Pay, not the first priority anymore?

Pic: MonkeyBusiness/IndiaPicture

Would you nix a high-paying job offer if it fails to assure career growth opportunities? According to a recent survey, the modern-day job-seeker is doing just that.
India Inc today is a fragment of an ever-changing corporate scenario and as its dynamics evolve, employees and job-seekers find their aspirations and incentives shifting. Mercer's ‘What's Working' survey validates that out of 13 possible reward elements, Indian respondents say that career advancement is their most important reward element. Base pay is the second-most important followed by training opportunities. Aleem Merchant, director, Synapse Marketing Consultancy Pvt Ltd says, "Reward points in today's scenario get far more complicated than the good old days, where you would have a son coming home to his parents with a box of sweets, proclaiming his salary hike, followed by the entire family breaking into a song and dance of how their lives have changed for good. Today's youth demands are more focussed, planned and diverse. A macro point of view for reward schemes seems quite simple and can be generalised, but as you look closer, rewards need to be personalised and customised to suit needs and desires."

For the job-seeker, below are the thirteen top parameters against which they base their decision to work with a certain employer, as per Mercer's ‘What's Working' survey: Career advancement Base pay Training opportunities Type of work Working for a respectable organisation Bonus or other incentives Retirement savings plan Flexible work schedule Good medical insurance coverage Wellness programmes Paid time-off Tuition reimbursement Longer term leave

So, what is it that makes career advancement the most sought-after reward element? Nishchae Suri, MD, Mercer explains, "In a hyper-growth environment, ‘growth' is the mantra for business success. For an employee, their organisation or manager working with them on a career development plan is imperative to their personal and professional growth. From an organisation's perspective, career advancement is important for retention as also for attracting talented employees to the workplace. It increases employee engagement levels as well."
Brian Almeida, MD, Direxions Global Solutions Pvt Ltd says, "Career advancement is one way in which employees believe that they can stay relevant. It ensures that employees can keep up with the changes. The age at which one becomes obsolete and redundant is decreasing. Hence, rather than chasing basic pay, employees understand the need to be relevant and have a ‘career'."
After career advancement and base pay, the third most sought-after career incentive was training opportunities, thus revealing that India Inc employees don't just aspire to accomplish a good career, but also want to get better at what they do. "Training is very important. We are in a talent market, which is competitive, and for organisations to meet their growing talent needs, they would need to grow talent internally. Also, there is an increasing change in the type of knowledge and skills employees require, so as to perform their job well in today's dynamic business environment.
Consequently, whether the bait for climbing up the corporate ladder is training opportunities, career advancement incentives or basic pay, one cannot refute the fact that India Inc today is more motivated than ever to be on top of their game.

- - Arshie Chevalwala and Lynn Lobo