There is no doubt that this is the year for businesses to prioritise reward. Must do activities such as gender pay reporting and increases in the national living wage, are pushing HR and reward professionals to do more for less and therefore think more strategically and creatively in their approach to reward. Add to this that higher inflation in 2017 is likely to impact any real wage increase and the challenge really is on. If reward didn’t get to the top of your to-do list last year, then it certainly needs to be in 2017. Here’s why…
- Gender pay reporting. In December, the government published its long awaited Gender Pay Regulations. This is not just an operational process, it is about reducing risk and taking control of what is really happening in the business. Pulling the data together in the first place is a huge exercise, so please don’t put it off and get help from us if you need to.
- Attract the best talent to your organisation. Get your pay benchmarking right and develop a clearly defined and relevant employee value proposition that is competitive against the market. Ask us about our PayLab tool that allows you to gain much greater value from your survey data using dynamic, interactive reporting.
- More engaged employees. Employees who know where they fit into the organisation and how their contribution makes a difference, feel valued, fairly treated and are more engaged. An engaged workforce has a far higher level of productivity and ultimately, makes a tangible difference to the bottom line of the business.
- Supported and confident management. A defined reward framework and processes will give support and guidance to line managers, increasing their confidence in discussions and decisions around pay and grading.
- Reduce huge wastage in your pay budget. Outside the annual pay review, on demand pay increases are ineffectual and costly. Develop flexible pay ranges and understand where your talent fits – make sure the right people are getting the pay increases and for the right reasons.
- Increase shareholder confidence. Demonstrating strong pay management within your organisation, with clear links between reward and business objectives, will tick a big box for your shareholders.
- Manage the cost of April’s increase to the national living wage. In April, the national living wage increases to £7.50. A pay framework will help you implement any changes and manage any implications further up the pay levels.
- Individualise your employee deal. As employees move through different life stages they want something different from their employer. Develop your benefits and reward offer to be authentic to your organisation and meet the needs of a cross generational workforce.
- Improve external relations. Transparent and responsible reward will mean you avoid negative press attention – be used as a good example, not a bad one.
- The return on investment is huge. We conduct a benefits of change analysis on client projects before we start and the financial benefit of fixing or improving reward is substantial. The real question is, can you afford not to do it?
If you haven’t already, book onto one of our free Pay Trends Roadshow 2017 sessions at the end of this month and get some great advice, ideas and support to make your reward in 2017 the most successful yet.
