Star treatment can be best incentive

Money still talks for firms that want to recruit and retain the best people, but there are other ways to reward staff.
 

Most of the 350,000 people who work in the City will be getting some sort of payout this year. Rumour says the average employee will be something like £23,000 better off, with the elite pulling in more than £1m.

In commercial banks, pay is generous but not extraordinary. Top commercial bankers get much the same as senior partners in law firms.

Nor are the bonuses quite as rewarding as they might seem. A large part of the money often comes in the form of share options that are designed to handcuff the recipient to his employer. City employers want the best people. Paying them more than anyone else is the best way to ensure this.

But there is more to incentives than cash payments. As competition for the brightest people grows, firms are becoming more creative about the incentives they offer.

Spectators at the RBS Six Nations rugby last week undoubtedly included a good number of people being rewarded for their extra effort. Others will have been taken to the Super Bowl in Detroit. Another favourite is playing a round of golf at Augusta.

One of the stars of the incentive game is the American company RPMC, which launched a British affiliate last year. “Our programme is based on offering people things money wouldn’t buy,” said Andy McMorran, managing director of RPMC. “We can offer exclusive access to the Grammy awards and programmes built around the Oscar awards. We offer the only Oscar party where you dine with the stars.

“We are helping organisations hold on to their talent. We promise an experience that is different. It is hugely rewarding for people driven by sales. They want to know what you can offer them to make them feel a success.”

In the hyperactive world of brand promotion and “sponsorship activation”, RPMC describes itself as an “excitement agency”, and this year it has the opportunity to live up to this. RPMC has been appointed entertainment and marketing agency for McDonald’s sponsorship of the Fifa World Cup.

The programme will offer 1,408 children the chance of competing to play with top football stars, and in a large incentive programme, RPMC will manage the hospitality, ticketing needs and itineraries for VIPs, McDonald’s executives, 30,000 restaurant owners and other customers and corporate guests.

The City, however, is not the only business that relies on the stimulus of cash bonuses.

With a commission paid on each vacancy they fill, recruiters working for agencies can do well. “A graduate can make up to £30,000 quite quickly,” said Hadleigh.

There were concerns that the advent of online recruiting would kill the golden goose, but so far traditional and modern methods seem to be co- existing. “Most employers are continuing to use both,” said Hadleigh.

The other attraction of the business is that it offers opportunities to the entrepreneurially minded who want to break away from their agency and start up on their own.

If there is a sign of change, it is that people are keen to acquire some qualifications that will help them achieve independence.

Concilium is a fast-growing financial recruitment company whose business expanded 200% last year and it is looking for another good run this year.

Bonuses are an important part of its recruitment strategy. “We’re always looking at bonus attractions,” said Elan Diamond, a director at Concilium. “We are increasingly studying doing more incentivising and we have a range of things: Robbie Williams concerts in Paris, the Monaco Grand Prix, foreign trips, a day at the races and directors’ boxes at football matches are some of the things we do. It’s money well spent and good for team building.”

Diamond points out that the incentives play an important part in getting people on board as well as keeping them.

Benefits play an important role in motivating staff at John Lewis, the department-store chain, and its supermarket affiliate Waitrose, which has 63,000 full-time “partners”, 10,000 of them under the age of 21.

The centrepiece is the proportion of profits distributed to the partners which in recent years has varied between 12% and 15%.

There are generous discounts on goods purchased in the stores, rising to 25% after three years at John Lewis. Holidays start at four weeks and reach five weeks after three years.

The pension is a non-contributory final-salary scheme payable at 60 to most partners who have completed a five-year qualifying period. On top of this there are numerous clubs and societies as well as education subsidies. It certainly pays to count your bonuses.