What Merit Analytics Group does

Merit Analytics Group is a women-owned, niche HR analytics and pay equity consulting firm incorporated as Merit Analytics Group LLC in New York, delivering professional services engagements to large employers across all major industries, with an explicit emphasis on Fortune 500 organizations ranging from 500 to 500,000+ employees. The firm is led by three partners — Helen Friedman (CEO, ex-Willis Towers Watson/Mercer/Hewitt), Anna Marley (COO, ex-WTW/Mercer/Analysis Group), and Brian Levine (Pay Equity Leader, ex-Mercer with a Cornell PhD in Economics) — whose collective 75+ years of consulting experience forms the core of the practice. Engagements span people analytics, workforce planning, pay equity, DEI measurement, HR reporting/dashboards, and technology enablement, delivered against a documented MERIT Mantra methodology that emphasizes Measurable, Effective, Realistic, Inclusive, and Targeted outputs and a knowledge-transfer-first approach intended to build client capability rather than consulting dependency.

The firm's proprietary technology is the MeritSoft Suite, comprising the registered-trademark SaaS tools MeritPay (for collaborative pay equity analysis) and MeritAdvance (for scenario-based pay advancement planning), which enable real-time, transparent testing of potential pay equity solutions during client engagements. Underlying infrastructure runs on Microsoft Azure, is SOC 2 Type II attested (independently audited by AssuranceLab and continuously monitored via Drata), and is GDPR-aligned, supporting both domestic and global pay equity studies. The firm has also aligned with the Fair Pay Innovation Lab to offer the UNIVERSAL FAIR PAY CHECK® certification and maintains referral partnerships with Culpepper and Nua for compensation benchmarking extensions.

Revenue mechanics follow a traditional enterprise professional services model: direct, quote-based, multi-year consulting engagements delivered as an extension of client HR teams, with no self-serve, marketplace, or channel distribution. Pricing is negotiated per engagement based on scope, organization size, and complexity. Demand generation is driven by thought-leadership content (blog, newsletter, publications in mainstream business media), conference sponsorships and speaking (WorldatWork, The Conference Board), and direct enterprise field sales — positioning the partners as trusted advisors to CHROs, compensation committees, and boards on pay equity, workforce risk, and DEI outcomes.

Name

Merit Analytics Group

Legal name

Merit Analytics Group LLC

Website

https://meritanalyticsgroup.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Merit Analytics Group is a women-owned, New York-based HR analytics and pay equity consulting firm whose three-partner leadership team serves Fortune 500 and large employers using the proprietary MeritSoft Suite (MeritPay, MeritAdvance).

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

HR Analytics and Pay Equity Consulting

NAICS

Human Resources Consulting Services (541612), Management Consulting Services (54161)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Compensation, Benefits & Rewards Consulting (BPAHAGAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

People Analytics, Assessment & Psychometrics Consulting (BPAHAGAH), HR Technology (HRIS/HCM) Advisory & Implementation (BPAHAGAG), Compensation, Benefits & Total Rewards Advisory (BPACAJAG)

Keywords

• People analytics consulting
• Pay equity analysis
• Workforce planning services
• HR dashboards reporting
• Diversity equity inclusion

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. HR Consulting Services: People analytics and planning consulting engagements delivered directly to client organizations, acting as an extension of their internal HR teams. Engagements cover descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive analytics across workforce planning, pay equity, DEI, reporting, and technology enablement.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Merit Analytics Group is a women-owned HR consulting firm that delivers people analytics and planning services to large employers, including pay equity analysis, workforce planning, DEI measurement, HR dashboards and reporting, and technology enablement. Engagements are powered by the firm's proprietary MeritSoft Suite (MeritPay and MeritAdvance), enabling collaborative, real-time scenario testing with clients. The firm acts as an extension of client HR teams, embedding knowledge transfer as a core pillar of its consulting approach.

Product overview

Merit Analytics Group offers a portfolio of consulting services in people analytics and planning for HR professionals. Their proprietary MeritSoft Suite (comprising MeritPay for pay equity analysis and MeritAdvance for pay advancement optimization) supports their consulting engagements with real-time, collaborative analysis capabilities. The broader service portfolio includes Analytics Services, Pay Equity Services, Diversity/Equity/Inclusion Services, Reporting Services, Planning Services, and Technology Enablement, all delivered with knowledge transfer as a core pillar to build client capability.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• MeritSoft: Proprietary SaaS solution suite including MeritPay and MeritAdvance tools for pay equity analysis and planning.
• MeritPay
• MeritAdvance

