Compensation checklist before launching a new cycle

Introduction

Compensation Reviews are high-stakes so in this blog we look at important configuration items to double check to make sure the Compensation cycle runs as smoothly as possible, especially when it is a first cycle with a new template.

Checklist for Compensation, Total Compensation and Variable Pay templates:

Make sure Compensation worksheets are never sent right away to planners’ inbox after launch. A compensation workflow should always have a first step called Process Setup where all worksheets are sent to Comp Admin user’s inbox. Once they are all there Executive Review can be permissioned for HR to spot check data before worksheets get released to planners. More on the leading practice workflow can be found at the bottom of this blog.
Make sure the Delete worksheets notification isn’t selected for the template by following instructions in this blog. (credit Lesley Roper, SAP)
Make sure the Routing notification is selected before mass routing forms to planners otherwise nobody will receive a notification letting them know that compensation planning has begun (see link shared in #2 for more information on how to check this notification).
Make sure all required custom columns are marked as Reloadable and Reportable in Comp Home > [template] > Plan Setup > Design Worksheet.
Make sure columns that need to be hidden for everyone are hidden with Field Based Permissions instead of the “Hide this column on the form” checkbox in Comp Home > [template] > Plan Setup > Design worksheet. FBP permissions can be edited after worksheets are live and will allow compensation administrators to show the value on screen (vs through reports only if that checkbox is checked) for troubleshooting purposes in the Process Setup step.
Make sure to check the Enable Planner Audit feature (introduced in 1H 2023 release – see details here) in Comp Home > [template] > Plan Setup > Settings. Once it is checked we can then navigate to Comp Home > [template] > Plan Setup > Design worksheet and select which column should be auditable (we recommend making all editable columns auditable at the minimum). This feature adds a “Export Changes History” button in worksheets (and soon also in Executive Review- see conversation in comments) allowing planners to see the detail of all recommendation columns changes thereby adding great value to the decision making process.
Make sure to check the Enable Bulk Print Statement in Executive review feature in Comp Home > [template] > Plan Setup > Settings.
Do we need to prevent statements from being generated in case an employee doesn’t receive any increase ? in that case we need to make sure we have a dedicated column in design worksheet marked as reportable with the following formula: if(curSalary=finSalary,’FALSE’,’TRUE’) and then that the Enable Suppress Statement checkbox is checked in Comp Home > [template] > Plan Setup > Settings.
If we don’t want to have data refreshed from EC everytime a worksheet is opened by a planner from their Inbox (before they submit to next step in which case it becomes read-only and moves to the En Route folder), we should make sure to check the box Only reload user data on mass update in Comp Home > [template] > Plan Setup > Advanced Settings. This means that data will only be updated on worksheets when Comp Admin decides to run a Mass Update Worksheets job (either scheduled as an overnight job or manually from Comp Home > [template] > Manage Worksheets > Update All Worksheets). This will also increase the performance of the system (see this blog).
Make sure there is no requirement to have the merit % (or adjustment % or any other percent from a standard recommendation column) shown on statements. Standard recommendation columns only store the amount value and in order for us to pull increase percentages on statements we need to create custom columns on the template to recalculate them (for example formula= merit/curSalary for Merit % and extra/curSalary for Adjustment %, etc). In case this was missed and the cycle is already completed, please see this conversation on the HXM community forum.
For Variable Pay only:
- Make sure Variable Pay Individual View is turned off (during planning) in Plan Setup > EC Settings.

- If the template Default Currency view (in Plan Setup > Settings) is “User” (recommended) then we should check the following setting in XML : liveprofile-indiv-currency-view and make sure it is set to 1 which aligns the individual view with the User default currency view and can prevent questions from employees and managers when they access the individual view.

Additional ideas of important things to check are welcome in the comments.

Not mentioned above are actions that are always needed for a new cycle such as:

Creating the new template by clicking on duplicate template then in the duplication popup give it a new name for the new year and update all dates to reflect the new fiscal year (for example 2023 becomes 2024 everywhere there is a date including for lookup tables names at the bottom)
Creating the new lookup tables (under Actions for all plans) we just changed the date for. There is no Save As button for lookup tables so we need to manually create new ones, edit the name to reflect the new year, respect the number of inputs and outputs, then update new values in it.
Creating new eligibility rules (in case they have references to specific dates) then click on Apply.
Updating guidelines table (plan setup > guidelines)
Updating publish back to EC dates (plan setup > EC settings)

All the best,
Xavier

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Other links in connection with this topic (some are referenced above already):