Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)
We have created a compilation of commonly asked questions along with their respective answers to address common queries and help individuals find solutions or information without having to contact customer support or browse through extensive documentation.
Total Rewards FAQ
Question: What is Total Rewards?
Answer: Total rewards is the combination of benefits, compensation and rewards that employees receive from their organizations. This can include wages and bonuses as well as recognition, workplace flexibility, career opportunities and more. Put simply, it is all things employers invest in that have value to employees.
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Question: What are the key factors to consider when developing or updating your compensation philosophy?
Answer: Think of it as a set of commitments, or promises, to your employees. It provides a way for them to understand what they can expect from the company regarding compensation:
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Is my pay competitive to similar roles in the labor market?
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How often will my pay be reviewed?
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What data, processes, and structures are used by my company to ensure equitable and competitive pay?
This framework will help in articulating a more complete and transparent philosophy.
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Question: How do you ensure the reliability and validity of your market pricing data?
Answer: Correctly match your jobs to market descriptions. Period! It might seem easier to match by job title only. Don’t fall into this trap.
Many times, companies have unique. or ill defined, job titles that would lead to apples-to-oranges comparisons, providing little value (Retune On Investment) to the benchmarking process. Spend the time to properly match your jobs based on job content.
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Question: What are the key data points to consider when benchmarking your compensation versus the competitive market?
Answer: Regardless of your source(s), market data is a representation of market competitive rates that needs to be translated. It’s a sample and a snapshot in time. A common mistake is to use the market data as-is, without carefully considering how the market data fits within the existing/new Job and Salary Framework, not to mention the Total Rewards Strategy as a whole.
Question: Is market data critical to an effective comp strategy?
Answer: Absolutely! But it’s inherently flawed and needs to be analyzed and understood. Carefully review and adjust the data in the context of the labor market(s) you are recruiting from, the size of your company, (headcount, revenue and market cap), the quality of the data set itself, established job families, career paths, promotion and merit practices, internal equity, etc..
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Question: How do you handle gaps in the market data outliers for specialized or hot jobs?
Answer: This is where understanding the internal economic value of jobs will come in handy. With the development of hot jobs and highly specialized jobs, it’s likely that there will be gaps in the competitive market data.
A job worth hierarchy provides a framework of where each job fits relative to all other jobs and enables you to approximate a job’s value based on the jobs above and below it in the hierarchy and provides the ability to "slot the job" in the appropriate place.
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Question: What Are Employee Benefits?
Answer: Employee benefits include perks, incentives, and value added services that employers offer their employees in addition to regular pay. In short, they provide a market competitive package to help attract and retain talented employees, enhance career satisfaction, and promote overall well-being.
Employee benefits can vary depending on the Total Rewards and Benefits philosophy for your organization and industry, but some common examples include:
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Health Insurance (Medical, Dental, Vision)
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Retirement Plans
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Paid Time Off (PTO)
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Disability Insurance
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Life Insurance
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Flexible Working Hours
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Childcare Assistance
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Employee Assistance Programs (EAP)
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Education and Training
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Employee Discounts
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Question: Is it important to offer flexible work arrangements and/or remote work options?
Answer: Flexible work arrangements and remote work options have become increasingly popular in today’s workforce. However, these programs have also seen a fair amount of controversy. One needs to weigh the benefit of work-life balance with the need for one-on-one interactions relative to the companies culture and needs.
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Question: How much should we be contributing (or investing) to our health insurance plans?
Answer: Health insurance premiums can significantly impact your your overall operating budget. Different health plans offer varying levels of coverages and costs, deductibles, co-payments, and out-of-pocket expenses to employees, hence varying costs to the company. When you consider additional benefits like dental or vision insurance, flexible spending accounts (FSAs), or health savings accounts (HSAs), costs can be even greater and have greater variability. Understanding health plan design (i.e. cost shares, stop loss coverages, etc.) enables you to evaluate the affordability of the available plans and the level of protection plan participants will receive for medical expenses.
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Question: What should our policy regarding paid time off (PTO) and holidays be?
Answer: Allowing for regular breaks and time off from work for your employees allows them to maintain their physical and mental well-being. It’s important to communicate the amount of time off your can expect and any restrictions or limitations of all leave types (i.e. Vacation, Holidays, Parental, Bereavement, etc.). It is also important to take a holistic approach when designing time off and leave types to set clear expectations of policy and administration. Regulations and requirements regarding leave types can vary significantly from one jurisdiction to another. Employment laws and regulations are typically shaped by the legal and cultural context of a particular region. Some of leave types may be compulsory in certain jurisdictions but optional in others:
Learning and Development FAQ
Question: What is Learning and Development?
