One thing the HR area is lacking now is statistical analysis capabilities in companies. HR needs to adjust to the new trends in this field and the HR indicators and the company’s performance indicators need to be in sync.
Telekom Romania, the largest local telecommunications group, for instance, has introduced a flexible benefits scheme, which includes 17 options for the employees to choose from.
“When you choose your benefits yourself, you see them as more valuable. The main benefits employees choose are Christmas money gifts for kids, life insurance, Christmas bonus, Easter bonus, luncheon vouchers, holiday bonus,” says Anca Georgescu, chief human resources officer of Telekom Romania.
She attended the tenth ZF HR Conference organized by ZF in partnership with BRD, Telekom, Romanian Software, Zamfirescu Racoti&Partners, Benefit System, Intermedicas, Gras Savoye, Consulteam, AON Romania and Adecco.
Moreover, Telekom Romania has developed a reward system that includes a base salary, a variable payment and an annual performance bonus.
“Besides that, flexible benefits schemes may be introduced. An employee could therefore choose from an option menu what suits them best up to a specific budget. If I am of a certain age, I may not be interested in a Pillar 3 (voluntary pension scheme) contribution, or, on the contrary, I may.”
The salary accounts for 75% of the salary package in Germany, while in Romania it accounts for 86%. Still, the trend is to lower this percentage in Romania, as well, using the Western model.
A problem those attending the conference pointed out is that the benefits companies offer have to be relevant to the employee, so a solution is to give employees the opportunity to choose their own benefits.
“It is important that we make sure the benefits are relevant for the employee, that they provide a feeling of control, are transparent, tax-efficient and are not duplicated in dual-income families,” says Adrian Sarbu, head of operations and co-founder of BenefitOnline.ro
“If a company chooses a turnkey solution, it doesn’t have to go through all the trouble. It is much better tax-wise to give benefits rather than money.”
The benefits offer must be changed from time to time and the company most not simply settle for letting the employee choose once a year or even once in a longer while.
The HR policy must take into account the major differences between the characteristics of various generations.
“If you give a Y generation representative a luncheon voucher, they will see it as their right; if they choose a holiday voucher themselves, the impact is much greater.”
Benefits are one more way of ensuring employee loyalty. Florin Godean, country manager of Adecco Romania, says Romania ranks 85th out of 93 in terms of capability to stop migration of talent and 81st in terms of attracting talent.
“A lot of people are leaving the country and very few people are attracted by the jobs in Romania. We attract people from northern Africa especially for IT jobs.”
The main reason why Romanians choose to go abroad is the salary. A top manager gets 18 times higher salary than a worker in Romania. A senior specialist could earn EUR1,500 in Romania compared with EUR5,200 in Germany, says Oana Datki, South East Europe managing partner with Consulteam. The gap is much narrower for managers, EUR13,000 in Romania and EUR16,000 in Germany.
“(…) Romanian managers get the same salary as Russian and Polish managers do,” said Mirka Straathof, regional director productized services fast growing markets with Hay Group.
The salary gap narrows as you go up the ladder. How much does a manager earn compared with a secretary? The global difference was 6.4 in 2014, higher than before. That it is because it is higher on emerging markets. And these emerging markets are developing faster. The gap is much lower in the Netherlands and in the Nordic countries. In Romania, it moved from 9.8 in 2008 to 8.8 in 2014, Mirka Straathof added.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)