Home > Resources > A precise salary benchmarking tool accelerates growth
Brightmine background

A precise salary benchmarking tool accelerates growth

Brightmine DeardenHR case study graphic
DeardenHR logo

Name: Clare Conaghan
Title: Director of HR
Organization: Dearden HR
Industry: Human Resources Services

Dearden HR is a boutique consulting firm providing bespoke HR business solutions to help its clients achieve lasting transformational change.

To continue growing, Director of HR Clare Conaghan knew Dearden HR needed a new salary benchmarking tool to expand its total rewards services.

Quality icon
Software icon
Checklist icon

The challenge

Finding a salary benchmarking tool for complex projects

When working with a client on salary benchmarking, Clare initially used a salary benchmarking tool the firm already had access to. Although she could complete the project with the tool, Clare realized it didn’t have the capabilities needed to manage more complex projects.

One startup firm needed a brand-new pay framework, Clare recalls. “The data we were getting through this tool wasn’t sufficient. We spent weeks and weeks sourcing satisfactory benchmarking data for my niche client.”

One of the major challenges with the tool was filtering salary data to ensure accuracy for benchmarking for pay ranges, she says. “The way the roles were constructed, and the job levels included, hadn’t been updated to reflect modern employment practices.”

Additionally, not having an apples-to-apples comparison of jobs made it difficult for clients to trust the data, she adds. “The feedback we consistently got from clients was that the salaries seemed low compared to what was advertised in the market. We needed different tools with robust information, depth and broader capabilities to do this work.”

The results

The results were immediate, Clare says. “We’re now using Compensation Planning for benchmarking, and it’s providing much richer data than we had before. The categorization, job levels and rules are much more aligned to the modern workplace.”

Clare says that in addition to providing more accurate data, Compensation Planning is faster and easier to use. Benchmarking is simpler, as job titles are set up so they can be quickly filtered for comparison. A process that otherwise could take “weeks” to find alternative data sources with the previous tool became nearly instantaneous. “You can upload your data and it’s a push of your button to get the results.”

Beyond the speed, accuracy and ease of use of the platform, the detailed results offer salary transparency to Dearden HR’s clients. “They can see row by row, person by person, where there’s a variance. Our reports are very clear about where the data comes from,” Clare says.

With enhanced accuracy and depth of information provided by Compensation Planning, Dearden HR provides their clients with the salary data needed to make critical decisions. Additionally, with the time savings Compensation Planning offers, the firm can continue to grow the business while operating efficiently.

Dearden HR


Clare Conaghan
Director of HR

“Brightmine helps us give confidence to our clients that they are paying appropriately. And if they’re not paying appropriately, it helps us work with them on how to address that. It has definitely enhanced the service we provide our customers.”

Woman working at a laptop