Copied!
July 10, 2025
Pieter-Jan Boden: “Rewarding was a grueling task. We worked with spreadsheets that HR split per manager. They filled in their budget allocation and sent the document back. But it rarely went smoothly: formulas got damaged, budgets were exceeded, documents often came back late. Deadlines were repeatedly at risk, and errors crept into the data quality.
If rewarding in one country is already complicated, you can imagine how chaotic it becomes in an international context. Each country has its own payroll moments and rules, causing managers of international teams to spend months on it. Meanwhile, HR was mainly busy firefighting. That had to change.”
Pieter-Jan Boden: “We searched for software that simplified the process. The first tool we tried was not intuitive enough. Managers couldn't easily allocate their budgets, which we find important. We have extensive rules around reward because HR is our core business. Therefore, we wanted the best solution that considers country-specific wage legislation and various currencies. A tool with that international dimension was hard to find until Teal Partners introduced Youbo.
Teal Partners thoroughly understands the HR and payroll market and proposed a solution that is user-friendly. We first tested Youbo in Belgium. The results were immediately convincing. Because the tool is so flexible, we rolled it out seamlessly in other countries.”
Pieter-Jan Boden: “We reduced the reward process from two months to three weeks. That's immense. We now use that time gain to engage more with employees. Most people have a good evaluation, but outliers, both top performers and those who struggle, deserve extra attention, and we can now provide that.”
Evi Heyse: “Managers have more autonomy. Previously, HR proposed a salary increase via Excel formulas, and managers could follow that suggestion or propose a change by sending the document back and forth. That's not flexible. Youbo automatically shows managers suggestions for raises that stem from the wage policy, for example, linked to performance or salary scales. They can approve or modify them with justification. Managers can immediately see the impact of their choices in the tool and can try out scenarios.”
Pieter-Jan Boden: “A useful suggestion is also the pay salary alerts. If an employee is below their reward level according to the wage policy, the manager receives a signal. Especially with the upcoming wage transparency, it's useful to eliminate historical wage differences. Youbo helps uncover gaps.”
Evi Heyse: “The tool is now used by 150 people across 4 hierarchical levels. The rigidity of spreadsheets previously meant that in practice, mainly higher management distributed the budgets. It was previously unfeasible to involve so many managers, but with Youbo, it is easy.
We found it important to also involve the managers of the smallest teams. They are closest to the employees and therefore know best who deserves what. It makes the compensation policy fairer. At the same time, Youbo eases the workload for higher echelons and HR. It is, of course, important to properly guide the involved managers in the initial phase.”
Pieter-Jan Boden: “Not necessarily. We have an extensive wage policy, and the Youbo team helped us translate those reward rules into the system. But if you don't have a wage policy yet, the tool can be an aid. Youbo brings the inconsistencies in your compensation method to the surface. It makes it clear where you can make adjustments to make your way of compensating more accurate and fairer.”
Evi Heyse: “Due to the transparency of the tool, you can see much better how budgets are distributed, the deviations, the total budget, the historical evolution, and so on. The reason why you, for example, grant different benefits to employees must be clear. Before wage transparency comes into effect, it is important to have that in order.”
Pieter-Jan Boden: “Human resources saves a lot of time, managers gain more autonomy, and the distribution of the budget has become fairer.”
Evi Heyse: “Managers are very enthusiastic about using the tool. From the training onwards, we receive very positive feedback. They are impressed with what Youbo can do.”
Pieter-Jan Boden: “Working with Youbo is also much safer. Spreadsheets work with formulas from which the suggestion for salary increases arises. If a manager wanted to take a look at how such a formula is constructed, there was a risk of the formula being corrupted. Problems also arose when splitting the spreadsheets per hierarchical level. With every manual action, and there are many in such a process, you run the risk of corrupting the data. That is not okay in terms of GDPR.
An Excel file can be easily forwarded. Even if it is protected, someone can share the password via chat or email. As a company, you can never be sure if your data is being handled correctly. In the Youbo tool, you can see exactly who has access and you can set who can see what.”
Pieter-Jan Boden: “It is important to communicate well in the initial phase. Different countries emphasize different aspects of payments. Think of the index that is crucial in Belgium but unknown in the United Kingdom. Or the pivot index in Luxembourg. The cost of living varies.
For us, it was important to create an international playbook with input from the country leads about the local nuances within reward. Just because you use one tool doesn't mean all countries should use it in the same way. Youbo allows you to set emphases per country. You need to be aware of that.”