Reward framework for Wellcome Sanger

Following a Pay and Benefits Review in 2013 the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute decided it wanted to introduce a contribution framework to provide structure for the annual individual pay review. This was seen as necessary given the withdrawal of a general pay increase and the additional responsibility this placed on managers for determining pay decisions. Moreover, there was a clear wish among staff for greater transparency in pay decisions and to have a more direct link between appraisal and pay.

IES assisted this project in a number of ways:

  • holding focus groups to obtain staff opinions on key aspects of how the contribution framework would operate
  • inputting to the discussions of a staff 'reference group' set up for management to test ideas with
  • advising the HR design team on different ways to construct the contribution framework
  • modelling the relationship between managerial assessments and costs
  • offering a way to evaluate the effectiveness of the process.

A draft contribution framework was signed off by the Board of Management for use with non faculty employees. It was then piloted in appropriate areas of the Institute. Having received a positive reaction, the approach will be rolled out more generally in 2015/16.