In today’s work world, the approaches of the past no longer totally apply. What was once commonplace is often now barely relevant. But this should come as no surprise. Disruption and the marketplace of ideas are pervasive. They apply to products and services as well as the internal workings of organizations. For businesses still living in the past, reinventing your total rewards strategy might be in order.
Why Reinvent Your Total Rewards Strategy?
What made sense in previous times doesn’t necessarily have to be the standard now. One major place this can be seen is in the continually growing importance of a purpose-driven culture for employees today. Many individuals are fine taking less pay in exchange for other features, such as contributing to corporate good, or receiving other benefits such as work location and time flexibility.
No matter the direction and focus, an organization’s total rewards strategy should be aligned with the wishes of employees. To accomplish this, enterprises need to deploy the correct people and tools for the job. It can be smart to seek out partnerships with third-party service providers to optimize this process. We’ll explore this idea more later.
For now, let’s start looking at some of focus areas organizations should hone in on to reinvent total rewards for the better.
What Are Areas Where Total Rewards Can Be Optimized?
There are many areas where a total rewards for employee compensation can be improved within an organization. Even enterprises that have made concerted efforts to improve their rewards packages can still make progress. These are a few places where businesses can send their attention for maximizing the appeal of total rewards, as well as strategies for doing so:
- Use data to its fullest potential – Organizations are going to continually fall short of pleasing employees with total rewards if they don’t utilize data. Whether it’s through surveys, focus groups, or other means, collecting employee sentiment through dedicated listening channels is essential to meeting their expectations and desires.
- Think outside of base pay and bonuses – No one is going to complain about getting a nice paycheck. But this alone isn’t enough to keep employees happy, especially when ESG concerns are at the forefront of business today. Looking at other avenues for building total rewards offerings, such as equity options, advancements, more vacation time, flexible work location and schedule preferences, and other options will entice a wider pool of strong talent.
- Make things personal – Moving on from the previous point, it’s important to give people some flexibility when building their total rewards packages. Not everyone wants the same things out of work or life. Employers who assume they know what their employees want are going to be sad when the leave for a position at another firm. Giving workers more control over the composition of their total rewards and benefits builds good will and trust, and will also help retain employees.
Organizations can improve their total rewards offerings in several areas. But knowing how to implement these changes is just as important as identifying them.
How Should Enterprises Reinvent Their Total Rewards Strategy?
Once you’ve identified the need for reinventing total rewards, as well as some areas of focus, it’s time to implement changes. This, however, is often easier said than done.
Enterprises looking to reinvent their total rewards offerings should consider working with an outside firm that has expertise in this field. By partnering with an organization that has the right tools and consultants, the process can be completed in less time and with fewer roadblocks. Going this route can smooth out what can otherwise be a bumpy ride.
No matter how a company chooses to proceed with their total rewards reworking, the final product should always be employee-focused. This means creating a system that’s easy to understand, offers the perks people really want, and can be modified to match an individual’s exact preferences.
Furthermore, finding ways to gamify rewards can be beneficial for employees and employers alike. When people can clearly see a goal and what they have to do to achieve a certain reward, they’ll be engaged and focused on completing it.
Overall, there are many reasons why organizations today need to think about reinventing their total rewards offerings. If your business is in this boat, now’s the time to start making moves. People won’t wait around forever.