Compensation Strategies of Telenor Telecom

The Telenor entered the market with aggressive strategies at all level, never compromised on

quality service and positioned as self as “Better Quality at lower possible rates” services

provided in the market, succeed in capturing major market share in a very short time. The

Mobilink availing the market leader status didn’t succeed in defending it status.

All this credit goes to the Human Resource Management, which strategically aligned all HR

practices with the core Business strategies of becoming market leader. We will here discuss only

the compensation strategies of Telenor as a tool for attracting, retention and motivation of

productive employees.

The Telenor from the very first stages concentrated on the “Best fit approach” rather the

traditional and “Best Practice Approach”.

Following are the few compensation strategies because their strategies are strictly confidential

and the information provider may get lost his/her job.

Incentives Plans

The Telenor uses various incentives plan. Different packages and plan are deisgned for different

people and groups according to the nature of the job and the impact on the organizational

achievement. The commonly used plans are

Individual incentives plan

Group incentives plan

Organization incentives plan

Special incentives plan

Motivation incentives plan

Coordination Incentives plan

Let’s discuss the features of these incentives plans and the outcomes created from these

outcomes.

Individual Incentives Plans

In Telenor they strongly give importance to the individual performance because it is the

individual performance that enhances the group performance and ultimately organizational

performance. According to their words, if we fail to identify the individual performance level, it

will leads to the unfair compensation which will definitely result in de-motivation and leg-

pulling in the organization which is very dangerous for organization on such stage where it has

reached to the stage to take over. The individual incentives plans are based on the successfully

achievement of the individual predefined goals and objectives. These incentives are in various

forms like

Commission

Bonus pay

Cash rewards

Over-time payments

Bonus one month cell phone charges

Leaves in cash

Days off

Shift payment and unsocial hours

The commission incentive is tied with the sales performance or performance in production and

also in customer services where the individual incentive is given for effectively treating the

customer. This commission is not like a exposure of employee more pay to risk. If an employee

doesn’t succeed in meeting the target, his/her she training needs are identified, trained

accordingly and if not achieving performance standards after that, than job rotation technique is

applied in order to make employee feel secure.

Bonus pay is granted to those individual who achieve the targets which more prominent results.

Bonus pay is the more successful tool for motivating each and every employee to do some thing

extra ordinary.

Cash rewards are also subjected to the individual performance in the group. These are given

besides the group incentives for the purpose to make differentiation between the higher

performer and low performer within the group but it is managed in such a way that eliminated

discrimination. These cash bonus are given when group rewards are also granted.

One month bonus cell charges are also used as a incentives plan to recognize the individual

efforts to all the people in organization. This will act as tool for motivation.

Leave in cash and day off are those incentives plan that are mostly granted to mostly every

individual but the days off are only granted to those employee who over perform the

performance targets.

The Telenor incentives plans are not strictly tied with the company objectives achievement, if the

individual objectives are achieved within given constraints than they are eligible for their

individual incentives.

The shift incentive plans are for those people whose service is for 24/7 times, like the customer

representative officer. And unsocial hours like working on the specific festivals like Eid, Sunday

etc

Group Incentives Plan

Group incentives plan are mostly designed for the technical staff, engineers, sales team and

marketing teams. These group incentives plans are

Project rewards

Group rewards

Group trips

Remote areas incentives

Group annual bonus

Special assignment or project provision

Special group meal

Projects rewards are for the project teams for completing the projects in the given deadlines of

time, resources and quality. These rewards are subjected to the extent of the quality and the

nature of the projects. These are huge cash bonuses for each and every member but due to

individual incentive plan a slight difference may be possible.

Group rewards are similar to the project rewards but its amount is lesser and it is given

frequently to the technical group, Marketing team and sales team for achieving the monthly

targets successfully. These are mostly in the form of cash rewards.

The group trips are also used a group incentive but as tool of recognition, these trips are fully

financed by the organization either national or international level. Here employees are also paid

some amount of cash to go for personal enjoyment there, like shopping, playing etc.

Remote area incentives are those cash and facilities provision to those teams or groups working

in remote areas like mountains, FATA etc.

