HR leaders who go above and beyond for their talent know that pay is just one element of a well-rounded global compensation strategy. These leaders work hard to craft comprehensive packages that deliver on a wide range of talent expectations, from robust supplemental benefits to in-demand perks.
But devising a comprehensive compensation strategy is only half the battle. HR leaders also need to ensure employees know exactly what they’re getting, why it's so valuable, and how they can take full advantage. After all, why take the time to craft an appealing total compensation strategy if employees don’t realize it’s available to them?
Fortunately, clearly communicating your global compensation strategy is easier than you think—and well worth your effort. Read on to learn more about:
- The value of communicating your global compensation strategy to your talent
- Five strategies for communicating your total compensation offerings to employees
- Nine elements of a well-rounded total compensation strategy
Global Compensation: Why Clear Communication Is Key
When your sales team talks to prospective customers about your company’s product or services, they paint a complete and compelling picture. They leave no stone unturned when explaining the benefits of choosing your company over competitors.
You should apply the same principle when pitching your company to top talent—whether trying to recruit qualified candidates or keep current team members happy. That’s where clearly explaining your total compensation strategy comes into play. When you are clear about what you offer to talent and why it matters to them, you increase your ability to:
Attract Qualified Candidates
With talent shortages particularly acute in certain industries and countries, top job seekers have their pick of companies. You need to pull out all the stops to separate your company from a wide field of other employers vying for a limited number of applicants. Make sure qualified candidates know all the exceptional benefits, perks, and extras that come with working for your company—from time off and flexible work policies to supplemental benefits, retirement fund contributions, and more.
Retain Top Performers
You’ve invested significant time, effort, and resources in finding and developing top talent. If you lose those employees, your business is saddled with sunken costs. Your company’s productivity also slows down while you’re forced to repeat the entire recruitment process. And while resignation rates are down from the historic highs posted in 2022, retention is still a significant challenge for companies worldwide.
Communicating your global compensation strategy helps you boost retention in a tight hiring market. When you take the time to ensure your talent understands everything you offer, rather than just salary, you help them feel like they’re receiving the compensation they deserve—and reduce the likelihood they’ll look for new opportunities elsewhere.
Keep Your People Engaged
It’s one thing to keep your talent employed. It’s another thing to keep them invested, engaged, and ready to work hard for your company. Offering a comprehensive total compensation package helps—but only if employees know about it and fully utilize it.
Let’s say you offer employees comprehensive medical benefits and perks that include access to fertility care, mental health services, employee assistance programs (EAPs), and more. It’s important that your employees actually take advantage of the services your company provides. Not only will they feel more valued, but they’ll also be more resilient, engaged, and productive.
Once again, clear communication is critical in helping your employees leverage the valuable benefits you offer them. Make sure they understand every aspect of their total compensation package (and how to utilize each) and watch your participation rates rise.
Five Ways to Communicate Your Global Compensation Strategy
There are numerous advantages to conveying your global compensation strategy to talent. But what are the best ways to let employees know all that your company offers? Here are five steps you can take to ensure talent understands what’s available to them.
1. Follow Pay Transparency Best Practices
Immediately establish transparency with prospective employees by including pay ranges on your job listings. Doing so shows job seekers that you are forthcoming about a key aspect of their total compensation strategy, right from the start. It also helps you stay ahead of compliance requirements, as more governing bodies are now requiring employers to be transparent about pay. Other pay transparency best practices include discussing bonus structures, tax and benefit costs, and how employees can earn raises.
2. Empower People Managers to Spread the Word
You probably aren’t able to speak to every employee at your company every day. That’s why it’s important to lean on your team leads that do. Establish a clear line of communication by making everyone from directors to managers aware of your company’s total compensation package. When the people who regularly interact with your talent are informed about all your valuable benefits and perks, they can ensure employees know what’s offered to them—and can take full advantage.
3. Utilize a Range of Company Channels
Word of mouth from directors, managers, and team leads is just one way you can let talent know about the extras you’ve carefully included in your total compensation package. There is a wide variety of other channels you should also use to disseminate the message.
4. Highlight the Wins
There’s no better testament to the value of your total compensation package than the positive experiences of your employees who use it. For example, if your company offers a sabbatical for employees who have met a specified service requirement, celebrate those who have utilized the program by telling their stories to the rest of your company. Doing so will spread awareness—and excitement—about your programs to the rest of the team, giving them something to set their sights on long-term. Same goes for employees who have utilized professional development programs, taken advantage of work-from-anywhere policies, and more.
5. Repeat, Repeat, Repeat
Communicating your total compensation strategy is not a one-time effort. It takes repeated messaging. Consistently bring up your total compensation strategy via the channels listed above, and remind each department head and team lead to ensure employees are well-informed of what you have to offer.
Nine Components of an Effective Compensation Plan
Every strong global compensation plan starts with four main elements: base pay, variable pay, employee benefits, and additional employee perks. While pay may be the first thing an employee considers, you need to also make sure your benefits offerings are on par with market-specific expectations. Here are six items to consider when designing local benefits packages:
Robust, market-specific supplemental benefits are critical to any well-rounded total compensation strategy. But they’re not the only tool at your disposal when creating a truly talent-friendly total compensation strategy. Stand out in a crowded field of employers by including three offerings that employees prioritize more than ever:
- Equity awards. While offering equity awards in foreign countries has historically been challenging for companies due to payroll and withholding requirements, global employees increasingly want a stake in the companies they work for.
- Work from anywhere. The COVID-19 pandemic made remote work accessible to talent worldwide. Now, even as companies grapple with whether their people should return to the office, employees want the ability to continue working anywhere across the globe.
- Flexible office space. Tied into talent’s desire to work anywhere is a need for flexible office spaces. When you give your people access to worldwide offices built for the modern employee, you set them up to do their best work—and gain a valuable tool for attracting and retaining top talent.
Boost Your Global Compensation Strategy With an Expert Partner
Communicating with talent about your global compensation strategy does wonders for your ability to attract, retain, and empower your people. When it comes to building that compensation package, working with the right partner makes your life easier.
Velocity Global has helped over 1,000 companies administer payroll, benefits, and perks to worldwide talent since 2014. Our experts help organizations like yours deliver accurate payroll, robust benefits plans, global equity awards, and access to flexible workspaces worldwide. We also offer workforce management technology that makes your life easier so you can focus on what you do best—building and supporting your global dream team.
Get in touch to learn more about how Velocity Global can help boost your compensation strategy while simplifying distributed workforce management today.
