At a recent workshop with a client, I was reminded how working in HR can make you ‘blind’ to the language we take for granted. As part of the workshop, we discussed the rationale for developing a job evaluation framework, and asked participants for their views on doing such an exercise. One of the comments took me by surprise “phew, I thought you meant re-structure, as in redundancies, when you were talking about developing a new reward structure”. It prompted me to stop and think about how important it is to not only have open sessions discussing reward changes with employees, but how careful we should all be with the language we use. Words like ‘structure’ and ‘framework’ become common place in reward design, but the comment prompted me to think about the impact changing reward frameworks has on employees.
All too often I see examples of good pay systems or bonus schemes that have failed because they were written in HR or Finance speak, and rushed out the door. If you want to ensure your employees are fully bought into whatever new system or framework you are introducing I recommend the following:
- Don’t do it isolationThe best changes are implemented when employees are bought in from the start. I know what you are thinking – easier said than done when you have a huge agenda to implement and little resource to help you. However, in my experience, even a small project team of members outside of HR can make such a difference. Not only can they act as a sounding board, but they can also champion the change in their area and spread the messages you want to be heard.
- Involve problem children from the startWe all know the few individuals in our organisation who like to make their voices heard, often not in the most constructive way. Turn it to your advantage – involve them in your bonus redesign or job evaluations. Not only will they help you ensure your decisions are valid, but they will be less likely to be disengaged, even if they don’t quite agree with the final outcome.
- Don’t leave communication until the endOften the focus is on the design and sign off, and little thought is given to how you engage your employees with the reward change. ‘Landing the aeroplane’ is the critical part of any new reward activity. If you pay little attention to it, your initiative is liable to crash land and fall flat on its face. I’m sure you can recall great initiatives that simply didn’t work or motivate the way they were intended because people didn’t understand them. Develop a communications strategy from the start, identify what messages you want to tell, which audiences need to hear them and when.
- Use plain EnglishIf you can explain what you're doing in basic and clear language you have far more chance of avoiding misconceptions. If you have internal communications expertise available, use them to help you write your bonus scheme rules or pay review guidance in a way that everyone understands. I know that many organisations are filled with highly educated and proficient people; however, in the mad rush that is our daily working lives, if you make things to complicated, they just won’t have the time to stop and ask you what you really meant.
