Line Managers and Reward – What Makes their Role Important?

The role of line managers is becoming increasingly important in influencing employee satisfaction in the workplace and this has been borne out by CIPD research. This may not be surprising given their key role in people management practices. However, when it comes to reward, line managers are seen as the major inhibitor to successful implementation of a reward strategy (CIPD Reward Management Survey 2006). The survey indicates that managers are given little discretion on pay and benefits, yet they are often expected to implement the policies they have not been party to. So what are the challenges they face?

According to a recent study by the CIPD entitled ‘Rewarding work – the vital role of line managers’ these challenges range from differentiating performance which impacts the reward an individual receives, to navigating forced distribution systems. While designing reward systems is often done without line manager input, it makes sense to involve those who will ultimately be responsible for making the practices successful. Read the Tips section to find out how to get your line managers involved in reward.

How Do You Get Line Mangers Involved in Reward?

Raise awareness. Help your managers understand the role of reward in delivering good people management practices with their teams. Ensure your managers are clear on the relationship between reward and business goals, and the impact on their teams.

Involve managers in the design. As reward practices exist to recruit, retain and motivate employees, it makes sense to involve your managers in the design. Involve your managers early on to increase your success when it comes to implementation.

Establish tools and training. Provide your line managers with access to the tools they need to help them manage practices, from merit based pay to rewarding good performance. Supplement the tools with training to support managers in exercising good judgement and consistency.

Make communications a priority. Why? Good communications may be the single most important factor in achieving successful implementation. Involve your managers at the outset to increase their ‘buy-in’ and ensure two-way feedback processes are in place.

Support managers. The credibility of reward relies on line managers being seen as fair and consistent in reward practices. Offer support to help your managers make sound judgements that are aligned to your business goals and organisational culture.

Assess the impact. Assess and measure the progress of reward management practices through mechanisms such as peer reviews and employee satisfaction surveys. Consider linking results into your line managers’ performance management goals where appropriate.

Follow these tips and involve your line managers at all the stages of designing and implementing reward strategies within your organisation and they will reap the benefits of that strategy, both individually and with their teams.

Please note that this advice is provided as guidance only. If you need help with involving your line managers and improving your reward strategy, please contact Reward First on + 44 (0) 1367 710 618 or by emailing sylvia@reward-first.com.

Website of the Month

This month’s recommended website is the ‘Total Rewards’ toolkit that is part of the Cabinet Office’s remit to drive workforce reform in the public sector. Based on the Hay Group’s ‘Engaged Performance Model’, the toolkit places a strong focus on involving employees and factoring communications as an integral part of the process.

This website is unusual in offering high quality information that is relevant across business sectors free of charge. Above all, the content is practical, covering topics such as Priorities for Action and Focus Groups in sufficient depth for implementation purposes. Take five minutes to browse this website – it is worth it.

Just News

Reward strategy tops the 2007 agenda yet line managers are still an inhibitor. According to the 2007 CIPD Reward Management Survey, adopting a reward strategy comes top of the agenda this year. The survey, which covers reward and HR practitioners in 466 organisations and almost one million employees, shows that only 35% currently have a formal reward strategy. The main reason for having a reward strategy is to support business goals yet 91% experienced difficulties in implementation.

The 2006 and 2007 surveys say that line manager skills, abilities and attitudes are given as one of the key inhibitors to implementation, yet recent research by the CIPD, ‘rewarding work – the vital role of line managers’ indicates that HR does not involve managers in the design of the practices they need to implement.

India tops the highest salary increases in Asia Pacific. Pay rises in India topped the league of salary growth for 2006 reaching 14.4%, the highest in the region according to Hewitt Associates. This was ahead of China at 8.2% and Japan at 2.7%, which is the lowest in the region. Published this month, the survey of 600 foreign and locally owned companies at various job levels showed India’s double digit growth continuing for the forth year in a row. Insurance was the highest salary growth sector lead at 17% just ahead of banking and financial services. The job levels with the highest increases are professional, supervisory and technical for the seventh year in a row.

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