DANIEL PATTERSON: Okay. Well, hello, and thanks for joining us today for the first in our 2025 GCR series, A New Framework for Total Rewards: Taking Employees from Survive to Thrive.
Now before we begin, just a few housekeeping items to take care of. Today's presentation is both SHRM and HRCI certified for one hour of general credit. We'll be sharing the program IDs at the end of today's session, and this presentation is being recorded and will be sent out to all registered attendees by the end of the week.
Now before we get into today's content, I'd like to take a quick second to introduce ourselves for those who may not know us. I'm Daniel Patterson, and joining me today is Cristen Dalessandro.
Cristen is one of our top senior researchers and sociologist at O.C. Tanner who specializes in the study of social inequalities as well as qualitative and quantitative research methods.
As part of the O.C. Tanner Institute, Cristen works on researching workplace culture and the employee experience using a social science lens. She has a PhD from the University of Colorado Boulder and completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Utah.
She has published over thirty articles in peer reviewed journals, and her book, "Intimate Inequalities: Millennials' Romantic Relationships in Contemporary Times," explores how millennials navigate social and identity differences in their relationships. So welcome, Cristen.
CRISTEN DALESSANDRO: Thanks, Daniel. Good to be back here again kicking off the 2025 GCR webinar series. So, of course, I'm here with Daniel Patterson. Daniel is a research manager here at the O.C. Tanner Institute who specializes in the psychology that shapes the employee experience.
In addition to his research, he regularly leads client assessment projects as well as tailored client initiatives that analyze business impact and ROI, specifically with an eye to helping organizations improve their workplace culture. He specializes in mixed method research and holds a master's degree from the University of Utah with advanced studies in research and theory. Welcome, Daniel.
DANIEL: Well, thank you very much.
CRISTEN: So now that you know a little bit about us, I think we should take you through our agenda for the day.
DANIEL: Absolutely.
CRISTEN: Just so we know where we're going. So this research that we're gonna discuss today is sourced from our 2025 Global Culture Report. Thus, we're gonna tell you a little bit more about the 2025 report first in order to give you a sense of the scope of our project. Especially for those of you who might not be familiar with us just yet, hopefully, you'll like what you hear today.
Next, we're going to get into the total rewards dilemma. What, according to our research, are the issues with existing approaches to total rewards or that combination of compensation and benefits offered to employees.
Third, we're going to go over our proposed reframe of total rewards, speaking to employees' needs to survive and thrive at work.
Fourth, we'll go over the role of recognition, specifically when it comes to addressing employees' needs, followed by our recommendations, and lastly, wrapping everything up.
So now that you have a bit of a road map, Daniel, would you mind kicking us off by talking a little bit about the GCR and how we approach the report this year?
DANIEL: Of course.
Well, the Global Culture Report is O.C. Tanner's annual report that provides industry leaders with a rigorous look at the evolving shape of work.
Now every year, our research team tracks, analyzes, and chronicles the latest trends and insights in the workplace using both qualitative and quantitative data to develop a framework of a thriving workplace culture from the employee perspective.
Now through interviews, focus groups, and surveys, this year's report engaged more than thirty eight thousand employees, leaders, and HR practitioners across twenty four countries to better understand the state of workplace cultures around the world.
And a key theme that emerged from the exploration this year was the idea of generative care. That is the principles and practices that empower both leaders and employees to care for others in ways that both benefit and transcend the organization.
So with a little bit of that background on the report, Cristen, can you kinda take us through the story of total rewards?
CRISTEN: I would love to. So jumping right in, I think we should talk about the total rewards dilemma.
So as I mentioned, total rewards is a phrase used to communicate that combination of compensation and benefits offered to employees, typically to, a) demonstrate that an organization has employees' best interests in mind, and, b) to hopefully generate that feeling in employees that they're supported for their work.
So despite the best of intentions, our research has found that there are some issues with many organizations' approaches to total rewards right now.
So especially over the last few years, organizations have really ramped up their reward offerings, largely in an effort to support employees, express care, and to encourage other positive outcomes such as retention.
However, current total reward strategies aren't functioning as intended.
For example, when we conducted interviews asking employees about how their organizations approach total rewards, we essentially kept hearing about a what we call "benefits buffet" situation.
And what we mean by this is, you know, the number of offerings continues to grow, but employees often don't know everything that's available to them, aren't using all of these benefits, and also don't always see an ever expanding list of offerings in a positive light. In fact, our data show that only about forty percent of employees even know the meaning of the term total rewards.
DANIEL: Right. And, actually, it was kind of shocking that many of our research participants thought of credit card or airline loyalty programs instead of actually an HR list of benefits.
CRISTEN: Exactly. So not an ideal situation.
So in addition, here's a quote from one of our focus groups that I think shows how some employees are reacting to their total rewards programs.
So they said, "total rewards has become the loyalty program I never asked for."
At best, some employees don't know much about their total rewards packages. However, at worst, employees can actually be upset about the phrase total rewards and the message that they believe total rewards is trying to send.
