What do big companies pay for? The reign of unfulfilled hopes. And the portrait was wonderful

Your former classmate got a job at a large corporation whose name everyone knows. The products of this brand are used by thousands of people, the entire company occupies a large office building with your own gym, swimming pool and meeting rooms on every floor, and even publishes a corporate newspaper. And you begin to be tormented by envy and self-criticism - your work is not so good. Sure? Often, apart from a big name as an employer, joining a large corporation will not bring you any advantages. This article summarizes personal experience many people who worked in “famous companies”. Perhaps after reading it you will no longer want to be part of a “cool” holding company.

So, what are the disadvantages of working in large and prestigious companies?

Low salary. Surprised? There is nothing paradoxical here. Large corporations can always hire cheap labor V large quantities. Their name is a brand; young professionals dream of a “beautiful” line in the job and will agree to work for almost nothing. Of course, this rule does not apply to everyone - you may hear about employees of large holdings with astronomical salaries. But usually they are either top managers or rare specialists of a very narrow profile, who are almost impossible to replace. In all other cases, hiring is carried out according to the principle “we have no irreplaceable people.” You are a cog in a big machine. If you are not satisfied with something, they will simply replace you.

There is another way to reduce employee salary costs. “When I was hired, I was offered very good money, but they honestly warned me that our salary would not be increased,” says Alexey, an employee of a large trading corporation. – An increase in income is possible only in one case – if you are promoted to a position. But the position of the head of our department has long been firmly occupied. The “thirteenth salary” is not issued every year, and one can never be sure of its amount. After a few years, the amount I earn no longer seems so big to me. Prices are rising, but my income remains the same.".

Constant discomfort. In addition to salaries, large corporations save on work space. Take a look at the so-called open-space, open workspaces. If you divide the footage of the hall by the number of people working in it, you will understand that for each person there is a space no larger than a solitary prison cell. Ventilation in such a room is rarely good. In a large hall, the air conditioners can never be adjusted optimally: it’s cold at one end of the open space, stuffy at the other, so some employees constantly catch colds, while others suffer from headaches from lack of grey colour faces. The background noise of dozens of colleagues around you will keep you constantly stressed. Just like people constantly running behind you. The management will convince you that the working conditions in the holding are modern and advanced, but in fact you will find yourself in the environment of a large factory of the early 20th century. Have you really dreamed of being a worker in a textile factory or a turner?

Processing. By the way, your schedule will be similar. In a rare company, a person who leaves work on time is not looked at askance. A large holding is always a large number of multi-level bosses, long coordination of each action, bureaucracy that eats up time. This means constant missed deadlines and overtime work in the evenings and weekends.

Sergey, IT corporation employee: “A month after being hired, my immediate boss brought me some piece of paper and told me to sign. When I asked what it was, he hesitated and replied: “This is a permit to work on weekends.” “I don’t need such permission,” I said. I flatly refused to go to work on Saturdays and Sundays: I want to spend this time with my family. I wasn’t fired, but on Thursday and Friday I had to sit until almost midnight. This situation repeats itself periodically.".

You will lose initiative and ingenuity. Nothing discourages motivation more than “punishing the innocent and rewarding the innocent.” And this will happen constantly. When you work in a crowd, responsibility for mistakes becomes blurred. It is difficult for management to understand at which stage of the work the failure occurred, and which department or specific employee is to blame. Having been called to the carpet a couple of times for the mistakes of others, you will become reluctant to do anything good for your company and will begin to work exclusively formally.

“There was a failure in the work, for which the partner company was to blame - they supplied us with low-quality equipment, says Vitaly. – However, the management, angry at the loss of money, wanted to find extreme own company. Since I headed the project, they brought me two documents “to choose from”: one of them said that the responsibility was on me and my employees, the other “pushed” the blame onto the neighboring department. They told me: sign one of them, or you're fired. I refused to expose both myself and other colleagues. Received severe reprimand and a fine".

