Business results are an important consideration when determining a reward and benefits strategy but employees' desires are also key.
Speaking at the HR Solutions Conference's Beginners guide: benefits and reward strategy for the HR generalist, Leslie Moss, principle reward consultant at Hewitt Associates, said that external influences on any strategy include an organisation's culture, market practice and demographics.
He added that reward and benefits packages should be designed so that they help foster a sense of pride in the organisation. As an example, Moss said that when asked what they do, employees will ideally answer that they work for IBM rather than simply stating that they are a computer strategist.
In terms of getting salary payment right, Moss said: "There is no up-side to getting paying people right, just down-sides if you get it wrong."
He added that employers are increasingly outsourcing salary planning. Driving this trend are factors such as: the complexity of the process, access to expertise, improved quality of service, renewed appreciation of HR's role in adding value to business strategy, and cost savings.