Total Reward System: towards an operational model

A vast and increasing amount of contributions which refer to the concept of Total Reward (TR) is presented in the current academic and practitioners’ debate on compensation management, since the last two decades. Due to the wide recognition that managing Total Reward could represent a great opportunity for organizations, TR has emerged as a topic of increased attention (see e.g. O’Neal 1998). However, we observe that the attention to TR is more developed by practitioners’ literature than from academic one. The original model identifies four components of TR that are: work environment, company environment, work life balance (WLB) and compensation. Specifically the concept of TR is here presented in its complexity considering it as a multidimensional model, represented through a four factors model, and as a multilevel model, in terms of different level of customization of rewards. This is a work in progress which aim is to present the concept of TRS through an “interpretative model”. Starting from a theoretical review and the evidence of a lack of systematization in the current debate on Total Reward, the paper aims at presenting the re-visitation of an interpretative model on Total Reward System (TRS) previously presented (Torre 2008; 2010a; 2010b; 2010c) and suggestions for its future developments.