The future of reward in social housing

Lianne Capon and Rachel Crafts

twentysix consulting

Hello, we’re twentysix consulting

We’re reward experts and pay consultants. We’re also

experts in the social housing sector. And our clients tell us

we’re the kind of consultants they like working with (and

we’re really proud of that).

If we weren’t here today we’d be:

oPay benchmarking

oCreating new reward strategies and pay structures

oDesigning bonus systems

oDoing Equal Pay Audits

oInvesting time in research, new thinking and making

sure we continue to have the sector’s biggest pay

database

Slow economy, fast changing sector

The economy has been slow and the social housing

sector is changing fast. Is your organisation ready to

adapt to new environments and realities?

The economy is only just coming out of the woods -

businesses haven’t been investing in employees and

employees have been staying put because they’ve been

afraid to rock the boat.

Many housing associations are navigating unchartered

territory - is your approach to reward fit for the journey?

What are the risks if your approach to reward doesn’t

change and adapt to new realities?

Title

How is the sector changing?

What does this mean for your reward strategy?

o Having to compete in a range of different markets at

the same time

o Having to compete, side-by-side, against

organisations that will think and act differently

o Having to attract, retain and engage different staff,

who may have different expectations and

experiences

o Bringing more ‘traditional’ staff base on the journey

Changes in the sector present a number of different

challenges for your reward strategy. These include:

How are HA’s reacting?

o Dismantling of incremental and traditional graded

pay structures

o Greater alignment with the market

o More holistic view of reward/increased focus on

wider reward package

How are HA’s reacting to the changing landscape?

Is it possible to be too market focussed?

o Risk of letting the market manage you, rather than

you managing the market

o Can be difficult to balance internal relativities and

external market

o Need to recognise importance of who you are, what

you stand for and why people should want to work

for you (i.e. your deal, values, brand, ‘soul’)

o How do you reward and recognise people?

Many organisations are looking to achieve much closer

affinity between their reward framework and the market.

But can you be too market focussed?

What does the future of reward look like?

o Adapting reward strategies to appeal to ‘Gen Y’

o Need for more agile pay systems that enable

organisations to adapt to change and compete in

different ways in different markets

o Reward system will be a key lever to manage talent

o Increased focus on variable pay (bonuses)

o Benefits that are attractive and valuable (whilst

reducing cost and wastage) – creating attractive but

cost effective reward propositions

o Greater focus on brand and communicating the value

of your reward proposition (making sure you stand

out as an employer)

Adapting to ‘Gen Y’

Increase in number of Gen Y employees in the

workplace. Brings with it a shift in attitude and a new set of

demands and expectations, which has implications for your

reward strategy. What does research tell us about Gen Y

employees?

o More proactive - need more frequent communication

and feedback (waiting for the end of the year to

discuss performance is demotivating – prefer regular

feedback and recognition that takes place on more

social platforms)

o Place high value on flexible working and sabbaticals

(that you don’t have to wait 10 years for)

o Personal development and education (that is not

directly relevant to role) are important

o Value corporate social responsibility and

volunteering opportunities

Fear of using reward as a talent management tool

o Key trend has been targeting limited resources at key

talent

o Not the same as traditional PRP

o Proactive and agile, rather than static annual

appraisal process

o Understand that judgement is not a dirty word

o Management development/training is key

Typically, HA’s have been cautious about using reward

to manage talent. Change will depend on how willing

organisations are to throw things up in the air and think

about what they can do to really engage with employees on

‘the deal’.

Under-use of whole reward package

o Benefits remain largely traditional within housing

association sector

o Lack of strategic analysis of current and future

demographics to target benefits

o Importance of cost benefit analysis

o Important to get communication right

We expect there to be much more focus on the whole

package. Making sure that your benefits are attractive and

valuable to the people in your organisation (whilst reducing

cost and wastage) is key.

Key findings from our latest research

o Holidays

o Pension

o Flexibility

o Health and wellbeing

o Discounts and voluntary benefits

o GREAT PLACE TO WORK!

We’ve just done the first major survey on benefits in the

social housing sector. What did this tell us about what

benefits organisations are offering and how to stand out as

an employer in an increasingly competitive market.

Getting bang for your reward programme buck

It’s a time for forward thinking, being bold and making

sure you get bang for your reward programme buck. It’s

about getting your ‘deal’ right and communicating that deal

in the right way. What’s your deal?