Leverage Design Thinking to Enhance Total Rewards for Employees

Monica Pleasant, Human Resources Director, Medtronic

Monica Pleasant, Human Resources Director, Medtronic

Designing a total rewards package plays a crucial role in attracting and retaining top talent in the workplace. As dynamics and cultures continue to evolve, human resource professionals have a responsibility to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse and global workforce. This includes ensuring that total rewards packages are competitively designed and strategically communicated for a positive employee experience.

Using the Design Thinking process to do this is one way to ensure that human resource professionals are proactively increasing the value of an organization’s total rewards package, as well as creating opportunity for growth. The Design Thinking process is a solution[1]based methodology for tackling problems and has been leveraged across a multitude of corporations, industries and countries to reframe how people think about approaching their work. The process allows for systematic gathering of information and applying human-centered techniques for a better user experience. The purpose of Design Thinking is to optimize processes, products, services, strategies, and experiences. It is divided into five parts:

1. Empathize

2. Define

3. Ideate

4. Prototype

5. Test

As we explore the use of Design Thinking in human resources, it is important to think about actively changing the dialogue with employees so that they feel seen and heard in relation to what they need from a total rewards package.

Empathize

In the first stage of the Design Thinking process, the focus is on the requirements, needs, and wants of the user. As it relates to human resources, we understand that benefits are deeply personal to employees since it impacts how they live their life and changes in a package can mean new service providers, new technology, and new ways of getting information. The face of America’s workforce has changed dramatically and so has their need for financial gain, physical and mental health, work/life blending, family needs, pandemic support, and what holidays they celebrate. Giving employees a voice in their total rewards package provides an opportunity for human resource professionals to know what is working and what isn’t working. Providing employees a space and opportunity to discuss, ask questions or provide ideas through virtual focus groups and surveys are a couple ways to create empathy and understanding. It is important to regularly assess the current needs of the organization and what the growing trends are. Some key questions to address:

• What benefits add value to the employees? What enhancements would add more value to the employees?

• Are there parts of the process that cause frustration for employees?

• Do employees’ want personal or automated interactions?

• What is the best way for employees to access and consume information about total rewards packages available to them?

• What ideal experiences did employees have at other organizations?

Define the Problem

The second phase of the Design Thinking process combines insights from listening and observing people, which are synthesized to identify the problem. Once you have gathered and dissected employee feedback make sure your employees know and understand what the findings are. Maybe they will be surprised or maybe they won’t. Communicate and translate this information for employees to ask more questions, address struggles and highlight areas for improvement. There isn’t a one-size fits all strategy for total rewards packages, but should be based on its culture and desire to grow as a company. Different personas in the workforce need to hear different narratives about the program. Additionally, be open to new ways of doing things and don’t get stuck in ways not working.

“Providing employees a space and opportunity to discuss, ask questions or provide ideas through virtual focus groups and surveys are a couple ways to create empathy and understanding”

Ideate

During the third phase is when ideation begins and the hunt for solutions (or methods) starts to happen. Again, engage your employees and create a conversation with management. Also, communicate with your benefits providers letting them know your organization’s needs are changing. Ask them to share results of benchmarking research they have conducted. What are practical solutions that are relevant to employees’ needs and feasible for the company to implement? Can they evolve and scale with the company as it grows? There are many internal and external forces pushing and pulling on an organization and its employees. Below are a few forces to consider that can influence decisions when thinking through possible solutions:

• Employee retention and workload

• Changing company dynamics based on business profitability

• Impact of the local, regional, national, and global economy/current events

Prototype

The fourth stage is where you get to design your solution, or prototype, to decide if it can be applied and will solve the identified challenge. It allows your team to continue to learn what works and doesn’t work along with generating more ideas.

1. Create a written plan that identifies goals, strategies, tactics, deliverables, and timelines.

2. Identify technology needs. Will you implement a new website or app to accommodate employees virtually?

3. Determine the communication plan needed to ensure employees understand the value of the new or improved benefit available to them.

Testing

In the fifth and final stage of the Design Thinking methodology, it is time to test the prototype with a small group to pilot the solution and determine its effectiveness. Consider engaging employees who participated in the virtual focus group or survey in the first phase to perform a test rollout and have them actually use the technology and process for a limited time. Ask more questions and gather more feedback to adjust the plan as necessary. When you are finished testing and ready to implement, provide clear and succinct communication for employees on what is happening and when to expect the change. Plan promotional activities and provide education opportunities on the value of the offerings available in the total rewards package. Stay consistent and concise in messaging and interactions, and be strategic on timing to ensure employees are not overloaded with too much information at once.

An important contribution human resources makes to the workplace is consistently evaluating the value and relevance of programs offered to attract, retain, develop, and motivate employees. Human Resources has the privilege of leading the effort to ensure that employees have the best total rewards packages possible and understand how to effectively use them. We need to be willing to innovate based on employee needs and solutions, as well as to communicate strategically to convey value. If an organization desires to increase the value of their total rewards programs it is important to evolve along with employees and the Design Thinking methodology is a strong starting point.