Q2 Update

Welcome

Welcome to our Q2 newsletter for 2024! After perhaps a difficult financial year for many in a slugglish economy, the new financial year is proving to be a busy one for HR and reward teams as companies now look to re-evaluate their reward strategies and pay policy foundations after a period of reflection.

Read on to see our latest insights!

- Louise Haines , Managing Director

The Insight Insider...

There is an emerging pattern surrounding reward strategies within the last quarter, which is the prioritisation of a company’s Employee Value Proposition. But what is this, and why should it be an area of focus for your organisation?

There’s no denying that the post-Covid economic volatility within the UK has been a huge challenge for businesses across all sectors. With pay awards decreasing this year, it’s more important than ever for employers to ensure they are getting the foundations right when it comes to their reward strategies. An Employee Value Proposition (EVP) is the overall package of an employer’s values, rewards, recognition, support and company culture offered to its workers. A strong EVP is far more than just a pay cheque - it’s about benefits, development and employee experience. And with 1 in 3 workers planning to change jobs in 2024 according to Consultancy.uk, retention is a real challenge facing companies across all industries. Employees are not just moving for higher pay; they are looking for more opportunities around development and progression, as well as better recognition (thehrdirector.com). With this in mind, it’s vital for your business to get its EVP right.

As your company looks to reshape its reward strategies, what should you consider as part of a competitive EVP that links with your company culture and values?

• Transparent pay policies - this includes clear, understandable pay progression frameworks.
• Recognition - the way you reward great work - often linked to variable pay.
• Meaningful performance measures - clear and tangible indicators to motivate employees, where their input determines outcomes.
• Non-financial employee benefits - health and wellbeing initiatives and leave entitlement.
• Working environment - think about good options for flexible working arrangements.
• Company culture - consider how this links to your EDI policies and ESG goals.
• Learning & Development - linking to career progression, with clear pathways as to how employees can move forward.
• Aim for an EVP that is reflective of your market and what your employees actually want.

At HRC, we can support your company to ensure it is offering a strong and competitive EVP that bolsters recruitment and retention. We begin by evaluating your existing reward structures, and then provide suggestions for new frameworks and policies that will help you develop an EVP that is fair and competitive against the wider market. - Netta Pegler - Project Support Coordinator.

Below is a snapshot of the work we have been doing for our clients over the last few months...

Salary Benchmarking Reviews

With the start of the new financial year, many organisations have been looking to refresh their pay levels, with accurate market comparisons being a critical part of this process.

HRC has recently completed projects for private sector clients, including a C-Suite Review for an infrastructure consultancy firm, and a pay review of the treasury function within a private bank. We are currently carrying out an Executive compensation review for a French business services company.

Looking at our public sector work, we recently submitted a full salary benchmarking review of all Trade roles for a Scottish Local Authority, in order to compare and evaluate their hourly rates of pay for tradespeople against direct peers. The client loved what we did, and provided the testimonial below...

"Henley Reward Consulting provided a professional and evidence-based analysis of market rates. The team was excellent to deal with, responding promptly to queries and adapting to changes in scope, and completing the assignment on time."

-- Executive Director of Corporate Services

Full Employee Benefit Reviews

We have reviewed the full employee benefit proposition for a number of organisations in the last few months, including a large UK Housing Association and a global maritime consultancy firm. By evaluating the organisations’ benefit components against direct peers and the wider market (relevant to each sector), we were able to highlight areas of risk and priority, making recommendations as to how each firm could enhance their benefit offerings to remain competitive and retain their top talent.

Recent Events

In March, our Associate Director, Alison, attended the In-House Recruitment Live Exhibition at Birmingham NEC

This was a great opportunity to meet with both existing and prospective clients, whilst listening to inspiring speakers in the field of talent acquisition.

In May, the HRC team attended the Executive Research Association 2024 Conference

The conference focused on “Research, Recruiting and Diversity in the age of AI” and provided valuable insights into how our teams can best utilise AI tools to streamline day-to-day tasks and maximise productivity.

Market Stats - from Brightmine & HR Review

• The median basic pay award for the 3 months up to the end of May 2024 stands at 4.6%
• Job openings fell to 850,000 in April 2024 - an 18.34% drop compared to April 2023
• UK Inflation fell to 2.3% in April 2024 - its lowest level in almost three years
• Public sector earnings growth for Jan-Mar was 6.3%, slightly higher than the private sector at 5.9%

Looking Towards the Next Quarter

As we move towards Q3, your organisation may be rethinking its reward strategies. Are you ready for...

• Evaluating & benchmarking pay towards 2025?
• Gender Pay Gap calculations and reporting?
• Incorporating ESG measures and metrics?
• Reviewing your ED&I strategies?
• Reassessing your benefit offerings?

Keeping up to date with regulatory requirements and equality measures, understanding your market, and providing a competitive benefit scheme are all crucial to your company’s success. Read on to find out how we can help your business to thrive.

Henley Reward Consulting: Our Services

In a nutshell, we can:

• Benchmark Executive and Board remuneration structures and components, including LTIPs, to ensure your leadership team are competitively rewarded.
• Benchmark wider directorates, as well as conduct full organisational reviews where required.
• Benchmark individual roles at any level where there are pockets of challenge.
• Benchmark across multiple sectors, as well as internationally.
• Develop pay grading structures, as well as assess job levels and structures to ensure your pay and career structures are aligned.

• Conduct a competitive health check of your internal benefits, looking either at individual components such as family policies, car provision or insurances for example, or indeed the full benefit proposition.
• Deliver gender/ethnicity and wider pay gap calculations to meet regulatory reporting standards, but importantly we can deliver deep dive analysis into what those numbers mean, identifying risks and priorities to support the bridging of any pay gaps. We can also support with equal pay audits.
• Benchmark ED&I policies, as well as wider HR policies to provide you with targeted market intelligence to drive innovation and best practice.

Thank you for reading our Q2 update! For more information please get in touch.

Email: [email protected]

Tel: +44 7798 630 382

Website: henleyrewardconsulting.com