What is Emotional Salary?
Emotional salary is the set of motivational incentives that the company offers to employees that goes beyond monetary salary .
We talk about things that range from creating a favorable environment to the feeling of belonging to development courses, for example.
Each company, based on HR assessments, will define what will make up this emotional salary.
The definition must take into account, among other factors, the profile and expectations of employees.
In any case, three crucial points need to be made clear right now:
- the emotional salary is a resource to attract and retain the company’s talents ;
- emotional salary does not replace monetary salary and cannot be understood as a justification for inadequate remuneration;
- Emotional pay should not be confused with benefits that employers are required by law to provide to employees.
The importance of emotional salary
Before you even started reading this post, chances are you already knew that money salary is no longer the most important factor for workers .
Understanding why will help you understand the importance of emotional salary in companies, something that goes through the need to value human capital.
Ever wondered why employees quit? Research shows that 8 out of 10 workers quit because of their boss. Here are the top three reasons:
- feeling that the boss does not lead by example and, therefore, is not an inspiration for everyday life;
- lack of professional growth;
- lack of feedback for professional development.
Notice how money doesn’t appear among the main justifications for a contract termination request?
This shows that emotional pay contributes to retaining talent and reducing employee turnover. Every company knows how decisive this can be for success.
There is no doubt that the financial side is important. However, sometimes, money does not compensate for situations that disfavor the nine variables linked to GNH.
If employees constantly have to work overtime, don’t have good leadership, and are always overworked, they don’t experience psychological well-being.
Community vitality, which concerns interaction, can be affected with this bad climate and not conducive to friendly relationships.
The benefits of emotional salary for your company
At this point, we’ve already shared with you some of the benefits of emotional salary for companies, but there are more topics to be noted. Check out!
1-Improvement of the organizational climate
Among the motivational incentives that make up the emotional salary are those that help to improve the organizational climate .
The way each employee interacts with the environment and with colleagues is considered by companies that adopt this concept.
2-Talent attraction and retention
Taking care of human capital in addition to a good remuneration is to make the company a place where people want to work.
This favors the employer brand and influences not only the attraction, but the retention of talent.
A more positive work environment conducive to professional development helps reduce turnover.
3-productivity improvement
When the company has the right environment, builds a strong team and chooses the right motivational incentives, it improves the well-being and satisfaction of its employees.
This combination of results also promotes increased motivation and improved productivity.
These factors are directly linked to success in meeting the goals of any business.
4-Resource optimization
A company that deals with lower turnover and higher productivity is able to make better use of its resources.
By resources, we consider from human capital to financial capital.
The main examples of emotional salary
So that the benefits are clearer to you, we have separated some examples of emotional salary that your company can adopt.
Before, we remind you that there is no cake recipe here. As we mentioned, it is necessary to consider the profile of the employees and the values of the organization itself to define the composition of the emotional salary.
So take our examples as a starting point, but critically analyze them and, if necessary, seek or develop other options for your company.
1-Career path
Remember that lack of professional growth appears among the main reasons for resignation?
Well then. There are different factors behind this problem, and the lack of perspectives within the organization is one of them.
The career plan serves precisely to create perspectives and show that the company has plans to continue with the employee and see him or her grow .
This plan is an instrument for the organization of goals and paths that project the evolution of a professional in a company or in his career.
Therefore, creating a career plan is a way to offer employees an emotional salary.
2-internal training
To grow within the company or professionally, the employee needs to develop.
HR can articulate this development in different ways and it is with this fact that the conversation about internal training begins.
We are talking about a reality in which the company provides the tools and all the necessary knowledge for professionals to constantly develop .
Among the advantages of adopting this emotional salary strategy, we highlight:
- rely on increasingly qualified professionals, which leads to better results;
- to help employees achieve their professional development goals;
- reduce the need to seek new talent in the market.
3-Flexibility at work
Flexibility at work boils down to alternatives that allow employees to establish their own schedules and routine of activities .
Creating an alternative to the standard 8 am to 6 pm schedule can make a big difference in a professional’s life.
Some would like to have that flexibility to take their children to and from school, and others simply feel that they work well at other times.
Giving more freedom to negotiate the working day is a way of offering an emotional salary consistent with new management models and the profile of new professionals.
4-hybrid model
Speaking of flexibility, the home office comes into play when it comes to an example of emotional salary.
In 2020, working from home has become a reality for many professionals, but this idea had already been gaining momentum years before.
The trend that was allied to an urgent need for change ended up opening more space for the hybrid work model
In it, part of the journey is carried out at the company’s headquarters and another part in the home office, and it is the company itself, in agreement with the employees, that defines this dynamic.
5-benefits management
In addition to what the labor law determines, companies can offer benefits to their employees.
The point is that, in order to have the expected motivating effect, these benefits need to be aligned with the profile of each employee in the organization and evolve along with them.
Managing benefits is nothing more than strategically managing what the company offers to workers in order to really generate value for them.
A single employee may prefer a gym voucher while an employee who is a family man may prefer a more robust health plan.
Attention to the interests of each one, within the possibilities of the company, counts as a valuable emotional salary.
6-individualized relationships
A company, through its HR, must promote integration actions among the members of a team. This is critical for organizational climate and productivity.
In addition, however, it needs to invest in the development of individualized relationships. People with different profiles need different approaches .
Perhaps this was made clear by what we explained about benefits management, but it is important to look ahead.
The form of communication and motivation can change from one professional to another. Leaders need to be prepared to meet this demand, always relying on the guidance of HR.
How to apply emotional salary in your company
After all that, it’s time to tell you how to implement emotional salary in your company.
The following are some strategies your organization should follow. Follow up!
1-Opening up to innovative management
Based on the emotional salary examples, you may have already realized that conservative management would not be able to implement the concept .
With this in mind, it may be that the first step of HR is to show top management the reasons to embrace innovation in the management of the company and human capital.
This is important for the organization to really leave behind the idea that the monetary salary should be enough to motivate the employees.
2-Reshape organizational culture
The implementation of the emotional salary involves placing human capital at the center of the company’s strategies.
The organizational culture must be aligned with this idea so that the choice and adoption of motivational incentives work properly.
A company where distrust or lack of transparency prevails will not be able to embrace a hybrid work model, for example.
3-Invest in a positive environment
HR can adopt different strategies and guide leaders to improve the work environment.
This has to do with optimizing communication, developing interpersonal relationships and teamwork, and also with the relationship between employees and the company.
Betting on diversity and inclusion strategies , for example, can create a more favorable climate for the well-being of employees.
4-Analyze profiles and demands
To understand what constitutes a valuable emotional salary for the workforce, the company needs to do a profile and demand analysis.
Understand that changes don’t have to be implemented all at once. A climate assessment can help identify the priorities that the organization needs to work on to add value to the emotional salary gradually.
5-Bet on constant improvement
Emotional salary may even follow the nine variables of the FIP, but it is always tied to what is valuable to people and money.
This means that, over time, the demands of employees – and the company itself – can change. The market and its practices can evolve .
For this reason, the emotional salary needs to be reviewed and improved so that it has the expected effects and is adequate to the reality of professionals and the organization.
