Secrets of success: Jo Fairweather, Reward Manager at Ovo Energy

What excites you the most about working in reward?

Reward is continuously evolving, at a very exciting pace. I find that change really inspiring.

As the world of work changes, I’ve seen a broadening of what it means to be competitive in reward, to attract and retain talent. That’s a key goal of any strategy.

In the time I’ve worked in reward, I’ve seen a move away from a linear model of how to engage employees, to a much more fluid and creative approach that means we now need to look at strategy more holistically. It’s important to think about the positive impact of reward on people’s lives as a whole and connect the strategy with that. I find that really exciting.  

One example of how we’ve done that is by introducing a workplace ISA. We have a young workforce – the average age is 28 – and there’s been increasing demand for ways to save for the future beyond pensions. We now have this as part of our flex package to give employees more opportunities to save.

What’s keeping you awake at night strategy-wise?

OVO’s come a very long way in the nine years it’s been in business, but we’re still a relatively new company. We have built a robust presence as an independent energy supplier, but our biggest business strategy challenge is expanding those ambitions to look more broadly at how we can harness technology to build an energy ecosystem for the future.

Diversifying our business strategy means that we now need a wider team of talented people to make it happen. That has created new opportunities and reward strategy is now more important than ever.

Continuing to make OVO a great place to work is still our biggest people objective. There are two dimensions to that: firstly making  our offering flexible enough to resonate with a range of talent. We then have to balance that constantly with ensuring our reward offering gives employees a consistent experience from an EVP perspective.

We put that into practice with our 4% flex fund, which employees receive in addition to their salary.  That includes access to a diverse range of benefits including wellbeing, lifestyle and finance offerings so employees can choose what is relevant to them.

What would you say are the best and worst things about working in reward?

The variety of the role is definitely the best thing.  Reward has a fundamental part to play in employee experience and business strategy, but there is no one set way of delivering that. You can shape reward to best fit your company. 

I’ve worked in two contrasting businesses, M&S and OVO, and both have had very different opportunities for reward – I love that.

If I had to pick a worst thing, it would be the administration. There is a lot of regulation and governance that is vital to reward, but I wouldn’t want that to put anyone off. Plus, technology is really helping to minimise administration now, and that frees up time for the more exciting aspects of the role.