16  Compensation and Benefits Dashboards

16.1 Overview of Compensation and Benefits Dashboards

A compensation and benefits dashboard enables HR professionals to analyze and visualize key metrics related to employee salaries, benefits utilization, and overall cost analysis. These dashboards provide actionable insights into the company’s compensation strategy, allowing organizations to identify trends, ensure pay equity, and optimize benefits distribution.

By using Tableau, organizations can create interactive and visually engaging dashboards to explore compensation data in detail. Tableau’s dynamic visualizations and user-friendly interface make it easier to identify patterns and address potential issues in employee compensation.

16.1.1 Key Metrics for Compensation and Benefits

  1. Salary Distribution:
    • Analyze the distribution of employee salaries by department, role, or location.
    • Identify salary disparities and ensure equitable pay.
  2. Benefits Utilization:
    • Track employee participation in benefits programs (e.g., health insurance, retirement plans).
    • Assess the effectiveness of benefits packages.
  3. Cost Analysis:
    • Monitor total compensation costs, including salaries, bonuses, and benefits.
    • Compare costs across departments or regions.
  4. Pay Equity:
    • Evaluate salary data to ensure equitable pay across genders, roles, or ethnicities.

16.1.2 Benefits of Compensation and Benefits Dashboards

  1. Enhanced Pay Transparency:
    • Visualize and communicate salary structures and benefits clearly.
  2. Data-Driven Decision-Making:
    • Use data to make informed decisions about compensation adjustments and benefits offerings.
  3. Compliance Monitoring:
    • Ensure adherence to labor laws and pay equity standards.

16.1.3 Preliminary Steps for Creating Compensation and Benefits Dashboards

Prepare Your Dataset

  1. Data Requirements: Ensure the dataset includes:
    • Employee ID, Salary, Benefits Enrolled, Department, Job Role, Gender, Location, and Total Compensation.
  2. Clean and Preprocess Data:
    • Remove duplicates and fill missing values.
    • Standardize categorical fields (e.g., Department and Job Role).
  3. Load Data into Tableau:
    • Open Tableau Desktop and connect to the dataset using Connect to Data.

16.1.4 Visualizing Compensation and Benefits Metrics in Tableau

Salary Distribution

Visualization: Box Plot or Histogram
- How to Create: 1. Drag Salary to the Columns shelf and Department to the Rows shelf. 2. Use the Box Plot option from the Analytics pane to display salary ranges and medians. 3. Alternatively, create a Histogram by dragging Salary to the Columns shelf and creating bins. - Goal: Identify salary distribution and detect outliers.

Benefits Utilization

Visualization: Stacked Bar Chart
- How to Create: 1. Drag Benefits Enrolled to the Columns shelf and Department to the Rows shelf. 2. Use the Stacked Bar Chart option to show the proportion of employees enrolled in various benefits programs by department. - Goal: Assess the effectiveness and utilization of employee benefits programs.

Cost Analysis

Visualization: Tree Map
- How to Create: 1. Drag Department to the Columns shelf and Total Compensation to the Size shelf. 2. Select the Tree Map visualization to show the relative compensation costs across departments. - Goal: Monitor total compensation costs by department or region.

Pay Equity

Visualization: Scatter Plot
- How to Create: 1. Drag Salary to the Columns shelf and Gender to the Rows shelf. 2. Add Department to the color marks to differentiate departments. 3. Use a Scatter Plot to visualize pay equity across genders. - Goal: Evaluate salary disparities and ensure equitable pay.

16.2 Hands-On Exercise: Creating Compensation Dashboards in Tableau

Objective

Design an interactive dashboard in Tableau to analyze compensation and benefits data, focusing on salary distribution, benefits utilization, cost analysis, and pay equity.

Step 1: Data Preparation

  1. Load Data:
    • Connect your dataset to Tableau by clicking Connect to Data and selecting your data source (e.g., Excel, CSV, or database).
  2. Verify Fields:
    • Ensure key fields such as Salary, Benefits Enrolled, Department, Gender, Location, and Total Compensation are recognized correctly.

Step 2: Create Metrics

  1. Salary Distribution:
    • Create a Box Plot to visualize salary distribution by department:
      1. Drag Department to the Rows shelf.
      2. Drag Salary to the Columns shelf.
      3. Navigate to the Analytics Pane and drag Box Plot onto the visualization.
      4. Adjust formatting to display median, upper quartile, and outliers.
    • Alternatively, create a Histogram:
      1. Drag Salary to the Columns shelf.
      2. Click on the dropdown menu of Salary and select Create Bins.
      3. Add the resulting Salary (bin) field to the Columns shelf and Employee ID to the Rows shelf.
  2. Benefits Utilization:
    • Create a Stacked Bar Chart to show the proportion of employees enrolled in benefits programs:
      1. Drag Department to the Rows shelf.
      2. Drag Benefits Enrolled to the Columns shelf.
      3. Drag Benefits Enrolled again to the Color marks card to display proportions for each benefit type.
  3. Cost Analysis:
    • Create a Tree Map to analyze total compensation by department:
      1. Drag Department to the Columns shelf.
      2. Drag Total Compensation to the Size marks card.
      3. Select Tree Map from the Marks dropdown.
  4. Pay Equity:
    • Create a Scatter Plot to compare salaries across genders:
      1. Drag Gender to the Columns shelf.
      2. Drag Salary to the Rows shelf.
      3. Drag Department to the Color marks card to differentiate departments.
      4. Add Employee ID to the Detail marks card for granular analysis.

Step 3: Add Interactivity

  1. Filters:
    • Add filters for Department, Location, and Gender:
      1. Drag the fields to the Filters shelf.
      2. Right-click each field and select Show Filter to display on the dashboard.
  2. Drill-Down Capabilities:
    • Enable drill-down actions for detailed exploration:
      1. Add detailed fields (e.g., Employee Name, Job Role) to a separate worksheet.
      2. Link the main dashboard to the detailed worksheet using the Actions option under the Dashboard menu.
  3. Dynamic Titles:
    • Create calculated fields for dynamic titles:

      1. For example, a title showing the selected department:

        "Compensation Dashboard for " + [Department]

      2. Use this calculated field as the title of a visualization.

Step 4: Format and Finalize

  1. Arrange Visuals:
    • Place key metrics such as salary distribution and benefits utilization prominently on the dashboard.
    • Ensure logical grouping of related visuals.
  2. Format Elements:
    • Use consistent color schemes and clear labels.
    • Add tooltips for additional insights (e.g., average salary or benefits usage per department).
  3. Add Descriptive Titles:
    • Include titles and captions to explain each visualization’s purpose.
  4. Save and Publish:
    • Save the completed dashboard and publish it to Tableau Server or Tableau Public for stakeholder review.