We’ve had clients say to us, “The younger generation doesn’t understand the value of our benefits package and we’re losing them to slightly higher base salary offers. We know the competition’s total package is not as strong as ours!”

Most companies prefer not to tinker with their compensation strategy — unless they absolutely must. Salary structures are difficult to get right, which is why it's tempting to adopt an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach. But your compensation strategy doesn't exist in a vacuum. External factors are constantly impacting employee expectations, whether you like it or not.

Last updated: May 2026 Reliable salary data is compensation information that comes from a transparent, methodologically sound source and segments pay by job, industry, company size, and location, rather than self-reported figures that can skew the numbers. The most trustworthy sources are the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for free national and regional wage data, and established compensation surveys from firms such as Culpepper, WTW, and Radford for deeper, peer-matched detail.

We’ve talked before about how it’s sometimes hard to communicate Total Rewards to employees, especially younger workers. Employees don’t always see beyond their paycheck, and employers struggle to show the value of less tangible benefits.

Last year saw one of the most unexpected Total Rewards trends in recent memory. Remote working, which employers had hastily adopted during the pandemic, suddenly became a must-have benefit for employees.

Does your company offer an amazing employee experience? Before 2021, most HR leaders would have answered yes. But then The Great Resignation happened, which caused many employers to question the fundamentals of their HR strategy.