On the other hand, in order to get approval for some bold innovation, you will have to go around several authorities and convince representatives of each that your innovation is useful. “I work for an Internet holding company that owns several information portals. Every day we publish news and articles,- says Irina. – When I came to this company, I was amazed at how much time it takes to agree on a release plan - a schedule for publishing articles for today. Colleagues discussed him on e-mail, then in the smoking room, then gathered in the meeting room to finally approve the schedule for the next day. I had a hard time convincing them to create an electronic document with shared access over the corporate network. This saved us from having to run from floor to floor discussing today's schedule in person. Whole month we actively took advantage of the “blessings of civilization” and even began to go home on time. But soon the editor-in-chief hired a deputy who was “not friendly” with this service. The deputy flatly refused to use electronic document, saying, “I don’t understand what this sign is.” Now we go up to his office to discuss and agree on the release plan. Since the deputy editor also likes to talk, this takes an hour and a half of time. I have to finish the remaining tasks late in the evening, so I don’t come home before half past nine.”.

Poor health. Considering all the previous arguments, you can imagine that you will have very little time for yourself and a lot of stress. Yes, many corporations have their own gym and swimming pool, but let's tell you a secret: very, very few employees take advantage of these benefits. At first, you will probably run on the horizontal bar. But after catching the sidelong glances of your colleagues a couple of times: “We’re in a rush here, and you’re doing all sorts of nonsense,” you’ll decide that your reputation is more valuable. After a working day that ends at half past ten in the evening, you will no longer want to go to or to. Very soon you will have excess weight, bags under the eyes, possibly neurosis.

The illusion of a team. In a company where all employees work for bonuses, the laws of the jungle reign. There is no friendship there and there never will be. It is quite possible that you will have no one to exchange a word with - if the word is not about business.

Anna, an employee of a large translation agency: “In the company where I got a job, I went constant struggle behind profitable projects– cash bonuses were awarded for exceeding the plan. Therefore, there was an atmosphere of intense competition among my colleagues. When they met, they looked at each other suspiciously, communicated little with each other, some did not even say hello. The “celebration” (if you can call it that) of birthdays was especially depressing. These days it was customary to chip in for cakes or ice cream and eat them in the room for general meetings– management believed that we should “cultivate team spirit.” At the same time, people did not look at each other, but mechanically chewed sweets and after five to ten minutes ran away with the words: “I have to work.” The sight was terrible."

Do you still want to work for a big and prestigious company?

What do they pay for? big companies?

For a large company, the salaries of its employees are both a global expense item and a fertile source for increasing operational efficiency. It is possible to take advantage of opportunities for development and prevent uncontrolled growth of costs only by clearly understanding who to pay for what. A grading system helps to achieve clarity on this issue.

Problems of the "big"

To paraphrase a well-known proverb, we can say: “Big companies are big problems". And it’s not that the concerns of the “big ones” are significantly different from the concerns of the “small” ones, but the size of the company increases the scale of the problem. And add to this the territorial remoteness of branches and the lack of unified management mechanisms - and a trivial problem for the “small” ones develops into a real “heading” pain" of large companies.
This also applies to wages. For a company, the salaries of its employees are both a global expense item and a fertile source for increasing operational efficiency. In order for personnel costs to be controlled and the amount of remuneration to determine labor efficiency, the company's management must clearly know the answers to the questions: what and to whom do we pay; What activities and functions are a priority in terms of achieving the company's goals?
And, if the main direction is the main production, its employees should enjoy privileges in matters related to the payment of wages.
Take the telecommunications industry for example. Unlike the commodity market, the telecommunications market is highly competitive and dynamically developing, so even post-Soviet companies that are monopolists in the field of traditional telephony cannot afford to rest on their laurels.
So, imagine a telecommunications company that employs about 60 thousand people. Its representative offices and branches are located in almost any locality on Russian territory. The complex, multi-level organizational structure is due to the wide range of services provided to clients (Internet, traditional telephony, IP telephony, ISDN, cable TV, radio broadcasting, etc.), as well as the presence of a powerful social block left over from Soviet times (kindergartens, rest homes, hotels, dispensaries, etc.). In addition, the share and importance of highly intellectual and highly specific components is high, there is a shortage of trained personnel, and competition is very high.

