Frequently Asked Questions
Below you’ll find answers to many of the most common questions we hear about total rewards statements and RewardsFocus. To receive sample statements, or to schedule a call to speak about your organization’s specific requirements, contact us today.
A total rewards statement – also known as a total compensation statement – is a personalized employee communication that shows the full value of an employee’s compensation and benefits.
In addition to salary or wages, a total rewards statement should include bonuses, employer retirement contributions, health insurance, paid time off, insurance benefits and other employer-provided programs.
By bringing this information together in one clear communication, employers can help employees better understand the total value of what they receive from their organization.
Total rewards statements should provide clear information to employees about the full range of benefits and compensation provided by the employer. We provide a detailed guide here.
Employees too often focus primarily on their paycheck when thinking about compensation. As a result, a significant portion of an employer’s investment in benefits can go unnoticed or undervalued.
A well-designed total rewards statement brings those programs together and helps employees see the complete picture.
Employers use total rewards statements to support goals including employee education, engagement, retention, recruitment and greater appreciation of the organization’s investment in its workforce.
Employees are more likely to value compensation and benefits when they understand them.
Total rewards statements make employer investments more visible by showing employees how salary, benefits, retirement contributions, paid time off and other programs fit together. Educated, informed employees tend to be more motivated and engaged employees.
Some organizations successfully create total rewards statements internally, particularly when their requirements are simple and they have the necessary design, data and communications resources.
A specialized provider can be valuable when an organization needs to combine information from multiple systems, create personalized statements for a large employee population, develop customized messaging and design, or manage printing and distribution.
Using a specialist also allows internal HR teams to focus on strategy while the vendor manages the detailed production process.
While many HRIS and payroll systems do generate individual summaries for employees, there are important differences.
HRIS and payroll systems are excellent tools for storing and displaying employee data. But providing access to information is not always the same as communicating it effectively.
RewardsFocus can complement an existing HRIS by transforming compensation and benefits data into a focused, easy-to-understand employee communication.
For employers that want something more customized, visually engaging or narrative-driven than a standard system-generated document, working with a total rewards communications specialist can provide additional value.
Yes.
RewardsFocus is designed to work alongside existing HR, payroll and benefits systems rather than replace them.
Employee data can come from one system or multiple sources. RewardsFocus helps organize and combine the necessary information to create individualized employee statements.
This can be particularly useful for organizations whose compensation and benefits information is spread across payroll, HRIS, retirement, benefits administration and other systems.
Both formats have their advantages (which is why RewardsFocus provides both printed and digital statements).
Digital statements allow for convenient, online access. A digital statement can be viewed on a computer, tablet or phone. Digital delivery also saves money on printing and postage.
But printed statements have their place as well.
Printed statements can stand out in an increasingly crowded digital communications environment. Unlike another email, portal notification or online document, a printed statement can signal that the information it contains is important and worth the reader’s time. In addition, a printed statement can be reviewed away from a screen and may be easier to share with family members or others who are involved in benefits or financial decisions.
The right format depends on the workforce, communication goals and organizational culture. Some employers choose one format, while others use a combination of print and digital communications.
We work with employers of all sizes, but most of our clients have between 500 and 5,000 employees.
We strive to be as flexible as possible when it comes to submitting data. Most clients submit between four and eight separate files per project.
No. Our goal is to minimize the amount of work clients need to do to format their data. We do not require clients to adhere to rigid data formatting requirements.
Yes.
We don’t take your data and “mail merge” it – we pay attention to what the data files look like. We review every file and alert you if we discover inconsistencies that may reveal potential data errors. While clients are ultimately responsible for the accuracy of employee data, we work collaboratively with clients to help ensure accuracy.
No. We don’t configure; we customize. We customize the look-and-feel as well as the content of the statement for your organization.
On average, a new client project takes anywhere from 6 to 10 weeks. Statements for returning clients usually take 4 to 8 weeks.
RewardsFocus works with employers across industry sectors; our clients include healthcare organizations, manufacturers, energy companies, construction firms, banks and many others. The common denominator among our clients is that they all understand that communicating to employees about their total compensation is key to maximizing the return on the investment being made in compensation and benefits.
Yes. Whether your benefits vary between groups of employees, your retirement plan is particularly complicated, or you provide an ESOP plan, we’ve pretty much seen it all.
Total rewards statements are relevant any time of year. While most of our clients prefer to send statements in the first quarter of the year in order to present employees with information for the previous calendar year, each employer is different.