Applying ARC to your employee reward, engagement

Whenever a valued employee hands in their notice, it starts a time-consuming and expensive process involving recruitment, interviews, and training. It results in knowledge leaving the business and a hit to productivity. It’s a distraction no one needs.

Decreasing employee turnover will therefore increase the resilience of a business, as everyone can focus on what they need to be doing to achieve success. Employers need to ensure they are pulling every lever to reward, engage and retain employees. Engaged and motivated employees will drive agility in the face of changing dynamics and resilience in challenging conditions, while controlling the cost of employee turnover.

A broader view of reward

While pay will be a key priority to most, there’s more employers can and should be doing to broaden the Employee Value Proposition that makes up their wider offer to employees. Considering the wider benefits of working for you is key. By which we don’t just mean the traditional core benefits such as pensions and healthcare – important though these are – but also things like the working environment, training, wellbeing, and culture. Nowadays, some degree of flexible and agile working is also essential, as otherwise employers will lose access to talent for whom this is non-negotiable.

There are lots of benefits that can be provided at zero cost to employers. Simply providing access to health and wellbeing schemes at corporate rates is a valuable benefit to employees. Other benefits, such as cycle to work, electric vehicle leasing or holiday trading, can even save an employer money. Proactive and assertive negotiation for any insured benefits can also lead to savings, which can often be significant.

Communication is key

Providing benefits and a compelling reward programme is one thing, but employers need to ensure that employees know about it, understand how it works, and why it’s a valuable benefit. Without this, they won’t fully appreciate what’s on offer and achieving full value for money for any benefit spend will be impossible.

Engaging employees, using methods such as staff surveys and focus groups, can help to ensure cost effectiveness is achieved. Understanding which groups of employees do not value your existing benefits, whether that’s those in a certain location, job grade or age for instance, is key to determining how to improve things going forward.

Technology can play an important role here. An online flexible benefit platforms allows for employees to be presented with a much more comprehensive range of benefits, with simple member pathways in place. Employers can achieve greater agility in rolling out new benefits and building comprehensive wellbeing strategies, using targeted communications and pulse surveys. Allowing employees to choose their own reward schemes allows for a much more efficient allocation of resources.

Recognition and reward

Research from Reward Gateway showed that almost half of employees agreed that they would leave a company that didn’t show them sufficient appreciation for the work they did, with this being the main driver of long-term motivation.

We all instinctively understand that being unvalued and unappreciated in a role will only lead to someone looking for alternatives. Peer to peer recognition is therefore key in celebrating success and acknowledging the efforts people are making. Schemes do not even necessarily require large amounts of investment - the amount of any monetary award is much less important than the fact people are being recognised. Employers can also reward their people in imaginative ways, with things like extra time off or being taken out for lunch by the CEO.

Investing in people for the long-term

Learning and development are key to building commitment from employees. By taking the time to invest in their skills, employers can demonstrate that they want to help drive forward an employee’s career. Access to high quality training schemes that provide recognised qualifications will help an employer to stand out. Effectively trained leaders will also ensure an employer can be agile in adapting to changing dynamics.

For many employees, a clear picture of their career pathway will also be a key element to engagement. People need to know that their managers are supportive of their development and progression in the business. If a high-performing and dynamic employees feels they’ve reached a dead-end in their career, with little or no chance to progress further or take on challenging or interesting work, it should be no surprise if they look for opportunities elsewhere.

A People Strategy that drives success

A successful People Strategy is one that considers all aspects of the employee experience. It will encompass areas such as:

• Creating a culture that demonstrates a commitment to employees’ overall wellbeing; whether that’s financial, physical, or mental.
• A willingness to invest in their learning and development, giving them the time and resources needed.
• Providing opportunities for progression and the road map of a long-term career.
• Acknowledging the contribution an employee makes, ensuring they know how valued they are.

It’s impossible to accurately predict what challenges are coming down the line. But having employees that are fully engaged, confident their employer has a stake in their long-term wellbeing, will provide an organisation with agility in responding to those challenges and resilience in not just weathering the storm, but emerging from it even stronger.

For more insight and guidance, contact Ben Rowntree or Laurie Eggleston.