Liz Snyder, Associate Partner, Insurance & Rewards
Liz Snyder is an associate partner and part of McLagan’s global insurance and rewards teams, leading compensation design engagements across all industry segments to help clients build customized rewards and human capital strategies that support their unique business requirements.
We recently spoke with Liz about emerging rewards challenges, the importance of a well-designed job architecture, how firms should approach increasing transparency in pay, as well as advice for year-end compensation planning.
What is the biggest rewards challenge financial services firms are currently facing?
Determining and defending their pay ranges is a big challenge. We live in a world where any question we have can be answered with the click of a button. Employees and employers have so much data available to them that it’s often difficult to sort through, leading to uninformed and unsubstantiated concerns about what the job pays in the market. The first step to combat this overload of information is for businesses to participate in legitimate compensation surveys and update their market matches and salary structures regularly. Firms that do not will continue to face questions from armchair experts across their organization.
How can firms use a well-designed job architecture to stay ahead of the curve?
Having an updated and well-defined job and salary framework helps firms build a solid, consistent foundation that is both streamlined and agile enough to support growth and change. If done properly, it can provide a sound process for determining the value of jobs based on talent drivers, business needs, and market practices. It also offers a consistent methodology for assigning pay that’s based on company-wide criteria, which helps eliminate guesswork and promote trust and confidence in rewards programs.
If you could describe the rewards space for financial services firms in three words, what would they be?
Complex, competitive, evolving.
Transparency is a growing trend—how can firms prepare their rewards programs and adapt to this change?
Transparency is a growing trend for many reasons, including increased activity and regulation around pay equity and the fact that employees have quick access to a wealth of data. In response, firms are increasing transparency in their rewards programs and decision-making processes. But, businesses must ensure they are properly prepared before opening up their salary structures and compensation policies beginning with questions like: Are your pay practices and pay ranges defensible, consistently applied, and up-to-date? Are your managers and human resources team fully equipped to handle employee questions?
What’s your top piece of advice for year-end compensation planning?
As we look ahead, how you consider and articulate your employee value proposition is key. Cash is just one piece of the equation. To really stand out, firms need to consider the impacts of technology convergence on their employees, customers, and organization. What is changing and how will this impact employees’ work environments? Additionally, with competition for talent at an all-time high, it’s important to create a compelling plan that caters to the expectations of both your firm and its employees—one that embraces a balance of financial security, employee wellbeing, recognition, collaboration, career development, and positive company culture.
If you are interested in connecting with Liz Snyder, she can be reached at
liz.snyder@mclagan.com.