Total Rewards Strategies for a Hybrid Workforce

Reading reports and articles about remote work may make you believe that 100% of the world is working remotely. But the fact remains that in-office work is not dead yet, and neither is it dying.

Instead of fully remote or fully in-office, work has settled somewhere in the middle, with nearly 40% of American workers working remotely or in hybrid mode.

This complicates things for HR and Compensation teams. Should you design Total Rewards for remote workers or for office workers? Or should you run the risk of ending up somewhere in the middle without enough to appeal to either group?

The good news is that designing effective total rewards strategies for a hybrid workforce is not rocket science. (Even if it were rocket science, it can be done – all you need is a rocket scientist.)

Here are some strategies that work well in hybrid environments:

1. Flexible Benefits and Compensation

Personalized Benefits: Offer flexible benefits that allow employees to choose from a range of options, like healthcare, wellness programs, and child/elder care support, depending on their life stage and career stage.

Remote Work Allowances: Provide a stipend or reimbursement for home office setup, internet, or utilities for employees working from home. Some companies even offer services like occupational health checkups for posture correction and injury prevention.

Variable Pay Models: Consider output-based incentives rather than relying completely on time-based pay programs. Hybrid work can mean different productivity hours, so reward people based on outcomes and contributions.

2. Wellness and Mental Health Programs

Virtual Wellness Programs: Provide access to online fitness classes, mental health resources, counseling, or wellness challenges that can be accessed remotely or in-person.

Holistic Health Benefits: Include mental health support, stress management, mindfulness apps, and ergonomic assessments to ensure employees feel supported, whether at home or in the office.

3. Career Development and Learning Opportunities

Online Learning Platforms: Offer access to courses, webinars, and certifications that employees can engage with at their own pace. Link learning to career progression and career architecture to ensure higher adoption rates, instead of pushing people towards completion.

Mentorship Programs: Develop hybrid mentorship programs that connect employees across locations through regular virtual or in-person meetings.

Career Growth Pathways: Ensure hybrid employees feel they have equal access to promotions and career advancement opportunities, regardless of their location.

4. Recognition and Rewards

Peer Recognition Tools: Implement digital platforms where employees can recognize each other’s contributions, ensuring that remote employees are acknowledged as often as those in the office.

Encourage managers to develop processes that prevent remote employees from being ‘out of sight, out of mind’ for recognition.

Team Celebrations and Events: Use virtual tools for celebrations, but also organize occasional in-person team-building events to maintain camaraderie among hybrid teams.

5. Inclusive Work Culture

Equity in Treatment: Ensure there is no disparity in how rewards and recognition are distributed between remote and in-office employees. Fairness and transparency should be at the forefront.

Communication Platforms: Invest in asynchronous communication tools such as Slack or Microsoft Teams to help remote employees feel a sense of belonging, especially if they are located across time zones.

6. Flexible Time-off Policies

Flexible PTO: Allow employees the flexibility to take time off as needed without rigid limitations to support their personal responsibilities and priorities.

Mental Health Days: Provide specific days for mental well-being to ensure employees take breaks and recharge, which is especially important for hybrid workers balancing different environments.

7. Technology and Productivity Support

Tech Support Stipends: Offer allowances for high-quality tech equipment, productivity tools, and software that hybrid workers might need to stay efficient.

Training on Tools: Ensure all employees, regardless of their work location, have equal access to training on productivity and collaboration tools.

Conclusion

The components of Total Rewards need to be rolled out equitably and fairly for them to be meaningful. Keep listening to your people and stay aligned with how the outside world is changing to provide the best value to your people, within your budget.

If you still think managing Total Rewards is rocket science, let us be your rocket scientists. Reach out to us at [email protected].

About the Author

Sumit Singla

Founder of eleventHR Consulting.

Sumit has been working in HR & HR consulting roles for 16+ years across sectors and verticals and specializes in organization design, wellbeing, storytelling & design thinking, and performance management. In his career with consulting firms such as Aon, Deloitte, and Accenture, he has successfully led programs aimed at total HR transformation for clients. Recently, as Associate Director for India Consulting at Deloitte, he worked with clients on cultural transformation and HR process and policy design. He also organized and spoke at conferences and events about a variety of topics relevant to HR today. Now self-employed, he works with clients across the globe on a variety of HR solution areas.

Howard Nizewitz 

Howard’s extensive expertise in compensation management comes with a 25-year track record of implementing strategic and successful compensation programs in the financial services and technology industries with a global and regional focus. His tenure includes positions at Barclays, Citigroup, and JPMorgan. Other areas of expertise include HR consulting, Deferred compensation, incentive plan design, and talent management. If you want to learn more, please contact Howard at [email protected] or schedule a free consultation on the compteam.net website.