Strategic pay & reward: Navigating transparency, equity & progression

About this event

Expert-led session on tackling pay challenges, transparency & fairness with insights from Suzy Byers & Rebecca Hislam

In an evolving economic climate where talent retention and pay equity are more critical than ever, people professionals are under increasing pressure to design strategic, transparent, and future-proof pay and reward structures.

This engaging virtual event will bring together two accomplished professionals to explore real-world strategies and challenges in compensation management. Whether you’re revisiting your salary frameworks, addressing transparency, or planning for year-end reviews, this session will offer practical insights and inspiration.

Topics include

• Current challenges in pay & reward strategy
• Navigating pay transparency expectations
• Year-end budget planning, salary spend, minimum wage and other considerations for pay and reward
• Building Fairness & Progression: A Competency-Based Pay Banding Framework

Join us for an expert-led online session exploring today’s biggest pay and reward challenges—and innovative solutions. Hear from Suzy Byers (Head of UK Reward, Marsh Mclennan) on navigating pay transparency, budget constraints, and pay compression, and Rebecca Hislam, Head of People, Avicenna, on how a competency-based pay banding framework drove retention and fairness in the healthcare sector.

About the speakers

Suzy Byers

Suzy is the UK Rewards Leader for Marsh & Mercer (Marsh McLennan), which is a complex matrix organisation with over 10,000 employees across the UK. She is responsible for driving the company’s pay philosophy, partnering closely with HR and business leaders to develop commercially aligned solutions to support the business’ priorities & enhance employee engagement.

With over 20 years of experience, Suzy has held roles at other industry-leading organisations including: Guy Carpenter (Reinsurance), Jardine Lloyd Thompson (Insurance), Diageo (FMCG), as well as consulting firms EY and PwC (where she advised clients across banking, private equity, oil & gas and FMCG sectors). Her expertise spans rewards, global mobility, and income & employment tax.

Rebecca Hislam

Rebecca is an experienced HR leader and Head of People at Avicenna, where she drives people strategy for community pharmacies across England and Wales. Known for her pragmatic approach and passion for creating great places to work, she partners with senior leaders to deliver initiatives that attract top talent, build leadership capability, and enhance colleague engagement.

With over two decades in HR, Rebecca’s career spans healthcare, construction, engineering, education, and the charity sector — giving her a breadth of insight into what makes people and organisations thrive. She’s a Chartered CIPD member and an active committee member for the CIPD Branch in Surrey and North Hampshire, shaping events that connect and inspire the HR community.

Please note:

1. Webinar joining instructions will be sent to you again one day before the event, with a further reminder, 20 minutes prior to the event starting.
2. The session may be recorded and shared with people afterwards. Please bear this in mind and have your camera off if you do not wish for your image to be shared.
3. The chat function will be used for participants to engage with the webinar, so just be mindful of the login name you use and ensure you are happy for other people to see this.
4. For security reasons, it is requested that participants join the live session 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start time and with the same name as registered on Eventbrite as not doing so may cause a delay or non-admittance to the event.
5. This event may include an external speaker who has prepared their own presentation. Any views or opinions expressed by the speaker are their own and do not reflect those of the CIPD.
6. If you require any reasonable adjustments to enhance your experience, please get in contact with us by responding to this email and we will do our best to accommodate.