Compensation reviews owner FAQs

This topic answers frequently asked questions about owning a compensation review in ChartHop.

What information do I need before I begin a compensation planning cycle?

We recommend identifying the following information before you begin:

Once we have access to the newest version of Compensation reviews, will we still have access to our legacy compensation review scenarios?

Yes - you will continue to have access to your legacy compensation reviews in the form of archived scenarios. No data is deleted; however, we recommend that you archive all open compensation planning scenarios.

If I'm currently running a compensation review cycle using the legacy version, can I switch that cycle to the newest version?

Unfortunately, no. If you're currently running a compensation review cycle using legacy compensation reviews, you cannot update to the newest version until your current cycle is completed. This will help prevent any interruptions or delays to your current compensation review cycle.

Can a person that is not currently in the Org Chart (such as an HRBP) be the owner of a compensation review?

Yes - as long as they have the access roles of Owner, Technical owner, or Compensation viewer assigned in ChartHop.

Do I have to launch my cycle on the Cycle starts date?

No, as the compensation review owner you have access to the Launch button whenever and can launch the cycle on a date different from the cycle starts date. However, to avoid confusion, ChartHop recommends launching on the Cycle starts date because that is the date that displays to the user in the timeline.

Are new hires included in my eligible employee list if their start date is during the compensation review cycle?

It depends on your configuration. ChartHop uses the structure of your org chart on the Final approval due date to organize and populate your compensation review cycle. Learn more.

Any employees hired after the Final approval date are automatically excluded from the compensation review cycle.

Can I assign a person as a reviewer when they are not currently in the Org Chart (for example, people business partners)?

A ChartHop user outside the immediate reporting structure of the employee pod can be reassigned as a reviewer. Please note that this gives the user full access to all sensitive data for employees in that compensation review pod. 

The previously assigned manager displays in the Removed managers list in the Reviewers & approvers tab. Learn more.

Is there a way to export the list of eligible and ineligible employees?

Yes - you can select the View on Data Sheet button in the Employees section of the Eligible Employees tab to automatically create a Data Sheet view that is populated with the corresponding employees (depending on the tab you have selected - either Eligible or Ineligible). From there, you can export the list of employees as a .csv file and easily share that list with leaders outside the compensation review cycle configuration.

Can I stop reviewers and approvers from going over budget? 

Budgets will show when they’ve been exceeded, but as of right now, the user is not locked out of editing their reviewer workbook and from going over budget. Approvers have the ability to reject proposed changes with feedback.

How many budgets can I set up? 

You can set up as many as you’d like, however you may want to consider ease of use and navigation for your reviewers and approvers. Too many budgets can get confusing for your reviewers and approvers.

Are multiple currencies supported for budgets?

Yes - multiple currencies are supported. 

For budgets calculated in percentages:

For fixed budgets, you can indicate the currency in which the budget is represented. 

Can I set up a budget calculation using a smart calculation custom field?

Yes - you can configure a smart calculation custom field to affect your budget and guideline calculations.

Can I allow a budget to calculate amounts based on shares instead of currency?

Yes - if you use the Planned Grant (Shares) grantShares data category instead of the Planned Grant (Value) grantValue data category, you can set up a budget calculation using those shares.

Can I make it so that reviewers and approvers can’t make any changes outside of the guidelines or target values I’ve defined?

Unfortunately, this is currently not possible. However, you can set up your compensation review to flag any values that exceed a defined threshold beyond the guidelines you set up. When looking at any table of employees in the compensation review cycle, you can easily filter to display Employees with exceptions to display the employees whose compensation was flagged beyond the guideline threshold you define. Learn more.

How do I make editing of a column conditional?

You can use the Edit Only if option when setting up the reviewer workbook to make certain fields/columns editable only under specific conditions. Learn more.

Can I hide columns in the reviewer workbooks based on departments or other filter parameters?

Yes! You can use the Visible to option when setting up the reviewer workbook to control how your columns display.

Can I tie promotions into the compensation review?

If you store promotion data within another field in ChartHop, you can include that field as a column in the reviewer workbook. You can also set up a column, for example: New Title, to be editable in the reviewer workbook. However, please note that there is no Merge to Primary option to store these changes in ChartHop at the conclusion of a compensation review.

How do I display compa-ratio information in my compensation review?

You can use the compaRatioMid data category to display a compensation band's midpoint (the job's base pay, divided by the midpoint of its compensation band, as a percentage).

