How salary review tools save time, ensure fairness and boost retention

To facilitate a fair and effective salary review process, collaboration between HR and leadership is essential. HR provides the big picture view of equity and structure, while leadership understands the unique value of their people. By working together, they ensure that every decision supports both the company’s people and its strategic goals. 

With the EU Pay Transparency Directive set to take effect in 2026, ensuring fairness in pay has become more important than ever. Once implemented into national law, companies will need to publish salary ranges and address any gender pay gaps. Salary review tools, like Sympa’s, offer HR and leadership a shared platform to manage data, streamline processes, and gain an overview of their organisation. This empowers them to make informed decisions that foster fairness, transparency, and alignment with regulatory requirements. 

The headache of manual salary reviews 

Without the right tools, the salary review process is often slow, inconsistent, and prone to miscommunication, increasing the risk of employee dissatisfaction and turnover. Managers may lack the data required for informed decisions, while HR struggles to ensure fairness and compliance across departments. The upcoming EU Pay Transparency Directive, which requires full visibility into salary data, makes these challenges even more pressing. 

Why HR departments need Sympa’s salary review tool 

This is where Sympa’s salary review tool becomes indispensable. Streamline the salary review process, save time, and address the challenges posed by both the upcoming regulations and existing pain points. 

The key benefits include: 

  • Flexible proposals: Admins and line managers can propose percentage-based or fixed salary increases quickly and accurately, reducing the need for manual updates and ensuring consistency across departments. Sympa’s latest update also allows users to remove employees from a review process when needed, enhancing control over each review round. 
  • Fully integrated with HR data: With Sympa, the salary review tool is embedded in your HR system, ensuring data is safe, secure, and up to date — critical for compliance with the EU Pay Transparency Directive.
  • Transparent overview: A salary review tool allows HR and managers to review all employee salaries in one centralised platform. Costs roll up automatically at each level of the organisation, providing a clear view of the proposed spend and helping ensure budget compliance.
  • Multi-currency and multi-salary type support: Sympa is implementing support for multiple currencies and salary types within a single review process, making it easy for organisations with diverse compensation structures to conduct salary reviews efficiently and accurately. 

Sympa’s salary review process in 5 steps 

Our salary review tool provides a structured, collaborative process that allows HR and managers to align on salary decisions efficiently. 

  1. Define settings: The admin user, usually a HR manager, defines the review settings to begin the salary review round.
  2. Initial proposals: As part of the settings, the admin user can make initial proposals, such as applying a statutory raise for all employees if needed.
  3. Manager proposals: If the full review process is enabled, subsequent managers in the chain continue the review as needed.
  4. Final approval: Once the review is locked, the admin user reviews and finalises the proposed salaries. HR then gives final approval to complete the process.
  5. Review completed: The finalised salaries are updated in the system, automatically transferring data to payroll systems for integrated countries to ensure employees receive their adjusted compensation. 

This approach allows HR and managers to collaborate effectively while maintaining control and consistency throughout the process. 

 

Preparing for the EU Pay Transparency Directive 

With the EU Pay Transparency Directive on the horizon, now is the time for businesses to streamline their salary review processes and ensure pay equity. By adopting an HR system like Sympa, companies can centralise salary data, automate proposals, and promote transparency across the organisation. This preparation not only helps prepare for regulatory demands but also reinforces trust with employees and creates a fair workplace. 

The future of fair pay 

Sympa’s salary review tool simplifies the path to a fair, transparent, and compliant salary review process. By fostering collaboration between HR and leadership, it allows organisations to make informed, consistent decisions that support both employee satisfaction and strategic goals.