Total Rewards Statements Strategy, Process and Execution

Retaining employees continues to be a critical aspect of running a business. Offering clarity and transparency about compensation & benefits is a key strategy that improves job satisfaction and retention, tightening the connection of the employee to the company.

Total Rewards Statements (TRS) provide employees with a comprehensive view of their total benefits, in one easy to understand, individualized report.

Creating total rewards statements for employees offers several benefits for both the organization and its workforce. Total rewards statements are comprehensive documents that outline and communicate the complete compensation and benefits package an employee receives. Here are some key benefits of creating and sharing these statements:

Benefits of Total Rewards Statements

Increased Employee Awareness

Total rewards statements help employees understand the full value of their compensation beyond just base salary. This may include bonuses, incentives, retirement contributions, health insurance, paid time off, stock options, and more. By presenting this information in a clear and concise manner, employees gain a better appreciation for their overall compensation.

Enhanced Compensation Transparency

Total rewards statements promote transparency regarding compensation and benefits, which helps build trust between employees and the organization. This is particularly important in today’s work environment, where employees value transparency in all matters related to their employment.

Motivation and Performance

Clear communication of the value of total rewards motivates employees to perform at their best. When employees see the direct link between their efforts and the rewards they receive, they become motivated to excel in their roles.

Legal Compliance

In some jurisdictions, there may be legal requirements to provide employees with detailed information about their compensation and benefits. Total rewards statements help organizations meet these legal obligations.

Proprietary TRS Process

Growth Operator's proprietary TRS process helps organizations convey the full benefits that individuals receive from their companies.

1. We Work With You to Personalize the Look of the TRS Document Template to Your Company: Determine what the Total Rewards Statement will look like, and what data it will cover, including company logo, font, benefits, compensation categories, etc. This will be the basis for the document that gets shared with employees and determine the fields needed for the data template.

2. Consolidate and Clean the Data: Data from the various sources need to be aligned to TRS data template fields (columns) and the data template needs to be completed for all employees. This is done by the Growth Operators team, or by you, depending upon your preferred approach.

3. Gather the Data: Data are collected from HRIS and any other relevant systems. If our Growth Pros are executing this phase, we require access to the relevant systems to pull the data.

4. Create Individual Employee Data Graphs: From the data template, the Growth Pro team runs the Macro that generates graph images to illustrate the Total Reward value by each defined group (comp, health benefits, retirement benefits, etc.).

5. Run Mail Merge Function with TRS Document Template: The Growth Pro team pulls the data from the template, merges it and creates a statement for each employee with their specific Total Rewards information.

6. Generate and Distribute Total Rewards Statements: The Growth Pro team completes the merge process and saves all individual TRS documents. Then, the client reviews all documents as a checkpoint to ensure data integrity. Finally, TRS documents are distributed to the appropriate client contact(s) for employee distribution.

TRS Process Infographic

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Elements of TRS Will Vary by Company

  • Base Salary & Wages – This is the foundational element of the TRS. It is the employee’s regular pay rate, often expressed annually or hourly.
  • Variable Pay / Bonuses – Any performance based, variable pay such as annual bonuses, commissions or profit-sharing fit here.
  • Benefits – Health insurance, Retirement plans/401Ks, Life and Disability Insurance, Paid Time Off (PTO). This is where the company outlines its contribution.
  • Stock & Equity awards – Stock options, restricted stock units (RSUs), or equity grants are listed here.
  • Other Compensation – This category includes special allowances, car allowances, housing benefits, etc.
  • Total Compensation – This is the summation of all the monetary components of the employee’s compensation.
  • Perks – These cover an array of programs. Examples of the most common include:
    • Reward & Recognition programs – Information about employee recognition programs or awards
    • Professional Development opportunities – Education and training paid for by the employer
    • Wellness programs – Including gym memberships, wellness programs, etc. paid for by the employer
    • Work-Life Balance – Detail about flexible work arrangements, telecommuting benefits, etc.
    • Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) - Mental health and counseling services provided to employees
  • Total Value – this section summarizes all the rewards and compensation – usually presented as an annualized figure.

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    Why Growth Operators?

    At Growth Operators, we are poised to bring the right HR experts to assist your company with TRS. From design through delivery, our Growth Pros execute TRS better than any system available. They will lead the process, roll up their sleeves and execute the work, delivering comprehensive TRS end products that drive employee satisfaction.

    Growth Operators’ HR Growth Pros are experts at identifying and consolidating data from disparate systems into one master template, removing that painful task from internal HR teams. Additionally, we ensure the data are clean, accurate, and meaningful because we are HR and Finance experts who have done this work repeatedly in the corporate world, and now for our clients.

    Want to learn more? Connect with our HR Growth Pros for a complimentary TRS discussion.