7RWM Reward Management

Description of the module

The reward management module provides an insight on how the HR professionals in the organisations should develop a rewarding environment that is in line with the organisational objectives. The unit helps the HR experts develop the right rewarding strategies and policies that are significant in maintaining the employees working in an organisation. In this perspective, the learners taking the unit are expected to gain knowledge on the industrial and market trends influencing the decision making process on matters related to rewarding of the employees. The students in learning the unit will get to learn about the following topics, which are considered to be very important in creating an understanding of the reward management module.

Tools for analysing reward policies in organisations

The SWOT and PESTLE analysis tolls help examine the internal and external factors impacting the decisions made in the organisation regarding how the employees should be compensated. These tools ate the basis to which external factors are identified, from the external analysis of the market and the industry where the organisation is positioned. As a result, HR professionals get to identify the trends and thus develop the right policies in determining the rewarding strategies to be implemented. Students should learn to effectively use the analysis tools in order to identify factors that impact the decisions made in developing reward strategies for the organisation. The students should learn to relate the identified factors to the cases within the organisation to enhance good decision making in regards to rewards.

Reward intelligence

Reward intelligence is the information obtained by the HR professional on matters relating to rewards. In order to gather reward intelligence, HR students should learn that surveys, market intelligence, and advertisements from other businesses are some of the main ways that the information should be gathered. These are considered to be drivers of reward intelligence that help professionals make decisions regarding pay, compensation, and benefits to be given to the employees (CIPD,  2015).

Principles of total rewards

Students taking the unit get to learn about the value of the employees who work in an organisation, and they do this by evaluating the culture of the organisation, and the development of the right reward strategies that will benefit the employees as individuals, while working in teams, and the organisation as well. Total rewards ensure that the employees are given both financial and non-financial compensations. In addition, the issue of workforce preference is highly considered in getting to determine the reward programs should be given to the employees. There is also the issue of pay for performance, where the employees are rewarded based on how they perform. In this perspective, it is important for the students to learn how they should be able to decide on the right total reward packages to be given to the employees. This should be influenced by the type of the organisation, and the types of reward strategies developed in the organisation (Ekwochi, Eneh, and Orga, 2017).

Fairness, equity, consistency, and transparency in rewards

Students talking this course should learn that their roles as HR professionals are to ensure that they develop policies that enhance fairness and equity in rewarding the employees. According to Armstrong (2009), being fair consistent and transparent help the HR professionals identify with the most important pillars of reward management. This is important as it helps in reinforcement of organisational values to the employees and the other organisational stakeholders as well. In this perspective, it important to relate with the reward objectives in the organisation, to ensure that the students learn on how to make every employee feel appreciated and effectively compensated for the work they do in the organisation. Organisations that promote fairness, equality, consistency, and transparency in how they compensate and reward their employees get to relate with high levels of satisfaction and morale for the employees, which then translate to good employee performance.

As organisations and HR experts on promoting fairness and transparency, students taking this course should be ready to learn the differences in intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. Intrinsic rewards are internal to an individual, in that they provide personal fulfilment and enjoyment. Extrinsic rewards are external from an individual; and are provided by the employers. Both are considered to be forms of motivation to the employees. The unit does help the students learn the rights of the employees, and therefore they also get to know their rights when it comes to them being rewarded in their places of work.

Contribution of line managers to reward decision making

The line managers have the obligation to ensure that they influence the decisions made by the HR professionals on what and how to pay the employees. This is important because the line managers are the people who work directly with the employees, and have knowledge of the input that the employees make to the organisation. This is applicable more in rewards related to performance, where the line managers take responsibility in measuring the performance of the employees. There should be power given to the line managers in getting to evaluate the most important decisions regarding the compensation of the employees. With the influence of the line managers, organisations get to identify the right compensation packages that help improve the rate of employee satisfaction. Thus, the students taking this course should be keen to learn that the power and influence to make decisions regarding pay and benefits to the employees should not only be given to the HR experts, but to also the line managers who work directly with the employees.

Learning outcomes

By completing this course, learners should;

• Be able to understand the context of reward management by understanding the various issues influencing reward decisions in the business
• Have an understanding of how to use reward intelligence to develop reward principles and policies to be used within the organisation
• Understand the concepts of fairness, equity, consistency, and transparency in regards to rewarding employees in the business
• Be able to explain the reward policy initiatives and how they are implemented within the organisation
• Understand the contribution of line managers in reward decision making

Winding-up

The reward management unit is for the individuals willing to grow and develop their HR career. The unit provides information effective in helping the individuals come up with the right strategies and policies needed in enhancing decision making process with regard to how they should reward employees in the organisation. By completing the unit, the students will have developed knowledge and more skills that would help them take the right actions and decisions regarding reward management options. It is a unit that helps determine the interactions between the HR and the organisation line managers in getting to evaluate the role of each within the wider organisational context. .

References:

Armstrong, M., 2009 Armstrong’s handbook of performance management: An evidence-based guide to delivering high performance. Kogan Page Publishers.

CIPD (2015), Reward management, retrieved from https://www.cipd.co.uk/Images/reward-management_2014-15_tcm18-11382.pdf

Ekwochi, E.A., Eneh, E.O. and Orga, J.I., 2017. Impacts of reward management on employee’s motivation in organizations. Journal of Research in Science and Technology Education, 7(1).