Group annual bonus is in the form of bonus salaries to all the member of the group for showing

extra-ordinary result crossing the boundaries of targets given. These are mostly given to the sales

groups and production teams.

Special Assignment or project provision is also a group incentive plan in the form of career

development opportunities, learning and exposure in order to be eligible for the higher position

in near future. It is also the form of recognition.

Special Meal is also a form of group incentives used as a tool of recognition the group efforts.

The group members are served with a special lunch or dinner in five stars of seven stars Hotel.

Organizational Incentives

These are those incentives granted to almost all employees when organization meets the set

objectives either financial or strategic.

These includes

Bonus pay Payments

Cash Bonus

Annual Cash Bonus

These organizational incentives in not limited to the one or two level of management but it is

subjected to all employees according to the position and pay structures because all these

incentives plans are streamed out from the pay grades.

Special Incentives

The Telenor has a very distinct special incentives plan in comparison to other competitors.

Following are the few effective special incentives plan not exist in Mobilink.

Golden Hellos

Golden Handcuffs

Golden Hello is that incentive plan that is used to attract the cream from the competitors. It is

either in the form of lump sum payment or in phases and some times for couple of years

depending on the nature of the people aimed to attract.

Golden handcuffs are also special individual pay incentives used to lock the best employee

within organization and eliminate the fear of being attracted or hired by other competitor. These

are also in the form of lump sum; phase, couple or years cash payments.

Management Incentives Plan

Management incentives plan are those only for managers for achieving excellence in the

management and optimal utilization of organizational resources. These incentives may cover

two-three years gross salaries payment or a certain amount of cash payment for fixed time

period. The objective of this incentive plan is to keep the managers at optimal level.

Job Evaluation in Telenor

The job evaluation in Telenor is used in three different ways, its usage is depend on the nature of

the job, demand of that job, supply of people, time and cost constraints. Generally the following

three methods are used from time to time:

1. Point-methods

2. Straight ranking method

3. Paired comparison

The point method is widely used method for almost all jobs evaluation for technical,

coordination, production, customer services, managerial, Directors level jobs. The entry-level

jobs, sales jobs and other level jobs, the paired comparison method is widely used because of

easiness and cost effective but when there is any thing wrong in such jobs evaluation is also used

for confirmation. The higher jobs like Vice-presidents and present jobs are evaluated only

through the job ranking method.

Pay Packages and employee benefits

Due to hierarchical and nature of jobs the pay packages and benefits plans also varies from level

to level and even from employee to employee.

Lower Level Management

1. Base pay

2. Annual increment

3. Variable pay

4. Individual incentives (varies due performance)

5. Medical allowance

6. Transportation

7. Location charges

8. Utilities (cell phone, limited free service, food etc)

9. Subsidized products

Middle Management

1. Base pay

2. Annual increment

3. Individual incentives (varies due performance)

4. Medical allowance

5. Transportation

6. Location charges

7. Utilities (cell phone, limited free service, food etc)

8. Subsidized products

9. Life Insurance

10. Annual bonus

11. House allowance

12. Training and development

Upper Management (Managerial)

1. Base pay

2. Annual increment

3. Management Incentives

4. Medical allowance

5. Location charges

6. Utilities (cell phone, free service, food etc)

7. Subsidized products

8. Life Insurance

9. Annual bonus

10. House allowance

11. Training and development

12. Projects payments

13. Car (Fuel & maintenance)

14. Social club Membership

15. Annual international trips

16. Laptops

Upper Management (Directors and above)

1. Base pay

2. Annual increment

3. Annual cash bonus

4. Medical allowance

5. House

6. Car (fuel & maintenance)

7. Utilities Expenses

8. International trips

9. Life Insurance

10. Social club membership

11. Two days off in a week

12. Children welfare allowance

13. Laptops

14. Cell phone and unlimited post paid connection

15. Limited shares option

Strong and Weak points of Telenor

Telenor has proved itself as real dynamic a firm who has adapted itself in the tough competition,

got major market share from the existing company Mobilink in a very short time. The Telenor

has large number of strong points and few weak points.

Strong points

Telenor focused on individual performance, have made the reward system in such a way

to recognize the efforts and effectively remunerate these. Therefore the incentives plans

are very diverse and up-to-date.

