Community views: Why now is the time for reward professionals to shine
Riding on the pandemic’s coat tails in terms of workplace disruption, the cost of living crisis and the war for talent continue to rage. As short-term disruptions combine with long-term business transformation, is this a turning point for the reward and benefits profession?
Nick Jackson, head of reward at Smart DCC
If we want to be in a strategic space, we need to be better. My principle message is that adaptability, creativity and a bit of boldness are going to be required if 2022 is going to be the year of the reward and benefits professional, but it absolutely can be.
Duncan Brown, principal associate at the Institute for Employment Studies (IES)
Reward professionals need to maintain an overall strategic direction and philosophy in their reward planning over the medium term, while also focusing on responding to key short term needs like employees’ financial crunch at the moment. When times are good they are valued for their influence on recruiting staff in a tight market. When times are tough they are valued for supporting employee retention and wellbeing, and in the current unique context we have both.
Hazel Robinson, people and OD operations manager at the University of Manchester
This is such an exciting and developing area of our collective professions [reward, benefits and HR] that we should be striving to see it highlighted on our agendas, spoken about at board level and really understood from grassroots up. This year offers us an opportunity to promote reward and benefits as a key measure to help employers with the attraction and retention crisis (operation ‘great resignation’) that is being felt across all sectors of recruitment.
Michael Rose, author of Reward Management, A Practical Introduction
Perhaps at the moment, 2022-23 is a particularly important opportunity where people should be looking not just at giving people more money, but asking how do they give their people greater value.
How reward and benefits professionals can grow influence at the top
Here Duncan Brown, principal associate at the IES, offers his insights on how to continue raising the reward and benefits bar in your organisation:
- Produce your own evidence on the links between rewards and the performance of your business and its employees.
- Draft an explicit reward strategy and EVP setting out your reward philosophy, values and goals. Establish performance metrics on its delivery, audit your organisation against them and discuss with your board at least once a year.
- Get in with your remuneration committee and encourage them to focus more widely on reward strategy in the whole organisation, not just for the highest paid.
- Reinvent your senior reward strategy on a fairer and more inclusive basis.
- Link with HR colleagues in addressing the talent, diversity and health agendas in your organisation. Also, engage widely with colleagues in finance, communications, compensation, secretarial, marketing etc.