Reward was found to represent 70% of a company’s total costs, making it a top management issue rather than merely the sole responsibility of compensation and benefits experts, according to new research from the HayGroup, The Changing Face of Reward.
The global reward research was conducted through the survey of HR professionals from 236 companies in 29 countries.
Alongside this shift, the role of the compensation committee is undergoing radical changes with a much greater remit to oversee all reward programmes and understand their impact on cost and risk.
The research also found a rise in tension between cost containment and employee engagement with employers very concerned about retention and motivation. However, paying more for retention or performance is often no longer available so many companies are turning to more intangible rewards to boost engagement.
Duncan Brown, director of reward and HR development at the Institute of Employment Studies, discussed the wider context of HayGroup’s research with 65 HR professionals who attended the session.
He commented: “A sense of challenge rather than simple answers come out of the survey. It offers really good questions for you to answer in your organisation.”
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