The arrangement is very concise in such manner that it even rewards the marginal higher

efforts of individual within the teams or groups.

The special incentives like “Golden Hellos” and “Golden handcuffs’ are very efficient in

given them the best professional from the market and also the ability to retain them for

life time.

The performance of individual is even rewarded if the organization fails to achieve its

goal. Once the individual succeed in its targets their rewards are due.

The Telenor has specific incentives plan for every level and for every nature. The

Management incentives plan is one of the example. This incentive doesn’t exist in

Mobilink.

The job evaluation method widely used is Point-method. And that’s the reason the

employee satisfaction in Telenor is more than Mobilink because the pay structure created

from the point method are very concise and reflects the efforts granted.

The pay packages and incentives plans are attractive and gives more remunerations at all

level. Wide range of incentives keeps the employees satisfied, committed, loyal and

productive all the time.

It’s the outcome of compensation strategies that attracted the competent and key

professional of Mobilink, and retained them for lifetime. Here the Telenor got

competitive edge to have such professional whose have sufficient knowledge of

competitor in deciding which business strategies can result in overtake.

The performance appraisal in Telenor is multifactor and multifaceted that ensures the

proper and true evaluation of employee.

Weak Points

The employee’s interrelationship is not strong as it is in Mobilink. The culture in Telenor

is going towards isolated environment where every individual will be concerned for its

own self-interest.

There are two types of employees. Permanent and contract employees. The Telenor

approach towards the contract employee is not so much devoted as it is for permanent

employees. This may leads to the employee discrimination and the disloyalty might be

result in.

Their employees are not aware of the reward policies. This is some time good but some

time creates problem. The Telenor has kept confidential the compensation strategies even

from the employees.

Laptop

Every employee of Telenor Pakistan, as per Job Description, will be allocated maximum

one laptop on his joining. Employees who use shared/individual desktops for their daily job tasks

are not given laptops e.g. employees of S&SC and CRO’s in call centre.

Regular and confirmed employee, who has completed at least one year with the company,

will be entitled to the personal ownership of the laptop free of cost once it has reached its useful

life of three years.

Leave Fare Assistance

To assist employees with their expenses when they take annual leave for rest, recreation

and holidays with their families.

Its equivalent to one gross salary paid once in the year and its paid along with the salary once in

a year.

Leave

Annual Leave: Policy is to enable employees to take annual leave to spend extended time with

their family and to ensure well-being, health and satisfaction. Telenor culture encourages its

employees to avail there annual leaves every year and there is no appreciation to those who do

not avail this facility. All the employees from Top Management to the lower staff are equally

eligible to this policy.

Casual Leave: To assist employees to take casual leave when they require leaves to attend

personal problems, obligations and emergency situations.

Sick Leave: To provide with sick leave when somebody is unwell. The number of sick leave is

undefined as per Telenor policy.

Life Insurance

Provide employees with insurance coverage so that in the eventuality of death, their

family is cared for.

All permanent employees are covered for Life Insurance from the date of joining Telenor

Pakistan.

Long Service Awards

Telenor entitles awards upon completion of the number of years of service. it could be in the

form of shields or gifts depending upon the number of years of completion.

Maternity Leave

To allow female employees maternity leave and to encourage continuity of service.

All permanent married female employees are eligible. The said must be confirmed in

employment with at least one year of full time continuous service with Telenor Pakistan.

Medical & Hospitalization

To provide employees and their families with medical support and to help them during

their time of need.

Eligibility

If the said is a full time employee, then employee is covered along with his spouse,

children and dependent parents no matter what designation he or she have. Telenor has one

generalized health policy which applies to every one in Telenor from CEO to an engineer.

Employees are covered comprehensively for both OPD and Inpatient Hospitalization

expenses.

Mobile Connection and Handset Allowance

A full time employee of Telenor Pakistan is provided with a mobile phone connection

upon joining Telenor Pakistan free of cost for official use.

Mobile Connection for Family and Friends

Policy is to provide an opportunity for Telenor employee’s family and friends to enjoy a

cost effective subscription of Telenor Services.

