10 top tips when you’re communicating reward
29th May 2025
Samantha Gee
You’ve carefully designed a great, new, reward programme. Spent time perfecting your reward strategy, pay framework or bonus scheme for the year ahead.
All that time and energy has been put into getting everything right, down to the final touches.
Now, it’s time to launch it.
Do the communications consist of a rushed email or a hastily put together page on the intranet?
Are you in danger of all your reward effort not landing as well it could, and not delivering the value it should?
As part of our series of ‘Top 10’ blogs celebrating our tenth anniversary, here are ten questions I often ask clients when helping them plan their communications:
1. Who are your audiences?
Be clear on the different groups of people you need to communicate with. This not only includes recipients, employees, line managers, stakeholders and external interested parties but also different types of people such as emerging leaders, senior leaders, people close to retirement, women, men, pregnant employees, neurodiverse employees and disabled employees for example.
2. What are the key messages?
What messages do you really need to get across? Do these differ for your different audiences?
3. How will you provide the ‘core’ information?
Where will you provide clear and accessible information? The ‘single source of truth’? And how will this be updated, e.g. company website, bonus rules.
4. How will you inspire?
What is the leadership vision behind this reward change and how will it be shared? Video interviews or webinars from leadership team members can really help.
5. How can employees have their say?
Communications will be more powerful if there is opportunity for two-way dialogue. This can work well when fully briefed line managers champion the change and talk with their teams, or where Q&A’s are updated as new questions are submitted.
6. How will you add interest?
Using a variety of different approaches will help. A new reward framework could include an animated video, leadership interview, and team meeting discussion for example.
7. Are you speaking the ‘language’ of the recipients?
Is the terminology right? Have you listened to employees and developed the programme in response? Something we often do is write the comms as if the employee is saying it, not being told it by leadership. This works well when sharing ‘our reward strategy’ or ‘our pay principles’ for example.
8. Are you telling the story?
Does your communications have a thread running through it, and has it been brought to life with ‘real people’ quotes and stories.
9. How will the information be integrated?
The messages are usually important after launch too. Do you need to update other parts of the intranet? How will new joiners hear about this great stuff? What happens next year?
10. How will you know it worked?
As with any project, setting goals at the start and measuring impact will help you understand how well the comms has worked. For example, tracking open rates for comms emails, and asking specific questions in your employee survey.
The communication part of any project is critical and central, and should not be handled as an afterthought.
How we can help
At Verditer, we are specialists in creating an impactful approach to pay and reward. Do get in touch if you’d like our help with developing a reward strategy, creating pay foundations, or with how you communicate your reward programme.
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