HRMN 395-Report on Organization

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3 Special Considerations

Because total rewards encompasses everything the employee

perceives to be of value from the employer, value should be created

for all compensation, benefits, work-life, performance and recog-

nition, and development and career opportunity programs. One

of the best ways to create value is to ensure that programs meet

employees’ needs and that employees are fully aware of everything

the employer offers. Remember: An underused program is an inef-

fective employee incentive for which the organization must still

pay. Instead, the desire is for employees to:

• Understand that business success generates more opportunities for

employees to experience personal career growth and individual

reward.

• Link the organization’s goals with employees’ individual efforts so

they recognize the achievement of those goals not only as higher

company profits, but as higher profits for themselves as well.

No matter how rich a total rewards program might be, these

goals cannot be achieved without effective communication. (See

“Total Rewards Communication Goals.”)

Total Rewards Communication Goals

• Persuade employees to change behaviors and choices.

• Build trust between employer and employees.

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C o p y r i g h t 2 0 1 0 . W o r l d a t W o r k P r e s s .

A l l r i g h t s r e s e r v e d . M a y n o t b e r e p r o d u c e d i n a n y f o r m w i t h o u t p e r m i s s i o n f r o m t h e p u b l i s h e r , e x c e p t f a i r u s e s p e r m i t t e d u n d e r U . S . o r a p p l i c a b l e c o p y r i g h t l a w .

EBSCO Publishing : eBook Collection (EBSCOhost) - printed on 8/30/2022 5:24 PM via UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND GLOBAL CAMPUS AN: 543248 ; Rogers, Susan, Marcotte, Scot.; Communicating Total Rewards : How-To Series for the HR Professional Account: s4264928.main.eds

Book Name: Rogers, S., & Marcotte, S. (2010). Communicating total rewards : How-to series for the HR professional. WorldatWork Press.

Link: https://eds-s-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.umgc.edu/eds/ebookviewer/ebook/ bmxlYmtfXzU0MzI0OF9fQU41?sidb=d347b3b4-c47c-4c49-bfee- eef3a002af5b@redis&vid=1&format=EB&rid=9

Communicating Total Rewards4848

Compensation There are several innate challenges to communicating compensation

programs. Not surprisingly, the lowest level of employee satisfaction

revolves around understanding pay systems. This problem is further

complicated by the great variance of corporate cultures and HR

philosophies. Most importantly, compensation is an emotional issue.

(See “Compensation Communications Strategy.”) Employees’ sense

of self-esteem may be attached to pay, including merit increases

and incentive plans.

Because the value of compensation may be affected by employees’

perceptions of their self-worth, employers should provide employees

with comfort that their pay is based on the value of the jobs, not

the value of individuals. Also, total rewards professionals should

be particularly sensitive to how pay changes are communicated.

Knowledge or perception of pay in the marketplace also may affect

employees’ spheres of experience. Employees often will search

for data to fill the void when little or no information is provided

regarding pay. Unfortunately, their findings may be inaccurate or

incomplete.

Employer communication has an enormous influence on employee

knowledge about pay systems and employee feelings about their

pay systems, employers, jobs and themselves. Depending on an

organization’s total rewards and compensation philosophy, it may

choose to develop communication campaigns for base pay, vari-

able pay and performance management programs. (See “What to

Communicate about Compensation.”)

Compensation Communications Strategy

• Is knowledge about pay systems open or closed?

• Will salary grades and ranges be made available to employees? If so, how?

• Will merit ranges and performance standards be published?

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49Special Considerations

What to Communicate about Compensation

Base Pay

• Salary administration programs, grades and bands

• Merit policy and timing of increases

Variable Pay

• Eligibility

• Objectives linked to business strategy, payout terms and eligibility

• Targets, quarterly progress and expected payouts

• Vesting, risks and tax implications for equity plans

Total Compensation

• Combined value of both fixed and variable pay components

• Modeling tools to help employees see how individual effort can translate to increased total compensation

Performance Management

• Objectives, policies and expected behaviors

• Specific rewards for various levels of performance

Benefits While compensation communication often is procedural, benefits

communication tends to be explanatory, educational and centered

around events. Employment-oriented communication occurs after an

event related to an individual’s employment. Needs-centered commu-

nication occurs at the time of an individual need.

