Motivation system: carrot front or rear carrot

It is possible to talk about personnel motivation as long as about Russian football or the nomination of Ksenia Sobchak as President of Russia. Is it possible to motivate people solely through compensation? Why do companies use a whole arsenal of benefits to work with staff? Under the cut is the opinion of Parallels HR-manager Arina ANTONOVA.

Motivation vs Compensation

First you should immediately agree on the basic concepts and definitions. For example, motivation and compensation are of a different nature.


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Motivation is the moral state of a person. She, as a rule, forces us to take any action. It may be a necessity, desire, need or interest in something. Motivation is divided into positive and negative. For example, when you are scolded, it can also be part of the motivation, though with a minus sign.

Compensation is a physical expression in monetary terms. There is also a difference between compensations and benefits ( benefits ). Compensation is a salary and its derivatives in the form of bonuses, and benefits are an addition to the salary in the form of pleasant “buns” that do not always have a monetary value for a particular person.



Besides those salaries which each of us receives, various awards are possible. In the case of Parallels, we conduct staff appraisals twice a year. As a result, it is possible to revise either the base salary or the payment of the premium. In addition, in the case of our employees of the sales department, we are also talking about the payment of the commission, i.e. percent from sales.

The peculiarity of the compensation is that they are individual and are specified in the employment contracts with each employee. The amounts of payments are somehow fixed on paper.



If we are talking about benefits (benefits), then they, as a rule, are given to all employees without exception. In our case, such things include: insurance (VHI), parking, paid meals, fitness, bonuses for attracting new employees, corporate training, including English, payment for participation in professional conferences, corporate events, gifts and much more.

In fact, the market situation affects the list of benefits. Today we compete with other employers in all positions. To compete for wages harder. And it is not always your payroll allows you to make the maximum salary offers to potential candidates. In this regard, the system of benefits (benefits) comes to the rescue.

Many or few?

How to understand what a potential employee needs and how competitive your offer is? In the case of compensation, we regularly monitor the market, correlating our positions with others. With benefits, everything is easier. There is a definite list of what is usually provided to employees in IT companies. There are about twenty positions. We look at how our set of benefits corresponds to the market and we strive to form an optimal offer. For example, in some IT companies, in addition to VHI, employees are helped with the placement of children in kindergartens. We do not have this yet, but we know what to strive for. At the same time, not all companies compensate for meals for their employees or parking spaces, we are doing this in Parallels. This is such a Tetris, where you constantly need to look for the optimal balance of needs and opportunities.

Motivation vs Loyalty

Why all this? Obviously, the staff should be happy to work in your team. In some companies, there is even such a position - the manager of happiness. His task is to create the most comfortable working atmosphere for everyone and everything. All so that your motivation system stimulates the staff to the maximum. Moreover, it is important to understand that motivation and loyalty are also different things.

Motivation is what allows you to work further, achieving greater and greater results. Loyalty is what keeps you in one company or another. Loyalty holds you, motivation moves you.

Benefits create loyalty, salary affects motivation. At the same time, it must be said that one without the other is not particularly working. Why? Because when we are paid a salary, it increases our motivation. Either because we are given a chance, or because we feel that we are appreciated. Benefits do not give such an effect, since they are accessible to all.



Human nature is such that we all quickly get used to our level of income. Each time increasing our standard of living, we hope for a possible increase in income in the future. Therefore, exactly in the N-number of months, individually for all, we begin to be sad from the recently raised wages. Salary increase, as a tool to increase motivation, works, but not for long. As for the benefits, they are not responsible for motivation at all. They are needed first of all in order to keep a person in the company. If the employee starts to look for work and price offers will be comparable, the person will look at the minor things that the company offers. This is just the benefits. And in case your system of benefits is better, it is more likely to stay with you. Until the moment he is offered a double salary, of course. Although, maybe this argument will fade, against the backdrop of a comfortable atmosphere in the team and the presence of interesting projects.

Do not pour more! (with)

Let's touch the situation when one or another benefit is taken from you. This is usually an unpleasant story that requires explanations with staff. In fact, we all understand that the benefits are the goodwill of the employer, not enshrined in the employment contract. At the same time, the situation when yesterday you were compensated for the parking, and today this possibility was not, affects the loyalty. This is thin ice. There is no need to chop from the shoulder. Moreover, both from the point of view of introducing any new benefits, and their exclusion from the list. For example, we in Parallels, we try to regularly conduct surveys among employees to understand the feasibility of a particular initiative.



You often hear the opinion that any benefits are worse than financial payments. Often, people say that they would exchange participation in a corporate event for the equivalent in monetary terms. But you need to understand that, for example, in Russia, the company's expenses in the area of ​​compensation and benefits go in different directions in terms of taxation. In one case, the sum must be added to the social insurance fund, and the second is not. The situation varies depending on the country and the rules existing there. Parallels has 10 offices around the world and everywhere has its own specifics. For example, in Estonia, all our corporate events imply additional tax deductions for their organization. Sometimes it doubles the budget. They promise that the situation will change soon.



In the meantime, everything is as it is. But what to do if employees say that they do not need these or other benefits. Several options. First, to listen and adjust the system of benefits if such appeals are massive. In the case of a single treatment, you can relax, because you can not please everyone. The third option, if possible, to organize a "Benefit Cafeteria".

In many progressive companies, employees are offered the right to choose those benefits that more suit their needs and interests. The system works simply. Existing benefits are ranked by score. An employee is given a certain amount of points for which he can choose for himself an individual set of benefits. The system is beautiful with only one drawback - its implementation is more expensive. When working with a standard volume of services, companies usually receive volume discounts from counterparties.



Summarizing all the above, it is worth noting once again that the compensation system, as a rule, effectively works in close conjunction with the benefits. This is how to walk on two legs. Today there are very few companies, especially in IT, operating without a benefit system. It's like trying to jump on one leg in an obstacle course. Of course, it is possible to do this, but the victory is not guaranteed. Discuss?