Interview with Christine Martin, reward leader and advisor
At Frazer Jones, we connect leaders in the HR world to exciting businesses across all sectors – from start-ups to Fortune 500 organizations. In today’s economic climate, many businesses are looking for meaningful strategies to improve employee productivity, reduce staff turnover and motivate their colleagues.
As a result, many businesses are looking to reward professionals for expert advice on how to deliver impactful change.
Our own Kevin Bigansky sat down with Christine Martin, Founder of CJM Rewards Consulting, to learn more about her career and what trends she sees impacting the industry.
Christine has led rewards teams at some of the world’s largest financial services organizations, including Apollo Global Management and PIMCO. She’s now a consultant, sharing her extensive knowledge with a range of organizations.
Can you briefly share your career journey and how you found your way into reward?
I was an Applied Math major in college and originally began my professional career as an actuary, and soon realized that was not the full-time career I wanted to pursue. It may sound cliché, but I packed my bags and moved from California to New York City as many young people do in their 20s, wanting to live and work in the big city. Soon after, someone took a chance on me at Merrill Lynch, and my first job was in executive compensation. My hiring manager from Merrill Lynch is still a mentor to me to this day.
I was fortunate to learn about senior compensation at an early stage in my career. Compensation has always been the center of my rewards world, even though my career has spanned many different HR disciplines. Throughout my career, I gained exposure working on the buy-side with alternatives and developed my skill set with companies such as Apollo, PIMCO and Goldman Sachs. We relocated to Austin a few years ago where I took a step back to spend some time with my young children and slow down a bit. Last year, I decided to create my own advisory firm where I now get exposure to a broader variety of industries.
What is one challenge or pitfall you have seen most often when designing reward strategies?
Organizations are focused on prioritizing investments and compensation for teams in strategic business areas, ensuring incentives are closely aligned with business objectives. They absolutely should be focused on this.
As firms expand their portfolios, the biggest detractor from effectiveness is the growing number and complexity of plans. Over indexing on bespoke compensation plans for various individuals or businesses can lead to significant challenges down the line, making it increasingly difficult to unwind, track, and maintain. To navigate this successfully, you must be intentional with a long-term view and actively partner with senior leadership to execute.
How important are non-monetary rewards, such as well-being benefits, in today’s reward strategies?
In my view, non-monetary rewards are equally important to an individual as their compensation package. Firms are focusing more and more on employee well-being and mental health initiatives, which we all witnessed spike during COVID. They’re recognizing the positive impact on employee wellness and productivity. Rolling out new benefits to support these initiatives remains a key priority for organizations.
Firms must also strike a balance between offering competitive benefits and wellness programs, managing costs, and staying aligned with market standards, recognizing that different organizations are at varying stages of maturity and that these offerings can be expensive. The key is to identify non-monetary rewards that are both financially sustainable for the firm and valuable to employees – it’s typically highly dependent on the firm’s culture.
How do you see AI and automation impacting the balance between human decision-making and algorithm-driven processes in reward management?
AI is a major focus today, often sparking concerns about job displacement, but in reality, it will serve as a powerful asset for organizations. By enhancing operations and streamlining administrative tasks, AI will enable human capital teams to shift their focus toward supporting the overall business objectives and delivering greater strategic value. There are a few firms out there who are early adopters and embracing this change effectively – it will be interesting to see how more firms navigate this space over time.
What would be your advice to younger Reward professionals looking to progress their career?
My advice to those progressing in their rewards career is that it’s essential to gain as much exposure and experience as possible across all rewards disciplines early in your career. Everything is interconnected and a deep understanding of various functions will provide you a more holistic perspective. Seize every opportunity to learn, as it will strengthen your expertise and impact. Remember that being a reward professional is like having a major with many, many different minors.
It can all start with a coffee—be curious, reach out, and build connections. Ask for a mentor, have conversations, and seek guidance. Raise your hand for new opportunities that feel challenging, talk to your manager, and explore different functions and projects. There’s no one-size-fits-all path to becoming a seasoned rewards professional, but the more you engage, the more you grow. Stay relevant and stay well connected.
Want to advance your rewards career?
A career in rewards is highly fulfilling, you can help drive an organization and their people strategy forward. If you are looking for a reward job, check out our latest reward job opportunities.
Alternatively, if you are looking to hire a rewards professional, please submit a brief and a member of our expert team will be in touch.
