Welcome to Rewards Consulting

Compensation and benefits

Compensation is made up of salary and variable pay. It is, generally understood in terms of what compensation (salary and bonus) employees actually receive.

However benefits are the least understood element of reward. But benefit programmes can say a lot about what is important to an organisation, often more so than compensation. They can get in the way or deliver great value.

Non-cash reward

You can get huge value by considering non-cash instead of cash bonuses and by developing some simple recognition programmes. Michael Rose has undertaken extensive research in this area and has written two books on the subject. The latest is, A Guide to Non-cash Reward.

Reward strategy

There are many ways to define Reward strategy (or Compensation and Benefits strategy). A simple one is, ‘An approach to reward based on a set of coherent principles in support of the organisation’s aims.' It needs to tie in with the broader HR strategy to help align reward management as part of an holistic approach. We often start by working with a client to develop a simple set of reward design principles.

Total reward and communications

Companies often manage different elements of reward separately. This means that employees will often miss some of the value which may not be so obvious. It is critical to maximise the value of everything you spend on reward (or Compensation and Benefits). One way is to take a ‘Total Reward’ stance. We can work with you to make this happen. Effectively communicating and implementing a new reward programme can be more important than the technical design. But often this is not recognised.

Performance management

Performance Management is not about pay. It is an integrated approach to improve the performance of the organisation through the effective management of its people. If you emphasise pay as the driver you can too easily end up with the tail wagging the dog! A particular danger is over-reliance on so called 'SMART' objectives that can just constrain people.

Bonus and incentives

A bonus can be an important part of compensation. But a misaligned bonus plan can be worse than useless. Bonuses do not manage for you and the context within which they are being asked to operate is critical. As compensation consultants we will help you review or design bonus plans that are fit for purpose that align with your organisation’s aims.

Recognition

You can get huge value by considering some simple recognition programmes instead of cash bonuses. Michael Rose has undertaken extensive research in this area and has written two books on the subject. A Guide to Non-cash Reward and the latest, Reward Management.

Pay structures

The foundation of compensation management is to get your base pay levels, pay structures and review process right.