Reflections on Our First Total Rewards Lab
We recently launched our first session in the Total Rewards Lab series, titled “Rewards for 2030: Anticipating the Future of Work.”, an interactive peer-led discussion with no presentations or sales pitches, where participants could share perspectives and explore strategy together. The session set the foundation for a trusted forum built on openness, candid discussion, and professional exchange.
Conversations Worth Having
There’s something energizing about taking a moment to step back from day-to-day routines and look at the bigger picture, especially when the topic is something as central as how we reward work. Our first lab session was exactly that kind of pause… not a presentation, not a lecture, but a conversation among peers exploring where work and rewards are heading over the next decade.
What struck me most was how multifaceted the discussion became. When we set out on this journey, our aim wasn’t to provide definitive answers, and that’s exactly what happened. Instead, we found ourselves exploring tensions and trade-offs that organizations are wrestling with every day. One recurring theme was the evolving role of compensation in the employee experience. Compensation remains a fundamental pillar, a baseline that organizations must get right, but it rarely stands alone.
Benefits, flexibility, purpose, and culture are all part of the equation that determines how people show up for work, commit to teams, and stay engaged over time. Most of this excites me about what we are creating with uneQUBE, but I will leave that for another day.
The decisions we make about rewards today will shape workforce behaviour, culture, and performance for years to come. That is why the Future of Work is one of the most important umbrella conversations in Total Rewards.
At the same time, it became clear that Total Rewards design is not something that can be copied or standardized. Each organization, each industry, and each workforce brings its own context and expectations. What works in one setting may not resonate in another, and the real test for reward strategies is how well they reflect both business priorities and the lived experiences of the people they serve.
This leads to a simple but powerful point: we need data-informed, narrative-grounded approaches to Total Rewards.
Data helps us understand what is happening, but the stories we tell… internally and externally… shape how people interpret and value what we offer.
Communication matters, clarity matters, and context matters. Too often, reward discussions get caught up in mechanics and not enough in meaning. Both matter if we want reward design to support the organizations we are trying to build.
Looking ahead, there’s much more to unpack; The future of work is vast, and many of the questions we touched on deserve deeper exploration. We’re excited to continue this journey together, bringing in new voices, fresh perspectives, and a willingness to challenge assumptions. If the first session was any indication, these labs will be much more than meetings… they will be spaces for thoughtful inquiry and honest dialogue about the future we are all helping to shape.
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- Simone Schmitt-Schillig