Five ways technology is revolutionising how employees engage with their reward and benefits

There has been considerable change to the rewards and benefits landscape. Gone are the days when the new recruit would be handed a file of paper from HR explaining the nuances of their pension, healthcare options and gym membership. Now we share fewer pieces of paper, and technology is key to how employees are interacting with their reward and benefits, whether it is an app giving a breakdown of the employee’s pension pot or a recognition solution that enables appreciation to be given at a touch of a button.

Here are five key ways the tech revolution has changed the way employees are now engaging with their rewards and benefits.

1. Anywhere and anytime accessibility

HR professionals now recognise that it’s vital to make reward and benefit platforms accessible via mobile devices so that pension details can be reviewed from the train, recognition can be given from the sofa and a wellbeing app can be accessed from the gym. It’s now about ‘anytime and anywhere’ accessibility so that an HR person and a piece of paper are no longer required for requesting information and making changes. This level of freedom is key to increasing engagement between the employee and their rewards and benefits.

2. Plug-ins are creating a seamless experience

‘Plug-in’ technologies are now making reward and benefits seamless. For instance, recognition solutions are ‘plugged into’ Outlook so that while an employee is writing an email, they can click an icon to instantly generate a piece of recognition for the person they’re emailing – all without having to switch between apps. As employees no longer need to leave their flow of work in order to access their reward and benefits solutions, this is creating more frequent and timely experiences.

3. Delivering global consistency

More than ever before, tech is ensuring employees receive a consistent employee experience regardless of where they are in the world. A manager in London can now effortlessly give a presentation to employees across the world via YouTube Live streaming. Similarly, a Tokyo employee can send recognition to colleagues in both the Middle East and Australia with just a few keyboard clicks. It’s all about ensuring employee experiences are similarly meaningful and replicable regardless of geography.

4. Bringing leaders and employees closer together

Remote leadership comes with its challenges but thanks to tech it’s now far easier to bring leaders and employees together and to nurture these connections. An initiative launch or career anniversary presentation can be easily viewed by teams across the world via video conference, for instance, pulling employees closer together despite the distances that separate them.

5. A personalised experience

Businesses are always looking at ways in which data and artificial intelligence (AI) can be used to make experiences more personalised. This has now filtered into the rewards and benefits space with employees enjoying far more personalised interactions. For instance, our recognition platform uses AI to determine who may like to contribute to an employee’s ‘Year Book’ – a personalised book used to celebrate an employee’s career anniversary.

Having in-depth data at HR’s fingertips, from knowing when and how a benefits app is accessed, through to understanding which leaders do the most and least amount of recognition, can also help to provide more tailored and relevant experiences. For instance, HR could identify that certain individuals communicate through Instant Messenger (IM) far more than Outlook. This insight can be used to ensure rewards and benefits apps plug-into IM platforms. Recognition data may also be analysed to determine cause and effect, for instance, a leader who rarely gives recognition may be found to have a training need.

The future

Today, HR professionals are at a far greater advantage than they were, even five years’ ago because rewards and benefits tech has come on leaps and bounds. Employees can now more easily decide how they engage with their rewards and benefits, and HR is increasingly viewed as an enabler rather than a gatekeeper. With employee benefits providers always looking at ways to further improve their technologies, the employee experience can only get better.

The author is Robert Ordever, MD of O.C. Tanner Europe.

This article is provided by O.C. Tanner.

O.C. Tanner is sponsoring REBA’s Innovation Day 2019. Join us on 28 November in central London to future-proof your reward and benefits strategy.