How to save money on employee reward while maintaining employee engagement
Increasing employer NICs mean UK HR teams will be under the cosh to save money wherever possible. Or, at the very least, make budgets stretch further. Which means there’s likely to be less money available to enhance reward programmes.
Fortunately, there’s a lot you can do to optimise your rewards without spending a tonne of money. Read on to find out how.
1 - Adapt your reward package to meet your employees where they are
With employees continuing to value flexibility, wellbeing and purpose alongside traditional compensation and benefits, it’s a good idea to rethink your reward package. This doesn’t necessarily mean adding to your compensation and benefits package, but taking a more nuanced approach.
Survey your employees about their rewards to see what they do and don’t value. This will help you to reposition and adjust your offer so it’s relevant to what your employees want.
For example, research shows employees are turning away from discounted gym memberships in favour of saving money on their weekly shop through employee discount schemes.
Take action by…
… creating an employee survey to understand what your people like and dislike about their rewards. You could also include questions about your reward communications to set you up for point three in this article. And then use the data to shift or repackage how you communicate about benefits.
2 - Streamline your total rewards
Remember that free life cover you got for your employees through your pension scheme provider? Thought not. Which could mean you’re paying for death in service cover twice.
Along with your employee survey, carrying out an audit of your total reward framework is another good way to identify wasted reward spend. You might find duplicate cover, underused or redundant benefits or programmes that no longer fit with your reward strategy or employee preferences.
Take action by…
… auditing and streamlining your package so it meets employees expectations while ensuring you maintain fiscal responsibility/control.
3 - Enhance communication to boost reward engagement
With a clear picture of what your employees want and a streamlined package, it’s time to think about how you communicate this change.
You could use any cost savings from duplicate provisions or underused benefits to fund a communications programme. Like the 73% of companies who are planning to improve communication and perceptions of their employee benefits.
Even if you’re not making any changes at all, reward communications can boost how people perceive your reward package without the need to add to or adapt your offer.
Take action with …
… some tips to get you started:
Pull together details for all your reward programmes, taking a total reward approach to showcase what you have on offer.
Group your rewards into a small number of buckets that make it easier to communicate them.
Create a story that weaves together your company values and your rewards.
Use this narrative to develop key messaging that will not only help you communicate your total reward package but reinforce your HR/reward strategy and company values.
Plan ongoing communications to showcase your rewards and remind people about what’s on offer and how it works.
Communicate across multiple channels throughout the year in a way that helps employees engage with their rewards.
Not got the time to do this in your team? Hire in some help from a reward communications specialist to get your project done and dusted.
How to save money with your communications
Choosing to work with a consultant means money is still being spent. And, even if you do the work yourself, your time is still money. So, what can you do to make sure you get the best ROI from your communications specialist or from your efforts?
Create two-for-one documents - think inspiring digital reward guides that can be shared with current employees and potential candidates and new hires. A single guide will help you attract, recruit, engage, support and retain employees. It can also help managers to more easily signpost employees to support and generate better uptake and a stronger ROI. That’s a tonne of benefits from a single document!
Avoid print, go digital - digital guides can be easily updated to include new benefits or remove old ones and to change information about compensation schemes as they evolve. This keeps costs down significantly.
Repurpose your content - get even more bang for your buck by repurposing your content in-house. For example, take screenshots from a guide and share them on Engage (formerly Yammer), Slack or whichever social channel you use. This is quick and easy and makes sure you have a consistent beat of communication going out where different audiences will see it.
Make the most of your existing channels - great communication doesn’t mean you need to buy in new tech. Simply leverage the platforms you already have in place. This could mean creating a single space on your intranet for all your reward information. Including a place to add your lovely digital guide! This can also reduce the burden on HR and reward teams by giving you a place to direct colleagues so they can answer their own questions.
The biggest tip of all (you’re welcome!)
If you haven’t got the time to do this in-house but the large consultancies are too expensive, use an independent freelancer.
I remember the eyewatering four-figure fee charged by one of the major consulting firms for half a day’s work. And that was back in 2008. So, I can’t even begin to imagine how much it would cost today.
Luckily, independent freelancers (I’m waving) are on-hand to help you keep costs down while delivering high-quality work. With no fancy offices, expensive bonuses or the need to make big profits and shareholder returns, freelancers provide a far more cost-effective use of your budget.
Look for a copywriter with reward experience to ensure you have the expertise you need for your project. Or save yourself the search and drop me a line at becky@clarioncallcomms.co.uk, or call me on 07703 155 404, to talk about how I can help.