When John F. Kennedy referred to a “New Frontier” in a speech ahead of the 1960 presidential election he was looking ahead to an era of space exploration, geopolitical turmoil and societal shifts at home. An era of great uncertainty – and opportunity – which, if you allow me some creative license, reflects to some degree the position of reward professionals today.

With little recent innovation in our field, we see reward teams out of ideas to improve reward effectiveness. The perennial mantra of attract, motivate and retain the best talent cannot be fulfilled in this climate.

So what else can we do?

The answer is hard to find in the traditional realm of reward. But it can be found beyond that. Enter the Employee Value Proposition - the "New Frontier" of reward management.

In fairness, this might not be the first time you hear about the Employee Value Proposition. However, a closer look at the conversation around Employee Value Proposition shows it is often confused with employer branding. Also, there is not much structured thinking and tools to help you get your head around it.

This is where the opportunity lies.

Having recently launched and client-tested an Employee Value Proposition diagnostic solution, we have found that a systematic approach to understanding what employees value, and how well their employer is delivering on these factors, can have a transformational effect in reward and HR in general.

First, it gives organisations hard evidence of which areas constitute the core strengths of their Employee Value Proposition and where improvements to the ‘employee deal’ can have the biggest impact – and consequently make the organisation more attractive for candidates and employees alike.

Second, it changes the focus on Employee Value Proposition from “what we want to do” to “what we are doing well and how we can build on it”, thus moving away from aspiration and towards relevant action.

And third, it provides the metrics to inform decision-making and track the impact of different interventions going forward.

In a nutshell, a structured view of your Employee Value Proposition will help you make reward about more than money and improve the return from your investment in people.

So, are you ready to get serious about your Employee Value Proposition - the "New Frontier" for reward management?

If your answer to this question is yes, or if you are curious about it, contact us or go to our Employee Value Proposition diagnostic page to find out more about what we do.

Juan Novoa, Consulting Lead at QCG - March 2019