HR Policy and Practice

Reward

Four indispensable HR studies on reward available in one publication for the first time.

Rewarding staff

How employers reward and recognise the efforts of their staff is key to the overall employee proposition. In this compendium, we bring together four of our most popular titles on reward written during 2007 – Job Evaluation, Performance Management, Bonus Schemes and Share Incentive Plans. Each provides you with an opportunity to benchmark your own practices against those of other employers and to learn from examples of best practice and innovation.

• Job Evaluation (StudyPlus) – The main aim of any job evaluation exercise is to measure the relative worth of different roles within an organisation. The results of an evaluation are then typically used to inform revisions to pay and grading structures, although some organisations are now also linking the factors used to measure jobs to their appraisal, performance management and recruitment activities.

  While many off-the-shelf job evaluation schemes are available, bespoke packages can also be designed to meet the specific needs of organisations. Employers must consider a host of issues when choosing a scheme, including: deciding which factors to use; calculating the values of any weightings to be applied; choosing which jobs to assess; and establishing how evidence about these roles will be gathered.

• Performance Management – The ultimate aim of any performance management framework is to improve the effectiveness of individuals and the business as a whole. Performance management is a continuous process based on flexible objectives closely aligned with business goals and supported by regular feedback.

  Employees are increasingly being given greater ownership of the process and responsibility for their own career development. But line managers still have a vital role to play in monitoring progress, providing constructive feedback and coaching employees to improve.

• Bonus Schemes – An appropriately structured bonus scheme can promote desired behaviours and encourage the achievement of business objectives. Many schemes have multiple factors, allowing a number of measures of organisational and individual success to be included. Several key performance areas can be covered (eg productivity, quality, sales and customer service), with each factor weighted according to its importance to the company.

  For any bonus scheme to be successful, however, it is vital that its aims are communicated effectively and that the link between performance and reward is clearly understood.

• Share Incentive Plans – The share incentive plan (SIP) is an all-employee scheme that offers tax breaks for employees holding shares in the company for which they work. The legislative and tax approval framework that defines SIPs gives companies considerable flexibility to set up a plan to suit their business requirements.

  A key feature of the SIP is that it can be tailored to include free and/or employee-purchased shares. What is more, free share awards can be linked to company, team or individual performance. Employers can also encourage participation by matching shares purchased by employees.