3 tips for Total Rewards communication that actually sticks (by Soundcloud’s Isha Smith)

You've spent months crafting the perfect compensation strategy, launched it with fanfare, and then... business as usual.

Employees don't understand their Total Rewards package, managers ask the same questions repeatedly, and your carefully designed benefits seem to go unnoticed.

The problem probably doesn't lie in your strategy – it's how you're communicating it.

Most companies approach Total Rewards communication like a one-off event: launch the new benefits package with a company-wide email, maybe mention it in the next all-hands meeting, and assume the job is done.

The reality is that a message shared one time will rarely land effectively.

"Usually when organisations implement changes to their approach communication is the last box to tick," explains Isha Smith, Global VP of Total Rewards at SoundCloud. "They're keen for employees to understand what it means for them, but they aren't thinking through a communication strategy for sharing the changes being made in a way that will achieve that."

It's further exacerbated because different teams often communicate about Rewards in isolation – meaning disconnected or conflicting messages across the company.

Isha's solution? A coordinated approach that ensures consistent messaging driven by the same underlying principles, company-wide – and she shared three of her best tips with us.

Tip 1:  Connect every message to company values and principles

Isha's first tip is that Rewards teams should create and own a coordinated strategy for how Total Rewards will be communicated – especially when changes are being introduced.

Rewards don't happen in isolation, it's part of a coherent story about who the company is and what it values. 

So, the key is to shape that strategy around how Rewards relates to the company's overarching compensation philosophy – which, in turn, relates to the overall values, culture, and priorities of the business.

"Everytime you're communicating about Rewards, you should be focusing on how it connects to the bigger picture," says Isha. "You want employees to be able to connect the dots between company goals and why Rewards decisions are being made in the way they are."

"At Soundcloud, for instance, maybe we're doing an activation on psychological safety for our team. In terms of communicating with employees, we'd want to be emphasising the message that being able to have open conversations and share feedback across the team is an important principle within our approach to performance management because of our goals to improve employee engagement and retention."

"The ability of tying those little nuggets of information into the organisation's values – I think for me is where the magic happens," Isha reflects.

This approach ensures that every communication – whether about benefits, compensation reviews, or career development – reinforces the same underlying messages and principles rather than feeling like random policy updates.

Tip 2: Coordinate messaging across teams for a unified approach

Isha's second tip tackles one of the biggest challenges in communicating Total Rewards: ensuring consistent messaging across different departments and locations.

The aim is for the whole company to be working together to reinforce the same core messages, rather than each department sending their own disconnected messages.

This coordination becomes especially important when implementing the repetition needed for messages to stick.

"I've learnt through experience that you need to be sharing the same information at least seven times for employees to really take that information in," Isha says. "No level of communication ever feels like it's enough communication."

But, as we saw in the first tip, those seven touchpoints need to be strategically coordinated rather than random repetition from different teams sending conflicting messages.

"You want to connect messages, so that your employees are hearing the same thing again and again and again."

When employees hear those same core messages through a coordinated and consistent approach, it's much more likely that key Total Rewards concepts will stick and that they'll develop a clear understanding of how the company approaches rewards.

Tip 3: Partner with internal communications for organisational support

Isha's third tip recognises that effectively communicating Total Rewards to employees often requires dedicated communication support beyond what Rewards teams can manage alone.

"The final thing, which I think could actually be the silver bullet here,” Isha says, “Is the importance of having a great relationship with your internal comms team.”

“At Soundcloud we’re lucky to have a really strong team focused exclusively on internal communications. So I’m going to rely on that strength to help me communicate Rewards changes and ensure every employee has a clear understanding of their Rewards package, and how compensation decisions are made.”

Having dedicated internal communications support allows Rewards teams to focus on strategy whilst ensuring messages are crafted professionally and distributed effectively.

This support becomes particularly valuable when implementing the coordinated approach Isha advocates. 

Rather than trying to manage messaging across multiple teams independently, Rewards leaders can work with communications professionals who understand how to create unified resources and campaigns that reinforce those core messages.

For Rewards teams without dedicated internal communications support, this might mean building relationships with marketing teams or advocating for communications resources becomes an important part of the Total Rewards strategy. 

In summary: communication should be strategy, not afterthought

Isha's approach demonstrates that effectively communicating Total Rewards requires the same strategic thinking as designing the Rewards programmes themselves.

Moving from siloed messages to coordinated strategy means viewing communication not as something you do after implementing a change in direction or a new Rewards-related project, but as an integral part of making those projects successful.

The most effective approach combines team coordination, consistent messaging company-wide, and regular touchpoints – creating a communication strategy that ensures your carefully designed Rewards strategy actually reaches and resonates with employees.