With compensation budgets still suffering a post-recession hangover, and the average U.S. salary hike hovering around 3% a year, compensation strategy has become a hot topic. How do you design a pay plan that motivates people to do their best work? A new study by three Harvard Business School researchers suggests a novel answer: Shortly after you hire new workers, give them a raise.
時至今日，薪酬預算還沒有從經濟衰退時期的宿醉中清醒過來，美國的年均工資漲幅依然徘徊在3%左右，難怪薪酬戰略已經成為一個熱門話題。那么，如何才能設計出一項足以激勵員工全情投入工作的薪酬計劃呢？日前，哈佛商學院(Harvard Business School)的3位研究人員提出了一個新奇的解決方案：雇傭新員工不久后，就給他們加薪。
"Previous research has shown that paying people more than they expect may elicit reciprocity in the form of greater productivity, " notes Deepak Malhotra, a Harvard business-administration professor who worked on the study. What he and his colleagues found, however, was that the connection between more pay and extra effort depends on presenting the increase "as a gift -- that is, as something you've chosen to do purely as a nice gesture, with no strings attached."
“以前的研究已經表明，支付超出員工預期的薪水可能會產生投桃報李的效果，員工的生產率有望大幅提升，”哈佛大學工商管理學教授迪帕克·馬爾霍特拉指出。然而，他和他的同事們發現，更高的工資能否激發額外的努力，還要取決于漲工資是不是企業贈送給員工的“一件禮物，也就是說，你選擇這樣做純粹是一種友好的表示，并沒有任何附加條件。”
Malhotra and his team studied 266 people hired by oDesk, a global online network of freelancers, to do a one-time data-entry project for four hours. All of the new hires were people in developing countries, for whom hourly wages of $3 and $4 were higher than what they had been making in previous jobs.
馬爾霍特拉和他的團隊研究了oDesk公司的266位員工，這家全球性的自由職業者在線網絡聘請他們從事一個為期4小時的一次性數據錄入項目。所有新員工都來自發展中國家，3美元或4美元的時薪比他們以前掙的工資高了不少。
The researchers split the group up into three parts. One group was told they would earn $3 an hour. A second group was initially hired at $3 an hour but, before they started working, they got a surprise: The budget for the project had expanded unexpectedly, they were told, and they would now be paid $4 an hour. The third group was offered $4 an hour from the start and given no increase.
研究人員把這些工人分成三個小組。第一組工人被告知，他們將領取3美元時薪。第二組最初也是以時薪3美元的工資水平招聘的，但在開始工作前，他們非常驚喜地獲悉，這個項目出人意料地增加了預算，他們現在將獲得4美元時薪。第三組從一開始就被給予4美元時薪，此后沒有增加。
Even though the second and third groups were ultimately paid the same amount, the second group worked harder and produced more -- about 20% more -- than either of the other two. People in the second group also showed the most stamina, maintaining their focus all the way through the assigned task and performing especially well toward the end of the four hours. Interestingly, the more experienced employees in the high-performing group were the most productive of all, apparently because their previous work experience led them to appreciate the rarity of an unexpected raise.
即使第二組和第三組最終領取的薪酬完全相同，但相較于其他兩組，第二組工作得更加賣力，產出也更高，大約多20%。此外，第二組工人也表現出最大的耐性。他們一直專心致志地從事手頭的任務，在4小時臨近結束之際的表現尤其出色。有意思的是，在這個高績效組別中，經驗相對豐富的工人的生產率也最高，顯然是因為過往的工作經驗讓他們倍加感激這次難得一見的意外漲薪行為。
Contrary to conventional wisdom, Malhotra points out that higher pay, in and of itself, didn't boost productivity: People who made $4 an hour from the outset worked no harder than those who were hired at $3 and were then paid $3.
馬爾霍特拉指出，與世俗認知相反，更高的工資自身并沒有推升生產率：從一開始就被給予4小時時薪的工人，并沒有比那些以3美元時薪招募而來，隨后獲得3美元時薪的工人更努力地工作。
To get the most impact from their pay plans, he adds, companies might consider not only what to pay new hires, but when to pay it.
他補充說，為了讓薪酬計劃產生最大的影響力，公司管理層或許不僅需要考慮向新員工支付多高的薪水，還需要仔細斟酌派發薪酬的時機。
"The key thing is how you present [the reason for an increase], " he says. Doling out extra money could boost productivity most "if you make it clear that the pay raise is something you're choosing to do just because you can. Our theory is that people will reciprocate. If you do something nice, they'll do something nice back.
“關鍵是如何說明漲工資的原因，”他說。“我們的理論是，如果你明確表示，你選擇加薪僅僅是因為你有能力這么做，人們將回報這種行為。如果你投之以桃，員工就將報之以李。”只有這樣，發放額外的錢才能在最大程度上提升企業的生產率。 |
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