For example, to quote another participant, some believe these packages are just a, quote, condescending way of saying it's a reward for you to work here.
DANIEL: And, actually, in talking to employees working in HR, we also heard about frustration around the current state of total rewards, but at the same time, uncertainty around a potential better way forward.
CRISTEN: Exactly. So all of this, in essence, is the total rewards dilemma.
Rather than employees understanding total rewards as a strategy for an organization to express that it cares about workers, employees are skeptical and, at worst, can even be resentful of total rewards programs as they currently exist. Many don't see these benefits as rewards at all, while others sometimes feel that benefits are only provided to distract from bigger issues such as low pay or lack of company profit sharing.
So this brings us to the question, you know, what's the solution here? What do employees want? How do we reconnect employees to the benefits designed to support them and ensure that employees see total rewards programs as a valuable enhancement of their overall employee experience?
We have to seriously ask ourselves again, what is it that employees want?
And at the end of the day, it's not an ever growing list of reward offerings that employees really want. What we found in our research is that employees are looking for a sense of security.
And, you know, as this quote from a focus group participant points out, quote, if I have security, I have choices.
Security is what employees need to feel a little bit more empowered and less suspicious of their total rewards packages. You know, when they're feeling that way, they feel like they're supported, they have security, then we've noticed in our research that some of these more negative takes on total rewards go away.
So, you know, it's important to point out as well, both short term and immediate security as well as long term security are critical. And it really boils down to these two questions that we found employees are asking themselves. First, am I surviving? And second, am I thriving?
DANIEL: Okay. So I'm obviously biased, Cristen, but I really find this super fascinating. And I guess the question that this begs is, do each of these questions correspond to employee-specific short or long term security needs?
CRISTEN: Yes. I'm glad you asked, Daniel. So the question of am I surviving corresponds to that short term security indeed, and am I thriving corresponds to more long term goals.
So although these questions might seem a little bit more philosophical or maybe not obviously linked to total rewards, they're actually key to our total rewards reframe. Because in order to have their intended effect, total rewards have to first address employees need to survive. Only then can they be utilized to speak to employees need to thrive. And for most of the rest of this session, we're gonna talk about the specific ways that total rewards programs can do this so that we can move from that, as I mentioned before, benefits buffet approach to a more targeted, purpose driven, people centered approach to total rewards.
Okay. So enough from me for a while. Daniel, would you mind taking us through employees need to feel that work provides them with the tools they need to survive?
DANIEL: Thanks, Cristen. Of course. Okay. Well, when we think about working to survive, we first have to consider what the current business landscape looks like and how it impacts the employee experience.
Now over the past few years, workers everywhere have weathered countless disruptions, a global pandemic, widespread layoffs, and rising inflation.
Now these, coupled with dramatic changes in how, when, and where we work, have left many employees operating under a cloud of instability and uncertainty.
And in this environment, workers find it increasingly difficult to see a future where development and growth are even possible. Many of them are simply working to survive.
So what does it mean to be just surviving in the workplace?
Well, in our focus groups and interviews, we asked employees across industries what this experience looks like to them, And their answers, while kind of sad and disconcerting, were really insightful.
Here are just some of the things that we heard:
"It's the paycheck, not the passion. You're just staying stagnant."
"You're on the verge of burnout and having the bare minimum and doing the bare minimum."
So, again, not a real positive sounding place. And in general, employees who are just surviving are employees who are just getting by. And sometimes that's financially, sometimes it's professionally.
They feel overwhelmed.
They feel undervalued, and they feel unfulfilled.
And they feel trapped in a space that lacks opportunities for growth, development, or autonomy.
Now when we looked at surviving in the global workplace, what we found was equally concerning.
When we asked respondents if they felt like they were surviving or thriving in the workplace, nearly a third of employees said that they were merely surviving rather than thriving.
Now if we step back and put this in the context of total rewards, what does that tell us? Well, first, there are clearly obstacles that are trapping people in place and holding them back from the growth and fulfillment that might otherwise come from your total rewards offerings.
Second, and most importantly, it points us towards a troubling conclusion.
A lot of your perks and incentives are gonna have very little impact if employees are focused on just getting from one day to the next.
For us to successfully align offerings with employee needs, we need to better understand the factors that are at work in survival.
Now as a result of our research, we were able to do just that. We established a model of elements that shape a surviving experience in the workplace, and this includes elements like financial insecurity, lack of opportunity or work life balance, lack of resources, a sense of hopelessness about the future, and a lack of autonomy.
What we also realized is that there is a spectrum of experience here and that some employees could be at the low end of surviving while others are at the high end. And that is for those who are in low surviving, these six elements are stronger or more immediate than for those in high surviving.
Now when we brought this model to the total rewards dilemma, we discovered key total rewards offerings that directly address the needs of those in a state of surviving. And you can see those there on the right hand side of the screen. What do employees really need to survive? And they are compensation, physical health benefits, and mental health benefits.
