Money isn't everything, particularly when selecting or keeping a career. Competitive salaries will increase your company's capacity to attract and retain top personnel. Still, the pay is only one of many aspects that contribute to your firm being a wonderful workplace. Employee perks, work place culture, office setting, and other intangible benefits all make your business appealing to potential employees and encourage commitment and loyalty among your current workforce.

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Employee total rewards include benefits, pay, and awards that employees receive from their companies (both monetary and non-monetary benefits) that they acquire while working for a company.

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A total rewards strategy is a comprehensive approach to employee compensation and benefits that goes beyond just salary and wages. It includes all of the financial and non-financial rewards that an organization provides to its employees in exchange for their contributions and loyalty. A total rewards strategy aims to attract, retain, and motivate top talent by offering a competitive and balanced package of rewards that meets the needs and preferences of employees.

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A total rewards strategy typically includes elements such as:

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● Base pay (salary and wages)

● Incentive pay (bonuses and commissions)

● Benefits (health insurance, retirement plans, etc.)

● Time off (vacation, sick leave, etc.)

● Work-life balance programs (flexibility, telecommuting, etc.)

● Professional development and career advancement opportunities

● Recognition and rewards programs

● Employee perks and amenities (e.g. gym memberships, employee discounts, etc.

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Elements Of Total Rewards Strategy

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A total rewards strategy is a concerted effort, driven by an organization's entire business plan, to create an engaged workforce that grows along side the company through an efficient and all-encompassing incentives program.

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The benefits, bonuses, incentives, policies, procedures, programs, and other rewards an employer provides to its employees are all included in this package. A total rewards package, in addition to gross pay, contains things like vacation time, retirement plans, career advancement training programs, work-life flexibility, wellness initiatives, and mandatory and optional benefits like financial counseling, disability insurance, and critical illness coverage.

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In other words, by creating an engaged, satisfied workforce, an effective overall incentives plan enables firms to enhance business performance and accomplish targeted goals.

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The HR department or a specialized compensation & benefits team often implements a total rewards approach.

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Characteristics of A Total Rewards Strategy

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Certainly, here are five key characteristics of a Total Rewards strategy with explanations:

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1. Comprehensive Approach: Total Rewards encompasses all aspects of the employee experience, including compensation, benefits, and non-monetary rewards. This comprehensive approach ensures that employees are valued and motivated through a combination of financial and non-financial incentives.

2. Customization: Total Rewards recognizes that individual employees have unique needs and preferences. It offers flexibility for employees to choose from a menu of benefits and rewards options, allowing them to tailor their compensation package to suit their specific circumstances. This personalization enhances job satisfaction and engagement.

3. Alignment with Organizational Goals: A Total Rewards strategy is closely aligned with the organization's mission, vision, and strategic objectives. It ensures that rewards and incentives are designed to encourage behaviours and performance that contribute to the company's success. This alignment helps drive organizational success and reinforces the desired culture and values.

4. Employee Engagement: Total Rewards strategies are designed to engage and motivate employees. This involves recognizing and rewarding employees for their contributions, whether through performance bonuses, recognition programs, or opportunities for skill development and career advancement. Engaged employees tend to be more productive and committed to the organization.

5. Continuous Improvement: Total Rewards programs are not static, they evolve over time. Regular assessment, feedback collection, and data analysis are used to fine-tune compensation and benefits offerings. This continuous improvement ensures that the organization remains competitive in attracting and retaining talent and responsive to changing employee needs and market conditions.

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Advantages of Having a Total Rewards Strategy

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1. Enhanced Talent Attraction: A well-structured Total Rewards strategy helps organizations stand out in the job market, making them more attractive to prospective employees who are looking for comprehensive compensation and benefits packages.

2. Improved Employee Retention: Total Rewards programs that recognize and reward employee contributions and loyalty can reduce turnover rates, saving the organization recruitment and training costs while retaining valuable institutional knowledge.

3. Increased Employee Productivity: When employees feel fairly compensated and engaged through Total Rewards programs, they tend to be more motivated and productive, leading to higher overall performance levels.

4. Alignment with Organizational Objectives: Total Rewards strategies can be designed to incentivize behaviours and outcomes that align with the organization's strategic goals, creating a workforce that is more focused on achieving those objectives.

5. Flexibility and Personalization: Total Rewards strategies offer flexibility for employees to tailor their compensation and benefits packages to their individual needs and preferences, enhancing job satisfaction and overall well-being.

How To Make More Benefits of Total Rewards by Doing Less

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You may create a whole incentives package either on your own or with the assistance of a seasoned HR outsourcing company. You will reap there wards of this new strategy in several ways, including:

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● Improved Recruitment Capabilities: Once you have calculated the worth of your overall rewards package, you can use that information to show prospective employees how valuable your company's perks are.

