PUBLIC SECTOR
Total reward in local government
There is a growing employer consensus that local government’s approach to reward management needs to be revisited. Capital Ambition has funded a fascinating research project looking at how total reward could be used to manage and motivate people in local government by understanding the relative value placed on the various aspects of the reward proposition.
The stated aim of the project, undertaken by the Institute for Employment Studies, was to "help develop an understanding of what motivates people and to construct a framework using total reward principles that can provide a methodology to help individual boroughs develop an appropriate total reward strategy to meet their differing needs”.
The research also looked at whether the same deal applies to all staff, or whether several models are required to reflect the various employee groups as they value the constituent parts of the total reward proposition differently.
%ADVERT%
Research methodology
When developing a total reward proposition it’s all too easy to overlook the views of employees. So this project examined how to understand total reward from the employees' perspective. An approach that gathered staff opinion and perceptions on total reward using focus groups and a survey was piloted in a London borough. Staff were asked why they joined the council, why they stay, what motivates them and what demotivates them, as well as their views on a range of employment questions.
The key findings of this pilot exercise have been plotted on the Schuster and Zingheim model of total reward to give a picture of what reward in its fullest sense means to employees, how this might differ by grade or occupation and the point on the employee life cycle.
Want to know more?
Title: Total Reward: Beyond the statement towards a total reward management philosophy, Institute for Employment Studies on behalf of Capital Ambition, July 2009.
Availability: A 14-page PDF report outlining the aims of research, methodology, key survey results and lessons learnt is available for download from the Capital Ambition web site at www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/capitalambition/projects/workforcestrategy/totalreward.htm.
For more information contact: peter.thomas@londoncouncils.gov.uk.
Capital Ambition is “London's Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnership, which supports local authorities and their partners to identify and deliver significant efficiencies, major improvements in services, and explore innovative ways of working to transform local government delivery.” For more details visit www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/capitalambition.