Now while this may sound like a simple finding, think of it this way. Rather than your total rewards program being, as we've said, kind of an endless buffet of options, it becomes instead a series of targeted offerings strategically optimized to meet specific employee needs.
Now we'll touch more on this idea of strategic optimization here in a bit. But for the moment, let's take a closer look at some of our findings on the impact of surviving on employees and their experience in the workplace.
First of all, we found that low surviving has a significant impact on well-being measures like anxiety, physical health, and burnout. And here you can see, for those who are in that low surviving, mode, there's a six times increased odds of anxiety, five times increased odds of feeling work has a negative impact on their physical health, and a whopping twelve times increase on the odds of burnout.
And not surprisingly, we also found that low surviving employees are having a profoundly negative experience overall with every key measure reporting a negative outcome.
So, for example, if you take a look at these here, retention for those low surviving employees, negative sixty four percent. Employee net promoter, sense of fulfillment, above average average job satisfaction, all of them are reporting dramatically lower numbers.
Now while high surviving employees appear to be doing better than their low surviving counterparts, as we'll see later, their outcomes are significantly lower than those employees who are thriving.
Now in addition, when we dug deeper, we found a key insight that told us even more about perhaps the biggest obstacle facing low surviving employees.
Okay. So when we analyzed all of the secondary total rewards offerings, and here we're looking at everything from pay incentives to health and well-being benefits, we found that almost nothing had a positive impact on the low surviving employee until we factored in an adequate or above average compensation.
So as you can see in the table here, once basic compensation needs are met, and that would be that column over there to the far right, suddenly incentive offerings have a positive if minimal impact.
Now what's the important takeaway from this data? Well, for employees who are just surviving, until basic needs are met, and primarily those are compensation needs, nothing else is considered relevant. And if it's not relevant, it's not going to be effective.
CRISTEN: Yeah. Well, I think this is really insightful, Daniel.
Me also being biased myself as a member of the research team, but nonetheless.
But, you know, I'm wondering, is it always about more money? Because, I mean, if we're being honest here, many organizations aren't in a position to pay people more, especially now. So are their people doomed to be in survival mode if this is the case?
DANIEL: Well and that's an excellent point. I'm glad you brought that up. And, no, it's not always about the money.
Basic compensation is critical for those that are in low surviving. But if we think back to the the six points of that model that we showed a few minutes ago, compensation is only one factor, or one part of the overall surviving equation.
For instance, an employee can be well paid, but they could be lacking in voice, autonomy, resources, and say, opportunities for growth. In short, well paid employees can also be surviving.
And as this focus group participant put it, "if I'm not being heard, then I'm not gonna be happy no matter how much money I make. It's just not going to be rewarding for me. It's for me, it's important to have that sense of belonging."
CRISTEN: So in the end, it seems that surviving isn't just about one thing. It's really an interaction of a number of different factors.
DANIEL: Absolutely. Which is why it's so important for organizations to know their people.
And this is a really critical point here. Surviving is going to look different for different employees in different industries and at different points in their career. So when you look at that kind of mix of all those different factors, it's not gonna be like a one size fits all that, you know, everybody at this age or in this role or in this geographic location is going to either be surviving or thriving.
It's critical that leaders make sure that they know their people, that they're keeping in touch, that they're having those one to ones and those types of meetings to really understand where they're succeeding and where there are those obstacles that are holding them back in that survive mode.
Now while there is a lot more in the GCR to unpack around surviving, let's switch gears here, and talk about what things look like for those who are thriving in the workplace. And, more importantly, what are the total reward offerings those employees need to fully reach their potential?
CRISTEN: Sounds good, Daniel. So I'm gonna talk a little bit more about thriving at work. And, you know, as Daniel mentioned, our research demonstrates that it's really vital to cover employees' basic survival needs first. But once we cover those basic needs, what comes next?
Without addressing employees' most pressing needs, our research has found that it's really, really nearly impossible to sustain a sense of thriving at work.
However, after we get that taken care of, employees can begin thinking about what long term security means to them. And our research has found that feeling a sense of long term security entails feeling like there's a path of growth, career development, a sense of choice, support, and empowerment for employees. All of these characteristics translate to feeling that sense of thriving.
So what does it mean to thrive? You know, for those of you who are already familiar with O.C. Tanner and the work of the Institute, you'll know that the concept of thriving isn't new. And, actually, it's something we talk about a lot and that we've talked about a lot over the last few years. So this is something we've been researching and advocating for for a long time.
However, in this year's report, we applied the concept of thriving specifically to the context of total rewards. And our primary research question was, when it comes to discerning what it takes to get employees to a place where they feel like they're truly thriving, how can total rewards offerings help?
So in our research, and we've tested a number of different things, but we found that according to employees, thriving can really be synthesized into three key characteristics or elements: skill building, career development, and flexibility.
