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Jo Mackie comments on fairness in employee reward and recognition in Newsweek
April 2023
Jo Mackie, Director and Head of Employment, discusses the importance of fairness and transparency with respect to rewarding top performers in a workplace, in Newsweek.
Jo’s comments were published in Newsweek, 13 April 2023, and can be found here.
“Employee reward and recognition is crucial in business, and never more so than now, with a smaller talent pool as European talent stays away with tightened visa requirements post Brexit.
“While it is fine to recognise the achievements of top performers, your rewards programme must be rooted in fairness in order to motivate across the board and ensure there is no issue of discrimination. For example, if your rewards programme is based on hours worked and your part-time staff are predominantly female (because women still make up the majority of child carers) ensure you link it to the percentage of calls converted or deals made. That way, regardless of the sheer number of hours, all your employees will have a fair chance to succeed and achieve reward.
“With flexibility, you may find that employees become disengaged if they see ‘favourites’ being given extra perks. It could also be a breach of contract, so careful contract drafting is necessary to give the employer the right to award extra flexibility to those who overachieve. It is critical to make incentives and awards clear so that everyone knows what they need to do to achieve extra, so draft the reward and recognition plan carefully to ensure you keep everyone motivated and stay within employment law.”
