The Profession Map / Specialist knowledge / Reward

Reward is about designing and implementing strategies that ensure workers are rewarded in line with the organisational context and culture, relative to the external market environment.

It requires specific knowledge in a range of specialist areas to be able to create and shape total reward packages. This may include:

Executive reward
International reward
Pay and benefits modelling.

Reward specialists will need a deep understanding different approaches to reward and benefits packages, and how to ensure that approaches are in line with relevant legislation, as well as the links to organisation and individual performance. You’ll also need to know practical elements such as how to benchmark salaries and determine pay based on external market factors such as scarce skills.

Reward is increasingly vocal; it sends clear messages about what organisations value, what they choose to reward, and not reward, and how this reflects the culture and goals. Reward gets to the heart of the matter, including what employees care about, such as being valued and their career progression, as well as the usual pay and benefits. A few clicks away and potential hires and existing employees can share their experience, which is critical when attracting and engaging the best people in a global marketplace."

Sylvia Doyle, Director, Reward First® People Consulting

Reward standards

Each standard progresses through four levels of impact. Which level do you most embody in your day-to-day work?


	Foundation level	Associate level	Chartered Member level	Chartered Fellow level
	At this level you'll understand:	At this level you'll understand:	At this level you'll understand:	At this level you'll understand:
Reward approaches	Your organisation’s approaches to reward	Your organisation’s reward packages and approaches, and how to administer them	How to design reward approaches to attract, motivate and retain workers	How to create a reward strategy which attracts, motivates and retains workers
Salary benchmarking	What benchmarking and salary/pay surveys are	How to create benchmarking data, working with salary/pay survey providers	How to quality check survey and benchmarking methodologies, and assess the factors determining reward (eg scarce skills)	How to draw insights and intelligence about the external reward environment, including competitor reward
Executive remuneration	What executive remuneration is (remuneration for the most senior managers, board directors)	The different elements of executive remuneration	How to design individual executive remuneration packages and create new executive reward approaches	How to create bespoke executive packages and how to design approaches to executive reward
International reward	International reward approaches (eg tax, legal, works councils, cultural drivers)	Reward models for different types of international moves (such as expat, secondment, local, local plus, relocation or spot bonuses)	How to apply factors that impact international remuneration (eg tax, legal, works councils, cultural drivers, mobility payments)	How to assess the organisation value of international reward approaches, and their impact on talent retention
Employee benefits	What benefits are available in your organisation	Different types of benefits and the merits of each (such as pensions and healthcare)	A range of approaches to benefits and how to align benefits to create a total reward offering which is risk assured	How benefits support the wider people agenda and protect the future financial security of the organisation
Reward and performance	The links between reward and performance in your organisation	How people and organisation performance can impact the approach to reward	How business performance impacts and informs approaches to reward design	How business performance impacts and informs approaches to reward strategy
Reward legislation	Reward legislation relevant to your role	The legislation that impacts reward practice (disclosure, tax, work permits, tax, pensions and benefits)	How to design reward approaches that protect the organisation from litigation	How to protect and insure the organisation from legislative changes which impact financially
Reward reporting	Reward reporting relevant to your role	The organisation’s reward reporting requirements (government, legislative, annual reports, shareholder, voluntary reporting)	How to produce reward reports, including narrative and alignment to organisation strategy	How to produce reward reports, including narrative and alignment to organisation strategy
Remuneration committees	N/A	The role of the Remuneration Committee (if applicable in your region)	The responsibilities of the Remuneration Committee and the reporting requirements (if applicable in your region)	How to protect the reputation of the Remuneration Committee externally, such as, investors, advisory bodies (if applicable in your region)

Next: Talent management

Ensuring the relationship between an organisation and its people is managed through transparent practices and relevant law

Continue to Talent management

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