And I'll get more specifically into each of these three in a bit. But for now, I just wanna point out that our research finds that a key way to support employees' need to thrive is to design total rewards offerings that speak to each of these three characteristics in the workplace.
So instead of quantity, you know, that benefits buffet we mentioned, think quality. Are the offerings that we are offering to employees in some way supportive of these three things?
So each of these characteristics or elements is important because supporting them demonstrates an investment employees on the part of the organization.
And based on the outcomes highlighted in the table here, investing in the project of helping employees thrive is definitely worth it. So for example, you know, from this table, we can see that when employees feel their needs for flexibility, skill building, and career development opportunities are met, they're more likely to wanna stay with the organization, feel a greater sense of belonging and fulfillment, and feel an amplified sense of engagement.
DANIEL: And, you know, Cristen, if I can jump in here too, I mean, what's so amazing looking at these numbers is just how profound the impact is. So when you look at something down at the bottom there, like, say, for example, a sense of thriving, and you look, you know, when those elements of skill building or career development are there, I mean, you're looking at fourteen and nineteen times increasing the odds. That's just, I mean, that's amazing.
CRISTEN: I would agree. Yeah. And one of the things that we really found with this Thrive chapter, is that when when these elements of thriving are supported, the outcome is just extremely impressive.
And on this slide, I'm gonna show you a little bit more about what I mean by that. You know, supporting one of these elements is good. But when organizations can support more than one, we really see outcomes soar.
So, for example, compared to employees who feel like they're really not supported in any of these areas, employees who feel that their needs for flexibility, skill building, and career development are supported at work have a sixty eight times greater odds of feeling like they're thriving.
DANIEL: That's crazy.
CRISTEN: Yeah. So as we said, you know, supporting one of these can move the needle, but supporting all three results in these really impressive outcomes.
Okay. So as promised, I wanna break down each of these characteristics a little bit more. And here's where we can really see where specific reward offerings might be helpful in supporting each of these elements of thriving that we've identified.
So first up, we have flexibility. And, you know, flexibility is often thought of in terms of time and workspace flexibility.
However, in our research, we found that from an employee point of view, it also encompasses the idea that employees feel empowered to manage their time, their projects, or what they work on, and that leaders and organizations support flexibility too.
So some examples of policies and practices that support this include not only straightforward flexible workspace policies. So, you know, where am I doing this work? Where am I sitting? But also something like, for example, a program that allows employees to work on special projects.
So second, you know, skill building is the second element that we have. And this works best, again, when there is support from both leaders and organizations. And when employees feel their skill building experiences lead to growth in areas over which which they have some choice.
So this is kind of an interesting angle on here. You know, simply offering the opportunity to build skills is good, but it's really most effective, we found, when there's also widespread support and employees have some choices over which skills they pursue.
So, you know, not just telling employees we want you to learn x y z, but giving them a little bit of ownership and, you know, asking employees what they want, again, when deciding what kind of skills they can pursue that will most benefit them on their career journey.
So third, last but not least, employees are really looking for career development.
Offerings such as a mentorship program would support this goal.
Mentorship's actually one of the main things that employees look for when considering whether or not their career development opportunities are satisfactory to them. Really, anything that supports career development is really, really important to employees, especially once they've got their survive needs covered. That's kind of the next step.
DANIEL: And I really love this, and it really makes sense. You know, if you think about it, once employees get their survival needs met, like you say, they're often going to be thinking about how they can grow and evolve in their careers, and these elements really seem to foster and, like, speak to that need.
CRISTEN: Exactly. You know? This answers that question of "what is next?"
You know, when employees are are gonna be asking themselves, you know, okay. Now I have my survival needs met. Now what's the next step?
And, you know, I think it's important to point out as well that, you know, employees are gonna be looking for growth and development once they get those survival needs met.
And they're also gonna be asking themselves, you know, is this something that I can get at my current organization, or is this something that I'm gonna have to look elsewhere? Right? So if we're concerned about retention, you know, speaking to employees' needs to thrive that we've identified is gonna be really important there.
DANIEL: In fact, that was a really interesting thing too that came out of a lot of the focus groups in interviews was that, again, for those that had kind of met those basic survival needs, growth and develop opportunities were I mean, if those weren't there, that was a huge factor in their decision to leave an organization.
CRISTEN: Right. Exactly.
So I want to share some more data with you all because I think this is really interesting and actually really important.
You know, some of you out there might be thinking, how critical is it really that organizations actually offer these types of rewards? Because after all, you know, we are in the digital era. People can seek out some of these opportunities themselves. So I wanted to show you this table because it illustrates just how important supporting employees in their thrive endeavors can actually be for organizations.
So for example, you know, as you can see in the table here, compared to employees who don't have any access to these resources, so things like leadership training, career mentorship, growth opportunities, employees who have access to these things outside of work are more engaged overall. You know? So these are the people we found in our research who, maybe their organization doesn't offer it, but somehow they're able to access some of this training or some of these resources.
That still actually helps them be engaged with their current job. That's the far right column if you're if you're looking at the table.
