At JGA Recruitment, this gap became visible through day-to-day client interactions. Reward leaders were not only looking to hire talent, they were seeking context. Questions around benchmarking, emerging trends and evolving expectations were becoming just as important as filling roles.  

For someone early in their career, the expected focus would be delivery: sourcing candidates, managing processes and supporting senior colleagues. Lewis Roskilly identified a different opportunity; one that sat outside the traditional remit but directly improved how reward professionals could operate. 

Operating in a fast-moving, relationship-driven environment 

The operational environment added pressure. Working across global reward roles, Lewis was engaging with senior stakeholders who expected both speed and credibility. Recruitment cycles were often time-sensitive, with competition for experienced reward professionals high. 

At the same time, the reward landscape itself was shifting. Organisations were increasingly focused on pay transparency, employee value propositions and data-led decision-making. For a recruiter, this meant that transactional delivery was no longer sufficient. Clients expected informed conversations grounded in current market dynamics. 

The challenge for Lewis was clear: how to build credibility quickly in a specialist field, while delivering consistent results in a high-performance environment. 

Building infrastructure beyond the role itself 

Lewis’s response was to create informal but structured infrastructure to support insight sharing and professional connection. Rather than relying solely on internal knowledge or external reports, he began building a network of senior reward professionals, now numbering around 100, who could share perspectives, challenges and emerging trends.  

This network became a practical tool rather than a passive contact list. Through regular conversations, events and curated discussions, it created a space where reward professionals could exchange ideas on topics such as benchmarking, organisational design and evolving reward strategies. 

Alongside this, Lewis developed a regular reward-focused newsletter. This required ongoing research into industry developments, from market trends to best practices, and translating that information into accessible, relevant insights for practitioners. In doing so, he moved from simply consuming knowledge to actively shaping how it was shared. 

His contribution also extended into internal product development. Lewis supported the creation of JGA’s HR and payroll salary benchmarking tool, helping to structure market data in a way that reward teams could use directly. This bridged a common gap between raw data and practical application, enabling more informed conversations with clients. 

Turning relationships into operational value 

What distinguishes this approach is how it translated into tangible outcomes. The network, newsletter and benchmarking tool were not standalone initiatives, they fed directly into client delivery. 

When supporting organisations with senior reward hires, Lewis was able to combine recruitment expertise with real-time market insight. This strengthened both the quality of conversations and the relevance of recommendations, particularly in complex or competitive hiring scenarios.  

The network also created a feedback loop. By maintaining ongoing dialogue with reward professionals, Lewis was able to stay close to emerging challenges and priorities, ensuring that his understanding of the market remained current. 

Externally, these initiatives positioned him as more than a recruiter. Through industry engagement, including contributions to publications and events, he became a recognised voice within the reward community despite being early in his career.  

Internal impact and capability development 

Internally, the impact extended beyond individual performance. Lewis’s work on the salary benchmarking tool enhanced JGA’s broader advisory capability, enabling the business to support clients with more structured, data-driven insights.