By Chad Kearns
Sparked, Fired Up! Culture’s every-other-week newsletter, is focused on what drives culture and engagement in the workplace. This newsletter is for leaders who are ready to get intentional about bringing their team together, building engagement, and harnessing the power of culture to build high-performing teams. Sign up here to get every edition of Sparked delivered straight to your inbox.
Ignite your Team by Pushing Total Compensation
There are many ways to engage your people, bring them together, and harness the power of organizational culture to build high-performing teams without the means of additional compensation, but compensation is a major piece of the workplace engagement puzzle.
Pushing total compensation may sound like an easy way to engage your team, but being able to follow through on the initiative while meeting your organization’s budget and financial constraints makes doing so less than straightforward.
Let’s face it: pressure to compensate team members is something nearly all people leaders have to navigate.
Regardless of the industry you lead in, it can feel like there is constant pressure to keep up with compensation demands from team members.
And while leaders should be working to find more ways to get more money into the pockets of their team members while keeping the financial stability of their team safe, leaders should also be working to get clear on their approach to total compensation across their team.
Looking for ways to fire up your team members and build a high-performing team?
Push total compensation, compensate fairly (at the least), and hold a shared compensation philosophy to set expectations for everyone on the team.
Take Action to Push Total Compensation
Still trying to figure out where to start? Here’s how to take action today:
- Know the Market: Market factors play a huge role in your team members’ expectations when it comes to compensation. Find ways to evaluate the market in which you compete for talent. Execute regular compensation studies. Get up-to-date data for all the roles on your team. Discover how your competitors are compensating their team. Knowing the numbers gives you the context and backing to start evaluating where your team sits.
- Develop a Shared Compensation Philosophy: A shared compensation philosophy brings clarity to how your organization approaches compensation. Are you trying to pay salaries that are at the top of the market? Is your goal to pay salaries that are at or above the mid-point? Lower salaries with higher variable cash bonuses my protect your business and provide greater upside for team members. It’s possible that extra margin isn’t on your side at the moment, and compensation like generous paid time off makes your team feel whole. Develop your philosophy and share it with your team so they know what to expect.
- Advocate and Reward: As the leader of your team, it’s vital that your team members feel that when it’s earned, you have their back, you advocate for them, and you reward them for a job well done. This is where total compensation actually gets pushed. Set clear goals and clearly define the outcomes you expect a team member to meet or exceed. When they do, reward them.
- Educate on Total Compensation, Not Just Pay: Leaders need to differentiate the conversation between pay and compensation. These are two distinct things. Pay is the cash one receives. Compensation is all of the rewards one receives. Medical benefits, time off, remote work opportunities, wellness stipends, and training budget are all examples of compensation one receives for their work. Many struggle to realize these are forms of compensation building their total compensation package. Help your team members remember that what they receive for their work typically runs far past their regular paycheck.
Further Exploration on Pushing Total Compensation
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