Companies invest millions in compensation, and most have already built the infrastructure to communicate it: portals, rewards statements, and manager talking points. Yet only 32% of employees believe their pay is fair, and just 38% understand how it’s determined. Reach isn’t the problem. Understanding is.

Drawing on Pave’s analysis of how candidates and employees actually engage with their compensation, alongside research from Gartner, WTW, and Mercer, this report reveals a striking pattern. Candidates study their offer an average of 10 times before signing. Then engagement falls off a cliff: 58% of employees look at their total rewards two or fewer times a year, and 75% of that engagement happens within 30 days of the merit cycle.

The report maps the five places where compensation value quietly leaks during an employee’s tenure and shows what leading compensation teams are doing to close them. It also includes a practical, 10-question audit you can run before your next comp cycle.

Inside the report:

• The engagement cliff: how 10 offer views turn into one glance a year, and why the offer proves value can land

• Why informed isn’t convinced: the gap between employees feeling informed about their rewards and actually valuing them

• The Five Leaks: the Cliff, the Cadence, the Desk, the Context, and the Messenger, each backed by data

• The manager multiplier: companies that added manager-led communication saw 25% higher engagement than those that didn’t, Year 1 to Year 2

• A real-world example: how Dropbox gives candidates and employees one consistent, personalized view of their total rewards

• The Five Leaks Audit: a scored, take-home assessment with a first fix for every leak

Complete the form to gain access to this essential report right now!