With compensation budgets still suffering a post-recession hangover, and the average U.S. salary hike hovering around 3% a year, compensation strategy has become a hot topic. How do you design a pay plan that motivates people to do their best work? A new study by three Harvard Business School researchers suggests a novel answer: Shortly after you hire new workers, give them a raise.

時(shí)至今日，薪酬預(yù)算還沒(méi)有從經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退時(shí)期的宿醉中清醒過(guò)來(lái)，美國(guó)的年均工資漲幅依然徘徊在3%左右，難怪薪酬戰(zhàn)略已經(jīng)成為一個(gè)熱門(mén)話(huà)題。那么，如何才能設(shè)計(jì)出一項(xiàng)足以激勵(lì)員工全情投入工作的薪酬計(jì)劃呢？日前，哈佛商學(xué)院(Harvard Business School)的3位研究人員提出了一個(gè)新奇的解決方案：雇傭新員工不久后，就給他們加薪。

"Previous research has shown that paying people more than they expect may elicit reciprocity in the form of greater productivity, " notes Deepak Malhotra, a Harvard business-administration professor who worked on the study. What he and his colleagues found, however, was that the connection between more pay and extra effort depends on presenting the increase "as a gift -- that is, as something you've chosen to do purely as a nice gesture, with no strings attached."

“以前的研究已經(jīng)表明，支付超出員工預(yù)期的薪水可能會(huì)產(chǎn)生投桃報(bào)李的效果，員工的生產(chǎn)率有望大幅提升，”哈佛大學(xué)工商管理學(xué)教授迪帕克·馬爾霍特拉指出。然而，他和他的同事們發(fā)現(xiàn)，更高的工資能否激發(fā)額外的努力，還要取決于漲工資是不是企業(yè)贈(zèng)送給員工的“一件禮物，也就是說(shuō)，你選擇這樣做純粹是一種友好的表示，并沒(méi)有任何附加條件�！�

Malhotra and his team studied 266 people hired by oDesk, a global online network of freelancers, to do a one-time data-entry project for four hours. All of the new hires were people in developing countries, for whom hourly wages of $3 and $4 were higher than what they had been making in previous jobs.

馬爾霍特拉和他的團(tuán)隊(duì)研究了oDesk公司的266位員工，這家全球性的自由職業(yè)者在線網(wǎng)絡(luò)聘請(qǐng)他們從事一個(gè)為期4小時(shí)的一次性數(shù)據(jù)錄入項(xiàng)目。所有新員工都來(lái)自發(fā)展中國(guó)家，3美元或4美元的時(shí)薪比他們以前掙的工資高了不少。

The researchers split the group up into three parts. One group was told they would earn $3 an hour. A second group was initially hired at $3 an hour but, before they started working, they got a surprise: The budget for the project had expanded unexpectedly, they were told, and they would now be paid $4 an hour. The third group was offered $4 an hour from the start and given no increase.

研究人員把這些工人分成三個(gè)小組。第一組工人被告知，他們將領(lǐng)取3美元時(shí)薪。第二組最初也是以時(shí)薪3美元的工資水平招聘的，但在開(kāi)始工作前，他們非常驚喜地獲悉，這個(gè)項(xiàng)目出人意料地增加了預(yù)算，他們現(xiàn)在將獲得4美元時(shí)薪。第三組從一開(kāi)始就被給予4美元時(shí)薪，此后沒(méi)有增加。

Even though the second and third groups were ultimately paid the same amount, the second group worked harder and produced more -- about 20% more -- than either of the other two. People in the second group also showed the most stamina, maintaining their focus all the way through the assigned task and performing especially well toward the end of the four hours. Interestingly, the more experienced employees in the high-performing group were the most productive of all, apparently because their previous work experience led them to appreciate the rarity of an unexpected raise.

即使第二組和第三組最終領(lǐng)取的薪酬完全相同，但相較于其他兩組，第二組工作得更加賣(mài)力，產(chǎn)出也更高，大約多20%。此外，第二組工人也表現(xiàn)出最大的耐性。他們一直專(zhuān)心致志地從事手頭的任務(wù)，在4小時(shí)臨近結(jié)束之際的表現(xiàn)尤其出色。有意思的是，在這個(gè)高績(jī)效組別中，經(jīng)驗(yàn)相對(duì)豐富的工人的生產(chǎn)率也最高，顯然是因?yàn)檫^(guò)往的工作經(jīng)驗(yàn)讓他們倍加感激這次難得一見(jiàn)的意外漲薪行為。

Contrary to conventional wisdom, Malhotra points out that higher pay, in and of itself, didn't boost productivity: People who made $4 an hour from the outset worked no harder than those who were hired at $3 and were then paid $3.

馬爾霍特拉指出，與世俗認(rèn)知相反，更高的工資自身并沒(méi)有推升生產(chǎn)率：從一開(kāi)始就被給予4小時(shí)時(shí)薪的工人，并沒(méi)有比那些以3美元時(shí)薪招募而來(lái)，隨后獲得3美元時(shí)薪的工人更努力地工作。

To get the most impact from their pay plans, he adds, companies might consider not only what to pay new hires, but when to pay it.

他補(bǔ)充說(shuō)，為了讓薪酬計(jì)劃產(chǎn)生最大的影響力，公司管理層或許不僅需要考慮向新員工支付多高的薪水，還需要仔細(xì)斟酌派發(fā)薪酬的時(shí)機(jī)。

"The key thing is how you present [the reason for an increase], " he says. Doling out extra money could boost productivity most "if you make it clear that the pay raise is something you're choosing to do just because you can. Our theory is that people will reciprocate. If you do something nice, they'll do something nice back.

“關(guān)鍵是如何說(shuō)明漲工資的原因，”他說(shuō)�！拔覀兊睦碚撌�，如果你明確表示，你選擇加薪僅僅是因?yàn)槟阌心芰�這么做，人們將回報(bào)這種行為。如果你投之以桃，員工就將報(bào)之以李�！敝挥羞@樣，發(fā)放額外的錢(qián)才能在最大程度上提升企業(yè)的生產(chǎn)率。