adminIndustrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd managing consultant Mr Memory Nguwi said management should be more transparent in how remuneration is allocated in order to address employees’ immediate concerns.
“Efforts being made to require public listed companies to state their directors’ remuneration is a step in the right direction.
“For lower level employees, pay structures and ranges should be information that is easily accessible to employees and these structures should be adhered to if employees are going to gain confidence in the remuneration systems of their organisations,” he said.
This is in view of the fact that the country will see a significant upward review in remuneration levels in the foreseeable future as productivity remains depressed on a number of challenges facing the economy, especially liquidity.
According to a survey by IPC, the majority of employees in Zimbabwe (56,18 percent of respondents) felt that their organisations’ system of setting salaries and benefits was unfair and lacks transparency.
At the same time, when asked if their salaries were sufficient to meet their most important expenses, 49,43 percent were in the “disagreed” and “strongly disagreed” bracket.
This shows that employee perception of their remuneration is predominantly negative, which may not be necessarily justified.
Mr Nguwi said some workers who had left the country for greener pastures were backtracking.
“Remuneration is generally viewed as low by most employees in Zimbabwe.
“What is important to understand about this dimension is that perception matters.
“Employees will decide to leave their organisations and probably move to organisations abroad for “greener pastures” not because remuneration there is factually high but because they believe it is high.
“This is the reason why Zimbabwe continues to be hit by a massive brain drain only to find the same employees re-applying for jobs in the country a few months after departure,” he said.
According to the IPC study, the country’s current National Remuneration Index stands at about 39,32 percent.
This generally means that four out of 10 employees are positive about their remuneration at the organisations that they work for.
In terms of the survey, the majority of the respondents (49,92 percent) felt that their salary is not comparable to similar positions in other organisations, while 45,15 percent thought it was comparable.
The study also showed that 50,41 percent of the respondents thought that their benefits are not comparable to similar positions in other organisations, while 45,29 percent thought they are comparable.
An analysis last year by the same firm showed that the average minimum wage in Zimbabwe was about US$189, which is low compared to a Poverty Datum Line in excess of US$600.
In addition to improving transparency in directors’ remuneration, IPC believes that the best way to address the remuneration challenges facing the country is focus on a productivity-based model.
“Most of the chatter around wages in Zimbabwe is stemming from an entitlement mentality rather than contribution to the value creation process.
“As a result you have employees that constantly clamour for wages above the PDL, which is firstly an unsustainable measure and secondly an inflationary pressure. Whatever wage adjustment made should be based on increased productivity,” said Mr Nguwi.
Online Reporter