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| Keeping in tune with the theme of this issue, we caught up with 4 companies operating in diverse areas of IT to really get into the finer details of what really is the new employment deal. Our intent was to go beyond the trends and fads, to actually understand what it is that employers think make employees tick. Presenting here, the findings of our discussions on both, the transactional, and relational levers of Total Rewards. |
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Our global philosophy on rewards has a dual purpose of attracting and retaining employees, and rewarding performance. Of utmost importance to us is internal equity. |
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| PayMix:
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| Our compensation is highly competitive, and our pay is in the top quartile. Our variable pay is linked with individual contribution to projects. We have a profit sharing plan, and an aggressive employee stock purchase program as well. |
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| High Performers Management: |
| High performers are those who deliver a superior quality of work consistently. We have differentiated compensation in terms of cash and stocks. There’s also an accelerated growth program.
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| Incentives: |
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Product ship Bonus: for contribution to product development |
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Online Learning Bonus. |
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Bonus for ACE (Adobe Certified Engineer). |
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Patent Program: encourages innovation to create new products. At least 5-10 patents are filed a year. If approved, there is a significant payout which is staggered through various stages. |
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| Benefits: |
| Do not necessarily contribute to retention, but should definitely not be a reason for an employee to leave. At our facility in Noida, we have a cafeteria that provides 3 meals a day. We also provide laptops to all employees, as this enables flexi work hours. We have a car scheme for all employees. Upto 10 copies of our products are available for employees at high discounts. We also encourage employees to participate in community development, which gives them a sense of satisfaction. |
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| Employee Value Proposition: |
| We position ourselves by way of a differentiated service offering. We operate in product development, not software services and so this gives employees an opportunity to innovate, work with the best minds in the industry and cutting edge technology while taking complete ownership of products. The message sent out to prospective employees on college campuses is by showcasing the youth at Adobe who speak of their experience with us. |
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| Rewards and Recognition: |
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Spot Bonuses, Recognition Bonuses in the form of cash |
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VIA (Values in Action) wherein we reward employees for demonstrating our key values |
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Each team has the autonomy to give ‘positive strokes’ to team members to bring about a feeling of oneness! |
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Our compensation philosophy hinges around performance. We try to ensure that our pay plans balance the need for pay for performance with attraction and retention goals. At American Express, Pay for the Job includes processes such as Job Evaluation, MRZs (Market Reference Zones) and the design of incentive plans. Pay for the person refers to how we move people through their MRZ and our pay-for-performance principles. |
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| Pay Mix: |
| Our philosophy is reflected in most of the workforce being on a variable pay plan that is leveraged by performance. This pay mix is obviously influenced by line of sight. The higher the band (and ability to influence outcome), the higher the variable pay as a percentage of fixed salary. |
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| High Performers Management: |
| There is distinct differentiation in rewards based on performance and outstanding achievers could easily double their variable pay in good years while poor performers do not get any variable pay awards. |
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| Benefits: |
| The predominant distinguishing factor in the organization, is the flexibility/customization that we allow for, in our Salary & Benefits (or what we call the Total Cash) structure. Statutory retirals benefits aside, our pension programme allows employees to choose defined contribution or cash. Our health care programme is unique in the sense that we do not have medical insurance, but a generous critical illness and hospitalization programme covering dependents, parents as well as in laws. It is completely funded by the organization, and very popular with our young and mobile workforce. |
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| Communication: |
| We not just share MRZ’s with employees and business leaders invest a lot of time to align them on the rationale and construction of the same. This enables leaders to own the process and communicate better with the employees and helps build transparency (and hence trust) with the employees. |
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| Recognition: |
| Monetary recognition includes ‘Spot Awards’, ‘Above and Beyond’ and ‘Leadership’ awards based on contribution. We also have a host of non-monetary rewards which differ according to functions. |
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Differential Rewards for differentiated performance’. We believe in Total Rewards- it spans cash compensation, monetized value of benefits, deferred plans, stock options, and RSUs. |
