DEVELOPING EMPLOYEE BENEFIT STRATEGIES - KEY FACTORS

The key factors to be taken into account in developing employee benefit strategies are that they should:

§  be an integral part of the total reward management strategy of the organization, which in turn should specifically support the achievement of its business objectives;

§  add value to basic remuneration and performance-related pay policies by extending the purely financial provisions of these policies into areas where the company will benefit from providing additional rewards and which will support the achievement of employees' specific needs;

§  be in line and supportive of the culture of the organization and its value system;

§  demonstrate to employees that they are members of a caring and enabling organization which is concerned in highly practical terms with meeting their needs for security, support and other forms of help so that they are able really to give of their best;

§  meet the needs of the organization to increase the commitment of its members, to develop their identification with its objectives and to increase unity of purpose;

§  meet the real needs of individual employees rather than those needs which management believes they should have;

§  help the organization to recruit and retain high-quality and well-motivated staff by being competitive in the market place;

§  ensure that benefits are cost effective in the sense that the increase they produce in commitment and improvement in recruitment and retention rates justify their cost;

§  take account of relative tax efficiencies in structuring the package;

§  establish an appropriate degree of flexibility in operating the benefit package;

§  provide a measure of individual choice to employees;

§  aim to avoid an over-divisive approach which places employees into clearly defined 'have' and 'have not' categories;

§  bear in mind the importance of the non-tangible benefits as well as those which provide extra remuneration or financial assistance;

§  be creative - not simply offering what competitors offer but devising new approaches to structuring the package and to providing individual benefits which are tailored to the strategic needs of the organization (like giving secretaries having to cope in poor, if temporary, office conditions, fresh flowers on their desk every week in recognition of their commitment and tolerance of the environment).