In the current economic climate, total reward is coming under the spotlight as employers re-examine their motives for adding benefits during good times and the way variable pay has been used.
Duncan Brown, director of reward services at the Institute for Employment Studies, said: "Some of the assumptions we have been making, pretty much unthinkingly, are now being challenged."
Managers should focus on a broader rewarding work environment, said Brown, not just on the design of a few pay and benefits schemes. There should also be greater focus on fairness.