With the high cost of benefits, effective communication is essential

to help employees and employers manage costs while still retaining

the highest value from their plans. Good communication can positively

influence plan participation, usage and costs. For example, educa-

tion regarding urgent care may prevent emergency rooms overuse.

However, there are many challenges to communicating benefits.

In the past, employers led employees to view benefits as an entitle-

ment instead of in the broader context of total rewards. So, the

shifting of benefits costs to employees has affected employee trust

and requires extra sensitivity.

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Communicating Total Rewards5050

Benefits information also can be complex. There are technical

details, complicated formulas and, often, multiple considerations.

In addition, legal requirements govern the documentation, admin-

istration, financing and communication of benefits plans.

Finally, employers must communicate benefits programs to an

audience larger than their current employees. Spouses, family

members, retirees, and new and former employees also may need

to receive and understand benefits information. The employee is

not always the one making the benefits decision or who is using

the plan most. So consider audience demographics carefully when

deciding on communication delivery.

Work-Life Work-life is composed of offerings in the total rewards package that

address employees’ unique individual needs. These offerings are

important to employees but may be less tangible than compensa-

tion and traditional benefits:

• Caring for dependents

• Supporting health and wellness

• Creating workplace flexibility

• Financial support programs

• Creative use of paid and unpaid time off

• Community involvement programs

• Culture change initiatives.

Work-life programs satisfy intrinsic needs, such as control over one’s

work environment. (See “What to Communicate about Work-Life.”)

What to Communicate about Work-Life

• Program objectives

• Eligibility

• Benefit for employees

• Benefit for the organization

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51Special Considerations

Details of work-life programs often are distributed in an organi-

zation’s employee handbook, recruiting materials and orientation

materials. They also might be promoted in special announcements,

such as the introduction of a tuition reimbursement program or a

new training program.

These programs may be recommunicated based on internal or

external events (i.e., during high-stress times, many organizations

remind employees about employee assistance programs).

Performance and Recognition Performance and recognition programs are unique to each organi-

zation, thus each must be designed and implemented with unique

characteristics. What works for one organization’s employees may

not work well in a different organization. However, there are some

basic principles to follow when deciding how these elements will

be used to support the business strategy and meet organizational

goals:

• Performance involves the alignment and subsequent assessment of

organizational, team and individual effort toward the achievement

of business goals and organizational success. Organizational, team

and individual performance are assessed to identify what was

accomplished and how it was accomplished.

• Recognition acknowledges or gives special attention to employee

actions, efforts, behavior or performance.

Development and Career Opportunities Development and career-opportunity programs allow employees to

continually upgrade and build new skills. Employee performance

levels and personal job satisfaction can increase.

• Development comprises learning experiences designed to enhance

employees’ applied skills and competencies. Development engages

employees and encourages them to perform more effectively.

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Communicating Total Rewards5252

• Career opportunities involve a plan for an employee to pursue

his/her career goals and may include advancement into a more

responsible position. The organization supports career opportunities

internally so that talented employees are deployed in positions that

enable them to deliver their greatest value to their organization.

Special Situations The employee population or an organization’s development may

force total rewards professionals to take circumstances into account

when developing a communication campaign.

Mergers and Acquisitions

Along with downsizing, rightsizing and restructuring, mergers and

acquisitions present significant communication challenges. Total

rewards professionals should take extra care when preparing for

and anticipating employee concerns during such a time of signifi-

cant organizational change. Planning and professional execution

of the communication strategy for any restructuring is essential.

Employees are especially hungry for information during times of

change, so communicate early and often. (See “Communicating

Negative Change.”)

