Managing the day-to-day activities of compensation can be complex in itself. The role of total rewards is multi-faceted and impacts several key organizational areas such as talent management and balancing operational costs). It is strategically linked to organizational goals and to culturally managing the perceptions of pay.
From an outsider (or employee) perspective, the rudimentary thought is that we are simply not paid enough and that HR is not capable of nor doing enough to address this need. Whilst this very well may be the case, what is becoming more obvious is the evolving role of the Rewards practitioner.
The context in which we operate today encompasses not only the balancing of data with art and science but also addressing the more sensitive and emotional side of pay. Compensation resides beyond the four walls of an organization but is being impacted by the societal landscapes in which we operate. For example, the MeToo Movement reignited the need for employers to address gender pay inequities and job value. The “woke” culture has put in motion the organizational integration of diversity, equity and inclusion, the dismantling of racial injustices, and the curating of equal opportunity.
For the same reason in which we approach total rewards with a newfound level of acute awareness, our workforce, as the recipients of our pay programs, must also display a similar level of “wokeness” when it comes to pay acceptance.
If the ask is for the employer to be more transparent, then as an employee one must be as willing to handle the truths around the design of the compensation philosophy and outcome of how pay is structured and ultimately delivered. Assuming it's a well-intended design, then it's a matter of accepting the organization's culture. Through sound pay education acceptance resides with the individual and their ability to acknowledge the balancing act an organization has. This encompasses the responsibility to afford, sustain and compete at a level that attracts the right talent to deliver the business objectives.
Eradicating injustices around us may take a valiant effort, one best achieved through acknowledgment, acceptance, and collaboration. The same applies to an organization's total rewards strategy. If the practitioner seeks a higher level of awareness, then the question remains, how able and willing is the employee to find common ground?
Reena Paul (CCP, GRP) works as a Senior Compensation Consultant. She is passionate about all things “total rewards” and has experience in dealing with all stakeholders of an organization and strategizing optimum client-focused solutions. A lover of data and the story it tells, Reena enjoys the exploration of presenting and discussing compensation with a fresh perspective. Connect with Reena directly on LinkedIn.
Image source: Unsplash image with credit to Simone Secci.
While completely endorsing the central theme of your post, Reena, "the woke culture" certainly did not initiate the pay equity crusade. Beginning in the 1960s (a quick review of the Congressional voting history re the various "equal pay" laws will shock many youngsters), some of us have been publishing and speaking about the practical steps required to implement superior mechanisms to level the historically tilted playing field of Total Rewards.
Yes, employers must heed the wisdom of the experienced TR professionals and become much more transparent while simultaneously demanding that employees similarly face facts and accept that "wants" are not necessarily "rights to which you are entitled". Those who casually launch emotionally evocative sound-bites are rarely fully informed or even marginally competent to offer productive noncontroversial solutions to legitimate organizational needs.
Injustice, equity and fairness are totally subjective terms until placed into a rational context acceptable to all sides. Ideologues (on either side) spouting slogans just polarize and antagonize. Not that we here would ever perform such heinous acts, of course. Our best contributions should be clear observations and dispassionate research. Let's have more unbiased studies that continue to establish solid factual foundations of practical knowledge that will make the needs obvious without raising the hackles of those who prefer to spit venom rather than share information to enable the most effective improvement.
Perhaps then we can overcome partisan emotional reactions and attain mutual objective acceptance.
Posted by: E. James (Jim) Brennan | 09/23/2021 at 12:22 PM