In today’s highly disruptive and competitive business environment, traditional approaches to compensation and benefits no longer suffice to attract and retain the multigenerational workforce. Employees increasingly want rewards that are innovative, personalized, transparent, and flexible to meet their unique needs. To support new business operating plans and employee preferences, total rewards strategies should be aligned to corporate mission, goals, and values.
A new report series from The Conference Board, produced in partnership with E4E Relief, explores how organizations are responding to these challenges by transforming their total rewards programs—including compensation, benefits, recognition, and well-being initiatives. Notably, these organizations are creating total rewards frameworks that drive business results and reinforce behaviors and values. Additionally, organizations are using technology like smartphone apps and AI-driven platforms to improve the employee experience, expand offerings, and derive deeper insights into their effectiveness.
“What we’re seeing is a fundamental transformation in how organizations approach total rewards,” said Rita Meyerson, EdD, Principal Researcher at The Conference Board. “The most successful organizations are those that can balance innovation with practicality, ensuring their total rewards programs are both comprehensive and sustainable.”
The reports provide insights from roundtable discussions with total rewards leaders, CHROs, and human resources business partners. Additional findings include:
Reward strategies are evolving to better support business goals, including:
- Facilitating new business models and organizational structures.
- Better recognizing employees’ contributions to business outcomes such as sales, product development, and relationship management.
Total rewards are critical levers to change employee behavior and build culture.
- Reward desired behaviors that are in line with corporate values.
- Appoint cultural ambassadors to cascade key messages about how rewards and benefits support the company’s values and culture.
- Support talent retention by preparing managers for difficult conversations about rewards.
Total rewards leaders should partner with CHROs and the C-Suite to ensure the rewards strategy attracts and retains talent.
- Total rewards strategies are moving away from a set of relatively static and catch-all packages to reflect flexibility and responsiveness.
- Flexible rewards and benefits are being taken to a new level of personalization, like a choice on the balance between salary and benefits, or in-house portals and mobile apps that provide tailored information, individual reward statements with real-time updates, and targeted messaging by employee type.
- Organizations are recognizing employee performance with one-time awards in real time, including greater peer-to-peer recognition and empowering managers to instantly reward employee contributions.
“The research clearly shows that the one-size-fits-all approach to benefits is obsolete,” said Diana Scott, US Human Capital Center Leader at The Conference Board. “Organizations are now expected to provide personalized, technology-enabled solutions that address the diverse needs of multiple generations in the workforce while aligning with business objectives.”
Companies are moving away from rigid pay structures toward sophisticated models that combine base pay with short- and long-term incentives.
- Total rewards strategies are being designed to be responsive to employee, C-Suite, and board feedback.
- Companies are aligning compensation frameworks with social responsibility efforts and broader business objectives.
- Performance-based incentives encourage ownership mindsets among managers.
Well-being has become a foundational element of total rewards, with program elements like:
- Lifestyle spending accounts.
- Professional development opportunities and career coaching.
- Real-time total rewards statements.
- Company-wide shutdowns for collective rest periods.
- Dedicated leadership roles focused on physical, mental, and financial wellness.
Organizations are leveraging data analytics and technology to revolutionize benefits delivery.
- Rewards and recognition platforms are being integrated with global HRIS systems.
- Web portals and smartphone apps are improving transparency and access.
- AI-driven platforms are personalizing benefits recommendations.
- Data analytics are being used to optimize program offerings based on utilization patterns.
Organizations are increasingly linking their total rewards strategies with broader ESG objectives, including:
- Emergency Financial Relief programs for disaster-affected employees.
- Paid volunteer days and sustainability incentives.
- Cross-functional teams that collaborate to create and measure the impact of socially responsible benefits.
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