Being locked up at home for the past nine months has given me the time to watch some videos that wouldn’t have made the list in a normal year. The rabbit hole of streaming information recently brought me to a series of videos on triathlons. Watching a few of these events (appropriately sped up) reminded me of the power of a compensation philosophy.

On November 24, 2020, the SEC published proposed long-anticipated changes to Rule 701. As a reminder, Rule 701 allows companies to provide offers and sales of securities with an exemption from Rule 144. Basically, it makes it easier to grant equity or sell shares to employees. No need to go into the legalese here, since there are a ton of other places that cover it in detail.

The proposed rules cover some esoteric stuff like REITS and Foreign Issuers and also cover things that every pre-IPO company (or long-term private company) should be aware of.

World at Work defines Total Rewards as:

“All of the tools available to the employer that may be used to attract, motivate and retain employees. Total rewards include everything the employee perceives to be of value resulting from the employment relationship.”

We have invented more tools with corresponding rules, regulations, and variations. And our employees have become more diverse. Explaining the totality of Total Rewards has become increasingly difficult for many in and out of the world of compensation.