THE EMOTIONAL WAGE IN THE COVID-19 ERA

Increasingly, employees are being given more importance in companies and with this new terms are being coined such as the emotional wage.

What is the emotional wage? These are those benefits that the employee receives that go beyond the economic. In other words, flexible working hours, work-life balance, internal training… with the aim of improving the employee’s quality of life.

This type of remuneration acts as a motivating factor for employees by improving the opinion that workers have of the company. It is not a question of “earning” the employees on the basis of money, but of gaining their loyalty through the benefits and care they receive in the company.

This form of remuneration is more in demand by young people, who today are looking for companies with which they can identify and whose salaries are not a determining factor when it comes to choosing where to work. They want a company that is aligned with their values, they want to feel part of the project and share the same values with the company.

We can find different types of emotional salary:

• Transport voucher: Cost of transport to the employees’ office.
• Restaurant ticket: These can be exchanged in certain establishments as a form of payment.
• Nursery school cheques: Helping with education expenses until they start school.
• Training courses: Encourage both personal and professional development of employees.
• Teleworking: Helping to reconcile family life.
• Gymnasium fees: A way of liberating and encouraging a healthy lifestyle among employees.
• Flexible working hours: Another way of reconciling family life by adapting to each employee.
• Food or snacks in the office: It is a very simple and highly valued form of remuneration, with fruit also promoting a healthy lifestyle.

In this age of COVID-19, companies have been forced into one of these methods of emotional retribution: teleworking.

This method of working was not very widespread in Spain and has been of great benefit to many companies. Many have discovered that they are capable of teleworking on a continuous basis, so they are considering maintaining this working method several days a week with the return to normality, which facilitates family reconciliation to a great extent.

Moreover, thanks to teleworking, employees of those companies that have shown real concern for them feel more cohesive with the company, which turns them into more productive employees.

Due to this situation, another of the preferred forms of remuneration has been employee training. Due to the fact that the rest of the remuneration involves travel and attendance, online training has been chosen by many companies to benefit their employees, and it is also very useful for these companies as they can give a bonus.

Within online training there are different types, so companies can choose the one that best covers their needs. We can find e-learning, video training or personalised online training. Discover in our post the  advantages of each type of training for companies.

This type of remuneration is a way of promoting employer branding, increasing employee satisfaction and gaining their loyalty. Companies are taking more and more care of their employees, taking into account their personal needs, thanks to this they obtain a more productive and efficient work.

Do you want to retain talent in your company? Don’t forget that you can retain it by training your staff.