AUDITING COMMUNICATIONS ON REWARD SYSTEMS

Whoever is responsible for the reward system, and the messages which communications about them should convey, should regularly audit their quality, consistency and effectiveness. The key items that usually need looking at and the main questions to ask are:

• Job advertisements/recruitment literature/Web site job ads - do descriptions of the remuneration package do justice to what is on offer and what the organization is seeking to pay for?
• Offer letters/contracts - is as much attention paid to highlighting the attractiveness of all elements of the package as stating the bald elements of entitlements? Do they convey and confirm organizational values?
• Staff handbooks/intranet sections on specific reward elements - is layout clear and unambiguous and is the style one that will have immediacy and meaning to the groups of employees covered? Is the information sensibly grouped?
  (Do not use complicated language if most of the readers left school at 16, respond better to visual presentations and have reading habits that centre on the Sun andHello!. Remember that it is possible to describe share options without using arcane legal terminology and that if the way in which incentive measures are described is impenetrable this will hardly focus motivation.)
• Salary increase letters - do they properly thank people for their efforts and contribution? Is delivery made an occasion of and done personally?
• Policy changes - are these communicated to convey the logic and the benefits?
• Severance (retirement/redundancy) - is the approach perceived as caring and concerned? If not, what is the likely effect on remaining employees?
• Company videos communicating change - do these come across as sincere and provide helpful information or do they look hastily assembled and have too high a 'cringe factor' to be useful?

Regular employee research should be undertaken to understand employees' expectations and assess the impact of current reward arrangements.