1.5 Art and Science of Total Rewards

Managing Total Rewards is both an art and a science. Managing Total Rewards is a science in that there are specific approaches and tools that can be used to study, design, and improve the system. There are some ‘right answers' that can be discovered through the use of correct methods and correct data. Mistakes can also happen by neglecting these methods and data.

However, managing Total Rewards is also an art. This is because data is rarely perfect and the reality of implementing a Total Rewards System forces managers to deal with numerous complexities that are difficult to foresee, understand, and manage. In this sense, Total Rewards is an art form where the best data and methods are used as much as possible while overseen by judicious managers who must even take some risks in order to design and implement a coherent system.