Simplesense is a startup that builds tech solutions to help first responders and emergency operators respond to emergencies faster. As the company prepared for the future, Simplesense needed to find a software partner that could provide comp data specific to its market and stage of growth, manage its complex remote pay policy, and ensure that the company’s strong vision of DEI was baked into the company’s DNA through pay.
Joanne Simon-Walters, Chief People Officer, was tasked with developing the right compensation structure in a rapidly changing market – which she believes starts with reliable comp data.
“I wanted comp data I can rely on that’s keeping pace with what’s actually going on in the market. I need a compensation planning tool because I don’t like making decisions about money that aren’t data-driven. Period.”
While searching for the perfect solution, a member of Simon-Walters’ female executive leadership team, Chief, recommended OpenComp – an introduction she now refers to as “a happy pairing.”
“I’m looking for all of the ways in which I can automate and feel confident in my decisions based on the tools I’m using. I love that OpenComp is an end-to-end solution, not a collection of one-off tools.”
Simon-Walters used OpenComp to create a framework for all of Simplesense’s pay decisions, which helped the company attract and hire talent, improve executive alignment, and build trust with employees.
Simon-Walters saw the importance of creating a plan that balanced staying competitive in the tech sector with maintaining responsible spending and pay equity. She used OpenComp’s Global Comp Data to make informed comparisons and decisions based on companies that were similar in size, funding, and industry.
“With OpenComp, we're actually dealing with comp data that is similar to companies like ours, so we're comparing more apples-to-apples. Data has replaced educated guesses or emotion.”
Then, using OpenComp’s Pay Ranges tool alongside the Global Comp Data, Simon-Walters was able to quickly and confidently create ranges that incorporated the company’s ideal remote pay strategy: a tiered pay structure that targets selected market percentiles depending on the location of the employee. “We were only able to get to that level of complexity because of OpenComp,” she says.
With data-derived ranges that are easier to explain and justify, both internal and external hiring conversations have become more consistent. Now, using OpenComp’s built-in job-leveling framework, the company focuses on a job level, the criteria for that job level, and its range to ensure they’re hiring appropriately.
"Internally, the new process has made me look incredible. OpenComp's Pay Strategy and Ranges tools have helped me have conversations in a way where there's little lost in the communication."
Within Simplesense, the new pay strategy elevated HR from a department that primarily provides recommendations to a strategic partner at the executive table. It has also increased employee trust in compensation decisions company-wide.
“At Simplesense, employees trust us and their remote pay. That is huge. And being able to say we've identified a tool – OpenComp – that gives us better intelligence about the market increases their confidence that, ‘Oh yeah, they're definitely taking compensation seriously.”
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