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Build a Total Rewards Strategy

Move beyond a traditional approach to total rewards toward a more holistic and flexible strategy.

  • Pressures in the external environment and shifting employee preferences have put a focal point on Total Rewards to attract and retain talent.
  • Categories other than compensation and benefits (e.g. development, wellbeing, and recognition) have emerged as top reasons why employees join and leave an organization, as well as what keeps them engaged at work.
  • Organizations need to understand what employees value most and work within budgetary and resourcing constraints to provide meaningful rewards.

Executive Summary

Critical Insight

  • A Total Rewards approach focused solely on compensation and benefits no longer captures the full extent of what employees value, nor is it flexible enough to adapt to the current labor market.
  • An effective Total Rewards strategy uses the employee experience lens to understand the full spectrum of employee needs and meets them with offerings, resulting in improved engagement and retention.

Impact & Result

  • Build a Total Rewards strategy to find efficiencies in the organization’s largest expenditures and find the right balance of priorities between organizational and employee needs across all Total Rewards categories.
  • Gather data and collect employee feedback to understand the current state of Total Rewards and ideate ways to strive towards the ideal future state. Use the data to design a three- to five-year roadmap to create a Total Rewards package that fulfills the needs of current employees and appeals to future talent while aligning with the organization’s strategy.

Research & Tools

1. Review data to draw out key takeaways

Establish a project team and uncover internal and external factors informing Total Rewards.

2. Identify and prioritize strategic projects

Define the current and ideal states for Total Rewards and select strategic projects to reach the ideal state.

3. Conduct due diligence on strategic projects

Assess the feasibility of the selected strategic projects against organizational resource constraints.

4. Build a Total Rewards strategy roadmap

Develop a business case, draft communications, and plan to evolve and iterate on the Total Rewards strategy over time.

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