What’s your best offer?

Is your package enough to keep your dream team together? Let’s dive into the world of total reward and find out how to communicate the entire benefits package – not just the obvious ones.

You have to offer far more than just a payslip at the end of the month if you want to attract and retain the best talent. It’s not about adding more money to the pot – though that may help. It’s giving your people the benefits they need to feel their best and do their best. That’s where total reward comes in.

What is total reward?

Total reward encompasses everything a workplace and employer has to offer their people. But if we break it down, you can consider total reward in two strands:

• Cash-based: salary, bonuses, health insurance, pension, stock options and financial aid

• Value-based: recognition programmes, workplace flexibility, career opportunities, learning and development, culture, cost-of-living advice, ethical practices and inclusive policies.

Take learning and development for example. Gallup found that 65 per cent of people believe employer-provided upskilling is important when considering a new role. If learning and development is part of your total reward, you need to let prospective and present employees know about it.

That’s at the heart of total reward: it’s something that not only retains talent but attracts the perfect person that fits with your values, culture and vision. Because if your offer’s good enough, your existing people won’t be tempted elsewhere.

Why does it matter?

Everyone has different needs and desires. So how do you help your people understand what they’re entitled to – and highlight what matters most to them? You can’t just shout it from the rooftops, you have to be precise.

Make your communications …

• Simple to understand, at a glance: people don’t need to be bogged down in detail from the get-go. And they certainly don’t need overwhelming with jargon and acronyms. Give them a taster and make it accessible for everyone, from the frontline to the board

• Easy to find, at any time: your people don’t want to be faffing around with a million logins for different portals. Create a central hub with simple navigational tools that keeps everything total reward-related in one place so everyone can easily access it

• Evolve, all the time: don’t assume you know what people want. Ask your employees – and listen to their answers. Take it all in and evolve rewards as their needs and values change.

Struggling to communicate your total reward?

It’s one thing having an unbeatable offer for your people, but communicating it to them, making sure they know what is available to them and how they can use it, is a completely different beast.

We work with organisations to perfect their total reward messaging, tapping into their culture and helping them attract and retain their very own dream team. If you’re worried about your messaging falling flat, then get in touch.