You can also use the compaRatioTarget data category to display the compensation band target (the job's base pay, divided by the target pay of its compensation band as a percentage).

Can I test the entire compensation review cycle before I launch it?

Yes! You can use the Preview & test feature to completely test all aspects of your compensation review. You can select to view the compensation review as a specific person, enter compensation changes to test budget calculations and guidelines, and even submit proposed changes to test the approval structure. After you’re done previewing and testing, any changes you may have made are deleted. 

Do all participants in my compensation review cycle need to be active users in ChartHop for me to preview and test?

Yes - in order for ChartHop to fully build an accurate preview of your compensation review cycle, your participants must be active users in ChartHop. When you preview & test, a ChartHop invitation is automatically sent to any participants who aren’t current ChartHop users (as long as they have valid work email addresses).

Please note, users must only be active users, they don't have to be invited to the compensation review yet. 

Does the View as ability in Preview & test take into account role sensitivity?

When you preview & test as a specific person, you see information based on what the specific person can see.

Can I test my calculations without using the Preview & test feature?

To test your budget and guideline calculations without using the Preview & test feature, you can select the Calculate button directly from the Budgets and Guidelines tabs in the Cycle settings.

As an owner, do I have the ability to see the status of approval chains for various groups?

Yes, as the owner of a review you can see the entire compensation review timeline, along with the Reviewers and approvers tree and their approval status directly within the Cycle overview tab. Learn more.

What happens if a re-org happens or if a manager change happens during an active cycle?

When a manager who is part of your compensation review cycle departs during the review cycle, ChartHop automatically reassigns their reviews to the next manager in the approval tree structure and notifies you of the change.

If other changes do occur, you have the ability to pause the review and reassign a reviewer or approver within the compensation review Cycle overview tab.

As an owner, do I have the ability to go in and make edits/adjustments to proposed changes within a compensation review?

You can only make or propose changes to compensation when you are also an assigned reviewer. In that case, you can edit compensation for the employees assigned to you for review. If you are not assigned as a reviewer, you cannot make any edits to compensation.

Final approvers have the ability to make adjustments to compensation only at the end of the review cycle once all reviews have been submitted to them for approval.

As an owner, can I give edit access back to a reviewer (for example, when there is a mistake that was already submitted)?

Approvers have the ability to reject a proposal and send it back to the requester. In your capacity as owner, you can pause the compensation review cycle and reassign the reviews to another reviewer.

How do data integrations work with compensation reviews? For example, what happens when an employee's compensation data is updated within the payroll system during an active compensation review cycle and that updated data flows back to ChartHop?

Any changes made in the payroll system are updated within the compensation review after it flows back into ChartHop. This helps make sure that your budget calculations are using the latest available data. 

The only way to currently prevent any updates to compensation data from happening is by temporarily disabling the payroll app sync for the duration of the compensation review cycle.

Can I add an eligible employee to an already launched Compensation review?

Yes - you can pause the review and add specific employees to the compensation review. Learn more.

Can I exclude an employee from the compensation review after it has already launched?

Yes - you can pause the review and exclude specific employees who were previously included as eligible. Learn more.

Can reviewers see who the final approver is at any stage of the cycle?

No, reviewers cannot see the identity of the final approver. Only compensation review owners can set up and view who final approvers are.

Do I have to wait until the cycle is over to export to CSV?

As a compensation review owner, you can export a CSV any time after you’ve launched a cycle, even while it is currently in progress.

My final approvers have not given their approval by marking the proposed changes as reviewed but I need to close the compensation review due to other circumstances. Can I conclude the compensation review?

Yes - as the compensation review owner, you have the ability to conclude the compensation review and specify whether it was concluded with or without final approval. This gives you the flexibility to conclude a compensation review without waiting for your final approvers.

After a compensation review cycle, can I export a .csv with additional fields that weren't included in the reviewer workbook?

No - you can only export the field columns that you included in your reviewer workbook configuration. 

When a compensation review cycle is complete, do I still have access to the approvals timeline?

Yes - once a compensation review cycle has been concluded, the Cycle overview tab displays in a view-only mode.

Do compensation letters work with this newest version of compensation reviews?

Yes - you can configure templates to work with the updated compensation values from the newest version of compensation reviews.

Are the history of changes made to a person’s compensation tracked?

ChartHop stores this data in our backend. Future iterations of compensation reviews will surface this data.