Compease pairs compensation management software with hands-on expertise for mid-sized HR teams managing pay structures, merit planning, and equity analysis without a dedicated comp analyst.
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For HR teams at mid-sized companies, compensation planning often lives in a purgatory of spreadsheets. What starts as a manageable system—a few tabs tracking salaries, some formulas for merit increases—becomes unwieldy as headcount grows. By the time an organization reaches 150 or 200 employees, that "home-grown system" creates more problems than it solves: outdated market data, inconsistent job evaluations, and limited visibility into pay equity issues that could expose the company to legal and retention risks.
The stakes are significant. Compensation decisions directly impact an organization's ability to attract talent, retain high performers, and maintain fair pay practices. Yet many mid-market HR leaders lack access to the same caliber of salary benchmarking and planning tools that larger enterprises deploy. They need current market data tailored to their industry and region, structured processes for evaluating jobs consistently, and reporting that helps them defend compensation decisions to executives and employees alike. The gap between what's needed and what a spreadsheet can deliver widens with every new hire.
Compease, developed by HR Performance Solutions (a division of CU Solutions Group), addresses this gap by combining compensation management software with consulting expertise. Rather than offering a self-service platform and leaving HR teams to figure things out, Compease delivers a system built around guided implementation and ongoing support—a distinction that matters for organizations without dedicated compensation analysts on staff.
At its core, Compease automates salary structure management. HR teams can create and maintain pay grades, establish minimum and maximum ranges, and update those structures as market conditions change. The platform includes job evaluation tools that apply consistent criteria across positions, helping organizations establish internal equity before layering on external benchmarking. For merit planning, a configurable matrix lets administrators model different raise scenarios based on performance ratings or compa-ratios, then forecast the budget impact before committing to anything.
The market data component is where Compease differentiates itself from pure software plays. The platform integrates salary survey data that's refreshed annually and tailored by industry, geography, and organization size. This isn't a generic database—customers work with HRPS consultants to match their specific roles against relevant market benchmarks. For organizations that have struggled to find appropriate comparison points (particularly those in specialized industries or with hybrid job functions), this consultative approach can surface insights that off-the-shelf data misses.
Compease also provides equity analysis reporting, allowing HR leaders to quickly identify where individual employees fall relative to their pay range midpoint and how compensation varies across demographics. Given increasing regulatory attention to pay transparency and equity, having this visibility built into the compensation planning workflow—rather than requiring a separate analysis project—reduces compliance risk and supports more defensible pay decisions.
Compease fits best in organizations with roughly 100 to 500 employees that have outgrown manual compensation processes but don't need (or can't justify) enterprise-scale solutions. The typical customer has an HR team of one to five people managing the full employee lifecycle, without a dedicated compensation specialist. These teams need a system that provides structure and expertise, not just features.
The product has particular depth in the credit union and financial services sectors—a natural extension of its parent company's cooperative network—but serves healthcare, manufacturing, nonprofits, and other industries as well. Signs that an organization is ready for Compease include reliance on aging spreadsheet systems, difficulty answering employee questions about how pay is determined, or pending leadership concerns about pay equity. If compensation planning currently depends on one person's institutional knowledge or a collection of files that nobody fully understands, that's a strong signal.
User reviews on platforms like GetApp and Capterra consistently highlight usability and support quality. One HR manager noted that "ease of use is what I like most... the layout is easy to navigate and looks great," while another described the platform as giving them "market based salary ranges that are also internally equitable—helps convey the fairness of the system." The emphasis on fairness and transparency appears frequently; customers appreciate having defensible data when explaining pay decisions to employees or executives.
The consulting relationship also draws positive feedback. Reviewers mention the "onsite help in getting the software up and running" and describe the HRPS team as "skilled and helpful." For organizations accustomed to enterprise software vendors who disappear after implementation, this level of ongoing engagement stands out. That said, some users have noted limitations: the platform doesn't currently provide a total compensation view including benefits, and organizations with highly specialized roles or international operations may find gaps in the market data coverage.
Compease uses subscription-based pricing that scales with organization size, though specific rates require a custom quote. There's no free trial or freemium tier—this is a supported platform, not a self-serve tool. Implementation typically involves several weeks of work with HRPS consultants to configure job structures, establish salary grades, and set up data integration with existing HR or payroll systems. That integration happens via file transfer rather than real-time API connections, which is adequate for most compensation planning cadences but worth noting for teams expecting seamless synchronization.
Ongoing support includes regular user group webinars, a knowledge base, and access to client experience representatives for training or process questions. Annual data refreshes keep market benchmarks current without requiring additional customer effort.
For mid-market HR teams ready to move beyond spreadsheets but seeking more guidance than a typical SaaS platform provides, Compease offers a structured path to professional-grade compensation management. The combination of software and consulting expertise addresses a real gap in the market—organizations that need enterprise-level rigor without enterprise-level resources.
Learn more at cusg.com/compease
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