Descript's go-to system for driving fair and equitable compensation decisions.

A CUSTOMER STORY

"Assemble has become our single source of truth for compensation information at Descript, allowing our key decision makers and people leaders easy access to compensation recommendations. The platform has made compensation decisions much easier for our team and allows us to make well informed decisions based on our compensation philosophy and current market data."

Sophie Hinkley, Head of People

Highlights

PAIN POINTS

No central system for all compensation information
Difficulty operationalizing market data
Team was maintaining multiple, complex spreadsheets
Need to empower stakeholders with segmented self-service access to updated compensation data
Compensation review cycle approaching quickly on a shortened timeline

Key Results

Single source of truth for compensation information
Greater confidence in comp bands
Streamlined, synced systems
Increased pay transparency and self-serve access for stakeholders
Streamlined salary and equity review cycle

About Descript

Descript provides all-in-one audio and video editing that's as easy as a doc and as powerful as professional tools, with simple but intuitive features made for creators. Built for the modern creator, it eliminates the drudgery that often stands between an idea and its expression, Descript allows creators to focus on developing their craft instead of their usage of tools.

The Challenge

Descript’s compensation philosophy – led by CEO, Andrew Mason (previously Founder/CEO of Groupon) and Head of People, Sophie Hinkley – states a clear commitment to transparent, fair, and equitable compensation practices for all of its employees.

However, upholding this philosophy proved to be challenging as Descript expanded rapidly across multiple regions and amidst a competitive market. The People Ops team was managing multiple, complex spreadsheets to interpret market data and establish comp bands, making it difficult to empower stakeholders with the information they needed to keep up with the market. Additionally, at the time Descript initially engaged with Assemble, the company was embarking on an upcoming compensation review cycle.

The Descript team needed a solution that would help them centralize all comp information in a single platform which would give stakeholders segmented access to data and enable people leaders to make informed decisions quickly. Ideally, the team needed a solution that was intuitive, easy to maintain, and would seamlessly support their upcoming compensation review workflows.

The Solution

In search of a solution that would address their immediate needs for the upcoming compensation cycle and needing support as they evolved their compensation practices, Descript decided to partner with Assemble as the best provider to meet their needs and requirements:

Requirements

Guidance / Partnership

Descript sought a system that would address the needs of the whole organization – not just the People team and wanted a foundation from which to publish the company Compensation Philosophy from.

Collaboration

Descript sought a trusted partner that would deliver more than just a software tool. The team wanted a partner to help elevate their compensation philosophy and program design while ensuring they could remain competitive, fair, and equitable.

Ease of Use

As a rapidly growing organization, Descript needed a solution that would scale with the company. They sought a solution that supported all existing compensation workflows, that was easy to update and maintain, and one which offered an intuitive user experience.

Partnership Impact

In partnering with Assemble, Descript’s People team was able to quickly address all of its needs.

Before partnering with Assemble, the team needed to maintain multiple spreadsheets and home-grown tools for different compensation scenarios to be able to address questions from recruiters and people managers on an ad hoc basis. This was not only time consuming, error prone, and painful, but also failed to enable the transparency and confidence the team needed to be able to deliver to the company.

By partnering with Assemble, Descript was able to create a single source of truth for compensation, which included its compensation philosophy, job architecture, compensation bands, location-based pay policies, against the backdrop of current employee information. The People team incorporated input from key stakeholders and guidance from Assemble to refresh each of their policies and processes around employee compensation. Descript now uses Assemble to give stakeholders self-serve access to up to date employee and market data, which has created confidence and transparency around compensation decisions.

Descript leveraged Assemble to conduct company-wide compensation review cycle and equity refresh analysis on time and with clarity. In using Assemble, the Descript team was able to address each of the pain points they were initially facing and now has a platform and partnership to scale with their future growth.

Assemble has become a powerful tool for us to continue to create a great employee experience around our compensation programs and specific compensation decisions at Descript. Assemble has built an excellent platform that our people leaders enjoy using and more importantly, has been an amazing partner to us throughout the process, from initial discussions, strategic planning, program design, and implementation. They have continued to support us after our initial compensation review and have truly become part of our team. The Assemble platform continues to advance, and the Assemble team continues to be a great partner to us. Thank you, Assemble!

Sophie Hinkley, Head of People

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