Workleap acquires Barley to unite performance & pay process

Montreal-based HR management platform, Workleap, has announced the acquisition of Barley, an "end-to-end" compensation management software from Toronto.

The integration aims to merge performance and compensation processes, which are often managed separately within organisations, into a single platform for human resources teams. The combined offerings are expected to provide improved transparency and alignment in the way employees are recognised and rewarded.

Barley was founded by Jafar Owainati and Billy Mainguy in 2021 as a way to bridge the complex process of financial compensation. The company is backed by Toronto-based venture capital fund, Golden Ventures.

Workleap's expanded platform, with Barley as a new component alongside Workleap Officevibe and Workleap Performance, is tailored to suit organisations seeking to improve employee retention and engagement. The tools available will allow managers to make informed compensation choices, address potential retention concerns, and better manage operational costs related to pay and rewards.

A new unified platform

Many companies continue to rely on manual methods such as spreadsheets to manage compensation, potentially making it difficult to recognise employee achievements accurately or at scale. The integration of Barley's compensation features into the Workleap platform is designed to enable companies to move smoothly from performance reviews to compensation planning within a single system.

Core features of the unified system will include flexible review cycles, AI-supported summaries, 360-degree feedback, goal tracking, and comprehensive compensation planning. This replaces disparate manual processes by introducing intuitive workflows and supporting data-driven decisions in line with organisational policies and budgets.

Simon De Baene, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Workleap, described the significance of this acquisition as effectively linking employee performance and compensation.

"A lot of companies want to pay for performance, but most lack the tools to do it well. Workleap gives you the signal, and Barley gives you the confidence to act on it," said De Baene.

Strategic addition

The acquisition of Barley marks the third such transaction for Workleap following Didacte in February 2023 and Pingboard in December 2023. 

The consolidation of performance management and compensation into a single solution is intended to support employee retention and simplify compensation management, which is often one of the largest operational expenses for organisations.

Jafar Owainati, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Barley, said the decision to join Workleap was based on the complementary nature of their platforms. He described the outcome as putting Barley in a better position to support its goal of building trust within the workplace.

"We started Barley to tackle the longstanding challenge for organizations to make proactive compensation decisions that are both data-driven and easy for employees to understand — building clarity, trust and equity into every step of the process, with an easy-to-use platform," said Owainati.

The update comes at a time when organisations are increasingly focused on retaining top performers and ensuring pay practices are consistent and easily understood. Barley's features will allow businesses to manage pay bands, conduct benchmark reviews, and support pay equity and transparency objectives within Workleap's HR offering.

Image courtesy of Workleap: Group picture of (from left) Guillaume Roy, Co-founder & Chief Product Officer at Workleap, Simon De Baene, Co-founder & CEO, Workleap, Jafar Owainati, Co-Founder at Barley, Billy Mainguy, Co-Founder at Barley.