10 Takeaways From Total Rewards '24

I've just returned from an incredible few days at WorldatWork's Total Rewards '24 in Cincinnati. This annual gathering of the #TR family always succeeds in inspiring new ideas, nurturing and expanding relationships, and even having a little fun.

I wasn't able to attend last year, so this is the first time back at the conference in this phase of my consultant->practitioner->founder journey. That change of perspective, mixed with a long drive back across Indiana afterward, led to some reflection and some key lessons from the conference.

Here are my top 10 takeaways, not in any particular order

1. Rewards People Are Leaning Into Challenge

It's an awesome|terrible time to be a Comp person. Pay transparency driving new needs, data sources making it easier for everyone to have an opinion on pay, strange labor market dynamics, FLSA changes... yikes.

But people are fired up, learning how to handle things, coping together, and shockingly still smiling as we get through it all.

2. The AI Conversation Needs to Change

Soooooo much talk about AI...

But a lot of it is the wrong talk.

It's no longer a debate. We need less about will AI change compensation, and more about how AI is already changing compensation.

AI in itself is a technology, not a solution. We need to spend more time on identifying the use-cases that can drive value, and then let the people even nerdier than me make the magic happen.

I appreciate the in-the-now perspective of the CompTech community who are actively including AI/ML capabilities. Let's put those robots to work!

3. We Are Schizophrenic About Skills

While hosting a panel discussion (thanks again Justin Hampton, CCP , Nancy Petrarca Romanyshyn , and Sean Luitjens ) with an audience of precisely 317 people (IYKYK), a question came up about skills-based pay. My first response was to say that in the room of 316 people (someone left), there are probably 400 definitions of what this even means.

My view:

Skills technology is rapidly evolving, and is able to help you understand if someone is likely to have some sort of skill. Based on my LinkedIn profile, resume bullets, and who I've worked with and talk to, you can reasonably infer I know a thing or two about compensation (because the word shows up a lot), Excel (because the corpus of data on the internet likely connects compensation to Excel a lot), mergers & acquisitions (because the companies I've worked for tend to do that)... I can go on. This can be quite useful for sourcing talent internally or in the external marketplace. But we don't know what we're trying to solve when we talk about using that data for compensation purposes.

In many places, we already deploy skills-based pay. I have clients with and have built programs that reward production workers for becoming certified on a new machine or line - that's skills-based pay. I worked at a company with an incredible early-career rotational program, and we directly aligned the early-career compensation program to support it - that's skills-based pay. I offer those as examples to share why I think we're using a buzzword to search for innovation that, in many cases, we already have.

Could there be new applications for "skills" and how we reward? Possibly... once we understand the problem we really want to solve.

4. Virtual Works, But In-Person Matters

Novo Insights is a fully virtual firm, and we collaborate effectively every day to get things done. I don't need to see my team every day for them to be productive or for me to lead. But it sure was nice to actually get the small but mighty team in one place, break some bread together, and have a shared experience. Even if marginal, we all understand each other's differences and perspectives a bit better. We have now confirmed everyone has a lower body. We were able to chat about some things that are easier to chat about over a table than through a screen. It was fun and engaging to hang out with Jessica P. , Lauren Miest, MHR , Kevin Joy , and Stephanie Hogge .

5. The Time is Now To Speak More Frankly

To (roughly) quote Sean Luitjens ...

If you need 20 pencils and the price of pencils goes up 5%, your CFO gives you two choices: you either get 19 pencils or deal with the cost being 5% more. You don't argue about whether the cost of pencils went up 3% or 4% or 5%.

But for compensation? We seem to have a problem securing funds to invest in people when the market price changes. Why is that? HubSpot's former CPO Katie Burke pointed out the need for direct and honest communication about the realities of compensation with leaders, and make the requisite hard choices about what needs to happen.

6. Well-Being, Personalization, and Optimization Might Need to Arm Wrestle

I didn't attend much of the content on the benefits side, as that's now longer in my focus area. But in what I did hear, I wonder if two "big trends" are actually enemies.

I heard a clear desire to expand benefit programs to encourage a broader "whole employee" care strategy. Given the diversity of needs that exist in the world, this implies more programs, not less.

I heard a desire to become more personalized so that employees can craft a portfolio of benefits that make sense for them. This likely results in more programs with relatively less usage, since caring for me likely requires a different portfolio of benefits than caring for you.

I also heard a desire to use listening techniques (conjoint-based optimization surveys) to identify the programs employees really value so the company can deploy it's resources most efficiently. This implies focusing resources on how in aggregate we can make the most people happy at the right cost... but by definition this means some people will lose the program or benefit level that might be what matters to them.

Which trend gets prioritized?

7. "Family-Building" Benefits vs "Fertility" Benefits

Part 2 of my brief diversion into benefits, but it's a soapbox and it's personal.

I 100% support organizations providing fertility support, and agree 100% that it helps build a more inclusive workplace by helping women become the whole person they desire.

But as someone surrounded by a family built through adoption (grandfather was adopted, sister was adopted, both children are adopted), I recognize that fertility isn't the only path, and it's a path that sometimes doesn't lead to a successful outcome.

So here's an idea? Be even more inclusive and focus on the goal, not the journey. Focus on the portfolio of support you can provide for Family-Building - whether that's exploration of alternatives, inclusive support for those not sure about becoming a mother, fertility, adoption support, broad family leave, etc. That's the goal: having a family that you love and are loved by. That takes different shapes and is achieved in different ways.

End of rant. For now.

8. We All Crave Practicality

"That was great, but I'm not sure what I can do with it."

"This sounds wonderful in theory, but have you actually seen this done successfully?"

The best sessions are always the ones with implementable ideas.

Rewards people want to see things that can work. This was one of my themes for founding Novo Insights and why I'm so proud of being a team of practitioners - we've all been in the trenches and led actual comp programs. We got great feedback from the market about the usefulness of our insights and the practicality of the solutions we're building for clients. This only adds fuel to the fire as we continue to invest in our growth!

9. Sometimes Silly Risks Pay Off

Is it wrong that I'm a little proud of some LinkedIn chatter about winning the swag war?

My wife must have particularly strong muscles in the parts that control rolling your eyes because I'm often filled with crazy/silly/unfortunate ideas for nerdy things. I decided to run with one this year as a swag giveaway, believing that some originality would help amplify our brand and exhibit how fun is part of our values.

We ran out of the customized Novo Insights "Mood Charts" desk set that also doubles as an extraordinarily nerdy "Compensation+Charts+Cards Against Humanity." I'm glad I kept one. And I guess we need to order more for those who still want one.

Side note: This project also gave me a chance to collaborate on a project with my dad, who designed and made the wood card holders. I highly recommend finding ways to lean into the hobbies of your retired parents. We had fun, talked more than usual, and put all those garage tools to good use. :)

10. Find a Passion and Lea(r)n Into It

I always say that "nobody chooses compensation - compensation chooses you." The table at the career fair for compensation professionals is pretty lonely. But no matter the path, a talented group of people have passion for Rewards and making an impact.

I get fired up when I see that shared passion and community, and I love to see and learn new things within this discipline I've fallen into and love. For all of you in the Rewards space - keep learning to do what you love!

**

Kudos to WorldatWork for another tremendous event!

#TotalRewards24