What is “new realism on reward strategy”?
The “new realism on reward strategy” is a phrase coined by Armstrong and Brown to describe a contemporary approach to strategic reward. It recognises that there are no easy solutions to reward issues, that context is all-important, that the focus should be on people, not just the business, and that effective implementation is more important than elegant design. The e-reward conference brought together a distinguished line-up of experts and practitioners to explore different aspects of the new realism: • Michael Armstrong opened the conference by explaining what he and Brown mean by the term new realism which they have investigated in their recent book, Strategic Reward. He described how the reward scene has changed in recent years. The strong focus in early strategy work was on business alignment, sometimes without due consideration for employee needs and motivations. The attention now being paid to employee engagement and organisational commitment has placed employees and the importan
