EXCLUSIVE: Heike Avramovic, head of reward and policy at global technology organisation Siemens, will share insights on how the organisation has tailored its reward approach to accommodate the future of work at Employee Benefits Connect 2019.
The session, titled 'Rethinking rewards for the future of work', will form part of the performance conference stream on Wednesday 27 February 2019.
Avramovic will talk delegates through three initiatives that she has been involved in at Siemens that have been designed to prepare the business for the future workplace and the evolving needs and expectations of employees.
She will explain how Siemens has introduced a level-free management structure for its senior leaders, describe the journey of revamping the organisation's flexible benefits and detail Siemens' global 'Futuremakers' campaign, which focuses on the employee experience and employer branding.
For Siemens, which has 15,000 employees in the UK, changing the senior management framework has been ground-breaking. Avramovic said: "As far as I'm aware, we are the only ones who have done this with a big industry, moving away from a rigid framework for senior management, moving away from rigid models. That's a culture shift, and if we think of the future of work, we need also the future leader, and the future leader cannot be restricted by [their management grade]. It's about getting a culture shift for getting leaders in the right place."
Reinvigorating flexible benefits is also important when considering the future workforce, noted Avramovic, as employees are focused less on the different benefits they want, and more on accessibility, flexibility and having a bespoke package. "We did empower them massively, because we give them the choice and they are highly engaged, but they have become very impatient consumers," Avramovic added. "They want to have a shopping experience, they want to have it here and now, the immediate reward. These are people who ask for things and do not just accept the package which is given."
Avramovic hopes to impress upon delegates that the future of work needs to be a key focus, in order to retain key skills and talent.
She concludes: "The future of work is already here. [Employers] really need empowering technologies. It's about real-time reward; [employees] can make changes when [they] need to make them and don't have to wait for annual enrolment or have to go through lengthy forms and sign-off processes. Make it a user-led reward creation."
Employee Benefits Connect 2019 will take place on Wednesday 27 February 2019 at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge, London.
