Money doesn’t solve everything for most workers

IT is a widely held assumption among business managers that pay rises are the best incentive for employees to take on more work.

Historically, this makes sense given the value placed on output in industrial workplaces. In a modern professional world, ask almost anyone if they will take on more work for more pay and most will likely say they would struggle to fit more into their day.

While a worker would hardly ever reject a pay rise, the amount of work they do is probably already incommensurate with their salary. Workers would often prefer to have their workload eased because it would show management respecting the work already being done instead of throwing money at a problem that adds to worker stress and burnout.

In the past two decades, the nature of the workforce has evolved rapidly from product-oriented to more technological and digital-oriented.

This means workers are less able to “show” the output of their work because the integration of ever-improving digital aides has reduced their involvement in the physical development of products. This has led to less commissionbased pay.

All of this does not, however, mean human resources are redundant. It just means the work they complete has changed – along with the necessary skills – and human resource management (HRM) needs to find alternative ways to acknowledge the level of skills workers possess.

Industry refers to these as “soft skills” – personal attributes that contribute to effective collaboration and teamwork. HRM needs to find ways to develop these skills if organisations are to survive in this day and age. This requires more than salary incentives. We all want more money, but that cannot automatically equate to improved skills.

What incentives do we need to help us grow these soft skills?

From experience working in the education industry, I can attest to the need for time. Building development time

THE BIGGEST INCENTIVE HRM CAN OFFER WORKERS IS TIME TO DEVELOP THEIR SKILLS.

into workloads will help workers in all service and relationship-based organisations build better approaches to their jobs.

Other organisations have found economical ways of supporting their employees through generous sick days and annual leave, providing on-site day care and offering flexible work options such as the ability to work from home. These incentives are less expensive than pay rises and develop stronger organisational commitment from workers.

HRM must focus on incentivising the development of these soft skills in order to build strong organisational leadership that is effective in the contemporary world.

The biggest incentive HRM can offer workers is time to develop their skills.