When circumstances rule the world

In the absence of uniform remuneration rules for the entire company, force majeure and chaos always reign in this system, growing under pressure various kinds situational "circumstances".
Many HR and general directors The situation is familiar when the head of a department demands that his irreplaceable, unique, highly effective (underline as appropriate) employees immediately increase their salaries. If this is not done, they will certainly go to competitors. In response to any objection, the manager appeals to the “specifics of the activity,” which the HR specialist or the head of the company is often unable to understand and evaluate.
At the same time, in a situation of fierce competition, the company is forced to develop and open new directions, randomly buying new specialists on the labor market. Moreover, their cost is determined by skills and knowledge, which are often redundant and not required to perform specific works as part of a new direction.
Until the company decides for itself what it is willing to pay for, the costs of material remuneration for personnel will invariably and uncontrollably grow under the pressure of various “conditions” and “situations.”
Classics advise that when setting out on a journey, the first thing to do is determine your location. Guided by this logic, the struggle for “independence of circumstances” should begin with clarification of the current state of affairs in the wage system.

Georeferencing

So, to begin with, let’s establish that we do not pay for the presence of a “good person” at the workplace from 9.00 to 18.00, but for the performance of specific functions. By assessing and ranking the work carried out by all employees of the company, we can determine who and what we pay now and are willing to pay in the future.
In order to evaluate activities, it is necessary to establish evaluation criteria, i.e., highlight general signs with the degree of their manifestation in specific form works Each position is then assessed in terms of the overall manifestation of the selected characteristics. "Valued" positions are grouped by income level according to their value to the company.
We carry out ranking by analyzing the manifestation of 32 signs, some of which are key. Each sign has degrees of expression, i.e., described variants of manifestation in activity. There can be up to 20 types of such manifestations. It should be noted that for groups of managers, specialists and workers, different sets of signs and degrees of their expression are established.
When working, as a rule, a special software, allowing you to easily collect and process information. Heads of departments and groups undergo training and fill out electronic forms in advance established regulations; the information received is processed at the head office.
The presented methodology allows us to collect and describe with high accuracy the current situation with remuneration and provide factual material for decision-making when putting things in order in the system of motivation and distribution of remuneration.
Our practice shows that this approach is most effective when creating a grading system for geographically distributed holdings and large retail chains.

Forewarned is forearmed

What information does top management receive as a result of such complex analysis? At first glance, nothing new. The fact is that if you start to understand, then with a high degree of probability you will find quite standard ones in the remuneration system. large companies traits.
Let's start with the leaders. First of all large organizations are ready to pay managers for “a place in the official hierarchy.” This situation is very common.

It doesn’t matter what level of responsibility lies with the manager, how much the functions he performs influence the main business process, or what the level of complexity of the tasks he solves - if he is called a “big boss,” then the salary will match the name. Of course, we are not talking about all managers without exception. But how often does this happen: a person did a colossal job, much more than he should have, received well-deserved money for it, then left, for example, for a promotion, and his place was taken by another employee performing strictly fixed functions, but for the same salary. If in large organizations there is no mechanism for assessing the significance of the work performed, the place itself and its name in the administrative hierarchy become significant.
In the case of specialists, a similar situation is observed. Often, highly qualified employees who occupy large positions receive serious money, although the functions assigned to this position are no different from job responsibilities junior specialist of the same department. Before significant place In the hierarchical structure of the company, such a professional gets through seniority, which is positioned as experience and loyalty.
With the category of workers, everything is both more complicated and simpler. It’s more difficult because large industry companies are forced to take into account the requirements of the Unified Tariff and Qualification Reference Book (UTKS). But, for example, for communication workers, the ETKS has not changed since 1989, while technologies are developing and changing almost daily. It turns out like this: an electrician of the fifth category, in accordance with the ETKS, must carry out some work, the company generally believes that he performs others, but in fact he does something third. What he is ultimately paid for remains a mystery.
However, in some ways the situation with workers is simpler: there are industry standards, according to which for each technological process limited number of employees determined established qualifications. And the company, focusing on established standards numbers and tariff schedule, can at least somehow manage personnel costs. However, when new areas of activity arise, such tactics no longer work.
At first glance, it may seem that the issue is not so serious. Just think, how many such incorrectly paid workers can there be in an enterprise - one or two per department? Key role scale plays: if we're talking about O big company, then after putting things in order in the payment system economic effect may be quite noticeable.
In addition, the notorious conversation between an HR manager or general director and department heads turns from an abstract discussion of the “complexity” and “specifics” of employee activities into a substantive conversation.
Whatever the name of the position or profession, whatever " good man"she was occupied, in whatever place organizational structure no matter where she is, the company appears unified system, allowing you to set the level of payment depending on the value of the work performed.
And what’s interesting is that such transparency in remuneration not only suits the ordinary employee, but even motivates him to be loyal and long work in a company that values ​​the efforts and results of its employees.

