In today's highly competitive job market, employers are facing the challenge of attracting and retaining top talent. Offering a competitive salary is no longer enough. Employers must take a holistic approach and provide a comprehensive package that meets the individual needs of each employee. This is where the concept of Total Rewards comes into play.

Salary increases are a major point of concern for most employers right now. Recent data shows that most employers plan to offer increases of around 3.5% to 4.1% this year. This will put pressure on salary structures—but still might not meet employee expectations.

Maybe you’ve heard of compensation benchmarking, also known as salary benchmarking, but you really don’t understand what it is or why it’s important to an employer. I promise you are not alone! As a compensation consultant, I often have conversations with executives and HR professionals before starting an employee compensation benchmarking project. Typically, they feel like they need help with reviewing their salaries, but aren’t entirely clear on how to go about the process.

Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) are a popular, tax-efficient way to help people deal with everyday health costs. Employees participating in eligible health plans can make an affordable, pre-tax contribution to spending accounts each month, and then use those savings when they need to cover a medical expense.

I’ll never forget the first time I got a Total Rewards statement. I remember looking at it and thinking, “The benefits I get from these people are worth HOW MUCH?!” At the time, I was just beginning my HR career, still working to understand the difference between an FSA and an HSA, so seeing all of these benefits at once blew my mind. Looking back on that moment with years of HR experience, I know that this was not a good thing. Let me tell you why.

August 26th is Women's Equality Day, which is an excellent time to reflect on the progress we've made on issues like the Gender Wage Gap.