Tess C. Taylor, PHR, The HR Writer
It’s that time of the year again when performance reviews and salary upgrades are in the making. And what’s on nearly every compensation manager’s mind is the creation of those total compensation statements that’ll be going out soon. But before you roll out your total rewards statements for 2015, make sure you’ve done the following:
Start with the basics of total rewards design. It only makes sense to gather all compensation, benefits, and perks information into one easy-to-read document that employees can reference throughout the year. Be mindful of categories used for each area so they’re consistent with your onboarding and benefits education programs. For example, health-related benefits should be grouped in one category, financial benefits in another category, and work related compensation in yet another.
Communicate the corporate brand. For your total compensation statements, use a well-designed template that’s branded to the company colors and logo. Total compensation products designed to integrate your company branding are available for purchase, or you can have an agency create one for you. Use the same format for every statement you distribute, either digitally or in print.
Highlight company contributions. It’s natural to just focus on the health and financial benefits you’re providing employees, but a total rewards statement needs to include information about all the ways the company contributes to the betterment of workers.
Consider including things like:
- Community service efforts
- Paid time off hours
- Educational and training programs
- Donations to charities on behalf of employees
Include big and small perks. As you develop your total rewards statements, consider all the big and small workplace perks that make a positive impact on your employees. These all have value to employees, so you’ll want to include them. Perks that are often taken for granted include:
- Paid lunch breaks and downtime for dealing with stress at work
- Onsite employee services like dry cleaning, daycare, shipping, or fitness centers
- Corporate technology for use by employees
- Comfortable or upgraded office work spaces
- Company-sponsored family events
Make it personal for employees. When employees see how their individual efforts influence the greater good of the company, they’re more apt to be encouraged. Use specific examples of the tasks and projects that employees have done or can do to boost their own compensation at the company. For example, you may have training or certification opportunities available that can result in salary increases.
Create an interactive platform. When distributing your total compensation statements, think beyond paper. Instead, make it interactive by using your web-based enrollment site or a community forum for each team. Give employees a chance to ask questions and share feedback and ideas for improving compensation in future efforts, too.
Send out total compensation statements frequently. Instead of a once-a-year distribution of total compensation statements, why not try sending them out at least quarterly? This helps to maintain focus on pay-for-performance efforts, while encouraging employees to get more involved in their role in the company success. Use total compensation as a communication tool to spur employee engagement and corporate results.
We hope this article inspires you to take your total rewards program to the next level in your organization. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!
Great article.
Tess,
Thank you for a very good article. Do you have any sample statements – many of the ones I have seen focus only on base and benefits?
Thanks
I would also like to see some templates for the types of statements that you are describing.
Good information. Some sample templates would be great.
Read this!
Great piece of informatio. Thank you.