Headcount planning and management

From spreadsheets to strategy: How Bluevine unified comp and headcount planning with TeamOhana

50+ hrs
saved per comp cycle
Merit letters
automated with 30+ dynamic templates
Overview
Find out how Bluevine, the largest small business banking platform in the US, brings their People and Finance teams together for truly collaborative compensation and headcount planning cycles.
Challenges
A stand-alone HRIS simply wasn't enough to support Bluevine's growth
Spreadsheets and manual process caused inefficiencies
Lack of role-based permissions made it hard to collaborate with leaders
Extra audits were required to ensure data accuracy
01
The challenge
02
Our solution
03
Key workflows
04
Impact and results

Bluevine was recently recognized as one of the World’s Top FinTech Companies by CNBC and Statista. They’re the largest small business banking platform in the United States, empowering more than 750K SMBs with seamless, high-yield checking, credit lines, and comprehensive financial tools. 

It’s safe to say that the team at Bluevine knows what it takes to scale a business effectively. And Johnnie Thompson, Sr. Director of Compensation, Benefits, and People Programs has been a part of Bluevine’s monumental rise to success since early 2020.

In Johnnie’s words, “It's been a really exciting journey to see the company grow.”

But like all great success stories, Bluevine’s journey required maneuvering some twists and turns, and challenging the status quo.

Siloed systems and scattered spreadsheets

Like most companies, in the early days, Bluevine’s People and Finance teams managed headcount plans and comp cycles in spreadsheets. But as their business grew, spreadsheets couldn’t keep up and they became a liability. 

Johnnie explained, “When I joined Bluevine, we were working on merit cycles in spreadsheets. Building those out individually and linking and consolidating that information was extremely time-consuming.”

Initially, Johnnie and his team turned to ChartHop. They knew they needed a platform that could help streamline their HR workflows, reduce the need for spreadsheets, and help ensure data accuracy while protecting employee confidentiality at scale. Unfortunately, ChartHop wasn’t able to meet Bluevine’s needs and data issues led to the need for duplicate audits to ensure accuracy.

Eventually, Johnnie and his team realized that a stand-alone HRIS like ChartHop couldn’t support the complex requirements of headcount and compensation planning. They began to look for a solution that could help Bluevine not just replace spreadsheets and improve HR processes, but bring their People and Finance teams together to collaborate more effectively year-round.

Our solution

How unifying headcount and compensation planning in one platform helped Bluevine

Bluevine eventually chose TeamOhana, the first collaborative workforce intelligence platform. Bluevine unified their headcount and compensation planning workflows in one platform and collaboration across their People and Finance teams flourished. 

As Johnnie put it, “We were impressed by the platform and its ability to really sync up both the People team and the Finance team. This is the first time we [the People team] not only had a seat at the table, but we really brought the table by bringing TeamOhana.”

With TeamOhana, Bluevine was able to:

  • Replace error-prone spreadsheets with a single collaborative platform for headcount and comp planning.
  • Empower leaders to model their own “what-if” scenarios and business cases.
  • Run unified compensation planning cycles with real-time inputs from all leaders across the organization.
  • Gain real-time visibility into headcount costs, forecast across multiple geographies and currencies, with global roll-ups available in USD for the CFO.
  • Automate merit letters with 30+ dynamic templates, eliminating risky mail merges.
  • Save 50+ hours per comp cycle by eliminating manual work.

Johnnie told us, “Many companies spend a lot of money on [comp planning] systems they use once or twice a year.” This approach requires HR teams and hiring managers to relearn the software with every planning cycle. It results in a lot of time wasted on basic training instead of being invested in strategic comp planning.

“Having a system in which your recruiters are living in, your hiring managers, executives, and Finance team can be living in as a regular part of your business cycle really strengthens the idea that keeping comp and expenses top of mind is critical for business success,” said Johnnie. “It also makes the process of account planning much smoother. When people are more familiar with a tool, they have greater trust in the tool, and it actually becomes exponentially more valuable because you’re having multiple use cases for the tool that are a natural fit together.”

