Developing a ‘one SMS’ reward framework

The challenge

SMS Plc. is a major energy services and smart metering company. Verditer supported SMS Plc to develop a consistent and fair reward framework across the business.

Having grown organically and by acquisition, there were multiple approaches to pay and grading across locations.

“We have a lot of HR experience in-house but for a such a large project with high impact, we wanted external help to give credibility and provide guidance. Verditer was recommended to us and were a great fit.”

Verditer were initially engaged to develop job levels, undertake pay benchmarking, develop a fair and transparent pay structure and support implementation. Benefits harmonisation and equal pay projects have followed.

Our approach

“Our aim was to develop an approach to reward that is consistent across SMS and supports the development of our people. It was key that the project was communicated and landed well with employees. Verditer’s approach of face-to-face employee workshops when designing the job levels, helped understanding and gave the opportunity to share ideas.”

Previously pay decisions were ad hoc without a structured approach to the external market or internal equity. After a comprehensive pay benchmarking exercise using a premium survey, a pay structure with clear pay principles were developed.

“Seeing where our roles sat against the market helped us set our pay ranges to be competitive. We’ve shared our pay structure internally so that we are open about pay. As a living wage employer fairness and equality are important to us, the ranges support consistency but give us flexibility too.”

The outcome

From the outset, there was a focus on getting implementation right. A workshop was held upfront and applied throughout.

“For us, implementation was just as important as outcomes. Julia met with senior managers at key points giving them confidence that the outputs would meet their needs. Each stage of the project worked with the next, nothing felt like it was in isolation. Julia and Vicky were always there for support and to answer questions, however small, giving us the confidence to have conversations internally.”