Five signs a candidate is a top reward manager

Reward managers are vital for any high performing business that wants to ensure continual growth and exponential company performance. They need to have the capability to link pay and performance with the goals of the business. If you’re in the process of hiring a new reward manager, here are some things to take note of during the interview.

Interviewers should be looking for somebody that is not only able to provide the data analysis but somebody who is able to interpret trends and provide advice to the business on the best way to attract and retain top talent. This may not be just in the form of cash as many companies are now seeing the long-term advantages of investing in a suite of benefits that create a sense of health and wellbeing.

The ideal candidate will have a strong understanding of how reward can add value across areas such as talent and employee engagement while remaining relevant and cost effective. Personality is also highly important as building and maintaining relationships with stakeholders is essential to getting buy-in from the right people. It’s also important that the candidate demonstrates an ability to convey their vision so that others can see the short and long-term benefits of their suggestions.

Attention to detail and analytics are important. A reward manager needs to be able to interpret the data that is relevant to your business while having a good understanding of market trends and making the relevant adjustments in accordance with external factors. This may span across multiple geographical locations so an understanding of different market conditions and cultures is beneficial.

Aside from benchmarking and analytics, key skills needed are:

1. Stakeholder management and influence – a reward manager candidate should be a great communicator and able to prove an ability to convince stakeholders of the benefit of solutions that could change the culture of the business for the better. They need to be clear on what they can offer you as a business.

2. Market knowledge – having a good idea of what other companies and rewards professionals are doing and identifying trends to remain competitive and ahead of the market is very important. The ideal candidate is a great networker. Networking creates more transparent and accurate market intelligence.

CIPD offers specific courses that are focused on reward, however most complete the full CIPD course which looks at the broader HR model and is equally as important. Most reward professionals will have certifications from a number of leading course providers, such as CIPD, however most skills can be learned through work experience and honed over time.

There are a number of publications such as Employee Benefits magazine and HR magazine that provide information on the latest compensation and benefits news and case studies. Your ideal candidate will be familiar with these and use them to keep up-to-date with trends.

Great rewards professionals are those who think outside the box. They’re creative and innovative – leaders rather than followers. They are able to partner with the business to understand the company roadmap and come up with new ideas that engage employees at all levels. These ideas will reflect the essence of the business to create a unified environment with an approach to career progression, recognition and wellbeing.

If you’re looking to hire a reward professional or are just looking for advice in this area, please contact Daniel Briselden at Michael Page Human Resources.

T: 020 7269 2144

E: danielbriselden@michaelpage.com