Products and services

• Analytics Services HR analytics consulting supporting organizations with descriptive statistics through predictive modeling, spanning people strategy, data work, analytic insights, and report development. Services are delivered as an extension of the client's internal HR team.
• Pay Equity Services Collaborative pay equity analysis using MeritSoft tools to help organizations understand drivers of pay differences, optimize pay practices, and best allocate limited budgets. Includes the option for clients to obtain the UNIVERSAL FAIR PAY CHECK® certification through the firm's alliance with Fair Pay Innovation Lab.
• Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Services DEI consulting delivering metrics and root-cause insights to help organizations build diverse, equitable, and inclusive work environments that drive measurable engagement and organizational returns.
• Reporting Services People reporting and dashboard implementation for organizations ranging from 500 to 500,000 employees, with a focus on intuitive, user-friendly data visualizations for day-to-day reporting, board presentations, and leadership storytelling.
• Planning Services People planning consulting covering near-term headcount, budget, and position management through longer-term strategic workforce planning, with tailored business models and use cases for each client.
• Technology Enablement Consulting services for building proprietary SaaS solutions and implementing third-party HR software platforms, managing existing platforms while enhancing functionality and providing new capabilities.

Quantifiable outcome

• Successfully implemented and sustained people reporting and dashboard efforts for organizations from 500 to 500,000 employees
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability1 record

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Fair Pay Innovation Lab (FPI)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMerit Analytics Group has aligned with Fair Pay Innovation Lab (FPI) to offer the UNIVERSAL FAIR PAY CHECK® certification to their pay equity clients. This alliance enhances the firm's pay equity service offering by providing a recognized certification backed by FPI's methodology, differentiating Merit from competitors that use black-box calculation approaches.
• CulpepperminorOthersMerit Analytics Group represents Culpepper consultants as compensation partners who can support companies on compensation benchmarks, structures, and strategies. This extends the firm's service capability in the compensation benchmarking dimension of pay equity and rewards work.
• Nua (nuahr.com)minorOthersMerit Analytics Group represents Nua (nuahr.com) consultants as compensation partners supporting companies on compensation benchmarks, structures, and strategies, complementing Merit Analytics' analytics-driven pay equity and rewards consulting.
• Microsoft Corporation (MSFT)coreTechnology or IntegrationMicrosoft Corporation is the primary sub-processor used by Merit Analytics Group for the collection, processing, and storage of personal data in connection with operations and service delivery. Microsoft Azure/cloud infrastructure underlies MeritSoft Suite and data operations.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Mercer: Mercer is one of the largest global HR consultancies and offers a directly overlapping pay equity, workforce analytics, and total rewards practice. Merit's Pay Equity Leader previously spent 23 years at Mercer launching its pay equity offering, making it the most direct comparison point on methodology and client base.
• Willis Towers Watson: WTW offers the same suite of talent analytics, workforce planning, pay equity, and HR technology services that Merit provides. Merit's CEO and COO both previously held senior roles at WTW, and it competes with WTW head-to-head for Fortune 500 HR consulting work.
• Aon: Aon's Human Capital practice delivers pay equity studies, workforce analytics, and DEI advisory to large employers. It competes in the same procurement cycles as Merit, particularly in Financial Services and regulated industries where both firms have meaningful pay equity franchises.

Emerging players

• Payscale: Payscale combines compensation data, software, and services that intersect with Merit's pay equity, compensation benchmarking, and rewards work — particularly relevant given Merit's partnerships with Culpepper and Nua for compensation benchmarks.
• Trusaic: Trusaic provides pay equity analytics software and services focused on regulatory compliance, overlapping directly with Merit's pay equity practice. Its PayParity product competes with MeritPay on transparency and scenario analysis.
• Syndio: Syndio is a pay equity SaaS platform that uses similar transparent, methodology-driven analysis to challenge legacy black-box consultancies. It is an emerging competitor on the software side of pay equity, where Merit also sits via MeritSoft.
• Visier: Visier is a people analytics SaaS platform providing workforce dashboards and predictive analytics. It is an emerging competitor in the analytics/reporting layer that complements Merit's consulting work and could increasingly absorb that scope in-house.

Broad incumbents

• Deloitte (Human Capital): Deloitte's Human Capital practice offers workforce analytics, pay equity, and HR transformation at global scale. As a Big Four incumbent it competes less on deep pay equity specialty and more on integrated, multi-workstream HR engagements that subsume Merit's offerings.
• Bain & Company (Organization practice): Bain's Organization practice covers workforce analytics, talent strategy, and DEI. It competes for board-level HR consulting work at the same Fortune 500 clients, albeit with a heavier emphasis on strategy and operating model rather than pay equity specialty.
• Korn Ferry: Korn Ferry's Rewards & Talent Solutions practice spans pay equity, total rewards, and workforce planning. It is a broad incumbent competing for executive-level HR advisory engagements, including compensation committee work where Merit's Pay Equity Leader also regularly presents.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/merit-analytics-group
• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Merit Analytics Group