Case study: How CityD-WES group unlocked full pay transparency
Inside how CityD-WES group created a consistent salary structure, improved visibility and strengthened trust across a merged organisation.
Reading time: 5 minutes
April 13 2026
With the EU Pay Transparency Directive on the horizon, companies throughout Europe are feeling the pressure to start reviewing and structuring their compensation frameworks.
While transparency is important for all companies, it can be especially challenging for two companies in the midst of a merger. This situation can lead to salary discrepancies, inconsistent job structures, and unclear career progression paths.
For CityD-WES group, this became a priority early on. Myriam Vanhooren, office manager and HR leader, recognised the importance of building a transparent and consistent approach to pay following the merger.
The result is a system that supports both fairness and confidence. As Myriam explains, “Everyone knows they're treated equally, and we can make educated, competitive offers when recruiting new consultants.”
The challenge
Building equality with transparency
CityD-WES group provides independent advice to organisations, companies and administrations. The group was created in 2020 following the merger between CityD and WES.
While both organisations specialised in consultancy, differences in pay structures between consultants were unavoidable. Addressing this required a clear and structured approach.
“We wanted to make sure that everyone was treated equally, so we knew we needed to build a salary scale,” Myriam explains. "We developed a competence matrix where we defined functions and the corresponding required criteria.”
Creating this foundation allowed the organisation to move towards a more consistent and transparent reward structure.
Integrating technology into the process
For many organisations, pay transparency can feel difficult to implement, particularly when processes rely on manual data handling or disconnected systems. Technology plays a key role in making this transition manageable.
CityD-WES group introduced a range of tools to support its approach. By integrating everything into a single system, Myriam gained immediate visibility into compensation decisions.
She explains, "Immediately know the impact of a salary bump, or the total cost of a company car, for instance. I used to input a lot of data in Excel sheets to make forecasts, but now the insights just roll out of the tools."
Bringing these elements together into one system proved essential for maintaining consistency and control:
- Centralised data for consistent decisions
- Automated calculations to reduce errors
- Real-time insights for better planning
The results
A forward-thinking approach to pay transparency
For CityD-WES group, pay transparency is not only about addressing current challenges but also about preparing for the future. As regulations evolve and expectations increase, having the right structures in place allows organisations to respond with confidence.
“Looking back is just as easy as looking forward. I can easily generate a report showing employees' career evolutions in the past or forecast salary costs in the future. The reports are clear and accessible to everyone. You don't have to be a financial or legal expert.”
This level of visibility supports better decision-making and reduces the risk of issues over time.
“Our system automatically performs internal checks and alerts in case of issues to avoid problems at the end of the year. For example, if someone starts working fewer hours, the system will inform me."
How this has shaped their practices today
Today, CityD-WES group operates with a clear and structured salary framework supported by data.
"We now have a salary scale based on solid data. When we're recruiting new employees, we are confident that our offering is market-based and fair," says Myriam.
This approach has strengthened both recruitment and internal consistency. It ensures that decisions are aligned across the organisation and supported by reliable data.
When speaking about the broader impact, Myriam notes, "Our existing employees are also happy to know that they're treated equally. This makes it easier to communicate salary growth curves at evaluations.”
For more information on preparing for the directive, check out our Pay Transparency resources.
