Symcor

Could you briefly talk about your professional journey and your current role and responsibilities?

Throughout my career, my focus has been on human resources (HR), particularly in the area of compensation. However, I came to realize that employee compensation alone is not sufficient to retain and motivate employees. Therefore, I expanded my scope of expertise to include benefits, perks, and wellness programs. I also recognized the importance of incorporating various HR technologies to enhance organizational effectiveness.

As the Vice President of Total Rewards and HR Technology, I work closely with my team to develop and implement comprehensive HR strategies encompassing compensation, benefits, wellness, and technology solutions.

Can you elaborate on some of the significant challenges that the industry is facing today?

Many companies today strive to take care of their employees for the right reasons by offering inclusive and diverse wellness programs that cater to employees at different stages of their lives. However, one of the biggest challenges HR professionals face is ensuring that employees truly understand all the great benefits their employer offers.

As HR professionals, we may know all the perks like the back of our hands, but for employees, the focus may be on other areas, such as finance. Benefits may not be part of their day-to-day conversations. Despite our best efforts, such as holding town hall meetings or sending out communications, employees tend to forget about the benefits offered by their employer if it is not relevant to their daily work.

So, the biggest issue is not offering these benefits but ensuring that employees understand them and know how and when to utilize them. We need to find ways to communicate these benefits effectively and at the right moment, so employees are aware of what they have available and can take advantage of them when needed.

What are the trends taking place in the industry which can largely bring a difference?

Employers nowadays are adopting a more holistic approach to employee compensation and benefits. This means that instead of just focusing on one area, such as salary or benefits, companies are providing a comprehensive package of offerings that caters to the diverse needs of their workforce.

"Investing in employee well-being and providing support for mental wellness not only helps attract the right talent but can also lead to positively influencing business results"

From a DE&I perspective, it is essential to offer different types of benefits that can benefit different groups of employees. This trend has led to a more open-minded and flexible approach to employee compensation and benefits.

Technology also plays a crucial role in delivering these benefits effectively. Employers are increasingly leveraging common platforms or one-stop-shop solutions that provide employees with access to all their benefits in one place. In the coming years, employers will aim to provide a single sign-in feature, enabling employees to access their benefits, such as 401K, retirement savings plans (RSP), and employee assistance programs (EAP), without having to go through multiple sites or logins. This approach makes it easy for employees to access all their benefits in one place, enhancing their overall experience.

Are there any similar initiatives that you are working on in your organization?

Yes, I would like to share an experience from one of our year-end processes that I led in the past. At the end of the year, most companies have a process in place for awarding employees based on their performance. This includes deciding on merit-based incentives, short-term incentives, and long-term incentives. In this example, we used to provide managers with Excel spreadsheets to make these decisions, which proved to be confusing and time-consuming. Not everyone is proficient in Excel, and the templates are prone to errors.

We invested our resources and built our HRIS system to simplify the process. We integrated all the programs into the tool, which made it easy for managers to access all the necessary information in one place. The tool streamlined the decision-making process, providing guidelines and ranges for managers to consider when deciding on compensation decisions. The system was also very time-efficient and eliminated errors, making it a hassle-free process for the HR team.

The employees also benefited from this tool, as they could now view the framework used for calculating their merit and bonus. It provided transparency and gave them insight into the decision factors for the bonuses. As a result, the managers received fewer questions, and the HR team had fewer back-and-forth communications, as the system had already addressed most of the common queries. Overall, this experience demonstrated how technology could enhance and support the great programs that we have in place.

How do you envision the future of the HR technology space?

 It is crucial to be inclusive of different employees’ needs and offer a robust employee value proposition (EVP) that caters to a diverse workforce. As employers, we need to ensure that our offerings can accommodate and attract employees with varying needs. In line with this, I believe employers should be open to reviewing and offering wellness initiatives tailored to different groups, with a particular focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) now and the future.

Mental wellness is another area that we believe requires more emphasis, particularly given the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Employees still need support in the mental wellness space, and we must be proactive as employers to help our employees by providing resources, as well as encouraging and normalizing the use of those resources.

Investing in employee well-being and providing support for mental wellness not only helps attract the right talent but can also lead to positively influencing business results.

What would be your piece of advice to beginners in the industry?

It is important to seek feedback from employees to understand their needs and ensure that our offerings are relevant. We can do all the research and gather information, but it’s critical to evaluate whether our programs align with employees’ needs or whether we are just ticking off a checklist.

I strongly believe that offering everything under the sun won’t make a difference if employees don’t perceive it as valuable. Therefore, I urge every employer to engage with employees regularly and seek their input to ensure their offerings cater to employee needs.