Controlling the cost of employee reward programs — especially pay and benefits — while ensuring rewards foster the right behaviors are two crucial, yet sometimes conflicting, goals. To achieve both, more and more employers are putting the “total” in the design and delivery of their reward programs.

Why “total”? Because it’s the only way to accurately “size” both the aggregate investment and the value gained from how that investment is allocated. You need to understand employee needs and wants across all of your programs. You need clarity about strategic business goals, and you need the employee skills and behaviors required to meet them.

The total rewards approach yields clear answers to questions like: How much do we need to invest? How should we allocate those monies across our various programs and workforce segments? Does our total rewards program attract and engage the talent we need at every level of our business? What are the risks of cutbacks in critical areas? What are the advantages of enhancements in others?

Key questions to consider:

• Are the design and delivery of rewards aligned with your organization’s strategic goals?
• Have you “sized” your total rewards spend, factoring in the full array of monetary and nonmonetary investments in the workforce?
• Do you understand what employees really value and are you allocating your investments in ways that reflect that perspective?
• Is the reward program mix fostering crucial employee behaviors and driving desired levels of performance?
• Do you know how changes to reward programs will affect employee behavior?
• Does the program in total deliver the appropriate value for cost?