Key workflows

Compensation Planning

Bluevine completely revolutionized its approach to compensation planning using TeamOhana. They now have one unified system where all stakeholders can make informed comp decisions based on accurate data—lightyears ahead of what was possible in spreadsheets.

TeamOhana handles foreign exchange rate conversions and simplifies the complexities of having teams spread out across three different countries with different currencies and comp structures. So, Johnnie and his team spend more time advising on compensation strategy and helping Bluevine establish merit-based comp plans where employees feel valued and fairly compensated.

Scenario-based hiring plans

Instead of waiting on HR or Finance to model plans in spreadsheets, Bluevine’s leaders can now explore “what-if” scenarios themselves. TeamOhana’s sandbox lets managers compare options, such as hiring in different geographies, shifting timelines, or up-leveling roles, while instantly seeing the budget impact. This self-service approach empowers leaders to build stronger business cases and reduces bottlenecks for HR.

Merit Letters

Before TeamOhana, Bluevine’s HR team spent significant effort manually generating and delivering merit letters. Just distributing merit letters took 10+ hours of meticulous execution to avoid accidentally exposing sensitive information. 

Now, TeamOhana automates letter generation with 30+ dynamic templates tailored by geography and role. The result for Bluevine was a merit cycle with zero errors and more time back for HR to coach managers on delivering effective compensation conversations.

Impact & results

From spreadsheets to strategic impact

With TeamOhana, Bluevine shifted from administrative overload to strategic focus.

HR as a strategic advisor and consultative partner

Instead of wrangling spreadsheets, Johnnie’s team now spends their time training managers, analyzing market trends, and advising leaders on compensation decisions.

“Because we’ve used TeamOhana, we’ve been able to have more effective compensation outcomes… and more time to provide consultation on complex compensation matters.”  - Johnnie Thompson

This includes sophisticated reviews like evaluating proficiency within a level and ensuring pay increases reflect not just performance, but also experience and growth within a role.

50+ hours saved, errors eliminated

By moving off spreadsheets, Bluevine saved over 50 hours per cycle on manual work. Merit letters that once required ~10 hours of manual mail merges are now generated automatically, without errors, and protected within the system.

“The time spent manually creating letters is completely gone.” - Johnnie Thompson

Empowering leaders with scenario modeling

Bluevine’s leaders can now model hiring and compensation scenarios on their own, with role-based permissions ensuring data security and accuracy. Instead of waiting on HR or Finance to build custom spreadsheets, managers can now explore trade-offs, such as hiring in different geographies, shifting start dates, or up-leveling roles, directly in the platform.

“We’ve been able to bring more leaders into the comp planning process. That’s been a big win for us as well.” – Johnnie Thompson.

This self-service capability not only reduced bottlenecks but also brought more voices into the planning process, creating stronger business cases and better-aligned decisions across the organization

Finance and HR alignment

TeamOhana gave Bluevine a single source of truth for headcount, budgets, and comp cycles. HR and Finance now work from the same dataset, even across currencies, while the Greenhouse integration ensures hiring plans stay in sync with ATS workflows. 

Approved headcount details flow automatically into job openings, and updates sync back in real time, keeping Finance, HR, and Talent aligned on both budgets and recruiting execution.

A new standard for compensation planning

Bluevine has transformed compensation planning from a manual, error-prone process into a strategic, collaborative workflow by uniting comp and headcount planning in one platform.

“Having a single source of truth means we don't have to worry about separate spreadsheets… We’re able to manage active headcount, future headcount, and the compensation elements of base pay and bonus, all in one solution, which makes our lives so much easier and more efficient.” - Johnnie Thompson.

Leaders, HR, and Finance now work seamlessly in the same platform, saving time, making smarter decisions, and keeping compensation top of mind for the business year-round.

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50+ hrs
saved per comp cycle
Merit letters
automated with 30+ dynamic templates

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