The total reward statement we rebuilt, and why we took the big number off the front

Sharing a format that has worked for us at a Dutch university medical centre with about 12,000 staff. Our old total reward statement led with one large figure, salary plus the employer cost of every benefit, on the theory that people would be impressed.

They were not. In focus groups, staff called it the number that is not my pay. Nurses in particular read it as the employer arguing they were paid more than they felt they were.

The new version leads with what you have: days of leave remaining, pension built up so far and projected, what you would receive if you were ill for a long period, and what your family would receive if you died. Costs are on page two. Open rate went from 31% to 67%.