Expel Uses Syndio to Bolster Pay Transparency and Build Trust
Transparency is a core value of cybersecurity company Expel. It’s reflected in everything from how they build products and engage with customers to how they talk about pay.
In 2021, as new laws required companies to post salary ranges and Expel was in high-growth mode, employees started to ask more questions about fair pay.
“We knew we wanted to be more transparent, not only because that’s where things were heading, but because we believed in it as a core part of our business,” says Laura Koehne, Senior Director of Employee Experience Programs at Expel.
Expel turned to PayEQ to validate their pay equity analyses and get hands-on with their data so they could explain pay with clarity and confidence.
Using third-party software from a company that has a great reputation in this space helps us to build trust in our programs and processes with our internal folks."
Jeff Kaiser
Principal Program Manager, Compensation & Analytics
Technology
> 1,000
U.S., EMEA (UK, Ireland)
Pay equity, pay transparency
Manual process that wouldn’t scale
Syndio Workplace Equity Platform, including PayEQ® solution and Expert Consulting
Improved efficiency, transparency, and trust
When Expel had fewer than 250 employees, they analyzed pay equity manually. It was a time-consuming process: on top of their other responsibilities, two senior leaders would spend many hours reviewing compensation over the course of several weeks.
It also wasn't transparent, which was and remains a cornerstone of Expel's philosophy. Before Expel could have open, honest conversations around pay, they needed to be sure their pay equity research was accurate, explainable, and rooted in data that employees and candidates could trust.
Expel chose Syndio for its track record with brand-name customers and because PayEQ made it easy for the Expel team to analyze pay equity and understand their data.
Expel first used PayEQ to analyze base salary and variable pay across gender, race, and ethnicity. As part of the process, they were able to better understand how their policies influence and differentiate pay, and refine their controls, levels, and job families accordingly. As Koehne says, “Syndio gave us confidence that we were looking at the right decision criteria as we matured.”
The results quickly validated that Expel had no statistically significant gaps and they were paying employees equitably. This meant that rapidly hiring top talent in competitive markets had not disrupted equity. These results helped the team feel more confident to post salary ranges they knew were equitable, consistent, and competitive.
The team also used what they learned, along with visuals from PayEQ, to support Expel’s Comp 101 training, which helped managers and employees understand the company’s compensation philosophy and criteria around pay decisions. This helps leadership make good on their promise that all employees should feel comfortable asking about their pay and the company’s pay practices.
We want to empower people to have frank conversations about pay — and PayEQ is a part of that. We can justify pay, explain it in a way that people understand it, and answer any questions that may come up."
Jeff Kaiser
Principal Program Manager, Compensation & Analytics
By using the Syndio platform to analyze pay equity and explain pay, Expel was able to ramp up their pay transparency efforts and drive positive business outcomes.
Expel now has direct access to their data, and communicates both their pay equity results and the factors that impact pay. For many organizations, compensation can be a taboo topic to be avoided. At Expel, compensation conversations are open, honest, and straightforward. Koehne explains: “We were able to be more transparent because we had the data to back up what we were saying — we couldn’t have conveyed that without PayEQ.”
“The biggest impact of PayEQ is the validation and trust that it instills in our people,” says Kaiser. A recent survey showed that 89% of Expel’s employees are confident in compensation data and processes, and 90% are satisfied with the level of pay transparency — results that Expel attributes to a combination of PayEQ, Comp 101 training, and more open communications about pay. In the UK, job candidates have shared that the posted salary ranges are a competitive differentiator, helping Expel stand out against competitors.
With the use of PayEQ, the Expel team no longer ran time-consuming, manual analyses, improving efficiency and freeing them to do more strategic work. As Libby Fiumara, Principal Program Manager, Leadership & Learning at Expel, says, “Now we have more time to focus on communicating to the company rather than the analysis itself.”
Using technology to embed regular pay equity analyses into their business processes has helped Expel maintain pay equity for over three years (and counting.) They haven’t had any statistically significant gaps, even as employees have left and the company doubled in size.
The Expel team points to PayEQ as a key contributing factor to being named to five Best Workplaces lists by Great Place to Work® in 2023. Being both equitable and transparent helps Expel build brand trust so they can attract and retain top talent.
Ensuring equitable pay, and being able to talk about it openly, is a core part of our culture and how we take care of our people. We’ve been able to be very transparent because we have PayEQ data to back up what we’re saying.
Amy Rossi
Chief People Officer, Expel