Mumbai: A well-built total rewards strategy is core of people culture and workforce management. Indian Inc is steadily realizing the benefits of having total rewards programs as nearly 43% of the surveyed organizations already have a well-built total rewards strategy and 23% have it in the planning stage, finds the latest TJinsite study by TimesJobs.
Organizations recognize that total rewards help them in multiple ways including increasing business output by aligning employee perception with business goals, engaging employees, retaining their top performers. Retaining employees has been stated as the key benefit of a total rewards strategy by nearly 40% of the surveyed organizations, followed by employee engagement (30%), attracting potential talent (20%) and increasing business output (10%). Hence, the companies are ready to invest huge amounts of money and resources on these programs, revealed by TimesJobs study.
“While compensation is critical in attracting new talent, as you move up the value chain, top performers need to be engaged and motivated in order to be retained – this is where a robust total rewards program creates the cutting edge differentiator for the organization.” Says Nilanjan Roy, Head of Strategy, Times Business Solutions.
“In today’s cut-throat competition, total rewards are an employee program that no organization can afford to miss on. The total rewards strategies are a set of recognitions that allow a company to recognize, praise and commend hardworking employees with the aim of sustaining a motivated and engaged workforce,” says Zubin Zack, Director and Chief Recognition Strategist, O. C. Tanner India.
On the implementation side, nearly 50% organizations said the most important aspect while executing a total rewards strategy is aligning it with business objectives. Another 25% feel that effective communication at each stage of implementing the program is crucial to its success.
Employees have a great stake in total rewards strategy, so the company can’t neglect the importance of listening to the employees’ voice, which may be a possible cause in failure of the total rewards program. In fact, another TimesJobs study had revealed that nearly 87% employees prefer a customized compensation structure and organizations need to take such feedback into account while designing their total rewards and benefits packages.
Sanchayan Paul, Head of performance, rewards & recognition, Vodafone India agrees and says, “You must have a broad understanding of different employee segments and their needs. Then, try to personalize and simplify it.”
Nearly 40% organizations stated lack of awareness and communication about total rewards as the biggest barrier in effective implementation of the program, followed by lack of support from leaders (25%). “Total Rewards need effective management to suit both business goals and employee needs and thus awareness among employees, employee feedback and leadership support is imperative for the success of this program,” says Nilanjan Roy, Head of Strategy, Times Business Solutions.
Nearly 25% of the survey respondents also felt that budget constraints possess a big challenge in execution of the total rewards strategy, while 10% felt cultural barriers are the stumbling block to effective implementation.
