An article in the Financial Review on 20th March by Jacqueline Maley looked at the impact of the economic climate on employee remuneration. In the article it appears that the likelihood of pay rises occurring this year are somewhat slim – though I suspect that depends on where you work and what state!
Today we are apparently looking for what is termed more ‘holistic rewards’, which excludes base salary. So, whilst employers are not looking to increase salaries, they are looking to increase learning and development opportunities in the hope that offering great educational benefits will attract the top people. According to a consultant from Ambition “many companies are using the opportunity to trade up in employee quality.”
Some businesses are offering ‘consumer benefits’ to reward and motivate their staff, though it appears that this money they are spending on vouchers, pampering, trips, etc. is dead money. According to Peter Langford from Macquarie University the two main factors that keep staff motivated are a sense of purpose and a feeling of involvement in an organization. This stays true for all generations. It makes sense that if people have good leadership and management, with the opportunity to learn and be a part of something special, this delivers a sense of satisfaction for most employees. Perhaps the money spent on ‘rewards and recognition programs’ should be channeled into management training, coaching and careers support for all staff, training, workforce planning and the like. The non-tangible items that require a real commitment from the business rather than the tangible easy to give type rewards!
Do you agree? What do employees really value when it comes to work? Share your comments and thoughts here.
One Comment
I would agree that from an employee perspective the key things that motivate are: good leadership, appreciation of an individual’s intellectual contribution by the organisation (and this not includes recognition and promotion) but also a strong sense of ‘value and purpose, and the alignment between self-ambition and the organisation’s direction. Many employers and company’s i think seem to overlook the fact that some time dedicated in identifying individuals whom identify with those things above might well be ‘force multipliers’ for the benefit of the organisation albeit it may require some re-alignment between experience of the individual with the aims of the organisation. However it seems to me that many organisations seek immediate gratification from employees and hence overlook those whom might have requisite leadership and management potential for those with relevant ‘technical’ or ‘professional discipline’ relevance. How would they know if they do not invest in the non-tangibles as this article suggests. Pity.