While executive pay continues to make headlines, companies that use a Total Reward strategy to guide and inform remuneration decisions and practices will soon be awarded top honours by the South African Reward Association (SARA). The awards encourage and promote the development and improvement of total reward practices in South Africa.
 
What is Total Reward and how does it affect me?
“Total Reward includes everything valuable to an employee in relation to his/her employment, including salary, benefits and their experience of their workplace,” says Peet Kruger, executive committee member of SARA, a professional body that promotes and develops the reward profession and practices in South Africa.
 
“Reward professionals ensure that an employer does everything it can to attract, inspire and retain the best possible workforce, while still increasing profits year on year,” says Kruger. “The annual Reward Awards aim to recognise thought leaders that make a noticeable impact to business through reward strategies and practices that deliver business results and support the objectives or the organisation.”
 
Why South African businesses need to take note
Award winners represent the top of the reward game amongst their peers, and represent what each organisation should be aiming for and doing when it comes to adding the necessary value for their organisations to remain competitive and successful in today’s competitive business environment. The criteria allow an organisation to focus on what traits good reward practices should embody. 2015 winners included reward specialists from Standard Bank (Africa) Pty Ltd, MTN, Aveng and Siemens.
 
Entries are invited annually and judged independently by various experts in the reward industry, using criteria relevant to each award.  Entries for the 2016 awards are now open until 17 August, with the winners being announced on 4 November 2016 in Midrand at the SARA Reward Awards Banquet, sponsored by 21st Century, Remuneration Consultants, and Synntech People Solutions.
 
The three award categories recognise reward professionals, teams and organisations that have lead the way in promoting and developing the reward profession.
 
Remuneration Report of the Year Award
This award recognises organisations that demonstrate reporting and disclosure of the company’s remuneration philosophy and its application as stipulated by legislative requirements and corporate governance principles.
 
The judging panel will also consider established commitments to best practice, and how the company’s approach to remuneration supports the business strategy and aligns the interests of its stakeholders.
 
Reward Project of the Year Award
This award recognises an individual or team for the development and implementation of a reward project that uses reward practices and principles in a manner that contributes significantly towards the achievement of the organisation’s objectives or success.
 
President’s Award
This award recognises an individual that has shaped or significantly contributed to the ongoing development of the reward profession, or has been responsible for the design of complex reward interventions or programmes that have set the standard for best practice in South Africa or internationally.
 
For more detailed information on the annual SARA Reward Awards please visit www.sara.co.za

ENDS
 
MEDIA CONTACT: Cathlen Fourie, 082 222 9198, [email protected], www.atthatpoint.co.za  
 
For more information on SARA please visit:
Website: www.sara.co.za  
Twitter: @SA_reward
LinkedIn: South African Reward Association
Facebook: SARA – South African Reward Association 

​Technology plays a vital role in the evolution of employee reward and incentive programmes, ensuring that the processes are supported and systems seamlessly managed so as to effectively deliver on the employee value proposition (EVP). Technology is the enabler of almost all innovative processes and business models and must not be defined narrowly as an ingredient or component, but rather as a tool which can reveal what is possible and support what is already in play.
 
“Reward strategy must be approached holistically,” explains Peet Kruger, Exco member, South African Reward Association (SARA). “It is essential that technology be integrated into the reward value chain and be seen as an enabler. It cannot drive strategy, but it plays a powerful role in the implementation of strategy.”
 
Understanding the role of technology
“The way in which a business uses technology to support and integrate its delivery of “reward products” to employees can play a critical role in the organisation being seen as an employer of choice,” says Kruger. Organisations can harness technology’s omnipresence to integrate reward solutions into all layers of the business. This will then allow for richer employee engagement and support the delivery of reward and remuneration solutions by aligning them more closely with the people - especially those that grew up with technology -and overarching strategic goals of the organisation.
 
In the value chain, reward is assessed along specific lines to ensure it supports business strategy. It has to take many factors into consideration which include: the skills required, the reward needed to attract these skills, the payment structures, the non-financial rewards which have to be blended into the overall package and the steps which both employee and organisation have to take in order to ensure these are done correctly and within specific parameters.
 
Technology: a valuable solution
Not only does technology help to streamline processes and enhance reward management structures, it enables us to quantify and package the reward value proposition in such a way that it is simple to understand and appealing to the end user.  Employees can see how they contribute to overall organisational success, get a clearer picture of how their rewards are structured and see how much the company is investing in them from a total reward perspective.
 
“There is a growing shift towards the Total Reward Statement which consolidates all the data held within the technology systems and uses this to support and improve reward management throughout the business,” concludes Kruger. “It is a visual representation of the total reward investment in each employee and is a step up from the traditional payslip which mainly focuses on the financial breakdown of the salary package of the employee. This educates, sensitises and create an appreciation for the total reward value proposition enjoyed by employees and contributes to improved engagement and retention of employees”.

ENDS
​
MEDIA CONTACT: Cathlen Fourie, 012 644 2833, [email protected], www.atthatpoint.co.za  

For more information on SARA please visit:
Website: www.sara.co.za  
Twitter: @SA_reward
LinkedIn: South African Reward Association
Facebook: SARA – South African Reward Association