worksheet. They are the first to directly evaluate and suggest compensation changes for participants in their worksheets.
Reflects the percentile to which a given pay range is compared and is based on the uploaded ranges in the benchmark template. The positioning field can range between 0% and 100%, where the bottom of the range, or below, places one in the 0th percentile, and the top of the range, or above, places one in the 100th percentile.
Allows Admins to prorate the actual Cash Award payout during a defined period and is based on lifecycle status and actual % FTE (Full Time Employee) during the selected lifecycle statuses.
After Planners, Reviewers will review and submit worksheets. They can propose new compensation changes and edit and comment on existing recommendations. They can also send the worksheet back to the previous planner for suggested edits. Reviewers are also Planners for their direct reports.
Represents a worksheet status. To learn more, see Key stakeholders and worksheet statuses.
A type of compensation given to an employee in exchange for work accomplished and, usually, for good performance. It is usually offered in addition to an employee’s base salary and comes in various forms, such as a target bonus or commission.
Activated when a recommendation doesn’t align with the company policy. Planners can still submit worksheets with warnings. An exclamation point within an orange triangle will be shown.
A visible column in the worksheet that enables the event’s Admin, Planners, and Co-planners to edit and add important notes, e.g., promotions, HR input, absences, and performance issues. Reviewers can only view this column, while Co-planners need edit permissions from the Admin.