But, interestingly, when these opportunities are available to people through work, we see engagement jump. So, for example, when employees have access to just professional growth opportunities in general, they are twice as likely to be engaged at work. Right? So these are the folks who have that opportunity, but not necessarily through work or not through work.
But when these opportunities are available through work, they are six point five times more likely to be engaged. So investing in employees definitely pays off for the organization. You know, it's not just that they have access period. It actually matters that the organization is offering them this access.
DANIEL: And that's some really compel compelling data, Cristen. And I think it just goes to show that even if employees have access to a resource outside of work, workplaces offering carefully curated resources that really speak to employee needs really make a difference when it comes to engagement and to loyalty.
CRISTEN: Exactly, Daniel. You know, we should never assume that employees have access. But even when they do, it's not gonna give us as much of a difference. They're not gonna move the needle as much as we want when it comes to things like engagement and other positive outcomes, loyalty, attrition. You know, it's not gonna be making as big of a difference if it's not coming from the organization.
And here's a qualitative quote that supports some of this quantitative data that I just shared with you.
"Enjoying the work that you do, the people you do it with, and actively learning and growing to get you to that next role, that next opportunity, that, to me, that's thriving." So here it is directly from an employee in one of our focus groups.
You know, actively learning and growing is critical to thriving. And the question is, again, can an employee access this at your organization or not? Because, you know, that next role doesn't necessarily have to be an a role or an opportunity at another organization. If they can see themselves moving to another role or another opportunity in the org, then there's no reason for them to leave.
So what's the impact of thriving really? You know, if we've got basic needs covered, why go one step further?
So just some more quantitative data to really, really send this home, I think, or drive this home. Our research this year has found that when employees feel they're thriving at work, we see six times increased odds of retention, seven times increased odds that the employees are gonna be promoters, eight times increased odds that they're going to be doing great work, and a fourteen times increased odds in the satisfaction with the employee experience.
So for a lot of these key outcomes that total rewards are really meant to address, you know, those things that, when you go out to to decide what offerings are we going to offer and why are we going to offer them, the intended impact, you know, when employees are thriving, when we see that their thriving needs are met, this is when we see that the needle moves on some of these outcomes that we like to see.
And, again, you know, this quote, I think, kind of supports what we've what we've been saying for the last few minutes. "When I think of thriving at work, it's also about the future. I'm enjoying my role today. I'm doing good work. But do I have a career path in this company, or do I have to leave to find that career path elsewhere?"
You know, going back to the point we've been making, you know, this quote speaks to employees' need for long term security and that question of, is this organization the kind of place that supports my long term security goals? Once that immediate or short short term security is addressed, employees are gonna be asking themselves what's next. We wanna make sure employee survival needs are taken care of, but to make the most impact, we also have to speak to their need to thrive.
So we've kinda thrown a lot of information at you. I realize that.
DANIEL: As we always do.
CRISTEN: As we always do. We can't help it. I'm sorry. But to break it down because, you know, just for the sake of trying to keep this simple and organized, on the survive side, you know, from a total reward standpoint, it's really critical to focus on those areas of compensation and mental and physical health benefits in order to really best support employees.
And once we get that get that taken care of, on the Thrive side, flexibility, skill building, and career development are the things that employees told us are really important to them.
So, you know, that being said, we wanna pivot a little bit next and actually talk about how recognition is an important factor that elevates employees on both counts, so survive and thrive.
So, Daniel, would you mind taking us through the role that recognition can play in elevating employees' survive and thrive needs?
DANIEL: Absolutely.
Well, this was actually one of the most fascinating discoveries, I think, in our total rewards research. Now as a recognition company, O.C. Tanner has long understood both the value meaningful recognition brings to an organization's culture and the positive impact it has on the employee experience.
Yet when we situated recognition in the context of a total rewards program, we found that it functioned in different ways to meet different core needs.
So as we've discussed, our research highlights how employees who are surviving generally feel trapped and hopeless. They feel stuck, and their need for immediate security overrides any sense of future development or growth.
Now sometimes the need, as we've mentioned, is financial, but it can also be related to a need for voice or autonomy, to feel seen, valued, and heard. And for those employees, recognition can actually provide a degree of relief by reinforcing a sense of belonging in connection to teams, leaders, and the organization.
Now it won't magically move someone from survive to thrive, but it can improve their overall experience while other total reward solutions like compensation and health or well-being benefits are strategically aligned to make a more transformative impact.
Now on the other side of the equation, for those who are thriving, recognition actually amplifies their experience by validating their growth and development.
Now these individuals have their basic needS met, and they're focused on the future. They're moving on a positive trajectory. Recognition celebrates their work and encourages them onward for greater contributions and a stronger sense of personal success.
So let's take a moment now and and look at a few of the findings that came out of our research.
So first, for those employees who are just surviving, we see a substantial increase in key outcomes when integrated recognition is a part of the workplace experience.
