Their challenge
B&Q wanted a holistic understanding of their total reward offering and how it compared to the wider market. Over many years, benefits had evolved reactively, added in patches, with ad‑hoc changes and little clarity on where investment was being made or whether it represented good value. Although engagement levels were strong, the business lacked visibility of gaps, opportunities, and benefit uptake. With no strategic reward review in nearly 20 years, this was a clear opportunity to reset and align reward with future needs.
Our solution
Working in partnership with B&Q, we brought an external, objective lens to their total reward approach. This included analysing their reward strategy end to end, identifying where investment was; and wasn’t delivering impact, and shaping a forward looking roadmap aligned to business priorities. The work sparked more intelligent, future focused conversations, laying the groundwork for a revised reward strategy, updated pay awards, new incentive design, and a job evaluation project. The approach centred on transparency, consistency, fairness, and strong stakeholder engagement, listening first, then shaping solutions.
The outcome
Though the work is still in delivery, it has already shifted how B&Q approaches reward. Leaders now have clearer insight, better framing for strategic discussions, and a more cohesive understanding of where reward investment creates value. Early impact includes shaping pay awards, influencing incentive design, and embedding job evaluation.
The focus on transparency and fairness has helped land several key initiatives. Stakeholders also praised the balanced, personal communication style and the ability to translate complex insights into clear, tailored outputs including distinctive, purpose‑led ideas that resonated strongly across the business.
Client feedback
Bringing in independent, third-party expertise provided objectivity, credibility, and fresh insight, helping to challenge assumptions and frame more strategic, forward-looking conversations. The work has directly shaped pay awards, new incentive schemes, and a job evaluation project, underpinned by a strong focus on transparency, consistency, and fairness. It also reinforced the importance of strong stakeholder engagement, open mindedness, and understanding how reward investment is currently allocated, showing that small, targeted adjustments can deliver meaningful impact without increasing overall costs.
