Bersin's findings come from its High-Impact Rewards research, a new study area that focuses on employee total rewards. As employees and candidates become increasingly mobile and assertive, they are driving organizations to expand their definition of "rewards" beyond traditional compensation and benefits programs. The most mature, high-performing rewards organizations have embraced this sweeping change with agile, comprehensive programs that align with broader business goals.

"In this highly-competitive environment, organizations are finding they need to discover new ways to better attract and retain employees, as well as increase productivity," said Pete DeBellis, associate vice president and total rewards research leader, Bersin, Deloitte Consulting LLP. "Productivity is partly a matter of motivating employees, and rewards programs play a big role. Rewards programs should include elements that go beyond compensation and benefits – it's about things like well-being, learning and development opportunities, and taking a more holistic look at the relationship between employee and employer. By viewing employees as rewards 'customers,' organizations should define, develop, adapt and deliver total rewards offerings in ways that employees love."

Bersin HIR research points to significant challenges facing HR organizations, but also identifies highly productive steps for evolving their rewards offerings. The top findings reveal:

1. The rewards function is alienating employees and undermining employment brand. Using a standard industry measure for loyalty, participants scored far below the neutral position, indicating a significant lack of enthusiasm by employees for their organizations' rewards offerings.

2. Mature rewards organizations listen, learn and design offerings for their "customers." High-performing organizations are six times more likely to use data and analysis to understand employee preferences and 1.7 times more likely to report that "employee experience" is an HR leader and C-suite priority in their organization, when compared to low-performing counterparts.

3. High-Impact Total Rewards is about "best fit," not just "best practice." The combination of taking a more employee-centric view of rewards and supporting the alignment between rewards strategies and organization-specific business goals illustrates that high-performing organizations place great importance on how a rewards program might apply to their organization's unique culture and objectives. These organizations are 12 times more likely than low-performing organizations to identify specific rewards offerings as competitive differentiators and highlight them in their rewards brand.