CRISTEN: I mean, to me, that's pretty striking, Daniel, that, you know, integrated recognition has a positive impact even for low surviving employees.
DANIEL: Exactly. I mean, what was really fascinating to get of all the data and all the different variables that we, you know, factored into the analysis, aside from meeting basic compensation needs, only recognition had this kind of positive effect on low surviving employees and their experience.
Now, again, to be clear, recognition, no matter how meaningful, isn't a substitute for a livable wage or meeting some of those basic fundamental needs. But as previously mentioned, integrated recognition can provide a degree of relief while other total rewards offerings are leveraged to elevate an employee beyond just surviving.
Now when we look at the impact of integrated recognition on thriving employees, well, I mean, these numbers kinda speak for themselves.
We see a five times increased odds in the desire to stay two or more years with the current company. We see an eight times increased odds of belonging, ten times increased odds of fulfillment, eleven times increased odds of engagement, and a fifteen times increased odds of thrive feeling like you're thriving at work.
Now I guess the point that I hope we really drive home here with recognition, again, is that whether you're surviving or thriving, meaningful recognition can actually bridge the employee experience to meet those core needs. And, again, you know, on the survive side, it brings relief. On the thrive side, it really celebrates and amplifies those types of outcomes.
CRISTEN: Alright. Thanks, Daniel. So I think now we've kinda come to the part that the folks listening have probably been waiting for. Some more information about concrete recommendations.
So we have a few, recommendations for you all. I'm gonna go through them. Daniel, if you have anything to add while I'm going through these, don't be shy.
So the first big recommendation that we have is to make your total rewards a people centric program of care. You know, as we mentioned way back in the beginning, if you remember, you know, generative care was kind of the main themes arising out of our research this year.
So, you know, thinking about that, we advise to make the total rewards package a people centric program of care. Rather than offering a benefits buffet, be strategic in addressing employees' needs to survive and thrive.
You know, this is a really great strategy. Again, we're biased, but we think it's a really great strategy just because, you know, instead of kind of trying to guess what employees want, looking at it in terms of survive and thrive instead really kinda helps zero in on, okay, here are some strategies that can speak to fulfilling employees' needs and, you know, achieving our intended outcomes.
I was just gonna say, you know, when you keep people at the center of that strategy as opposed to trying to offer more benefits than the next guy or the next organization, you know, it's gonna be received better by employees, and it's gonna get, again, it's gonna get those outcomes that you're setting out to get.
DANIEL: Yeah. And sorry for interrupting. I was just gonna follow-up and say, I mean, one of the things that we heard, repeatedly, both in the qualitative and quantitative, as we talked to specifically HR professionals, a lot of the anxiety and the frustration around current total rewards offerings is, while we'd like to say that big picture they are thinking about their people, the concern actually comes back to HR leaders thinking, what is it that I'm missing? And it's this kind of endless chase to constantly fill this giant bucket, this big buffet, whatever metaphor you wanna use, with all these sorts of things to try to hold on to people.
And with just a little bit of a shift to instead think about what am I missing to what do my people need, you become more people centric. And, Cristen, as you mentioned, now you're automatically starting to think in a more strategic way specifically about meeting your people's needs.
CRISTEN: Exactly. You know, I like buffets as much as the next person, but if it's not a buffet that I want, then it's not gonna mean much to me.
So our second recommendation is prioritize meeting employees' basic needs for security.
You know, this is really key, and we've tried to communicate this through the presentation. Hopefully, we've been successful. But, you know, if you're out there listening and wondering, you're feeling like maybe you need a total rewards revamp, wondering where to start, our top recommendation is to prioritize meeting employees' immediate security needs. You know, when employees feel that they have what they need to survive, only then can they focus on thriving in the most meaningful way.
DANIEL: Absolutely. And one thing too, I know we've tried to reiterate over the course of this. We have highlighted a lot of key data when it comes to surviving, talking about that financial, that compensation component.
Again, we fully recognize that that's not a reality for all organizations.
But it is something that does, that can dramatically impact your employees' experience and really hold them back from getting into that space where they can thrive.
That said, again, finances are not the only component. That's why we really took pains to establish a model and look at all the different pieces that are there. So it's really critical to know your people, understand those needs, find what those survival needs are, and find ways that you can kind of help them navigate that.
CRISTEN: Right. Exactly.
And so that brings us to recommendation three, which is focus on cultivating strategies that support growth and development in order to promote employee thriving.
So as we saw throughout the presentation, you know, engagement really jumps when employees feel like they're thriving, which leads to more great work for the organization and employees just, in general, feeling better about what they're doing at work and the professional direction that they're moving in. You know, once employees get their basic needs taken care of, again, they're asking themselves what's next.
They're asking themselves, is my "what's next" something that I can fulfill at this organization, or is that something that I have to look at elsewhere?
So, you know, really focusing on the employees and, you know, growth offerings, it kinda encompasses all three of those key thriving total rewards characteristics that we pointed out. You know, do employees feel like they're able to grow with the organization or grow as an employee or not? That's what they're gonna be asking themselves once they get to that stage where they're really trying to figure out how am I thriving here.