* * *

Hierarchical classification of work performed in a company is not an easy task and, as a rule, requires will and perseverance on the part of the manager.
And yet, in a number of businesses, increasing the transparency of personnel costs not only increases the overall management efficiency and investment attractiveness of the company, but also leads to a direct reduction in the fund wages. And this is a result worth fighting for!

For a large company, the salaries of its employees are both a global expense item and a fertile source for increasing operational efficiency. It is possible to take advantage of opportunities for development and prevent uncontrolled growth of costs only by clearly understanding who to pay for what. The grade system helps to achieve clarity on this issue.

Problems of the "big"

To paraphrase a well-known proverb, we can say: “Big companies, big problems.” And it’s not that the concerns of the “big ones” are significantly different from the concerns of the “little ones,” but the size of the company increases the scale of the problem. And add to this the territorial remoteness of branches and the lack of unified management mechanisms - and a trivial problem for “small” companies develops into a real “headache” for large companies.

This also applies to wages. For a company, the salaries of its employees are both a global expense item and a fertile source for increasing operational efficiency. In order for personnel costs to be controlled and the amount of remuneration to determine labor efficiency, the company's management must clearly know the answers to the questions: what and to whom do we pay; What activities and functions are a priority in terms of achieving the company's goals?

And, if the main direction is the main production, its employees should enjoy privileges in matters related to the payment of wages.

Take the telecommunications industry for example. Unlike the raw materials market, the telecommunications market is highly competitive and dynamically developing, so even post-Soviet companies that are monopolists in the field of traditional telephony cannot afford to rest on their laurels.

So, imagine a telecommunications company that employs about 60 thousand people. Its representative offices and branches are located in almost every locality in Russia. The complex, multi-level organizational structure is due to the wide range of services provided to clients (Internet, traditional telephony, IP telephony, ISDN, cable television, radio broadcasting, etc.), as well as the presence of a powerful social block left over from Soviet times (kindergartens, rest houses, hotels, dispensaries, etc.). In addition, the share and importance of highly intellectual and highly specific components is high, there is a shortage of trained personnel, and competition is very high.

When circumstances rule the world

In the absence of uniform remuneration rules for the entire company, force majeure and chaos always reign in this system, growing under the pressure of various kinds of situational “circumstances.”

Many HR and general directors are familiar with the situation when the head of a department demands that his irreplaceable, unique, highly effective (underline as appropriate) employees immediately increase their salaries. If this is not done, they will certainly go to competitors. In response to any objection, the manager appeals to the “specifics of the activity,” which the HR specialist or the head of the company is often unable to understand and evaluate.

At the same time, in a situation of fierce competition, the company is forced to develop and open new directions, randomly buying new specialists on the labor market. Moreover, their cost is determined by skills and knowledge, which are often redundant and not required to perform specific work within the new direction.

Until the company decides for itself what it is willing to pay for, the costs of material remuneration for personnel will invariably and uncontrollably grow under the pressure of various “conditions” and “situations.”

Classics advise that when setting out on a journey, the first thing to do is determine your location. Guided by this logic, the struggle for “independence of circumstances” should begin with clarification of the current state of affairs in the wage system.

Georeferencing

So, to begin with, let’s establish that we do not pay for the presence of a “good person” at the workplace from 9:00 to 18:00, but for the performance of specific functions. By assessing and ranking the work carried out by all employees of the company, we can determine who and what we pay now and are willing to pay in the future.

