Beyond the Paycheck: Total Rewards, Recognition, and Pay Transparency with Anthony Renella

Summary

If employees only see a salary number, they undervalue what they receive—and engagement suffers. Anthony Renella, VP of Total Rewards with global experience across media, tech, retail, and real estate, shares how to turn compensation from a “black hole” into a clear, trusted system.

He outlines how to publish personalized total rewards statements, automate them through your HRIS, payroll, and vendor data, and help employees understand employer contributions, incentives, and long-term value.

Anthony also unpacks recognition as a culture driver—peer-to-peer and leader-led—using social feeds and on-the-spot tools that tie directly to company values. He explains how to measure impact through engagement, performance, and retention, and how to prepare leaders for pay transparency with practical coaching on ranges, midpoints, and comp ratios.

Expect actionable steps to de-risk transparency, close inequities with ongoing analytics, and make recognition part of daily operations.

Timestamps

[00:15] – Guest intro: Anthony’s global total rewards leadership across multiple industries

[03:57] – From money mindset to rewards philosophy: holistic, inclusive pay and benefits

[05:53] – Where Comp & Ben breaks down: the transparency gap and “black hole” effect

[07:35] – Building total rewards statements: HRIS, payroll, and vendor data automation

[09:38] – Recognition that changes culture: peer-to-peer feeds, on-the-spot apps, thank-yous

[12:49] – Measuring impact: engagement, performance linkage, and retention outcomes

[14:12] – The year ahead: pay transparency, manager enablement on ranges and comp ratios

[17:43] – Tools and cadence: pay equity analytics and continuous monitoring

Takeaways

- Publish personalized total rewards statements by integrating HRIS, payroll, and vendor data.

- Train managers to explain salary structures—ranges, midpoints, comp ratios—and your pay philosophy.

- Build a recognition system: peer-to-peer and leader-driven, with social feeds and on-the-spot nominations.

- Tie recognition to company values and performance; track engagement, retention, and award patterns.

- Treat pay transparency as ongoing: surface inequities, act with a plan, and communicate the “why” behind pay.

- Invest in pay equity analytics and review continuously, not as a one-time audit.

Sponsor

Aura Finance helps you simplify compensation and benefits planning by bringing everything into one streamlined platform. No more juggling spreadsheets, disconnected tools, or manual calculations

Aura gives you a single place to design, compare, and communicate total rewards packages with confidence.

With AI-powered insights, it takes the guesswork and busywork out of comp decisions, helps you spot pay equity gaps early, and makes it easy to model scenarios that keep your teams engaged and your budgets on track.

See a demo at https://www.aurafinance.com/