Noteworthy examples include Silver Lake Capital’s acquisition of Qualtrics for a whopping $12.5 billion, Edenred buying Reward Gateway for €1 billion and Zoom purchasing employee experience-focused Workvivo.
But joining the fray in December is compensation and performance company beqom – the Swiss HR tech business has just bought pay equity software company PayAnalytics for an undisclosed sum.
This announcement comes just a year after beqom’s acquisition of TandemHR.
Speaking exclusively with UNLEASH, beqom’s co-founder and chief marketing officer Tanya Jansen talks about the link between the two deals: “The move with Tandem was about technology, with their solution placing employees and employee at the core of the product given the nature of the processes and topics it covers.
“PayAnalytics builds on that, being a complete plug-and-play solution, so users can immediately see value and understand the impact of their pay gaps.
“In addition, it also continues to position beqom as the broadest compensation provider, as performance factors are all necessary drivers of true total comp and pay equity.”
Pay equity is top of mind for HR
UNLEASH was keen to understand why now, at the end of 2023, was the time for beqom to do its second acquisition, and to focus specifically on pay equity.
Jansen explains: “Solving pay equity has never been more important to businesses across the globe – and it shows no signs of slowing.
“Businesses need pay equity solutions to anticipate, prepare and remain compliant with local and global pay equity guidelines,” continues Jansen.
2023 has brought new complexity; for example with the European Union passing a Pay Transparency Directive, plus the US Congress is in the process of introducing the Pay Equity for All Act and many US states are introducing pay transparency laws.
Jansesn adds: “This global regulatory pressure requires companies to report gender pay gap statistics, institute policies to mitigate discrepancies, and reduce any existing gaps or risk significant fines.
“In addition to regulatory imperatives, businesses are facing a need to compete for top talent. In an age of transparency into company practices through peer review sites like Glassdoor, companies can benefit from having a culture of workplace equity and pay transparency.
Fair pay therefore is an important element of a company’s employer brand, enhancing their ability to attract, engage, and retain talent.”
But getting pay equity right, particularly at scale, is very tricky. And this is where beqom and PayAnalytics, as a combined company, believe they can really make a difference – “the market is in need of a plug-and-play solution that empowers companies to continuously address pay equity without the constant need for outside consultants”, notes Jansen.
PayAnalytics’ products have been designed by data scientists and HR leader, and leverages advanced analytics to help employers make data-driven decisions about compensation.
Both beqom and PayAnalytics are very clear that things will remain business as usual for their clients, who include brands like PepsiCo, McDonald’s, DHL, Kuehne + Nagel, BNP Paribas, Allianz, IKEA, Puma and AXA – they will just access to expanded capabilities.
Speaking directly to customers, Jansen tells UNLEASH: “With this industry-disrupting alliance, users will be able to leverage our comprehensive compensation platform and PayAnalytics’ groundbreaking pay equity solutions to anticipate, prepare and remain compliant with local and global pay equity guidelines.
“It means our customers now have unparalleled support to address both local and global pay equity guidelines and to build comprehensive pay equity strategies.
“The result is an enhanced ability to create a culture of fairness to attract, motivate, and retain talent, and the ability to meet regulatory compliance requirements and reduce risk.
This not only marks a significant step toward our collective goal of creating greater pay equity for customers across the globe, but it also strengthens our ability to help customers create a culture of ongoing fairness and transparency.”
Jansen is optimistic about what 2024 holds for pay equity, and is excited for how beqom can better support its customers in this area through the acquisition of PayAnalytics.
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