New IRF study about motivating employees

US businesses make significant investments in their total rewards packages, which include base compensation, variable compensation, benefits, and non-cash rewards and recognition. Driving Growth Through Total Rewards, a new study produced jointly by the IRF and Insperity, examines how top performing companies design and manage total rewards packages to maximize employee performance.

“The IRF has an extensive selection of research examining the effectiveness of non-cash rewards. Driving Growth Through Total Rewards enables us to look at these non-cash rewards in a broader context,” said Stephanie Harris, IRF president. “The insights presented in this study will help HR and incentive professionals alike deliver impactful and meaningful outcomes from their use of rewards.”

Driving Growth Through Total Rewards explores organizational performance, culture and talent strategy, key outcomes driven by individual components of total rewards, and communication. The study then provides industry-specific analysis for professional services, health, retail, finance, technology, and manufacturing industries. Key insights include:

• Top performing companies use base compensation to recruit and retain the best talent. Benefits like paid time off, health insurance, and wellbeing are also key to retention.
• Non-cash rewards and recognition help to reinforce the behaviors that drive the business forward.
• Top performing companies provide more frequent communication about the total rewards available to employees during recruiting, onboarding, and during annual reviews.
• Gift cards and incentive travel are used more frequently by top performing companies.
• Top performing companies tend to reward fewer employees with non-cash rewards, but the average per-employee spend is higher than standard performing companies.
• To ensure non-cash rewards are directed towards key business outcomes, top performing companies allow each department to determine the budget spending for non-cash rewards and recognition.

To download the full study and white paper, visit the Driving Growth Through Total Rewards webpage.