DANIEL: And, you know, something else that we saw that we haven't really touched on here, but, this is especially important when you look at demographics generationally.
So when you're thinking about your Gen z employees, one of the big things that can either make or break their experience, whether they want to stay at an organization or move on elsewhere, is feeling like they've got that path for growth.
And if they, you know, once those basic survival needs are met, if opportunities for growth and development and skill building aren't present, or clearly communicated, that's a huge factor that drives them to another organization.
CRISTEN: Exactly.
And last but not least, the last recommendation that we have is, in order to maximize those feelings of security, make sure you recognize often.
You know, as we saw today, making recognition a regular practice helps amplify the impact of total rewards offerings that speak to employees' needs to survive and thrive.
You know, I know I personally like to know how I'm doing at work. If I feel like I've done something impactful, it's nice to receive some encouragement or recognition.
So, you know, recognition is just one way to give employees a little encouragement along the way as they grow and develop in their careers. Right? It's a way to kind of signal to employees, hey. You're on the right track. You're doing a great job. You're contributing to the organization or to your team or to this project, and it can really sort of kinda reaffirm for them that they're on the right track, that they can thrive here.
DANIEL: Well, thank you, Cristen. And okay. So have we given all of you enough to think about? Again, lots of information to process, but I think this is a really exciting topic and really a significant reframe to think about, how organizations look at their total rewards offerings and really, you know, like, refocus this in a more strategic way to help their people thrive.
Now what I would like to do, let's see when we take all this mountain of information and distill things down into a few key takeaways.
Alright. Well, first, you wanna make sure that your total reward program reflects genuine care for your people. Stop thinking about, again, what am I missing? And instead, think about, how can I strategically optimize the offerings I have to more effectively meet employees' needs for survive and thrive?
By focusing on employees' needs, you signal to your people that they are valued and cared for. And, again, I'd like to kind of draw attention to that, the idea of strategic optimization.
Chances are if you, you know, if you shift your thinking about total rewards to this approach of meeting employee needs for survive and thrive, you're probably gonna find that you've got more than enough in your offerings package to address those needs. It becomes a question of simply how do we take and realign these and optimize them in a strategic way to target those specific needs.
The next is total rewards offerings have to be relevant to be effective.
Again and this goes back, perfect example, to survive and thrive.
You might have benefit offerings in your total reward packages that focus on things like tuition reimbursement and things like career development and skill building, things that focus on long term growth and development.
But, again, if you've got an employee who's struggling just kind of to get through the week, those benefit offerings are not going to be relevant to them. And as a result, they're not gonna be effective in really impacting or changing their employee experience.
And then lastly, leverage recognition to bridge, survive and thrive. As Cristen so perfectly put, everybody likes to be recognized for the work that they do to feel like that their contributions are being recognized and acknowledged and appreciated.
And, again, recognition is one of those total rewards offerings that really bridges both the categories of survive and thrive, providing relief to those who are in survive and providing sort of that validation and encouragement for those in thrive.
Alright. Well look at that. We've made it through, and we have a few minutes left here for questions. So, Whitney, do we have any, questions, to for us to tackle?
MODERATOR: Yeah. We have one that says, the person has recognition high under leaders who believe in this, and there are leaders who don't believe in this till the projects are completely done. How do we change mindsets out of the executive level?
DANIEL: That's a great question.
So you've got, actually, you've got a few things going on in that question. First is, how do you change executive mindsets?
That is going to depend on the executive, that stakeholder, and that's gonna be kinda specific to your organization. Sometimes it's gonna be a matter of, what are the key outcomes that those executives are looking to measure and kind of kind of be validated, in terms of recognition. So is recognition helping improve engagement? Is it improving the great work they produce or, you know, sense of inclusion?
So if, I mean, in here, we're a bit biased, but we can say, very comfortably, if an executive is looking to kind of validate why somebody should have a recognition program and is it going to be meeting certain kinds of outcomes and needs, first place I would point them to is the Global Culture Report.
We're now, I think, in our eighth Global Culture Report. I've lost track. But if you would go back across, and all of these can be found online at the O.C. Tanner website, each Global Culture Report engages different topics each year around everything from leadership to engagement, team building, inclusion. And in each of those chapters, you will find data analysis that highlights the impact that recognition has.
So that's kind of part one. If you wanna kind of move the needle for your leader, you gotta find out what's most important to the leader.
Now the other thing that that kinda was sounded like it was suggested in there was, recognizing along the way versus recognizing at the end. Now, again, I think that's gonna depend on the culture of your organization.
But one thing that we're finding, and, Cristen, jump in, feel free to jump in here.
Recognition, the type of projects and work that companies and individuals are doing is becoming increasingly more complex. The dynamics are changing.