In order to evaluate an activity, it is necessary to establish evaluation criteria, that is, to identify common features with the degree of their manifestation in a specific type of work. Each position is then assessed in terms of the overall manifestation of the selected characteristics. "Valued" positions are grouped by income level according to their value to the company.

We carry out ranking by analyzing the manifestation of 32 signs, some of which are key. Each sign has degrees of expression, i.e., described variants of manifestation in activity. There can be up to 20 types of such manifestations. It should be noted that for groups of managers, specialists and workers, different sets of signs and degrees of their expression are established.

When working, as a rule, special software is used that makes it easy to collect and process information. Heads of departments and groups undergo training, fill out electronic forms according to pre-established regulations; the information received is processed at the head office.

The presented methodology allows us to collect and describe with high accuracy the current situation with remuneration and provide factual material for decision-making when putting things in order in the system of motivation and distribution of remuneration.

Our practice shows that this approach is most effective when creating a grading system for geographically distributed holdings and large retail chains.

Forewarned is forearmed

What information does top management receive as a result of such complex analysis? At first glance, nothing new. The fact is that if you start to understand, then with a high degree of probability you will find in the remuneration system features that are quite standard for large companies.

Let's start with the leaders. First of all, large organizations are ready to pay managers for “a place in the official hierarchy.” This situation is very common. It doesn’t matter what level of responsibility lies with the manager, how much the functions he performs influence the main business process, or what the level of complexity of the tasks he solves - if he is called a “big boss,” then the salary will match the name. Of course, we are not talking about all managers without exception. But how often does this happen: a person did a colossal job, much more than he should have, received well-deserved money for it, then left, for example, for a promotion, and his place was taken by another employee performing strictly fixed functions, but for the same salary. If in large organizations there is no mechanism for assessing the significance of the work performed, the place itself and its name in the administrative hierarchy become significant.

In the case of specialists, a similar situation is observed. Often, highly qualified employees who occupy large positions receive serious money, although the functions assigned to this position are no different from the job responsibilities of a junior specialist in the same department. Such a professional reaches a significant place in the hierarchical structure of the company through length of service, which is positioned as experience and loyalty.

With the category of workers, everything is both more complicated and simpler. It’s more difficult because large industry companies are forced to take into account the requirements of the Unified Tariff and Qualification Reference Book (UTKS). But, for example, for communication workers, the ETKS has not changed since 1989, while technologies are developing and changing almost daily. It turns out like this: an electrician of the fifth category, in accordance with the ETKS, must carry out some work, the company generally believes that he performs others, but in fact he does something third. What he is ultimately paid for remains a mystery.

However, in some ways the situation with workers is simpler: there are industry standards, according to which a limited number of workers with established qualifications are assigned to each technological process. And the company, focusing on the established headcount standards and tariff schedule, can at least somehow manage personnel costs. However, when new areas of activity arise, such tactics no longer work.

At first glance, it may seem that the issue is not so serious. Just think, how many such incorrectly paid workers can there be in an enterprise - one or two per department? Scale plays a key role: if we are talking about a large company, then after putting things in order in the payment system, the economic effect can be quite noticeable.

In addition, the notorious conversation between an HR manager or general director and department heads turns from an abstract discussion of the “complexity” and “specifics” of employee activities into a substantive conversation.

Whatever the name of the position or profession, whatever “good person” occupies it, whatever place in the organizational structure it is located, the company has a unified system that allows it to set the level of payment depending on the value of the work performed.

And, interestingly, such transparency in remuneration not only suits the ordinary employee, but even motivates him to be loyal and work for a long time in a company that values ​​the efforts and results of the labor of its employees.

The hierarchical classification of work performed in a company is not an easy matter and, as a rule, requires will and perseverance on the part of the manager.

And yet, in a number of businesses, increasing the transparency of personnel costs not only increases the overall management efficiency and investment attractiveness of the company, but also leads to a direct reduction in the wage fund. And this is a result worth fighting for!

Magazine "Company Management" No. 2 for 2007

Alexey Nikitin, Project Manager, HR Consulting Department consulting group"Borlas"