Teresa Hess
VP Total Rewards
Proofpoint
Episode 337
Total Rewards for Hybrid: It's Not Just About the Money Anymore
Current chapter: Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built By PeopleJanuary 22, 2025 · 7:52
Thesis
“Effective total rewards strategies for a hybrid workforce must prioritize deeply understanding and responding to employee needs and preferences, moving beyond just competitive compensation to offer a holistic and adaptable value proposition.”
Show notes
In this episode of the Built by People podcast, we speak with Teresa, VP of Total Rewards at Proofpoint, about the evolution of compensation and benefits strategies in the post-COVID hybrid work environment. Teresa shares her career journey in HR, details the challenges of incentivizing a return to office, and emphasizes the importance of listening to employees' needs. Learn how her organization is balancing flexibility, maintaining equity, and adapting to meet diverse talent demands. 00:00 Introduction to the Built by People Podcast 00:45 Meet Teresa: Career Journey in HR 01:27 Post-COVID Compensation Strategies 02:40 Balancing Flexibility and Equity in Compensation 04:09 Return to Office Dynamics and Compensation Models 05:46 Supporting Diverse Talent in a Changing Work Environment 07:06 Parting Advice and Conclusion
What you'll take away
- 1Compensation strategies have shifted from decentralized pre-pandemic, to nationalized during, and are now evolving back towards geographical differentiation, making non-compensation factors crucial for competitive advantage.
- 2Actively listening to employees through surveys and informal meetings is paramount for designing total rewards programs that genuinely resonate and support attraction and retention across diverse generations.
- 3To encourage return-to-office, companies must identify and offer specific benefits and perks that excite employees about being in the office, beyond simply matching competitor salaries.
- 4Prioritize fundamental employee needs (akin to Maslow's hierarchy) with core compensation and benefits before investing in additional, 'shiny' programs to ensure foundational value.
- 5Effective communication of existing benefits is critical, as many employees may be unaware of valuable offerings, thereby reducing their perceived value and utilization.
What most organizations get wrong
- •Instead of solely focusing on market-competitive compensation or generic 'shiny programs,' organizations should prioritize deep employee listening to implement truly impactful programs that meet specific needs and provide a better return on investment.
In Teresa's words
“I've been in HR for about 20 years now. I actually started off as an HR business partner, but for the past 10 years, I've been really focused on total rewards and had the pleasure of working in various industries and different sizes of companies, from startups to Fortune 500.”
Provides a concise overview of her extensive career and specialized focus within HR, particularly in total rewards across diverse company types.
“I think the past 5 or 6 years has been really tough for all total rewards professionals. Moving from, you know, pre-pandemic when it was more status quo to having a shift during the pandemic and then to now with more of a hybrid return-to-office model.”
Highlights the rapid and challenging evolution of compensation and benefits strategies in response to significant global shifts in work models.
“We can roll out all these amazing programs and really competitive comp packages, but they're not going to be really beneficial to anyone unless that's actually what they want.”
Emphasizes the critical importance of understanding and responding to employee desires, suggesting that even competitive offerings are ineffective if they don't meet actual needs.
“Really what differentiates all of our different companies is what we do beyond compensation. So do we offer various stock programs or equity awards? Do we offer different types of benefits or perks? So that's really what's going to set us apart.”
Articulates that non-cash benefits and unique perks are the true differentiators in a talent market where base compensation levels are often similar across competitors.
“I like to think of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. If you don't have the fundamental things met, you can build all these great programs that sit on top, but they're going to be worthless. You really have to meet those fundamentals with compensation and some core benefits before you add on the rest.”
Provides a compelling analogy to prioritize essential compensation and benefits as foundational elements before introducing more advanced or optional programs.
“Don't go out and spend a bunch of money on all these really cool, shiny projects and programs that are out there unless it really is impactful to your employees. So listening to them first and then building upon what you're hearing.”
Serves as a strong concluding piece of advice, reinforcing her central theme that employee listening should drive investment in HR initiatives for maximum impact.
The problems this episode addresses
- •Total Rewards professionals face significant challenges in rapidly adapting compensation and benefits strategies across pre-pandemic, pandemic, and hybrid work models.
- •Organizations struggle to balance compensation flexibility with maintaining equity and competitiveness across diverse geographic regions in a hybrid workforce.
- •It is difficult to effectively incentivize and reward employees to return to the office after an extended period of remote work.
- •Employees are often unaware of existing valuable benefits and perks, leading to underutilization and diminished perceived value of total rewards packages.
- •Attracting and retaining diverse talent (across generations) is challenging when competitive base compensation alone is no longer a primary differentiator.
- •Ensuring total rewards programs genuinely resonate with employees and provide a measurable return on investment, rather than being perceived as 'shiny object' initiatives.
In this episode
Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built by People
How have compensation and benefits strategies evolved in your organization since COVID
Total Rewards Compensation and Benefits Strategies Post-COVID
As companies shift back to requiring an office presence, how do compensation models change
Compensation and Benefits for Return-to-Office
Listen to your employees first and build programs that meet their needs
Built by People: Theresa Gross
Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
Full transcript
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