No more copy-pasting in Excel

At Kaneka Belgium, granting salary increases and bonuses was a complex process. Preparing, distributing, and merging the Excel files for the managers of 27 departments was time-consuming. With the use of Youbo, HR saves many days of work. Moreover, the managers/users are very satisfied with the tool. Bart Verhoeven, HR & General Affairs Manager: “When I saw a demo, I knew: this is what we have been waiting for.”

The Challenge

Kaneka Belgium is quite tightly organized. The chemical company has 370 employees across 27 departments. For each department, HR split an Excel document with extensive formulas based on the underlying salary policy—a policy with fifty years of history. The manager allocated their budget and sent the completed document back to HR, who merged and checked everything manually.

The annual process was complex, time-consuming, and error-prone. When too much or too little budget was allocated, re-calculations after internal checks took even more time. Converting the data into tables for the management and into paper salary, bonus, and salary increase letters was also cumbersome.

The Solution

Convinced that digitalization was the answer, Kaneka sought an online tool. Bart Verhoeven, HR & General Affairs Manager: “We have long awaited a solution like Youbo in the field. It is a gap in the market.”

Youbo integrates with eBlox to import salary data. During several workshops, Teal Partners translated Kaneka's salary policy into the tool.
During a one-hour training session, all managers were guided, and the board was given ample time to fine-tune the setup. In three months, the tool was fully operational. The first reward cycle has since been completed successfully, without any significant issues.

The 6 benefits according to Kaneka

Ease of use and transparency were the main reasons for choosing the tool. By using the tool, additional benefits have emerged.

1. More efficiency, fewer errors HR estimates easily saving two work weeks per year with Youbo. Splitting, consolidating and (sometimes) manually checking files is no longer necessary.
   Danny Haneveer, compensation & benefits manager: "The parrot work of retyping and repeatedly checking the data has become redundant. Because the data is immediately centralized in the system, manual errors are a thing of the past. Digital salary and bonus letters and salary increase letters are automatically filled in correctly."

2. The work is better distributed The end of the fiscal year is traditionally a peak period for HR, with the preparation of annual reports and the reward process. Danny Haneveer: "The HR data can be prepared in advance in the tool, which provides more breathing room during the busiest period. HR now sits in the control seat instead of an executive role."

   Managers can process their part at their own pace. HR and, each for their department, management can clearly see which managers have already distributed their budget.

3. More transparency and insight The formulas in Excel were not transparent. With Youbo, managers have more insight. They see when they exceed their budget. The automatic suggestions help them distribute the budget according to the salary policy.

   Managers see the salary ranges or seniority per employee and which budgets are available. It is possible to compare team members with each other. It helps managers better explain decisions to their teams.

   Graphs show how they compare to other managers. Do they give higher bonuses or evaluation scores than average?

4. Confidentiality Confidentiality is a top priority for Kaneka. Managers only have access to their own budget and their team's data. The tool meets all GDPR requirements, unlike shared Excel files.

5. Better reporting Youbo helps comply with European regulations on salary transparency. Danny Haneveer: "The pay gap analysis becomes a valuable tool in that context. It shows what the wage gap is, and which differences are statistically explainable."

6. Better collaboration with finance Thanks to access for the financial controller, the finance department is also better informed. They see not only the budgets per department, but also the current proposals for salary increases and bonuses. This creates a more complete picture of personnel costs. Differences between forecast and reality are detected more quickly.

   "It gives finance a solid basis to report more smoothly and accurately to headquarters in Japan, where management is strongly numbers-driven," says Danny Haneveer.

Implementation and feedback

Youbo was implemented at a smooth pace. Danny Haneveer: "Teal Partners helped us well to convert our complex structure with 27 departments and strict hierarchy into a logical and workable system. They thought along and immediately understood where our sensitivities were."

Deadlines were always respected. Bart Verhoeven: "Every question was answered immediately. Some IT companies convert a customer's question into a ticket, where they determine the urgency. Sometimes you wait weeks for an answer. That's quite different at Teal Partners."

In Japan, reliable continuity is more important than continuous change. Transformation trajectories are not self-evident. Yet all users reacted very positively. Danny Haneveer: "The tool is so intuitive that everyone could get started with it immediately. A manager said: 'It's like science fiction, too good to be true'."

In the next cycle, everything will be further digitized, such as the current way of working with uploaded PDFs (the signed evaluation forms and personal objectives sheet). Kaneka Belgium wants to integrate even more modules in the coming years, such as budget forecasting and personnel planning, so that the payroll processes become even more robust and digital.