Using total reward statements to leverage employees’ benefits package

As an HR professional, like myself, you are aware of the challenges we face when it comes to employee engagement and retention. Keeping a diverse workforce happy and motivated is not a simple task but offering employee benefits is one way to do it. However, getting it right in the first instance can be tricky; a study by Sapio research in 2018 revealed that 62% of employees felt that their organisation’s rewards and incentive programmes were not applicable to them.

So, first things first – is your employee benefits package still relevant to your employees? Getting them involved during employee benefits review and decision process is a great way to increase interest and engagement, helping you choose benefits that your employees will appreciate and, therefore, optimising your budget.

Implementing total reward statements (TRS)

Using TRS helps highlight the specific and unique set of benefits each employee is entitled to. They become aware of the financial value of their entire benefits package, not just salary; including bonus, pension contributions, and all other available benefits that are often forgotten. This whole package will give them food for thought if they ever get offered a new job elsewhere, so it’s a great tool to support employee retention.

TRS can also save your HR team’s time. Being digitally accessible, usually via company intranets or benefits portals, employees can view bespoke information on their benefits in their own time, without having to ask HR or read notice boards in the office. It’s also environmentally friendly, and cost-effective, as it doesn’t need to be printed!

Communicating TRS to your employees

Now, let’s say you have created an attractive benefits package using the feedback and input you received from your employees but you still see a decrease in interest and engagement after a few months. It may be time to remind your employees of what’s available to them and continue doing so regularly, otherwise, it can be easily forgotten.

Effectively communicating and presenting TRS is necessary to reinforce its worth and increase engagement. You could plan to promote it once it’s first implemented and then after every pay review – how you do it will have an impact on how employees receive it. In my experience, using a multi-channel communication approach will give you a greater chance of getting your employees’ attention and, therefore, helping them to make the most of their package. Here are some ideas:

• Group presentations
• One-to-one meetings
• Posters and desk drops
• Engaging emails
• Employee benefits portals / intranets

As they become more aware of their benefits package, they will start feeling more connected and important to the company. As a result, levels of engagement and retention, which are intrinsically linked, will improve.

There are plenty of TRS systems to choose from out there and I would encourage you to find out their pros and cons. Foster Denovo’s employee engagement portal, Mybenefitsatwork, could be an option as it not only showcases employee benefits and TRS to different staff groups, but it also features a comprehensive financial wellbeing hub.

By Louise Blair, Head of HR at Foster Denovo