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● Attract top employees: Share the total rewards with prospective candidates to attract top talent. It provides potential employees with a more thorough understanding of all the advantages of working for your business, enabling them to decide more wisely on your employment offer. In fact, according to a National Bureau of Economic Research report, more than 40% of workers would accept a lesser wage in exchange for greater advantages like flexible work hours and the opportunity to work from home. You can attract top talent and persuade candidates on the fence to accept your offer of employment by being transparent about these benefits in job descriptions and employment offers.

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● Higher retention rate: A comprehensive incentives pay package enables you to measure the value of each benefit and the whole amount you spend on rewards, which leads to higher employee retention rates. The positive outcomes can result in a better work environment, including improved employee engagement, morale, and retention. This is because the results can be very positive when an employee sees how much you're willing to invest in them. Because engaged workers are more dependable workers, it will take more than a modest pay raise to tempt them away.

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● Enhanced productivity: Employees get to analyze better and understand all the benefits and everything they get from their job at your organization if the total reward statements are shared with them. This helps in attaining an engaged, loyal, productive workforce, as total reward structures help enhance overall employee activities and satisfaction.

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Developing a Proper Total Reward Strategy

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There are four steps involved in the process of developing a total reward strategy:

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1. Assessment:

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To assess the process of creating a total reward structure, you need to survey the employees on their views regarding their pay structure, growth and development opportunities, add-on benefits, and the existing plans and policies offered to them. As the assessment phase wraps up, the team prepares the report, including the recommendations for new reward structures, as most employees desire. Here are some questions that must be answered in the report:

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● Eligibility for the rewards

● Tangible Rewards

● Values to be rewarded

● Reward type that would work best for most

● Funding from the company

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 2. Designing:

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After the assessment, the senior management is responsible for figuring out and analyzing several reward strategies to determine what all options fit best for you and your organization. It determines the generic rewards as well as the achievement-based rewards. Apart from this, the HR strategies will also help design the employees' added benefits and growth and development opportunities.

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3. Execution:

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Finally, the new total reward structure is updated by the HRs and circulated to the employees. Training starts so managers and decision-makers can measure success efficiently and employees may comprehend what they must accomplish to receive rewards.

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It should also be your primary priority to communicate clearly and effectively as you introduce, implement, and expand your new program. To keep the program current and at the forefront of your employees' minds throughout the year, it's a good idea to introduce the program personally during a regular staff meeting or in a separate training session.

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4. Evaluation:

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The final phase of execution is both the most crucial and frequently disregarded. If you and your team need clarification on how well employees receive the program, one explanation could be that performing a thorough evaluation can seem intimidating. You can reduce the time and effort of the process by comparing the results and outcomes to the objectives you specified during the building phase.

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The techniques or instruments you can use to measure those outcomes will depend on the precise goals you select. For instance, if one of your objectives is to boost job happiness, you may poll this topic before launching the program and once more at the end of the year to compare the results.

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It is necessary to gauge the new plan's performance and inform company decision-makers of the findings. Based on this, adjustments to the strategy might be suggested for execution in the future.

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What Is Total Rewards Compensation

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If you are all set to introduce a total reward strategy, here are some things to keep in mind:

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Read Also: Components of  Total Rewards | Uncovering The Key Elements of a Comprehensive Total Rewards  Package

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● Invest in what is more significant for most employees: You may spot holes in your existing offers and be smarter about your future goals by taking a comprehensive look at your compensation and benefits package. Remember that you're creating these incentives for your staff, so you should routinely poll them to ensure your initiatives satisfy their current demands. Build total rewards programs that address your employees' needs by learning what matters to them. Then, let employees know early and frequently how their opinion connects to the company's offers, so they feel included in the process.

Read Also: 3 Ways Small  Businesses Can See the ROI on HR Automation Investment

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● Add career growth and development opportunities: By 2025, millennials are predicted to make up 75% of the workforce. 91% of millennials concur that career development possibilities are their top priority in the job search, according to a recent poll. Because of this, career development choices are also among companies' top priorities. Employers are increasingly providing benefits to workers to support them as they develop their careers and job abilities. The kind of employee development a firm offers will also depend on the sector it works in and its size and location.

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● Revise the components of total rewards, too: Organizations have implemented additional flexibility in their employment options since the outbreak. According to a recent study, 80% of workers are still required to work remotely at least three times every week. This focuses on paying these workers according to their working circumstances, location, and additional overhead costs. Similarly, extra equipment and internet usage fees may be necessary depending on the type of job. It is advantageous to change their remuneration in this manner. 

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● Do not inflate value: Make sure you don't overstate the monetary importance of any non-monetary advantages when creating your customized total rewards statements for employees. Even if unlimited paid time off (PTO) is a desirable benefit, it doesn't, for instance, justify a $50,000 price tag. You may get the actual value by calculating the employee's daily compensation and multiplying that number by the number of vacation days they used in the most recent calendar year. Alternatively, if you provide an unlimited PTO plan, utilize the typical number of vacation days that your staff members used last year. If workers don't perceive a favorable influence, attempts to overemphasize value are exposed.