Employees are entitled for the some specific concessions on post paid connections for

family and/or friends for confirmed employees. Those special connections are issued on non

commercial tariffs.

In addition permanent employees are entitled for one pre paid connection free of cost

ever month.

Upon joining employees are also provided with a handset which is followed by an annual

handset allowance every year.

Pick and Drop Service for Females

Pick and Drop facility is only for female employees.

Provident Fund

All permanent employees are eligible for provident fund and deductions /reimbursement

is made as per standard provident fund procedures.

Recognize Heroes at Work and In Life

To identify, recognize and reward outstanding contributions made by employees “At

Work” and “In Life” in certain key categories during the year.

Each year, Telenor Pakistan identifies Heroes for outstanding contributions made at work

which go beyond the normal call of duty.

Relocation

This Policy is made to help employees if they are relocated at Telenor Pakistan’s request

within the country. While every effort is made to ensure that they are not financially

disadvantaged, the Company recognizes that it is not possible to financially compensate for

every disruption, which may be caused by relocation.

All full time employees are eligible if the decision to relocate has been made by Telenor

Pakistan. However, if Telenor Pakistan relocates to accommodate employee’s desire for

relocation, then the relocation policy is not applicable.

Retirement Age

All employees retire from the Company upon reaching their 60th birthday.

Salary Increments and Salary Adjustments

To ensure that employees receive an annual salary boost in relation to the contribution he

has made in Telenor Pakistan during the year and the company’s performance in the market.

To review and adjust salaries to ensure internal equity and to stay abreast of the market

norms.

Travel

To make employee’s travel and accommodation as comfortable as possible. To

communicate Telenor Pakistan’s guideline for business travel.

Air Travel

Telenor allows travel by air if the distance to destination town is considered too far or

unsafe by normal road travel. This refers to destinations where airlines operate.

There is a separate department which is totally responsible to make travel arrangements

for the employees when requires and the whole process is quite comforting and hassle free for

the employees

Working Hours

Normal Working Hours

Week Days Office Timing Monday – Friday 0900 hours – 1800 hours

If somebody is required to work on weekends or on a national holiday, as a part of his/her

normal work timing, in order to keep the business operations functional 24 hours a day, then a

shift arrangement is applied.

Working on Holidays and Late Sittings

Objective: To compensate for your working beyond the normal office hours and during

holidays.

1. Reimbursement for Working on Weekend/Holidays

1a. Eligibility:

An employee is entitled if he/she works for five or more consecutive hours on any given holiday.

1b. Meal Reimbursement

An employee is eligible for the reimbursement of meal expenses.

Telenor is paying more attention towards the recognition of individual efforts. Its main concern

is that if individual efforts are maximized, the organization will grow that why it has a very

distinct Individual incentive plan from the Mobilink.

In all other organizational, group and special incentives both organization are almost similar in

practices. But due to individual incentives it has attracted competent people from Mobilink.

Maternity Leave

To allow female employees maternity leave and to encourage continuity of service.

All permanent married female employees are eligible. The said must be confirmed in

employment with at least one year of full time continuous service with Telenor Pakistan.

Medical & Hospitalization

To provide employees and their families with medical support and to help them during

their time of need.

Eligibility

If the said is a full time employee, then employee is covered along with his spouse,

children and dependent parents no matter what designation he or she have. Telenor has one

generalized health policy which applies to every one in Telenor from CEO to an engineer.

Employees are covered comprehensively for both OPD and Inpatient Hospitalization

expenses.

Mobile Connection and Handset Allowance

A full time employee of Telenor Pakistan is provided with a mobile phone connection

upon joining Telenor Pakistan free of cost for official use.

Mobile Connection for Family and Friends

Policy is to provide an opportunity for Telenor employee’s family and friends to enjoy a

cost effective subscription of Telenor Services.

Employees are entitled for the some specific concessions on post paid connections for

family and/or friends for confirmed employees. Those special connections are issued on non

commercial tariffs.

In addition permanent employees are entitled for one pre paid connection free of cost

ever month.

Upon joining employees are also provided with a handset which is followed by an annual

handset allowance every year.