So, you know, the objectives that you might initially set out to accomplish might change and alter over time. So using recognition as sort of a way to encourage and validate effort along the way is a powerful tool to build team cohesion, a sense of connection to leaders, and to organizational purposes.
So, again, it's going to vary depending on your organization. But if you've got long term projects, recognition is a great way to really improve employee experience along that way.
CRISTEN: Yeah. I would agree, Daniel. I mean, I don't really have anything different to add, but like Daniel said, you know, we we do have some data around the impact of recognition on, you know, for those longer term projects, kinda along the way versus at the end. And along the way definitely, makes a difference.
Again, it kinda helps employees feel like, okay. We're on the right track. Things are going well. You know, kinda gives them a little benchmark for or, a signpost for how things are going, what they should do next.
And then to kinda answer the first question too, again, really what Daniel said already, but I think that ROI is important, you know, if you're gonna make a pitch to leaders.
So, you know, if you have access to your own data, you could try to wrangle that. But if not, you know, across multiple years and even in just this most recent culture report, we have a lot of data on, you know, the specific impact that recognition has on employee outcomes. So, yeah, I would say, you know, for when I think about, how do we essentially make an argument or make a case for this to the leader level, I think ROI, whatever that means at your organization, is important to speak to.
DANIEL: And I think one of the beauties of the Global Culture Report and one thing, we very consciously, we take a mixed method approach to the data and the research.
Specifically, data points and analytics are great. They're powerful. We've got an accomplished team of experts and PhDs that that really dedicate I mean, each Global Culture Report is the result of of roughly nine to ten months worth of work. So there's a lot of solid empirically validated data there.
But in addition to that, we also do a lot of qualitative research as well. So we recognize that the story is just as important as the data. So, you know, if depending on, what is going to move your audience and your stakeholder, there are, you know, there's lots of data points, but there are also a lot of case studies and focus group stories and quotes, to really give a holistic picture of the impact of recognition.
MODERATOR: Okay. Another question is, what are your thoughts on total reward statements to send to employees? Should we try to stay away from adding a dollar amount to a particular benefit, or should we just highlight specific rewards that are available to them? For example, if we spend twenty dollars on a gym membership, should we be adding that twenty dollars in the statement? I feel like employees see that as look how much we do for you rather than its intended purpose.
CRISTEN: I mean, to be honest, we did some research on that question, and we did find that employees sometimes can have a negative reaction to the dollar amounts.
But that being said, I do think that part of it and I think, hopefully, this doesn't sound like a cop out. I do think it kind of varies. You know? In some places, that maybe goes over better than it does other places.
But I do think what's important is kinda getting to that core question of, do employees feel like the intent behind the statement is more altruistic, or do they feel like, are they reading it as, like you mentioned, oh, the organization is just trying to tell me why I should be grateful to work here or why, you know, how much they're doing for me. Right?
And, so it's interesting because what we found is that, you know, for in our research, folks who maybe are in HR or who, you know, work on the teams that are doing, are putting together these statements, the intent that they have behind it is not to show off, you know, "here's what the organization's doing for you. You should be grateful."
But sometimes that is the way it's received. So I do think, you know, this is a place where communication and just the culture of the organization really makes a difference.
You know, when in doubt, I would say just ask employees themselves what they think. But, yeah, it really I mean, that is what we found in our research is that it can it can come off negatively, but it is also contextual, if that makes sense.
DANIEL: Yeah. We, to that point I mean, I think specifically of, there was a particular group that, we were, we had a focus group.
And it just happened that a few of the participants worked in technical fields in engineering and, you know, IT. And they were much more, when they thought about total rewards, they wanted to know dollars and cents. I wanna see a spreadsheet. I wanna know see all of this here, here, and here. And as far as all the sort of narrative context that was, that went into the total reward statement, they didn't even read that. They just want to see that spreadsheet.
Now conversely, you know, you had people that worked in education or in health care and, you know, they had a completely different reaction. So to Cristen's point, it's very contextual. You have to know your people, what do they value, and what's gonna resonate with them.
And, again, as much as possible, and and this is where I would, again, totally back, Cristen, get to know your people and ask them. Focus groups are a great way to kind of get at, you know, how does this statement come across? How does this message come across?
Now the other thing I'd say, stepping all the way back, if you start to take a look at your total reward statement through the lens that we're trying to encourage here of the needs to survive and thrive, Now it all sudden changes the narrative from here are all the things, here's the endless list of things that we offer, and here we can show you the list of them, to, we wanna be here to help meet your needs, first to survive and then thrive. And how do we categorize these these to better represent our investment in you? So that's I think that's a helpful, you know, kind of addition to it. But at the end of the day, yeah, it's gonna be contextual. You wanna know your people.
CRISTEN: Yep. And as a bonus, you know, if you ask people what they think and actually make changes based on that feedback, employees really like that.
DANIEL: Absolutely. Alright. Well, I think we are just about out of time. Thank you for the great questions.
For additional insights and a deeper dive into the research, please feel free to download the entire Global Culture Report at octanner.com
