The FINANCIAL — The Georgian salary statement is characterized by huge diversity where at the same position an employee’s salary can range from USD 250 to 2,800.
“Spending three years in the company inspired me to think that the amount of my salary is stated according to our Boss’s private sympathy. I can’t explain it any other way, why one worker in the same position of the same company may have USD 350, while another has USD 1,000,” an employee of one of the leading Georgian companies told The FINANCIAL.
“Our students made an enquiry in to the salary market and we got very funny results. People working as a manager received different salaries ranging from USD 250 to USD 2,800. But the obligations of all them were different in every company,” Lili Bibilashvili, Director of the Human Resource Department of Caucasus University and HR of Nikora, told The FINANCIAL.
“The salary of the General Director is around USD 2,500-3,000 in middle sized companies. If we talk about other positions, Finance Directors, Marketing, HR, PR Managers receive around USD 1,200-1,800. The lowest salary of a low level manager which I have met was USD 350,” Bibilashvili says.
“The middle-of-the-range salary of PR, Marketing and HR managers in our company is around USD 800,” Natia Jikhvashvili, HR manager of Arci, one of the leading Georgian construction companies, says.
“In Arci the salary steps back from employee’s work and we are planning to make some changes in 2009,” Likhashvili noted.
“The main determiner of the salary is the role of the position. How important it is for the company. According to this, criteria’s are different, but the main are: education, experience, additional demands of this position, managerial or creative skills and abilities,” Bibilashvili declared.
“The amount of the salary is determined by market and by the company itself. You can find positions, which one company may not have at all. Companies determine how important and profitable he or she is,” Akaki Tavadze, lecturer of the Georgian ESM Business School says.
“The remuneration issue is confidential. We can just announce that our remuneration package which includes not only salary but other benefits has a competitive advantage on the Georgian labour market. Remuneration is a fully HR matter which is agreed with the management,” Nino Maisuradze, HR manager of Bank Republic, Societe Generale Group, noted.
“There are some positions where employees have bonuses in case of over fulfilment. Even this bonus must be stated so that the employee would not be able to receive a higher salary than a director. We had such a practice,” Tavadze, ESM business school, says.
“We don’t have an official overtime system but while an employee compares additional work we encourage them with bonuses. Financial compensation is very important for an employee,” Likhashvili, Arci, says.
“In Georgia the amount of salary in the banking sector is common, besides Bank of Georgia, which pays more than others. It was not a secret that a few years ago Lado Gurgenidze, ex-director of Bank of Georgia, promoted its high salaries for employees and tried to win workers from its rival banks,” Tavadze, ESM, says.
“We had experiences when in the same sector one company offered a higher salary than in another, but behind this still stands the interests of the employer. He is looking for experienced personnel, offers him more but shortens his expenses by training them and thus reducing the amount of mistakes of beginners. This way the company has double gains,” Bibilashvili, CU, Nikora, says.
“None of the company is oriented at altruism all around the world. This is a well considered salary system. They take a minimum salary amount from the market and add the amount of saved money from trainings and coaches,” Bibilashvili added.
“The company’s priorities of paying high salaries to their staff depend on the amount of their turnover. You can find companies which prefer to pay a higher amount to their staff. This will help the company to solve its worker’s problems and make them oriented only at fulfilling imposed obligation. A high salary is the guaranty that your worker will not start looking for an alternative job,” Jikhvashvili, Arci, says.
“It’s difficult to say about the private sector, as they keep salary information confidential, but in state organizations, for example in the educational market, Ilia Chavchavadze State University pays the highest amount to lecturers. This was done to attract good professionals and keep them,” Tavadze, ESM, declared.
“Paying more gives a competitive advantage and it also demonstrates the profitability of the company; also by paying more companies think that they can have more professionals on board. We believe that not only salary matters but the job content itself; our recruitment policy encourages hiring young people who will become professionals with us,” Maisuradze, Bank Republic, SocGen Group, noted.
“There are numerous professions who may be doing work physically but they are thinking at strategies. Also all managers are responsible for others’ work. We can’t call it injustice. Of course a marketing manager must have a higher salary than an operator, but how much more, no one can tell you, there is no logic in it,” Tavadze, ESM, says.
“Once a journalist asked President G.W. Bush, why does the difference between the lowest and highest salary change per year? The President gave a very delicate answer: that’s private commercial companies’ business and I can’t change anything about it.”
“We can’t presume the salary as the main motivator of an employee. You can raise his salary once, twice, three times, but not in a non-stop regime. Meanwhile your worker will demand more and more and if you stop, he will lose his motivations,” Tavadze says.
“Financial encouragement is important for employees. We can consider it the main motivator for comparing its obligations. But we can’t say that a high salary is the only way to encourage staff. For me the most important thing is to make the salary equal to an employee’s work,” Jikhvashvili, Arci, says.
“Salary satisfaction, together with other hygiene factors, can only guarantee that an employee does not have job dissatisfaction; but it does not automatically create job satisfaction, other motivator factors should be introduced for this purpose,” Maisuradze, Bank Republic, says.
“Salary together with other factors that are external to the job will create short-term motivation; the most important thing is the offer investing job to the employee, enrichment of the job is the best motivator factor that creates long-term outcomes,” Maisuradze noted.
“The greatest determinant of the salary is responsibility. Next to the global reduction, in Georgia the greatest demand is for financiers, besides the huge amount of graduators,” Bibilashvili, Caucasus University, noted.
Written By Madona Gasanova
