Building the Foundation for Sustainable Pay Equity

Preparing a Media Company for Pay Transparency with a Data-Driven Equal Pay Analysis

1. Media
   
   1. Industry
2. EUR 3.9b
   
   1. Annual Revenue
3. 7,000
   
   1. Number of Employees
4. 3 Months
   
   1. Project Duration

The Initial Situation

In response to evolving pay transparency requirements in Europe, the company needed a clear and reliable view of its compensation structures across all entities. While a grading system and job architecture had recently been introduced, HR data remained fragmented across multiple systems—primarily SAP, but also several less consistent non-SAP sources.

An initial internal analysis by the Comp & Ben team had already provided valuable first insights into pay patterns. Given the complexity of harmonizing multiple data sources and conducting a comprehensive, organization-wide equal pay assessment, the company decided to complement its internal work with external expertise. The goal was to  deliver a robust, data-driven evaluation, and establish a solid foundation for sustainable pay equity reporting.

The Critical Challenges

Several critical hurdles had to be addressed before a reliable equal pay analysis could be conducted.

First, the team needed to identify all relevant pay components, such as base salary and variable pay, to ensure a complete assessment of compensation structures. It was also necessary to determine which wage influencing factors should be considered in the analysis.

Another challenge was the quality and structure of the HR data. Employee data came from multiple systems, including SAP and several less consistent non-SAP sources. Missing values and inconsistencies made it difficult to directly compare compensation data.

Finally, defining the employee scope required careful consideration. Some entities were relatively small, which limited the statistical robustness of standalone analyses and required a thoughtful approach to defining the analysis population.

How We Supported the Client

To address these challenges, binder|consulting followed a structured approach focused on building a reliable analytical foundation for the equal pay assessment.

The project began with the definition of the analysis framework. Together with the client, the team established the employee scope, defined relevant comparison groups, and determined how pay components and wage influencing factors should be incorporated into the analysis.

Next, HR data from multiple systems was consolidated and prepared for analysis. Through a systematic data cleansing process, inconsistencies were resolved and the datasets were harmonized to ensure comparability.

Based on this dataset, binder|consulting conducted the pay gap calculations and developed client-specific visualizations with the bIc payequalizer tool to present the results in a clear and actionable way.

The Impact Delivered

Through the collaboration with binder|consulting, the company gained a clear and reliable view of its compensation structures across the organization.

The analysis increased transparency around key wage-influencing factors and provided a robust analytical basis for identifying and assessing potential pay differences across the organization.

At the same time, the project established a structured and repeatable analysis framework. Using the calculation logic and methodology developed by binder|consulting, the company can now conduct regular equal pay assessments and monitor developments over time.

This provides a reliable basis for addressing potential gaps and responding confidently to increasing pay transparency requirements.