Why greater transparency offers a good opportunity for reward and benefits teams

When managed correctly, transparency offers an opportunity to bolster credibility, culture and competitive advantage.

Transparency is rapidly becoming a defining feature of organisations that are credible and fit for the future. As scrutiny increases from both regulators and employees, reward and benefits teams sit in the middle of this shift.

Far from being a threat, the demand for transparency presents a timely opportunity for these teams to elevate influence, strengthen trust and demonstrate measurable value to business.

1. Transparency is now a business compliance imperative

Legislative and market pressures are driving change with pay transparency laws coming into effect globally. The EU Pay Transparency Directive will be implemented by June 2026, while new US state mandates already require salary range disclosures in places such as Colorado, California and Delaware.

Countries including France, Sweden and Ireland already operate more stringent equal pay and reporting requirements than those proposed under the EU Directive, with obligations extending to smaller employers and covering both pay and benefits. Pay gap reporting is now in place across more than 40 countries worldwide, signaling a clear direction of travel.

According to HR Review, 76% of UK employers intend to share pay range information internally, citing regulatory preparedness and fairness motives even in the absence of a legal mandate. Building resilience to regulatory scrutiny and reputational risk is no longer something businesses can defer. The mood music is changing whether they like it or not.

Big win: By proactively preparing for pay transparency compliance, Reward and Benefits teams can reduce legal risk and help businesses align with legislation in a planned, controlled way, rather than reacting under pressure.

2. Moving with the times - board and employee expectations

Mirroring legislative momentum, employee expectations are shifting fast. In a WTW survey, 82% of US organisations are either already sharing pay ranges internally or planning to do so. While 72% cite regulation as a driver, 41% point to employee demand.

Young digital-native workers are a major force behind this change. Having grown up with open access to information, they are far less comfortable with opaque reward practices. Sites such as Glassdoor, PayScale and Transparency Street have been allowing them to source questionable salary data for some time. Organisations that stay silent risk creating a dangerous information vacuum that will inevitably be filled with partial or misleading data.

For this cohort, transparency is closely linked to perceptions around fairness, career opportunity and trust. They are also more likely to challenge inconsistencies, question pay decisions and ‘vote with their feet’ when expectations aren't met.

Big win: By embracing openness early, Reward and Benefits teams can directly enhance employer reputation with the future workforce and support talent attraction and retention in an increasingly competitive market.

3. Leading the way through access to data

Reward and Benefits teams are uniquely positioned to lead here because they’re closest to the data that matters: pay, benefits uptake, job architecture and equity metrics - all essential for measuring fairness and competitiveness and for responding credibly to scrutiny.

Practical actions include:

Publishing pay gap and benefits take-up reports
Benchmarking pay against market data and internal equity frameworks
Using analytics to identify disparities and track progress over time

Technology increasingly supports this shift, enabling organisations to move beyond static spreadsheets and into dynamic analysis of pay, performance and parity.

Big win: By sharing clear metrics like reductions in pay gaps or improvements in benefits participation, Reward and Benefits teams can 'own the narrative', strengthen their credibility with senior leaders and demonstrate tangible ROI from HR-led initiatives.

4. Supports core principles and helps build an employer brand

Transparency also reinforces core organisational principles like equity, clarity and trust. When employees understand how pay and benefits work, confidence in decision-making increases and perceptions of bias decrease.

Greater openness also underpins best practice in organisational design, job evaluation and pay review processes. Robust job architectures, consistent role levelling and clearly articulated pay progression criteria are all prerequisites for credible transparency.

When these foundations are in place, transparency becomes a powerful connector across the entire employee lifecycle, from recruitment ads that set early expectations, to pay reviews they believe are fair and well-governed.

Big win: Organisations that communicate openly about reward build stronger employer brands, retaining existing talent and attracting new candidates in a market where trust increasingly differentiates employers.

5. Enables conversations around careers and progression

Too many careers are stalling or not getting off the ground because role frameworks are outdated, skills data is weak and employees cannot see what comes next. When progression pathways are unclear, frustration builds, leading to disengagement, attrition and reactive recruitment.

Transparency enables better career conversations by making pathways, skills requirements and pay progression visible. It also supports investment in modern career-mapping and AI-enabled tools like Pathfinder, that help both employees and businesses visualise future moves and development opportunities.

Big win: By leading investment in career and reward technology, reward and business teams can position themselves at the forefront of AI-powered change, shaping the future of work rather than struggling to keep up.

Greater transparency is coming whether organisations are ready or not and for Reward and Benefits teams this represents a strategic inflection point. Those who act now can move from guardians of pay processes to trusted advisors, shaping fairness, building trust and delivering measurable business value.