Thank you to everyone that attended our latest specialist HRTN Reward event, chaired by Jeff Bakes, Reward Director at PwC. These are the thoughts taken from that event, held at the Haymarket Hotel on Thursday 7th November.
Traditional reward functions often encompass analytics, performance, HR systems and benefits; but with learning and recruitment processes often outsourced, is there still a need for an HR Director or are Reward Directors taking their place?
Of course, every reward function would like to claim that they are a mix of both strategic and operational reward but how true is this? The reality is more aligned to a ‘fixing what needs to be fixed’ mentality, meaning applying a plaster to a situation in the hope it will hold until fixing it properly.
During the course of discussions it was suggested that, in the modern reward function, it is no longer a strong benefits strategy that will attract or retain high-level talent. Many argued that the majority of organisations offer similar benefits programmes and the minimal differences are not how candidates differentiate between opportunities. However, it was later concluded that country-specific benefits and long-term share and saving programmes can serve to lock in talent in the long run.
The discussion quickly moved on to how organisations, with little or limited funds, attract and retain high-level talent. It was agreed that it is essential to embody a culture of recognition. Many organisations continue to sell the same product or service, the differentiator in this circumstance should be your people.
Recognition is key but keeping it genuine is also important. The question was raised of formal versus informal recognition and peer versus organisational recognition. An omnichannel approach was suggested, looking at incentivising beyond store, office or even country wide and looking at global schemes, a way of bringing an organisation together and teaching functions to recognise each other’s success.
The conclusion to this discussion was that a simple and transparent message is best!
All of our discussions are held under ‘Chatham House Rules’, hence this summary only outlines the discussion, omitting specific company details, individuals and experiences.
Many thanks to Jeff from the HRTN committee.
