News story

Compensation simulation from Tata Interactive Systems

05 Jun 2006Learning NewsMPS Interactive Systems

Having developed a simulation to help one of the 'Fortune 500' companies plan its staff's remuneration packages, the global e-learning developer, Tata Interactive Systems (TIS), is putting the 'engine' behind that simulation to work by producing similar simulations for its other customers.

These enable scenario planning for performance reward and the appraisal of reward - both on an individual and organisation-wide basis.

TIS's 'Pay RoleT - Compensation Planning Simulation' addresses the challenge that all HR managers face: how to produce better salary and benefit packages that not only keep each employee motivated and loyal but also fitting with their organisation's culture, goals and budgets.

"The simulation provides a 'what-if' learning tool that enables users to engage in scenario planning activities," said Alan Samuel, head of TIS in the UK. "It is a tool that is customised to the user's organisational parameters and it provides training that helps users to understand the nature of compensation planning."

"It is proving to be of greatest benefit where a multi-national organisation wants to disseminate its staff remuneration policies and practices throughout the organisation in a standardised way," explained TIS's Simulations Practice head, Rupesh Goel. "This allows new policies and best practice to be instantly accessible by anyone, in a scenario based, interactive format throughout the worldwide locations."

Building the simulation involves TIS in collecting data on fixed pay, performance-linked pay and staff benefits from the client. Once built, the simulation can be used to discover the likely results of any remuneration-linked strategy, such as redundancies and organisational restructuring. The simulation deals with group level or departmental financial planning as well as a drill down into individual salary plans, allowing for a wide array of metrics and parameters to be played in a exciting dashboard.

"There are other software packages that look at salary planning but TIS's custom-built simulation integrates salary planning within a teaching/learning context, providing instant feedback on the likely results of any action relating to staff remuneration," Goel stated. "It can offer key insights into any staff-related aspect of change management."