Rewarding Tips for the ASR

Plan carefully and communicate …

For the majority of staff, the ASR is the most important communication they get all year. It’s definitely not the time for springing surprises. Managing the ASR process well, and explaining your decisions clearly, will create value for your organisation.

Manage expectations

This is more important than ever when there’s not a lot of cash around. So as well as paying careful attention to how you communicate the ASR itself, it’s important to communicate effectively all year round, so staff know how the business is doing and don’t have unrealistic expectations when the ASR comes around.

Use reliable and up-to-date market data

Ideally you should use at least two sources of salary survey pay data e.g. participant only surveys, and even consider three sources in certain cases. Be cautious about “one-off” or free data sources since these are likely to be less reliable than other options. Review sources annually to ensure that they are ‘fit for purpose’ and stand up to scrutiny.

Pay the ‘right’ amount

You don’t need to join the ranks of the highest payers in your industry in order to be paying the right amount for the job. On the other hand, paying below the market rate will probably not work for many industry sectors. Taking time to work out what is the ‘right amount’ to be paying your staff – especially in the current climate – will help you retain them when things improve.

Review the process

Tempting as it is to breathe a sigh of relief when the process is over and move swiftly on, it’s important to take time to review how the ASR went, what went well, what could be done better – and to take account of any new regulatory, economic, political or social changes that may have implications for future pay reviews.

Stay informed

The CIPD websitehas lots of useful resources to help you with the ASR, including blog posts on reward issues – like this one and research into employee pay attitudes and expectations. And do get in touch if we can help you with any aspect of your ASR.