How Much Have Rewards Practices Changed Since 2018?

Plenty has changed in the world since 2018. The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in a countless number of disruptions by itself. Then there’s artificial intelligence; increased awareness of climate change; social and political transformation; the rise (perhaps until recently) of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging initiatives; and the ubiquity of smart devices for personal and professional usage, to name a few others.

Movie character Ferris Bueller once opined, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

So, let’s look around at the state of total rewards since 2018. Global consulting firm Deloitte provides a unique perspective on the subject, with large-scale research projects bookending the time period — the initial High-Impact Rewards (HIR) study in 2018 and the subsequent HIR study in 2024.

Workspan Daily (WD) connected with Michael Gilmartin, a senior manager and lead researcher at Deloitte, for an interview that explored how total rewards has changed in six years, as viewed through Deloitte research results.

Michael Gilmartin is a senior manager in Deloitte’s Human Capital practice. He has more than 20 years of HR and benefits experience.

WD: What was the impetus for Deloitte’s research refresh? Why total rewards? And, why now?

Gilmartin: Our 2018 research — our first High-Impact Rewards study — painted the picture of organizations meeting expectations but most of them operating on the lower end of the maturity scale. You look then at everything that happened — 2020, 2021 — and the way organizations pivoted and showed more agility from a total rewards perspective. We became really interested to say, “What would this research look like today?” That brings us to the conversation now where you are seeing many more organizations specifically focus on total rewards as a critical differentiator from a talent perspective and a real shift in the maturity of organizations providing the right total rewards experience to their employees.

WD: Going into the new study, did you have any predictions of what you were going to see in the data and findings? If so, what proved on target and what was surprising?

Gilmartin: We reflected on the Net Promoter Score [NPS] number in 2018, minus-15, which provides a rather dramatic view of the impact total rewards had on the employee experience. Negative-15 NPS is not a great picture [for employers and their total rewards professionals]. We hoped our new research would tell something different. We hoped organizations had grown to understand just how important total rewards was in attracting and retaining talent. And, it’s what actually played out. NPS went all the way up to positive-37 in 2024. That tells you organizations and employees really began to understand it and work together to create a total rewards experience that met and exceeded worker needs.

I think the other part we hoped for was a shift in the maturity scale. In our 2018 study, only 20% of organizations were at either Level 3 or Level 4 [the top two out of the four maturity tiers]. Only 4% of organizations were at Level 4. [Conversely, 53% were at Level 1 and 27% were at Level 2.] This meant that, in 2018, most organizations were doing what they needed to do, but not many were looking to say, how do we differentiate? And, that narrative has now changed dramatically as well. From the 2024 research, more than 40% of organizations are operating at Level 3 or 4 maturity. These organizations understand just how important this particular element is to the employee experience — delivering the right rewards strategy and programs, and communicating in a manner where employees fundamentally understand and appreciate the value and show that back to the employer appropriately [through retention, talent referrals, etc.].

WD: What do you think was behind that new understanding — from employers and employees — of total rewards’ value?

Gilmartin: Over those six years, employees have gained access to more information, internally and externally. With that greater transparency, organizations committed themselves to a better total rewards communication strategy to really amplify the value beyond simple compensation and benefits, and really paint a more holistic picture of total rewards. … I also think employers are using more analytics — more data sensing — to understand what their workforce uniquely values and try to provide that to them.

WD: In terms of bottom-line impacts, what does the new research show organizations are seeing as a return from a more mature approach to total rewards?

Gilmartin: There are obvious benefits to delivering an experience that meets and exceeds employee expectations. But our research shows organizations that are mature in this area [when compared to those that are not] are:

• 1.5 times more likely to retain high performers.
• 1.5 times more likely to anticipate change and respond effectively.
• 1.6 times more likely to secure the talent needed to meet current needs.
• 3.1 times more likely to optimize the return on their rewards investments. 

I think the fundamental thing we’ve seen play out is organizations have understood the fundamental connection that needs to exist between business strategy and total rewards strategy. How you care for your employees speaks very directly to how those employees care for your business. I think once that fundamentally was understood, that’s where you’re seeing those shifts in maturity, where you’re seeing organizations commit to the workforce and be dynamic in the way they gather information, assess needs and concerns, and then use that to put forward a total rewards philosophy, strategy and program that meets and exceeds employee expectations.

WD: Based on the new research, are there areas total rewards pros should watch for, investigate and keep tabs on because it’s either emerging or potentially disruptive?

Gilmartin: I love the question. I think where you’d like to see people focus on is the idea of agility and being able to pivot your reward strategy in response to market and business conditions. That certainly happened in the pandemic environment. It showed rewards professionals can keep a very good pulse of what’s happening externally and internally and think proactively about what they can do to show up for the workforce and use total rewards to address some of those challenges.

Maturity is going to be really important as we move forward. Knowing that as organizations are advancing on the maturity scale, it does become challenging to compete for talent when total rewards is [perhaps more than ever] considered maturity Level 3 or Level 4. You are competing for talent against those [mature] organizations.

WD: The 2018 data showed only 4% of surveyed organizations were at Level 4. In 2024, that’s up to 18%. Given this momentum, where do you see that Level 4 percentage being in 12 or 24 months?

Gilmartin: I’m not sure we know the answer to that. The one thing I am thrilled about, though, is in 2018, with only 4% of organizations operating at Level 4, higher maturity appeared so aspirational — organizations would look and say, “How could I ever reach what only 4% of organizations have reached?” 

What I love and appreciate is a commitment that has been demonstrated through the 2024 survey results that organizations said, “We understand our commitment to employee experience — to our workforce demonstrated through our commitments to total rewards — is important and, therefore, we are going to focus on this. We are going to collaborate across the silos of HR. We are going to work symphonically to make sure we understand we’re here to serve employees — the customers of our organization.” And through that commitment, what we’re seeing in the data is that [organizations] have risen and are increasingly attaining what was once looked at as aspirational.

Editor’s Note: Additional Content

For more information and resources related to this article, see the pages below, which offer quick access to all WorldatWork content on these topics:

• Total Rewards
• Organizational Performance