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● Communicate the rewards well to the employees: You must inform each employee of their complete rewards package after you have computed it. Regardless of how your company chooses to distribute statements, let employees know where to access their reports and take the time to review them. The timing is entirely up to you, although most businesses prefer to disclose employee total rewards on an annual basis, frequently in conjunction with performance or pay reviews or the conclusion of the fiscal year. You can mandate that managers print hard copies of these statements to bring to all annual performance assessments of their teams, or you might consider providing employees with an updated digital copy each year during open enrollment.

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● Categorize the statements well: Your statements may be simpler to read, and you may be able to spot program holes if you categorize your rewards. Many businesses choose to divide their incentives into the five areas of work-life, remuneration, perks, performance and recognition, and employee growth and development. You can select or define the most useful categories for you, your company, and your staff.

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Total Rewards' for Covid-19

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Following the epidemic, businesses need to re-evaluate the design of their employee benefits and how they affect the health of their employees.

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Physical, mental, and economic aspects of our lives have all been damaged by the Covid-19 pandemic. Employers must consider employees' financial burdens and general health and well-being.

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To ensure work-life balance and worker productivity, employers must re-evaluate their incentive strategies and adapt them to the modern labor market.

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Gartner reports that 68% of organizations have enhanced or added at least one award to aid employees in Covid-19.

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The way some businesses handle their job and components of total rewards has fundamentally changed as a result of the pandemic. The following are some of the elements you must take into account when determining salary and overall rewards:

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● Reimbursement of Expenses: You may payback the costs associated with your employee's remote working environment. This might cover the cost of internet access, computer hardware, software, and cellphone top-ups. If your staff requests it, you can also give them additional equipment and tools owned by the business.

● Flexibility: Remote working was the biggest and most immediate workplace change brought on by the Covid-19 epidemic. Many businesses have adopted this new culture due to the demand for greater flexibility and freedom at work. You might think about working from home or designing a remote work perks package as businesses reopen. Flexibility in the workplace is a benefit in and of itself, particularly for workers trying to manage work and family obligations.

● Overall Well-Being: Today's workplace is characterized by an emphasis on overall well-being. Employers have concluded that it is vital to offer a safe and loving atmosphere because they are adopting a holistic approach to the total well-being of all employees. Employers are developing unique wellness programs for their workforce to assist workers in adjusting to the pandemic's effects. Additionally, many organizations have emphasized enhancing employees' financial stability, physical well-being, and overall quality of life.

● Extra time off: Working remotely has advantages and disadvantages. While some may support it whole heartedly, it can also lead to feelings of isolation, tension, and even exhaustion. Additionally, workers might need to take time off to help loved ones care for a family member who has a sickness. Maintaining a focus on well-being specifically related to mental health during these periods will boost employee engagement and productivity.

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Final Words

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Total incentives compensation scheme implementation is a process that requires thorough planning and preparation. But once you've switched over effectively to a total rewards plan, the payoff will guarantee you won't return.

Read Also: Unlocking the  Benefits of Compensation Management Systems for Your Organization

Like many businesses, you could wish to build your own overall rewards programs but believe you need more time or money to investigate new benefit options or need to know where to begin.

Remember that every perk your firm provides is intended to benefit your staff and demonstrate that you care about them beyond just their wage. You are responsible for creating a holistic incentives package that makes your employees feel supported and valued by your company, even though some benefits may have a greater influence on some employees than others.

A total rewards statement can serve as an effective visual reminder of the financial investment your company has made in your workers' personal and professional development. Continually informing your staff of this will help you to draw in top talent and keep them engaged.

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Find out how Compport can help you manage all your Total Rewards process, book a demo today!

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Frequently Asked Questions(FAQs)

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1. What is a Total Rewards strategy, and why is it important for a company?

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A Total Rewards strategy is a comprehensive approach to employee compensation and benefits that goes beyond salary, encompassing all financial and non-financial rewards. It's crucial because it helps attract, retain, and motivate top talent while aligning with the company's goals and values.

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2. What are the key elements of a Total Rewards strategy?

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Key elements typically include base pay, incentive pay, benefits, time off, work-life balance programs, professional development, recognition programs, and employee perks.

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3. How can a Total Rewards strategy benefit a company?

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A Total Rewards strategy can enhance talent attraction, improve employee retention, increase productivity, align with organizational goals, and offer flexibility and personalization to employees, enhancing overall job satisfaction and well-being.

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4. How do you develop a proper Total Rewards strategy?

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The process involves assessment, designing, execution, and evaluation. It starts with assessing employee needs and preferences, followed by designing a tailored rewards package, implementing it, and continuously evaluating its effectiveness.

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5. How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted Total Rewards strategies?

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The pandemic has led to changes in Total Rewards strategies, including reimbursement of remote work expenses, increased flexibility, a focus on overall well-being, and additional time-off options to address the challenges and needs arising from remote work and the pandemic's impact.

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