COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

In designing compensation and benefit benchmarking exercises, we review clients’ wage/salary rates, incentive/bonus arrangements, benefit package and grading/progression arrangements. These are considered against industry, sector and, where appropriate, geographical norms, to determine relative positioning and highlight gaps which may exist between prevailing systems and those of relevant labour market competitors.

Wage and salary rates are plotted against industry norm and deciles on an individual position/role basis. Recommendations to address the implications or shortfalls associated with current positions are then developed. We design strategically integrated reward policies to structure and inform future decisions in respect of pay, pay progression and remuneration generally.

To be effective, an organisation’s pay and reward strategy should be integrated with its broader corporate strategy and competitive positioning. At RA Consulting, we design strategically integrated pay and reward strategies which motivate and incentivise employees to pursue agreed objectives, regardless of their role or level within the organisation.

Whether your organisation is positioned to compete on customer service, quality, cost or innovation, we design integrated pay and reward strategies which support the achievement of corporate objectives and promote competitive advantage. These customised strategies are supported by strategically integrated pay and reward systems which ensure that strategic intent is effected and ‘operationalised’.

The systems which support the pay and reward strategy are generally integrated with your organisation’s performance management system; this, in turn, drives the reward process and ensures equity and the achievement of objectives.

We design and customise ‘graded pay’, ‘broadband’, ‘job range’ and ‘job family’ structures to meet your needs and support organisational success. In all cases, solutions are identified to incentivise individual and team performance, while paying particular attention to variables such as e.g. the age, professional and related profiles of your workforce. To this extent, pay strategies and systems are designed to ‘fit’ with the organisation’s particular circumstances and requirements.

In addition to aligning pay and grading strategies or systems with your organisation’s corporate strategy, we also work with clients to design and implement flexible benefit packages.

A significant majority of organisations find that their benefit packages are largely ‘taken for granted’ and as such, represent a poor return on investment. To address this problem, we design flexible benefit packages and introduce flexible elements or modifications into existing benefit packages. On this basis, employees are encouraged to identify and select the benefit option combinations which are most valuable to them, i.e. in view of factors relating to their age or personal circumstances.

Benchmark comparisons may be made to assess the relative attractiveness of benefit packages against those on offer within competitor organisations, or across a particular sector. Notwithstanding, we generally focus on the untapped potential which exists within existing packages and the effects which this potential can have in areas which relate to remuneration costs, morale, loyalty and staff retention.

The financial value associated with employee benefits is quantified and detailed on benefit statements which are issued to all personnel on an annual basis. This value may be expressed in terms of the cost to the organisation and/or the cost of sourcing such benefits on the ‘open market’. Employees are required to actively review and amend their option selections as their personal circumstances change. Top-up arrangements may also be incorporated into the redesigned system to further promote awareness of the value associated with the benefits.