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Incorta expertly manages global merit cycles and pay equity with compensation software

By OpenComp

2023EmployertoWatchAward_MatchaIncorta built a comprehensive, financially sound compensation program with OpenComp, elevating international pay programs and conversations to the level of data science.

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The Opportunity

In 2021, Incorta’s rapid growth and globally distributed workforce meant headcount, pay, and merit cycle decisions were being made on a case-by-case basis, and the unified comp data analytics was beginning to experience the effects

When five-time human resources executive for high-growth companies, Sheri Kelleher, joined Incorta as Senior Vice President of People Success, her first priority was to bring financial scalability and consistency to how people were paid across Incorta’s six global locations, as well as its remote US workforce. She also wanted to be more relevant to top talent.

“Pay practices were all over the place,” Kelleher recalls. “Like most startups, we were scrappy. We needed to equip managers with a tool to level employees and handle merit cycles, while bringing more consistency in order to scale the business.”

The headcount plan is a huge component of our financial plan, after all.”

The Activation

According to Kelleher, selecting a partner with deep compensation expertise was top priority — as was finding a source of reliable comp data that was specific to Incorta’s overall size and funding stage, and competitive in its global locations. While she considered several compensation providers, Kelleher ultimately selected OpenComp for these reasons.

When she first demoed OpenComp’s platform, Kelleher was “absolutely blown away. I had never seen innovation in HR like this before, and thought, ‘finally. Something to solve the actual problem!’”  Her head of Engineering, who has deep HR IT experience, responded the same way. “He asked for his own password immediately!”

Incorta selected OpenComp as its compensation intelligence provider and thought partner.

"The fact that OpenComp's comp data is solidly founded for the pre-IPO market is perfect for us. While non-U.S. data is generally challenging to come by, OpenComp's benchmarks combine competitive comp data, our compensation philosophy, and pay bands that support our hiring in many countries.”

The OpenComp Difference

Incorta worked with OpenComp’s platform and compensation advocacy team to develop a robust compensation philosophy and strategy, including  pay ranges and plan design— as well as model different headcount scenarios — to make the most informed decisions for the business worldwide. The results speak for themselves. 

Pay ranges & a simplified leveling system
After fashioning comp data for each local use case across Incorta’s global team, Incorta implemented pay ranges that defined a low, middle, and high point for every role. The OpenComp team, says Kelleher, went above and beyond to help Incorta aggregate their existing comp data and build multiple scenarios — even going to the national salary board to find the delta between pay in the United States and Egypt, where we have a significant presence.

Kelleher’s team gained confidence from OpenComp’s platform to reduce Incorta’s number of pay grade levels. “By reducing complexity,” says Kelleher, “we drove efficiency and shifted our focus to treating our team like the amazing people they are.”

“We were shepherded by experts.”

Confidence in scenario modeling & headcount plans.
With pay ranges in place, the Incorta People team began using OpenComp’s scenario and headcount planning features to evaluate different headcount scenarios. Kelleher says they “love being able to model scenarios for different headcount plans in the product because it’s so easy. And it is such a relief knowing that our plans actually reflect what the state of our market really is and to have information to make decisions.”

“Do you know how much money I saved by using OpenComp instead of a traditional survey provider? My CFO does!”

A comp data-driven approach to hiring & merit cycles
Equipped with a headcount plan they trust, Kelleher and her team also use the OpenComp platform to understand their competitive talent market in realtime, and elevate hiring and merit cycle conversations to the level of data science. “I love being able to parse compensation by level of funding and seeing how what we pay compares to different company sizes,” says Kelleher.

“We aren’t bumbling around in the dark anymore. It’s a spectacular product.”

Scalable transparency & trust, worldwide
The Incorta People team also uses the Diversity Equity & Inclusion dashboard to “eliminate the used car salesman approach that too many companies have used when people try to get a job.” The OpenComp platform, says Kelleher, is central to Incorta’s ability to offer gender pay parity. “My CEO and I could not have gone through the process without OpenComp. Our work let the team know that we aren’t guessing or playing favorites with compensation. We are being fair. It built incredible trust.”

Kelleher’s team also uses the OpenComp platform in hiring and merit cycle conversations, literally showing people the product. “Seeing it reassures people that we’re taking the right approach to compensation,” says Kelleher. “That has a huge cultural impact.”

“Using OpenComp shows that our people team values innovation as much as the rest of the Incorta team. We use the best tools to make the right decisions. “

The Future

Incorta is growing tremendously. In the last 12 months, Incorta’s customer base grew 70%, and its team nearly doubled. Incorta was also recognized by Inc Magazine as a ‘2022 Best Workplace’. Says Kelleher, OpenComp is a core part of the company’s growth toolkit. “Being a startup and not having this level of expertise in house makes this partnership fantastic. Every question we ask, we get a ‘no problem.’”

“With a tool like this, we are able to address pay gaps without bias and we can plan for growth.”

Develop a compensation philosophy that supports the growth of your business