Are you struggling with managing complex high-volume calculations like incentive-based compensation or dynamic pricing models? Well, you're not alone. The maxim of ‘change is the only constant’ applies to businesses too, which often experience changes from an HR standpoint (personnel and/or leadership movements) as well as new market conditions, industry regulations and many other factors that affect internal operations… All in all, companies as ‘living organisms’ need to be able to adapt quickly, and anyone in a management position knows this to be an absolute truth.

This is why, after reviewing some of the challenges faced by users and managers, we worked hand in hand with some of our most trusted clients and advisors to come up with an innovative and effective solution of our own; and that’s how Informa’s Incentive Compensation Management System (ICMS) was born.

ICMS is an efficient, low-maintenance, no-code solution with full configurability and security designed to manage complex high-volume calculations, such as incentive-based compensation, pricing models, or sales commissions.

The main challenges for users

In general, we found that complex incentive calculations take too much time and effort—accurately calculating complex commissions is expensive and complicated. Some of the main challenges we found include:

1. Difficulty in managing large amounts of data and executing complex calculations in a short period of time.
2. Ensuring data accuracy and integrity, particularly if data is entered manually or comes from multiple sources.
3. Difficulty in setting up, configuring, and adapting the system to company needs.
4. Limited flexibility and requiring continuous support from IT or external consultants to adapt to fast-paced changes in business requirements.
5. Limited visibility into performance of the incentive plans, particularly due to lack of availability of real-time data.
6. Difficulty in integrating tracking and reporting to the company’s existing systems and tools.

Enter ICMS: no-code + complex calculation management + seamless integration

With full configurability, security, fast and efficient calculations, integration capabilities, and customization features, ICMS does the heavy lifting of complex calculations while offering several unique benefits that help solve the pain points experienced by businesses today.

Featuring drag-and-drop functionality and prebuilt functions and integrations, ICMS puts more problem-solving capabilities into the hands of non-IT business units.

As easy as a sheet

Unlike other solutions that require coding, even for small changes, ICMS is easy to use and maintain, and allows users to make changes and adaptations to their incentive-based compensation programs as easily as managing a calculation sheet and without the need to engage IT or external consultants. 

Here is what this means for you:

1. Flexibility: ICMS can be tailored to meet the specific needs of your business. The application can be configured to support any type of calculation, allowing you to quickly and easily adapt to changes (industry regulations, market dynamics, or changes in your business), and stay ahead of the competition.
2. Faster Installation and Deployment: According to Statista, organizations using no-code solutions like ICMS can build their solutions 56% faster than those relying on traditional development technologies. ICMS can be easily installed and deployed without the need for IT or external resources. This not only makes the process faster, but it also saves you money on consulting fees and ensures that the solution is up and running quickly.
3. Cost-Effective: ICMS's no-code solution not only makes managing complex calculations easy, but it's also incredibly cost-effective. As per the Quandary Consulting Group, companies that use low-code solutions like ICMS can avoid hiring additional developers, saving up to $4.4 million in three years. This means that businesses can invest more of their budget in other areas while getting the same level of performance and functionality.
4. User-Friendly: ICMS is designed to be user-friendly, even for those who are not technically savvy. The interface is easy to navigate and understand and the solution is highly intuitive, making it easy to manage any incentive-based compensation programs and make changes as needed.
5. Optimize efforts: ICMS's fully customizable What-If Analysis allows users to measure their impact on their overall performance and determine where to focus their efforts. This means that businesses can create compensation plans that work for them, and adapt them to their ever-changing needs. Additionally, ICMS is client and industry-agnostic, and all calculations are fully end-user definable.
6. Scalability: With ICMS's no-code solution, you can quickly build and customize the applications you need using prebuilt sets of code or integrations, similar to building blocks. This approach allows for rapid development and customization of solutions to meet the changing demands of your business, without the need for extensive coding expertise. As your business grows, ICMS is designed to scale and meet your evolving needs, ensuring your incentive-based compensation programs continue to operate seamlessly.
7. Easy to integrate: According to Gartner, integration capabilities are a key factor to consider when evaluating no-code platforms. ICMS seamlessly integrates with your current data analytics and reporting tools, which makes it easy to get the insights you need to make informed decisions. This means that you can continue to use the tools you're familiar with, while still getting the benefits of a more powerful and efficient no-code incentive and compensation management solution.

Stay ahead

In today's competitive business landscape, staying ahead of the curve is essential. With ICMS's no-code solution, businesses can easily manage their incentive-based compensation programs without the need for complex coding, expensive IT resources, or external help. The flexibility, scalability, and user-friendly nature of ICMS's platform make it a stand-out option in the market, allowing businesses to make faster, data-driven decisions and improve overall performance. 

So, if you work in Sales, Finance, HR or Administrative roles, and you're looking for a solution that offers fast and efficient calculations, full configurability, customization and security, look no further. You’ll definitely love ICMS.

