Reward Isn't Just Reward or HR's Job

Reward Strategy is often treated like a package to be handed over to the Reward (or HR) team: “Here you go - sort out the pay bands, draft the bonus plan, and don't forget to order some Amazon vouchers for recognition.”

But here's the problem. Without genuine management buy-in, even the smartest Reward Strategy risks becoming a dusty HR policy document. Reward isn't just Reward's job. It's everyone's - especially leaders. Our Consulting Director, Claire Williams, takes a look at this topic.

Why leaders push Reward to Reward (or HR)

It's understandable. Reward can feel technical, complicated, and sometimes downright scary. There are spreadsheets, benchmarking surveys, legal considerations, and the ever-tricky question of affordability. In fact, although Reward comes under the HR umbrella (and rightly so as pay, benefits and recognition etc. are central to the employment relationship) not many HR generalists have the necessary specialist knowledge or experience themselves to deal with the complexity, understand the strategic impact and handle associated risk management and governance matters. And even if they do, they often don't have the time to give it the focus it needs amongst the rest of their day job. Regardless of who exactly in HR looks after it, leaders often think, “Well, they are the experts - let them handle it.”

But while Reward may design the framework, it's leaders and managers who bring it to life. If they don't understand it, support it, and communicate it authentically, the best-designed Reward scheme is about as effective as a gym membership bought in January and abandoned by February.

The risks of leaving it to Reward (or HR) alone

• Mixed messages: Employees don't read HR policies (unless you're lucky). They watch what leaders do. If a manager undermines the bonus scheme by saying, “Don't bother too much with those objectives - it's all HR box-ticking anyway,” the credibility of the entire system collapses.
• Culture clash: Reward might design a Reward Strategy to encourage collaboration, innovation, or wellbeing. But if leaders only talk about short-term results, the scheme feels irrelevant. Employees will always take their cultural cues from leaders first.
• Lack of trust: Reward is sensitive. People want to know that leaders, not just the Reward team, believe in and stand behind the system. If it feels like HR is “doing it to us” rather than leadership “doing it for us,” trust evaporates.

Reward as a leadership tool

Reward isn't an admin exercise. It's a leadership lever. When used well, it reinforces culture, drives performance, and shows employees what the business truly values.

That's why leaders must treat Reward as part of their core toolkit - just like strategy, finance, or customer experience.

Think of it this way: Reward can design the map, but leaders are the ones steering the car. Without them, you'll never reach the destination.

What leaders need to do

• Understand the framework: Leaders don't need to know every technical detail, but they do need to grasp the why. Why was this scheme chosen? What behaviours does it encourage? How does it link to business success? If they can't explain it to their team in two minutes over coffee, they don't understand it well enough.
• Role model it: If a Reward scheme emphasises teamwork, leaders should celebrate team successes, not just individual stars. If wellbeing is a focus, leaders need to demonstrate healthy boundaries themselves - not email at midnight and then hand out mindfulness apps.
• Communicate with credibility: Employees believe their immediate manager far more than an HR policy document. A leader who explains the scheme confidently, and connects it to business goals, makes it real. A leader who shrugs and says, “HR told us to,” kills it stone dead.
• Provide feedback: No Reward system is perfect. Leaders are on the ground - they see where schemes motivate and where they frustrate. Feeding that back helps Reward refine the design so it actually works in practice.

Reward and HR's real role

This isn't to say Reward aren't important - quite the opposite. Reward are the architects, advisors, and custodians of fairness. But Reward only succeeds when it's a partnership: Reward provides the expertise, leaders provide the ownership.

Final thought

Reward strategy isn't something HR “owns” in isolation. It's culture, leadership, and communication all rolled into one. When leaders step up and take responsibility, Reward becomes a powerful driver of engagement and performance.

When they don't? Well, it's just another HR policy gathering dust on the intranet - right next to the one about the dress code that nobody has read since 2014.

So next time you think about Reward, remember: Reward might design it, but leaders live it. And employees will always believe the leaders over the policy manual.

If you would like to tap into our expertise for support on any of your Reward related needs, then please reach out to us at rewardsolutions@rewardheads.co.uk to arrange a chat about how we can help.

We work with organisations across a range of sizes and sectors to enable them to make the most out of Reward. Our solutions are not pre-made, rather they are tailored to each organisation, its challenges, and opportunities to support their Reward journey to recruit, retain, motivate, engage and align the best people, developing frameworks to support fairness and equity. We look at all aspects of Total Reward - pay, bonus and incentives, benefits, recognition, governance and so on.