Employee benefits and compensation management lie at the heart of a thriving organization. As the business landscape evolves and employee expectations continue to shift, it’s essential for companies to remain agile and strategic in their approach to rewarding and retaining talent.
Below, Forbes Human Resources Council members share 19 methods to help organizations navigate the complex realm of employee benefits and compensation effectively. From attracting top talent to ensuring employee satisfaction and compliance, understanding these practices is crucial for any business striving to stay competitive and foster a satisfied, motivated workforce.
1. Define A Strategy Reflecting How You Want To Be Positioned In The Market
Organizations should define a compensation and benefits strategy reflecting how they want to be positioned in the market; median offering, top or bottom quartile. To remain competitive, benchmark to assess where the market sits. To remain relevant for employees, conduct pulse surveys so that offerings can be adjusted to meet employee needs. Finally, communicating the value of total compensation to employees is essential. – Maria Miletic
2. Align The Total Rewards Framework With The Company’s Strategy
Align the total rewards framework with the organization’s strategy and requirements of the employee base. Build agility into its deployment to allow for personalization while maintaining the robustness of the framework. Ensure the reward structure is comprehensive, covering all aspects of compensation, benefits, well-being, development and recognition equally. – Rohit Manucha, SIH AGH
3. Deploy A Plan Employees Identify And Connect With
Employee benefits and compensation are better managed by deploying a defined and understandable plan that employees identify and connect with. An industry-benchmarked plan that encapsulates pay equity and transparency, merit equitability, fair compensation and clearly stated benefits addressing any pay gaps is the best practice for managing employee benefits and compensation. – Awuese Oku, African Development Bank
4. Understand The Nuanced Needs Of Your Team
Employers should understand the nuanced needs of their team. Employee needs vary based on location, age, life stage and more. For example, a staff member’s work location may determine their ability to access a substantial paid family leave or state disability insurance if needed. So, employers should make sure each group has distinct benefits that will support them at that moment. Companies need to consider the employee holistically and ask, “What’s going on in their life that I can tangibly support or make easier?” – Dirk Doebler, Parento
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5. Measure Both Staff And Senior-Level Expectations
It is key to measure the expectations for senior management as well as staff. Unfortunately, there is a continental divide between the C-suite, senior management and staff, in my experience. A well-informed and operationally educated HR professional should provide a thorough cost-benefit analysis, including ROI and inflationary concerns. Then the C-suite needs to be transparent with staff. – Patricia Sharkey, Sharkey HR Consulting, LLC
6. Perform Regular Pay Equity Audits
Perform regular pay equity audits to detect and rectify pay disparities, ensuring ongoing fairness amid changes like new hires and promotions. These audits also aid in solidifying job architecture, aligning with your organizational strategy and promoting objective compensation choices. – Robert Sheen, Trusaic
7. Be Confident In Your Workplace Culture, Leadership And Team
Benefits and compensation matter a lot in attracting and retaining talent. But unless you feel very confident about having a great workplace culture, leadership and team dynamics, then that is where you should start. You will have a better ROI on investments in culture, leadership and teams than in benefits and compensation. That’s my insight for you. – Christian Møller, Zoios
8. Be Mindful About Employees’ Needs
Never assume! HR practitioners must be mindful that employees’ needs are diverse, complex, intricate and very personal. We have the opportunity to make a lasting impact on the employees with regard to their benefits. For compensation purposes, it’s always important to be transparent in posting the pay range for the position and asking candidates what their salary expectations are. – Omar Alhadi, Adobe Population Health
9. Focus On Whole-Person Well-Being
It is a best practice to focus on whole-person well-being. When benefits decisions are guided by what’s right for all aspects of employee well-being, everyone wins. Look for solutions and partners that can deliver comprehensive, personalized support and solutions that are free and easy for employees to access, easy for HR teams to manage and that integrate easily with other vendor partners. – Michael Held, LifeSpeak Inc.
10. Get Feedback From Employees Regularly
Getting regular feedback from all employees is essential to make sure that the benefits you are offering are in line with what they need, want and can afford. Your team’s needs change over time so giving them a range of options can also be a great way to accommodate everyone. – William Stonehouse, Crawford Thomas Recruiting
11. Provide Competitive Offerings
To compete for the best talent, you must have competitive offerings. For compensation, conduct —at minimum—annual benchmarking and offer a range of benefits that address the varying life stages of your staff. While compensation and benefits do not motivate, competitive offerings will make it such that the factors that do motivate can become operative. – Lisa Shuster, iHire
12. Offer Training On Compensation Basics
Education for your workforce is an essential part of any effective compensation and benefits program. Regularly offer training on compensation basics for both managers and employees. Cover concepts around equity and non-cash compensation, too. Equip your leaders to understand and effectively communicate topics related to compensation, particularly around your company’s compensation philosophy. – Megan Barbier, Boomi
13. Balance Company Goals, Market Trends, Legal Compliance And Employee Needs
Effective management of employee compensation and benefits requires a balance between organizational goals, market trends, legal compliance and employee needs, and the framework must support both employee satisfaction and business success. Competitive benchmarking, clear compensation structure, flexible benefits, equity and fairness, performance-based compensation and periodic reviews are some of the key elements. – Subhash Chandar, Laminaar Aviation Infotech
14. Help Employees Understand And Maximize Their Benefits
Partner with your marketing team as you prepare to share and update your benefits offerings. Don’t think like an HR leader, think like a sales leader. One of your goals should be to help employees understand and maximize their use of your benefits. If your employees don’t know about or understand what’s available, then you’re wasting money and getting no return on your investment. – Christopher Courneen, M S International, Inc. (MSI)
15. Define Equity, Retention And Motivation
It is essential to define compensation and benefits management from the angle of equity, retention and motivation, which should be reflected in industry trends, company size and revenue. A critical element of this process is employee retention. The best practice is to establish a structure linked to the evaluation of the job, the company’s affordability, workforce planning and profit sharing. – Dr. Nara Ringrose, Cyclife Aquila Nuclear
16. Provide An Updated Headcount For Third-Party Providers
If you have third-party employee benefits perks as a part of your total reward benefits, ensure to provide them with an updated headcount, especially if it’s cost savings. Many third-party employee benefit providers offer discounted tiered rates as your company’s headcount grows. While some vendors have an automated process that you can self-update, many will still need to reassess for billing. – Kimika Banfield, Arootah
17. Conduct Regular Benchmarking And Analysis
One best practice for managing employee benefits and compensation is to conduct regular benchmarking and analysis. Work across leadership and finance to strive for a competitive positioning in the market that meets the need for attracting and retaining talent while respecting the budget, compliance and equity and fairness. – Jessica Wallen, Marten Law
18. Adopt The Philosophy That It’s More Than A Paycheck
Adopt the philosophy that compensation and benefits are much more than a paycheck, health insurance and discounted gym perks. A strategic compensation and benefits strategy is one part of a total rewards strategy designed to ensure employee well-being, flexible working arrangements, equitable pay and a fair future of work for all. Market your compensation and benefits as a component of the organization’s commitment to a great employee experience. – Laci Loew, XpertHR (a division of LexisNexis Risk Solutions)
19. Determine Your Overall Budget
Determine what your overall budget is from the leadership team. You don’t want to overpromise and underdeliver based on financials. If there are cost increases, thoroughly communicate and put together a business case of why they need to happen (e.g., retention or more). Communicate early in the process so the leadership team is not blindsided. – Erin ImHof, CertiK
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