‘Staff need to understand the purpose of your reward programmes
and how they interrelate’
(Duncan Brown, ‘Reward Strategies – from intent to impact’, CIPD 2001)

Reward Technology Solutions

Too many organisations today produce a myriad of disparate reward programmes without giving thought to the mixed, confusing and defused messages which accompany them. In addition, the drive towards total rewards and being an employer of choice often overlooks at how employees perceive or understand the value and importance of individual programmes.

Against that background the administration of reward programmes is becoming more complex, time consuming and expensive. In essence the administration system consists of inputs, process and outputs, and it needs to be accessed by two main groups of people: administrators and employees. It also needs to send information to various parts of the organisation such as business areas, payroll and HR, as well as external providers. Furthermore, it needs to be flexible to cope with changing requests, evolving business needs, inter-dependencies with other systems and the constant flux of employee movements and lifestyle changes.

However, the effective use of technology now offers the opportunity to alleviate historical and administrative problems. In particular, the harmonisation and rationalisation of existing reward administration can lead to significant cost savings for a business. Above all the co-ordination and migration of different reward systems onto one integrated platform can have significant benefits for improving employees’ understanding and satisfaction with their employment package.

Reward Technology Solutions Market


The market for reward management platforms such as flexible benefits and total remuneration statements is becoming intense, and many vendors want in on the action. However, the depth and breadth of integrated solutions is still in its infancy with new entrants and significant merger and acquisition activity becoming prominent. Many employers are being bombarded and dazzled by off-the-shelf applications that promise the earth, but in reality very few have been tried and tested in the reward market. Even less applications have been designed by HR and reward specialists, which begs the question as to whether they will be fit-for-purpose.

What Use Integrated Reward Solutions

The basic design concept of any integrated rewards solution should be to facilitate the delivery of your rewards strategy in the most cost effective way, i.e. efficiently, economically and fit-for-purpose. This can take the form of an externally hosted platform, which will need to converge the functionality of your internet, intranet, HR, Payroll and Pensions systems into a fully integrated 24x7 one-stop shop. Specifically, it should have solid functionality to fulfil a myriad of applications within the following basic design concept, each of which can be tailored and switched on to meet different needs.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What can an integrated rewards platform do for you?

There are significant and proven benefits in implementing an integrated rewards platform. It can:

· Provide a holistic tool to help communicate the relationship between your business goals, employee performance and rewards
· Reinforce employee behaviours and outcomes to achieve business goals
· Provide a reliable one-stop 24x7 online retention and recruitment tool.
· Facilitate leveraging of pay and performance management.
· Optimise value and understanding of the total rewards offering
· Facilitate more efficient and effective processes leading to significant savings in administration costs.

Case Study – Nationwide Building Society

Nationwide is the first company to benefit from this integrated rewards platform, which they branded Fruitful. It has been a phenomenal success for the Society, contributing to greater satisfaction and understanding of the rewards package, accompanied by improved business performance. In addition, Fruitful has achieved annual tax, NIC and administrative savings of £2.5m since it was first introduced in November 2004. Fruitful also won 3 prestigious employee benefits industry awards in 2006 for best new technology and benefits scheme.

Why Use EvDav Consulting Ltd?

I earned my spurs at Nationwide in delivering best-of-class technology solutions such as Fruitful above, having combed the market and evaluated many systems exhaustively over a period of 2 years. Since then, I have worked closely with several of the best reward technology providers in the market such as Vebnet, Grass Roots and Link HR Systems, to name a few. Also, I have a close handle on how the market is progressing and the suitability of applications for your requirements.

I can help you audit your current system options and assess what changes would be needed for you to set up a new management and administration system, in conjunction with an existing or new reward programme. My methodology is well proven based on the criteria of balancing cost, complexity/simplicity, usability and ease of implementation.

More importantly, I can maintain my independence and act as a critical friend to ensure that you produce a well defined Statement of Requirement that will lead to selection of the right choice of system(s).