Five tips to improve your next round of pay communications
Fast forward to today, and we are seeing a demand for pay transparency. Faced with economic pressures, new laws, and greater support for diversity and equity measurement, employees around the globe are demanding greater pay transparency.
If this environment existed back when I was in high school, I would have simply found a job posting similar to my dad’s position in New York or Colorado where employers are required to include salary ranges within job postings and I would have my answer.
As many companies head into annual pay and bonus discussions this spring, here are 5 tips to improve your next round of pay communications.
01
Yes, pay is an important factor in retention. With merit budgets not matching the inflation rate, employers need to broaden the definition of pay to include all of their total rewards programs.
According to our WTW 2023 Pay Transparency Survey, 45% of organizations plan to communicate their pay programs through their total rewards statements. Another 34% are either planning to use or considering using total rewards statements.
45% of organizations plan to communicate their pay programs though their total rewards statements.
Source: WTW 2023 Pay Transparency Survey
The key to using a total rewards statement effectively is to make it more than “just a statement”. It has to accurately reflect the entire total rewards proposition and inspire employees to maximize the programs that are available to them.
02
As found in our WTW 2023 Benefits Trends Survey, employees tend to place more emphasis on their short- and long-term financial security and support. This puts the employer in a unique space where they need to help their employees make good decisions to reduce this financial stress. Employers want to help their employees and many are doing this by investing in digital platforms, support tools and more personalized communications.
Using personalized communications to nudge employees towards utilizing benefits that could best support their needs is one way employers can inspire employees to make the best use of their total rewards programs. And when is the best time to deliver the perfect nudge? One would argue it’s when you have their full attention like when you’re delivering annual pay communications.
03
Employers globally have focused on improving communication channels and decision support to enhance the employee experience. Over the next two years, employers are looking to increase their focus on digital platforms. Roughly half of employers globally (46%) are planning or considering providing a single digital platform where employees can access all benefits and services (WTW 2023 Benefits Trends Survey).
46% of global employers are considering a single digital platform for employees to access all benefits and services
Source: WTW 2023 Benefits Trends Survey
While almost half of employers (49%) in North America have such platforms in place, many employers in other regions are planning or considering providing these online benefit hubs, including those in Asia Pacific (52%), Latin America (48%), CEEMEA (46%) and Europe (45%).
04
According to our WTW 2023 Pay Transparency Survey, 4 out of 5 organizations use managers to communicate pay to employees, but only 2 in 5 organizations report being effective at communicating information on pay and pay equity to managers.
2 in 5 organizations are effectively communication information on pay and equity to managers.
Source: WTW 2023 Pay Transparency Survey
Creating a dedicated manager hub that includes key messages about the business, training aids, the breakdown of new pay transparency laws, and provides easy access to their direct reports pay data is critical to ensuring that your managers are ready for the next merit and performance discussion.
05
Let’s face it, a one-to-many approach doesn’t really work for pay communications. Everyone wants to know “what does this mean to me?”. According to our 2023 Benefits Trends Survey, more than two in five employers globally (43%) are planning or considering using targeted communication to reach specific segments of the workforce. This figure increases to 47% in North America.
Personalized and targeted communications help employers engage employees in a personalized manner. Out of the volumes of information that bombard employees on a daily basis, a personalized message cuts through the noise. It is the one message that they will pay attention to as is answers that key question and enhances the employee experience.
A few weeks ago, my youngest daughter who is a junior in high school asked me the same question I asked my dad 30 years ago. My answer was the same: "That's none of your business."
What I should have said was $42.50. That is what my dad charged me whenever I needed his help. I guess he was transparent with his pay requirements after all.