Answer: Learning and development (L&D) is a function that is a catalyst for employee growth and developing their knowledge, skills, and capabilities to drive better business performance.
The term, learning and development, encompasses any professional development a business provides to its employees. It is referred to as training and development, learning and performance, or talent development (TD).
Some examples of initiatives a learning and development program might provide:
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Onboarding and new hire programs
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Career development
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Ongoing training
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Corporate universities
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Leadership development programs
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Skills training
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Talent strategy and management
Question: How do I know if I have the right L&D Strategy?
Answer: Learning and development strategies do share some similarities, but will differ based on the unique needs of an organization. A L&D strategy should be aligned to the organization’s business strategy and goals with the aim of driving positive business results.
Question: What are the steps and/or key objectives in a good L&D Strategy?
Answer: A well thought out design would focus on closing knowledge gaps, enhancing performance, adapting to the changing needs of the organization and develop the workforce’s capability.
The process steps and key objectives would be:
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Mission: Establish a mission statement to guide decision making. This statement defines the importance of learning and development and why the organization is investing in L&D programs.
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Vision: This is an aspirational declaration of where you want to go. As with your mission statement, ensure your L&D Strategy is aligned to your organization’s vision.
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Assess the Business Landscape: Conduct a strategic needs analysis in the organization to identify key focus areas, skills gaps, how digital transformation is impacting business practices, and perceived needs from senior leaders, mid level managers, and employees themselves.
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Assess your Learning Capabilities: Discover what skills you have on your team and those you need to accomplish your goals.
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Identify Processes to Add or Modify: Find out what you need to add or modify to existing processes (such as design standards, content strategy, development guidelines, etc.) to align with your strategy.
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Inventory Your Tools and Systems: Ensure your employees have the proper technology and tools they need to deliver your learning solutions. There are many different tools to assess in the market place.
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Examine Your Employee Engagement Programs: Consider the role L&D plays in overall employee engagement by examining recruiting and onboarding programs, career pathing, and employee feedback.
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Promote Lifelong Learning: Facilitate continuous learning for your employees. Identify opportunities for programs to develop personal skills and lifelong learning that promotes retention and promotability.
HR Operations
Question: What is HR Operations?
Answer: Human Resources Operations, also known as HR Ops, is the department and/or process that supports the entire employee lifecycle and assists the business in their day-to-day HR related tasks. The scope of HR Operations is multi-faceted. It plays a crucial role in developing a company’s people strategy to reach its business goals. HR Operations is typically part of an effective HR service delivery model.
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Question: What are "typical" HR Operations functions?
Answer: Depending on the size of your organization, HR Operations could look very different. HR Operations has the following responsibilities:
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Administration: The HR Operations team is responsible for many administrative tasks that keep the business running. These tasks include payroll management, staff data entry, and maintenance. They are also responsible for maintaining the human resources information system – also known as HRIS. This program is used to track and maintain all HR-related data, such as employee contracts, non-disclosure agreements, compensation, employees’ personal data, and more.
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Compliance: Compliance is one of the most important tasks your HR Operations department is responsible for. They make sure that, legally, your organization is aligned with country-specific labor laws when tasked with things such as hiring, workplace rules, and employee treatment. HR Operations outlines the HR compliance policies that need to be followed internally.
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Onboarding: They support managers in delivering a positive onboarding experience to their new team members.
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Offboarding: Offboarding happens when an employee has either decided to leave the company or was fired. It involves administrative tasks like ensuring the employee returns company property, notifying IT and payroll about personnel changes, and preparing any paperwork the employee might need to sign.
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Question: What are the main goals of HR Operations department or process?
Answer: The HR Operations department/process has several vital goals they’re trying to meet in the organization. Here are the two most important ones.
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Building a sustainable organization: Your company will only thrive when you have a sustainable growth plan. HR Operations’ goal is to ensure that your organization is compliant, scalable and automated where possible.
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Implementing and maintaining HR best practices: In short, HR best practices are universal processes and techniques that provide organizations with increased business performance results, regardless of the company’s industry. HR Ops is responsible for implementing and monitoring HR best practices in different departments of your organization. That way, they’re ensuring that the company is on track to achieve its goals.
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