Compensation practices have been the foundation of attracting and retaining best-in-class talent. While executive compensation structure has been a primary lever of fostering high-performance culture across organizations, focusing on the care and holistic well-being of employees through new age policies and benefits is essential in today’s world. Some of the most sought-after benefits today are:
Wealth Creation Opportunity
Stock option schemes look beyond ordinary savings into a world of wealth creation – Their main objective is to become the financial bedrock of an employee’s major life events such as children’s education, marriage, and sustained quality of life post-retirement.
The best stock-option schemes are market-benchmarked and serve as a lucrative long-term incentive to reward employees in key & critical roles. The performance parameters are holistic, accounting for both company and sustained individual performance, while aligning with the larger rewards policy of the company.
“At Vedanta, in the last year, we took the market-leading step to reward ALL our fresher hires under this scheme.”
The future is “Flexible”
Flexible benefits have allowed employers today to design tailor-made solutions for every employee based on their life-stage thus attracting and retaining top talent. Flexi-benefit schemes must be provided across the entire gamut of requirements in today’s world, whether it be Travel & Commute, Boarding, Lodging & Dining or Access to the best technology in the market. Such benefits are an opportunity for an employee to optimize their lifestyles as per their needs while reaping the tax benefits associated with such programs.
Build a robust retirement Corpus – Security with Flexibility
Securing the financial future of employees has been the driving factor in transforming companies into globally acclaimed forward-looking institutions.
In line with this philosophy, employers provide benefits like the National Pension Scheme (NPS) and Superannuation funds for employees. Flexibility in the fund-allocation of these instruments has allowed employees to follow a goal-based approach toward retirement planning.
Transitioning to “Green”
Every major corporate decision today takes into account the impact on ESG. This has also been reflected in today’s young & dynamic workforce who identify with being environmentally and socially aware citizens. This is visible in their conscious transition towards greener choices in their daily lives. Today’s employee benefits must align with this vision to stay relevant & future-proof.
It must translate into benefits that incentivize green & socially responsible behaviors. One example is tweaking the traditional Company Car Policies to fit this vision. Multiple studies have shown that road-based transportation is responsible for nearly 12% of Global GHG emissions. Can organizations incentivize their employees to make the transition to greener modes of travel? This would go a long way both in saving our planet and echoing the sentiments of today’s young workforce.
“At Vedanta, our vision is to ensure 100% of our LMVs are decarbonized by 2030. Last year, we announced a radical change to our company car policy impacting ALL our employees – we became the first major Indian corporate house to have a comprehensive Electric Vehicle (EV) Policy.”
Benefits for Contractual Workforce
While full-time employees are the backbones of value-creation in any company, the contractual workforce is the pillar of execution and last-mile delivery. In many companies, contractual employees make up a majority of the on-ground workforce. Catering to their wellbeing is therefore critical for success.
“At Vedanta, our business partners are covered under robust production-linked incentive policies. These ensure healthy and equitable profit-sharing among our business partners, year-on-year. Business Partners and their families are protected by comprehensive social security policies in times of accidents.”
Going Beyond Benefits – Disruptive Incentives for Performance Delivery
While benefits keep the workforce contented and secure, the most important thing that organizations must keep in mind is to foster a culture that truly recognizes & rewards employees. Managers must go beyond the traditional approach of evaluating performance once a year, or once a quarter, and move towards continuous evaluation and instant recognition.
High potential talent, irrespective of age, experience, or gender must be instantaneously recognized for transforming business through AI, Digital, and Technology. The focus must be on creating meritocratic organizations, that reward Disruption, Performance Delivery and Technological know-how.
A common theme across every successful company I have seen is a focus on three following pillars: (i) The triple bottom line (People, Planet & Profit), (ii) Uncompromised Quality of Life; & (iii) Business Partner productivity & wellbeing. Staying true to these pillars has allowed the best organizations in the world to stand the test of time while spearheading economic growth and human development.
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