The Benefits of Global Consolidation & Consistency

How disjointed are your HRIS systems? We’ve found the larger and more global an organization, the more likely multiple, unconnected systems are in place, whether they are full-blown HRIS systems or employee recognition programs. That doesn’t means smaller organizations are immune. Any company with more than office likely has disjointed systems, if not incongruent customs within offices or even between teams.

TowersWatson and WorldatWork recently issued research showing:

“As economic and business conditions improve, employers are restoring some of the losses in reward programs and addressing their EVP. They are also rethinking their long-term business, talent and reward strategies, developing greater integration and consistency within and between programs, prioritizing their investments.”

Focused on talent management and total rewards, the study focuses on the benefits of “introducing organization-wide consistency in reward and talent management programs” that offer a cohesive, easily comprehensible employee value proposition to all employees, regardless of where they are based.

“Today’s increasingly global organizations are balancing the need for local variation in reward and talent management practices with the benefits of global consistency.”

According to the research, key business drivers for global consistency in reward and talent management programs are:
• Alignment
• Cost management
• Efficiency
• Quality

Those are precisely the reasons for (and benefits of) our global customers pursing globally consolidated strategic employee recognition programs. Some companies found they had opened themselves to great risk by not fully knowing or tracking where recognition was taking place, largely by well-meaning managers who would give an employee a “recognition gift” and then put the cost through an expense report – untracked and untaxed according to proper country requirements. This doesn’t even bring into consideration the dramatic savings possible (up to 50% at our clients) through efficiencies gained through consolidation. As the research cited above says:

“Organizations with globally consistent programs are more effective. There is a strong relationship between global consistency and effectiveness.”

If you’re considering expanding, adopting, or consolidating your employee recognition practices across multiple countries, or even multiple offices, be sure your provider can deliver the results you want on such a scale.