Recognition and reward advisory

Company expectations

Companies anticipate that their evolving Total Reward experience will:

• Be financially efficient
• Be aligned with market practices and company performance
• Attract, retain and engage the best talent
• Be structured to accommodate future organizational changes
• Be regulatorily compliant
• Be easy to administer

Employee expectations

Employees expect a Total Reward experience will:

• Be market competitive
• Be digitally accessible 24/7 – convenient access, easy to understand and use 
• Offer opportunities for personalization/ flexibility
• Be fair, inclusive, and transparent 
• Be relevant to each employee’s career path, life stage and personal needs

Future Total Reward strategies will be challenged to harmonize the expectations of employers and employees into cohesive total reward (TR) frameworks that simultaneously support employee engagement and wellbeing, business results, and long-term value creation.

EY’s global Recognition and Reward professionals believe that future TR frameworks (including individual program components, delivery platforms and supporting processes) will impact organizations well beyond basic employee pay and benefits programs by serving as strategic levers that foster and reinforce each of the following cultural elements:

1. Employer brand and Employee Value Proposition (EVP): TR frameworks serve as barometers for the value and importance companies place on their employees, their EVPs, employer brands and company cultures; 

2. Performance and business results: TR frameworks incentivize employees to embrace change and align their incentives with strategic priorities/ KPIs (e.g., annual and long-term incentives, etc.);

3. Employee engagement and connection: TR frameworks will encourage employee engagement, teaming, sponsorship and affinity group networks (e.g., paid time off to volunteer, employee affinity networks etc.);

4. Employee well-being and safety: TR frameworks holistically support employee well-being by providing reward programs that align with our four well-being pillars (emotional, financial, physical and social);

5. Employee choice and personalization: TR frameworks empower each employee to select total reward elements that best resonate with their needs and current situation each year; and

6. Sustainability, diversity, inclusion, fairness and transparency: TR frameworks support diversity, inclusion and equality objectives while incorporating “green” reward programs and metrics that align with ESG/ sustainability goals.

Our Total Reward (TR) focus areas:

EY’s Recognition & Reward professionals provide integrated and end-to-end TR advisory support in each of the following areas