5 technology trends affecting reward and benefits

Last month I was sitting with seven reward directors, and three of them had recently been given responsibility for their organisations’ people systems. Unless they are very unusual (which I doubt) they are a little litmus test showing just how quickly technology and digital is rapidly falling into the reward team’s lap.

This is not surprising when you consider current trends in technology affecting benefits.

1. Get into the cloud

We now work everywhere and anywhere. The idea of using technology which is only in one place is fast becoming obsolete. This applies to HR systems, benefits platforms and even the way employees access the front end of reward and HR systems from their mobile phones

2. It’s all about the data

We’ve talked about data and big data for years. But the revolution is now upon us. If you haven’t got your head around the possibilities, then get out there and talk to as many providers and fellow practitioners as possible to hear how they are using data to link performance (business and/or employee) to absence, to reward, to retention and so on. The dashboards which can be at reward directors’ fingertips are astounding. The data analytics they are using will drive innovations in reward that we haven’t even thought of yet.

3. Keep an eye on the SMEs

A crop of HR, cloud-based technologies are emerging for small and micro employers. And these services are putting many bigger, established players to shame. They are new and nimble, ready to offer services for free to win market share. Worth looking at to see how people not steeped in decades of HR, reward and pensions technology approach things. They could be your future tech providers either through their own growth or because the established players buy them.

4. Integrated wellbeing dashboards.

From across the industry, providers are working hard to pull together data to reflect back to employees how ‘well’ they are. This is across physical and emotional wellbeing, but also financial wellbeing. The days of looking at a pension in isolation, or knowing just your blood pressure, weight and cholesterol are in the past. Staff apparently now need to see everything – from their debt levels to their sleep patterns to understand how to improve their lives. Employers, in turn, are drawing the lines between employee wellbeing levels and performance and engagement.

5. Business to consumer

Employees are no longer seen as a homogenous group to be segmented into broad groups. They are now consumers, each with their own specific needs. Data and technology mean that each one can be offered their own personalised reward package. Reward and benefits platform providers now benchmark themselves against well-known online and mobile retail channels in order to create the best experience for their clients’ employees.

We are entering a two speed world in reward. Those galloping ahead with new technology and data insights, and those being rapidly left behind blind to how their reward strategies are actually impacting employees and their businesses.

Which group do you want to be in?

Assuming you want to be in the first group, join the 150 other reward and benefits practitioners who feel the same and are participating in REBA’s Innovation Day on 22^nd November 2016. See the programme and reserve your place here.

Debi O’Donovan is a director at the Reward & Employee Benefits Association.