Incentives are natural motivators. Remember when your parents promised you to buy a bike if you got good grades in school? That is a simple example of a performance-based incentive. It gave you a nudge to keep performing at your best. Bottom line: People respond to incentives. This is why most companies adopt something known as incentive compensation. It is the process of compensating employees financially for their exceptional performance.

Here, we’ll take a closer look at what incentive compensation means, see some common challenges that organizations face while managing incentive-based compensation, and review how Informa's Incentive Compensation Management System (ICMS) can help you combat these challenges.

What is Incentive Compensation?

Incentive compensation is a type of pay given to an employee as a reward for achieving specific goals or targets, such as increasing sales or improving productivity. Incentive compensation is often used as a motivator by the leadership to encourage their teams to perform better. Without an incentive, the employee might be less inclined to exceed expectations. There are several ways in which incentive compensation can be structured, including straight commissions, bonuses, prizes, “spiffs,” awards, and recognition.

Common Challenges in Managing Incentive-Based Compensation

Managing compensation is a complex and time-consuming task for administrators and sales managers. Either you’re carrying out the entire process manually or dealing with erroneous results resulting in a lack of trust. This means business enablement issues, audit and risk management, lack of detailed reporting, and too much time manually carrying out complex calculations. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

With ICMS, you can easily manage your complex high-volume calculations, such as incentive-based compensation, pricing models, or sales commissions. You’ll save valuable time spent in carrying out complex incentive calculations and get to create unlimited What-if analyses to measure the impact of different scenarios on overall performance and focus efforts accordingly.

Now that you have a fair idea of what incentive compensation management means and its importance in an organization, let’s go through the different challenges in managing incentive-based compensation and how Informa's ICMS helps solve them.

1. Lack of Flexibility

Traditional solutions lack flexibility. Many competitors require coding and technical expertise even for small changes, which can be time-consuming and require additional resources. 

ICMS is a user-friendly solution that makes managing and adapting your incentive and compensation programs easy. It is a no-code, low-maintenance solution that can be easily managed, similar to managing a calculation sheet, making it ideal for Excel users. It is customizable and can be tailored to your specific needs, and it is industry and client agnostic, making it more flexible, adaptable, and user-friendly than its competitors. Furthermore, ICMS seamlessly integrates with almost any software you might have already — such as data analytics and CRM — for added flexibility and integration.

2. Lack of Efficiency

Most applications take several hours to process reports, making it difficult to rerun calculations and make adjustments in a timely manner. 

ICMS allows you to run calculations in minutes and make adjustments as needed without wasting valuable time waiting for reports to be processed. In addition, ICMS is highly adaptable; it can be configured and adjusted without the need for IT support or external consulting support. This adaptability helps ensure that incentive plans remain adequate and relevant.

3. Audit and Risk Management

One of the biggest challenges in managing incentive compensation is ensuring that the system is auditable and that the calculations are accurate and reliable. 

ICMS provides a full audit trail for accurate and reliable calculations, ensuring compliance and minimizing errors and fraud. It allows organizations to easily track and review calculations, identify errors and provide the necessary confidence, helping organizations to demonstrate compliance and ensure accurate, reliable, and trustworthy calculations.

4. Lack of Visibility

Most organizations need visibility into how different scenarios and changes will impact overall performance, making it difficult to determine where to focus efforts and adjust the incentive plan.

ICMS provides a fully customizable What-If Analysis to allow users to measure the impact of different scenarios on overall performance and determine where to focus their efforts. This feature will enable managers to make projections for individuals and teams, ensuring proper compensation, preventing frustration, and retaining top talent. 

5. Lack of Security

Ensuring the security of sensitive data and the visibility of the generated results is vital for organizations to protect sensitive information from unauthorized access. 

ICMS addresses security challenges in incentive compensation by providing advanced security features, such as controlling the visibility of results at the user level and encrypting sensitive data within Azure. This ensures that only authorized individuals have access to the results of the calculations and protects sensitive data from unauthorized access or breaches, helping organizations minimize the risk of breaches and unauthorized access.

ICMS: Incentive-based Compensation Management Made Simple

In conclusion, managing incentive-based compensation can be a real headache for organizations. But with ICMS, it doesn't have to be. ICMS is a powerful and user-friendly solution that makes it easy to manage complex high-volume calculations like incentive-based compensation, pricing models, and sales commissions. With ICMS, you'll have access to many features that make your life easier. You'll be able to run What-If Analysis, make changes quickly with no-code functionality, and integrate with other software you already use. Plus, ICMS is built on Microsoft Azure technology and designed to be client and industry-agnostic so that it will work for you regardless of your industry or client base. So, if you're tired of dealing with the headaches of managing incentive compensation, give ICMS a try. You'll be glad you did!