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| Pay Mix: |
| Our CTC is only cash component. The key feature of our plan is a very aggressive bonus/ variable pay plan, wherein the target is considered as a base, which once crossed quadruples. We also have a generous stock option plan. |
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| High Performers Management: |
| Highly differentiated compensation at the top quartile. We practice ‘Differential investment’. Top performers fast track in their careers. |
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| Benefits: |
| We focus on providing a high quality life for employees and their families. Our healthcare policy is one of the best in the industry. It covers 5 members of family along with the employee on a full floater basis. Our on campus facilities include a well equipped fitness centre, a throughout the year ‘Wellness Initiative’ with a focus on overall fitness. We also plan to introduce an Employee Assistance/ Referral Program to help cope with job related issues. We have a trust based medical leave program–our medical leave is unrestricted. Standard provisions apart, we provide time off for bereavement, paternity etc. Reinforcing our belief in the importance of family, we encourage employees to take time off for adoption. The Education Assistance Programme and Overseas assignments are popular and also act as a retention tool. |
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| Employee Value Proposition: “Make Your Mark”. |
| Our EVP is more than just Rewards - it is about providing an opportunity for our employees to ‘Make a Mark’. - creating a Personal Signature in a specific domain. A significant effort in VeriSign towards creating value for our employees is through developing `Technical #8217;- creating a brand personality for Technology. There is a weekly technology thought leadership forum called ‘Tech Tuesdays’ wherein new technology trends are shared and debated on. Another effort is our On-line technical forum called `Matrix’ wherein our employees contribute to discussions on best practices, ideas, and expertise which could be leveraged by anyone in VeriSign.
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| Rewards and Recognition: |
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Employee of the month’ award, appreciation memos, mention in the in-house e-newsletter et al. |
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Thrive: Web based tool with 360 degree reward mechanism. |
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Individual specific rewards – book rewards, vacation vouchers etc, time off with family et al. |
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Our viewpoint on Rewards is to go beyond providing just attractive compensation. offer a remarkable work environment that is conducive to the growth of employees as well as the organization. Employees who have stayed with the company and have performed well have been rewarded well both monetarily and in terms of career growth opportunities. |
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| Pay Mix: |
| Our compensation is at par with the market. It is essential to keep the compensation structure simple and easy to understand and communicate. The pay mix is differentiated based on levels as well as business lines. Our ESOP program has helped earn rich dividends for our employees. Deferred compensation plans have also been introduced to curtail attrition. |
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| High Performers Management: |
| Compensation for high performers is benchmarked at a higher market percentile. In tune with our belief in providing growth opportunities, we have ongoing and specialized development and coaching programs for future leaders. |
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| Benefits: |
| ‘We Care’. We have one of the best medical insurance policies for employees and families and a life cover that is a multiple of annual gross salary. Apart from a gym and cafeteria in all our offices, we also provide counselling service to cope with personal issues and stress. We have special leave/allowances for weddings, anniversaries and paternity. We also have cultural forums that are financially supported by the organization, but led by employees. |
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| Communication: |
| It is not necessary to just have a pay policy in place, it is equally important to communicate it to employees and ensure that it is well understood. Besides use of the intranet, we have open forums wherein we share our philosophy, reinforce internal and external equity, clarify our PMS process, and answer related questions. |
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| Rewards and Recognition: |
| Company-wide awards for excellence in individual and team work are given at the Annual Open House. Besides, there are mechanisms in place for ‘Spot Awards’ and ‘Peer Recognition’ which are non-monetary in nature. |
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| And the Common Themes emerging are: |
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Emphasis is on performance driven pay |
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Benefits extend well into the workplace in terms of a comfortable and supportive work environment. |
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Training and development programs has risen in importance for both employers and employees, and is used as a rewards instrument |
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There are significant efforts to create an employer brand, even if not formally articulated |
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Communication is critical to having a satisfied workforce |
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Monetary as well non monetary recognition is appreciated by employees, and keeps motivation levels high |
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