Providing employees with a recognizable and substantial total rewards package can help to ensure stability and motivation in an organization's labor force. The information here is only a foundation for a more complete total rewards plan, yet is substantial enough to point to areas for further inspection and potential assistance. Any further questions or information that is needed more immediately can certainly be accommodated and would be most willingly accepted.
Total Rewards: Compensation That Encourages
Developing a more comprehensive and conscious reward system can be an excellent way to motivate employees, to maintain and exceed ethical human resources management practices, and to attract and retain top talent through performance-based compensation. There are also several legal considerations that need to be taken into account before implementing such a system, however; though it might seem odd that trying to give employees more could have legal barriers, understanding the law helps owners to avoid unintentional errors that could create significant risks for the business. The following pages present a brief overview of some of the total rewards considerations that should be looked into and some of the attendant legal concerns that could arise.
Achieving Total Rewards
No rewards system will be effective if the goals that lead to rewards are not clearly defined and carefully adhered to, but part of the beauty of the total rewards perspective is that the goals are partially incorporated into the rewards system itself (Armstrong & Baron, 2002; Thompson, 2002). Development and work-life are two key considerations in a total rewards system, and these both provide motivation and guidance for employees in terms of the direction the company hopes employees will grow in and what direction the company itself will be taken (Thompson, 2002; Mathis & Jackson, 2011). Using developmental and work-life rewards as a means of establishing certain explicit and implicit goals posts can be applied in a variety of ways, from the simple -- providing an advanced sales seminar as a means of establishing new sales targets -- to the more complex -- sponsoring a team-building retreat as a means of increasing communication and collaboration between different departments and individuals in the company. Other goals will need to be set in more traditional ways, of course, but tying rewards of any sort directly to goals is important both for the reward system and for the functioning and growth of the company (Thompson, 2002). Encouraging development and creating a supportive and enjoyable environment that leads to more rewarding work-life are only two components of the total rewards perspective, however, and other considerations must also be met.
Performance Recognition is also tied to goals and in some ways to Development within the total rewards perspective, and is also something that must be directly and consciously made a part of a total rewards package (Armstrong & Baron, 2002; Thompson, 2002). Acknowledging individual achievements and successes and the manner in which they enhance the company and others' work is important in building a strong and open culture and is a substantial part of effectively motivating rewards packages for most employees (Armstrong & Baron, 2002; Thompson, 2002; Mathis & Jackson, 2011). Benefits and Compensation are the final two elements of the total rewards perspective, and these are at once related to Performance Recognition through elements like bonuses and promotions/raises yet are also separate and requiring careful inspection (Thompson, 2002; Mathis & Jackson, 2011). Legal requirements for fair compensation -- both in terms of fair wages generally and in ensuring that wages within the company are not statistically lower for any specifically protected group (or in groups divided in any way other than by performance and "rank" or position/time with the firm) -- can have a direct impact on planned bonuses and raises; though these can and should be tied to performance any changes must also be examined in light of the larger context of company salaries and compensation schemes (Mathis & Jackson, 2011). As long as standards of fairness are being met, however, additional compensation used as to incentivize and/or as a means to recognize and reward performance is not only acceptable but encouraged (Armstrong & Baron, 2002; Thompson, 2002; Mathis & Jackson, 2011).
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