Charlton Consulting Group Simplifies Compensation Management For BNP Paribas

The Challenge:

Develop a Solution to Efficiently Manage a Complex Worldwide Compensation System

Managing the compensation process for 16,000 employees each year is a managerial challenge for any HR department. For companies such as BNP Paribas, that conduct business in the financial industry and have employees located throughout the world, the already time-intensive process becomes much more complicated because of the difficulty of sharing information between the different actors in the process.

BNP Paribas, a global leader in banking and financial services, has managers from 40 different territories providing compensation input for employees in its Corporate and Investment Banking division. That means different local HR managers are juggling spreadsheets and trying to manage all the manual changes and updates before submitting to a central HR repository.

"We needed a better way to collect salary and bonus data on both a local and global level without having to create many different processes and spreadsheets," said the global head of HR IT for CIB BNP Paribas. "The transfer of files and data between managers, local HR personnel and central HR managers had become time consuming and was inefficient. HR's role in this whole process should really involve giving advice about compensation, not managing the exchange of the information and spreadsheets."

BNP Paribas recognized it would need a customized system to manage the process because of the unique and complex methods required to structure and allocate compensation-from both a company and industry standpoint. The degree of customization needed would automatically eliminate the use of any off-the-shelf technology solution.

The company decided to turn to a third-party technology provider to develop a group system to manage the process that included a central repository where both HR and territory managers could easily find accurate and reliable compensation data.

The Answer:

A Customized Compensation Management Solution from Charlton Consulting Group

BNP Paribas went through an extensive review process, evaluating a number of vendors on their ability to:

  • Provide not only a cost-effective solution, but one that provided long-term value;
  • To understand real day-to-day business problems and concepts;
  • Demonstrate depth with other solutions;
  • Deliver a simple and easy-to-administer solution that could handle sensitive and complex problems; and
  • Offer a highly customizable solution that would fit the company's changing needs.

The workgroup selected Charlton Consulting Group, a Maryland-based team of benefits communications experts that had already been providing total compensation statements for other departments of BNP Paribas for several years.

"To us, the whole nature of the project seemed like one big challenge," said a BNP Paribas workgroup participant. "Charlton Consulting Group confidently demonstrated how they could develop a user-friendly tool that would simplify our complex compensation calculations."

The team at Charlton Consulting Group built a customized solution, developing a system around the existing process and making best-practice recommendations in areas that would improve efficiencies by automating current practices. For example, Charlton developed an automatic currency converter to give managers and HR personnel the flexibility to view compensation in multiple currencies.

During the implementation process, BNP Paribas was impressed with the team's expertise in developing innovative solutions based on BNP Paribas' specific requirements, and also with its ability to react and respond very quickly to last-minute changes, many of which were being dictated by fluctuations in the global economy.

The Result:

A "Brilliant" Tool, Aiding both HR and Territory Managers in Their Decisions on Employee Compensation

After the first pilot, CIB HR quickly realized the new compensation management solution was not purely HR driven. It had a broader appeal among territory managers.

"We originally designed the new system as an aid to HR, but the positive feedback from the territory managers made us realize it had turned into an effective operations tool for them as well," said a representative from CIB HR.

According to users, the biggest benefits BNP Paribas gets from its new compensation management solution are:

  • More manageable data sharing;
  • A complete and accurate information set for managers to use in their calculations (and having those calculations done automatically);
  • Easier decision-making, especially when tight deadlines are involved; and
  • A clearly defined audit trail and follow-up process that allows HR to be more proactive in requesting additional information.

From an administrative standpoint, the system allows BNP Paribas to better and more efficiently manage compensation. "Before the new system was deployed, we spent weeks just producing the spreadsheets. So, the time-saving HR has realized is substantial."

Additionally, managers now have a simple, easy-to-use tool that provides compensation oversight for employees they supervise. The system allows each region to do its own calculations and easily make changes, creating better workflows throughout the business group.

BNP Paribas continues its ramp up to expand the system to other business and regions during the next two years. Charlton Consulting Group was also engaged by the New York office to develop an online benefits enrollment system for its employees.

The CIB HRIS manager understands first hand why BNP Paribas continues its look toward Charlton Consulting Group as a strategic benefits communications partner.

"The solution Charlton developed for us was just brilliant. Designed to fit the needs of every type of manager, it's neither too simple nor too complex. It's a very workable solution that gives us at-a-glance access to salary and bonus data in order to make time-sensitive decisions on employee compensation."

About BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas is a European leader in banking and financial services, with a significant and growing presence in the United States and leading positions in Asia. The Group has one of the largest international banking networks, a presence in over 85 countries and 172,300 employees including: 131,100 in Europe - among whom 19,300 in Italy and 63,600 in France and in the Overseas Departments; 15,000 in North America and 9,400 in Asia.

For more information on Charlton Consulting Group's compensation management solutions, contact us.