Organize Your Rewards Package Around Employees’ Critical Life Moments | Gartner

Organizations continue to invest in the total rewards component of their employee value proposition (EVP) as many workers place an increased value on benefits and programs that support their well-being and their families. But as pointed out in this Gartner article, it isn’t always evident to employees and new hires that their needs are being met through an organization’s rewards package. One reason for this perception is that organizations traditionally design their rewards programs and corresponding communications to fit into rewards categories, such as compensation, benefits, well-being, rewards and recognition. However, this traditional approach can be augmented by designing and communicating programs so that employees can see the organization’s end-to-end support during the most critical moments of their lives. For example, “rather than grouping all its financial support offerings into a financial wellness category, organizations should group together all the offerings an employee would need for a critical life moment.” Figure 3 illustrates an example of communicating benefits and reward offerings through the life event of purchasing a new home. Other critical life moments might include: 1) Getting married/engaged, 2) Getting divorced,  3) Having/adopting a child, 4) Taking a big trip, 5) Getting a pet, 6) Losing a loved one. Organizing and communicating reward programs and benefits by life moments can help job candidates and employees recognize the strength of an organization’s EVP—serving as an effective tool for talent attraction and retention.