Communicating in a Union Environment

The No. 1 reason employees unionize is perceived lack of manage-

ment response to employee concerns. Consequently, a unionized

Communicating Negative Change

• Be honest and open.

• Tell employees about the situation the employer faced.

• Outline the alternatives and choices.

• Explain how and why the business decision was made.

• Give employees a coping strategy.

• Provide facts early and often.

• Make information accessible; offer resources for answering questions.

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53Special Considerations

audience may have a sphere of experience that makes it less recep-

tive to communication from management than other employees.

Also, the organization may have differing total rewards programs

for unionized and nonunionized workers. Therefore, special care

must be taken to properly communicate total rewards programs

within a union environment, including keeping managers — who

may have both union and nonunion employees reporting to them —

informed about all total rewards issues that affect their employees.

And, of course, the number of versions and method of delivery

might vary if contractual agreements have been negotiated for

benefits that differ by group.

Global Communications

What is considered appropriate in one country may not be appro-

priate for employees in other countries. Be sensitive to:

• Word-for-word translations, mistranslations and colloquialisms

• Local written and spoken variations within language groups

• Cultural customs, including greetings, gestures and public

manners

• Different cultural preferences for written vs. face-to-face

communication

• Compensation, benefits, work-life, performance and recognition,

and development and career-opportunity expectations unique to

each country (e.g., team compensation, different holidays and work

days)

• Different communications processes that may take longer due to

translation, legal review, obtaining and evaluating feedback and

physical distribution.

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Communicating Total Rewards5454

See “Case Study: Global Communications” for an example of

how one company’s effective communications helped employees

understand the big picture, their role in achieving organizational

goal and what was in it for them.

Case Study: Global Communications

A multinational semiconductor manufacturer with 20,000 employees in 20 countries set out to align all employees worldwide with the organiza- tion’s new streamlined business strategy aimed at enhanced global competitiveness. The strategy was to reinforce a competitive, high- performing global culture through a new performance management structure. Incentive compensation at all levels in the organization would be directly affected by the new strategy, requiring changes in culture and metrics in every global operation. Key objectives included:

• Prepare all managers worldwide to use a new performance manage- ment system by the launch date.

• Ensure consistent information and policies were disseminated from hubs in the United States, Italy, Japan, Puerto Rico and Singapore.

• Tailor content and delivery strategy to reflect the cultural perspec- tives, needs and preferences of the international audience.

• Create ongoing communication and training materials to reinforce the new approach and ensure compliance.

• Develop an effective and engaging brand for the new system to rein- force the change in business strategy.

Solution

The communication strategy to support the rollout started with collecting employee feedback from key global locations. This feedback was used to shape messages and content. Localization teams were established in each key global location to provide input and guide the development of materials. This “global-local” strategy allowed the company to develop a full suite of highly engaging communica- tions materials and management training tools that were localized for language and culture, yet globally consistent. Key features of the rollout included:

• A communication program delivered in five languages supporting employees in the Americas, Europe and Asia

• A name, tagline and graphic identity for the performance management program

continued on page 55

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55Special Considerations

Case Study: Global Communications (continued)

• Presentations in local languages to facilitate face-to-face dialogue between managers and employees

• An interactive CD-ROM dedicated to the concept of variable pay

• A performance management news magazine and posters to reinforce program identity

• An employee Web portal with content to support rollout and its ongoing use

• Interactive and paper-based management training programs for performance planning, goal setting and cascading, incentive pay and performance management tools. Global brand guidelines that clearly outline the look and feel, design standards, document sizes for the Americas, Europe and Asia, and translation and Web usage guidelines

• Translation productivity tools to ensure consistent use of terminology and efficient reuse of translated content.

Results

This highly successful program helped secure global buy-in and acceptance of the new performance management program at all levels. It achieved better employee understanding of most important perfor- mance criteria and how they relate to overall business operations and performance.

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