Pick and Drop Service for Females

Pick and Drop facility is only for female employees.

Provident Fund

All permanent employees are eligible for provident fund and deductions /reimbursement

is made as per standard provident fund procedures.

Life Insurance

Provide employees with insurance coverage so that in the eventuality of death, their

family is cared for.

All permanent employees are covered for Life Insurance from the date of joining Telenor

Pakistan.

Long Service Awards

Telenor entitles awards upon completion of the number of years of service. it could be in the

form of shields or gifts depending upon the number of years of completion.

Q7:How do they retain their key employees? TELENOR retain there key employees by following point;

1. ● TRUST 2. ● INTEGRITY 3. ● COMMUNICATION 4. ● INVOLVEMENT

. MAKE EMPLOYEES FEEL GOOD ABOUT THEMSELVES AND THE COMPANY

• RECOGNITION

• GENUINE CONCERN

• TALK TO EMPLOYEES…KNOW THEIR NAME

• SET CHALLENGING & HIGH EXPECTATIONS

• PROVIDE FEEDBACK

• REWARD PERFORMANCE

• SAY “THANK YOU”

Training process generally encompass as three main phases. The training process begins

with the Assessment phase. This phase involves identifying training needs, setting training

objectives, and developing criteria against which to evaluate the results of the training program.

Training requirements are determined by conducting a need analysis.

A Need Analysis is an assessment of an organization’s training a need that is developed

by considering overall organizational requirements, tasks associated with a job for which training

is needed, and the degree to which individuals are able to perform those tasks effectively.

The next part of the process is the Training Design and Implementation phase. This

involves determining training methods, developing training materials, and actually conducting

the training. A considerable amount of training is conducted using On-the-Job Training methods.

With such methods, trainee learns while actually performing the job, usually with the help of

knowledgeable trainer.

The final part of training process is the Evaluation phase. This entails evaluating the

result of the training in terms of the criteria developed during the assessment phase.

Types of Training Programs

The most common type of training programs are Orientation Training, technical skill

training, and management development training. Orientation Training is usually a formal

program designed to provide new employees with information about the company and their jobs.

Technical Training is oriented towards providing specialized knowledge and developing facility

in the use of methods, processes, and techniques associated with a particular discipline or trade.

Management Development Program focuses on developing managerial skills for use at the

supervisory, managerial, and executive levels. Overall training has positive impact on both

productivity and employee morale.

Telenor offered three main categories in which offered programs are: Leadership,

Culture, and Competency.

The Leadership Category

Within the Leadership category, several programs are offered which include:

Outdoor Leadership

With activities related to trust building, team building, and exploration in the

wilderness, the leaders are able to identify their true leadership styles, their

managerial skills are put to test, making them better and brining in more

teamwork and transparency in the organization.

LUMS/Telenor Post Graduate Certificate in Business Management

To give managers holistic business understanding, and manage succession

planning for various cadres, this academic program focuses on strategy, pricing,

market segmentation etc within its various courses and help employees to build

the organization.

Core Leadership

The program helps to build leaders in accordance with the Telenor

Expectations so that employees can use their abilities within the perimeters of the

organization’s expectations. This is used for TMA to develop the ‘Hi-pos’ for

future positions.

Leadership-The Care & Growth Model

This three day workshop for all those in command positions, teaches

managers and supervisors what they should be contributing to those who report to

them.

I. The Culture Category

Within the Culture category the following programs are being offered which

are open to all employees:

Mastery of Self

To enable people to overcome obstacles and dysfunctions in their

behaviors, and therefore create new perceptions by exercising the power of mind.

Emotional Intelligence

Including the emotional quotient to employee’s intelligence quotient

enables one to be smarter in work, relationships and health. To bring emotional

maturity, this training focuses on increasing energy and effectiveness under

pressure, dealing with turbulence, and developing personal power.

Change Management: Who Moved My Cheese?

Most people are fearful of change because they don't believe they have

any control over how or when it happens to them. Since change happens either to

the individual or by the individual, the course shows that what matters most is the

attitude about change. To complement our inculcation of the new vision and

values, this program will present change as a natural and positive agent that leads

employees to embrace change and explore new opportunities.

FISH: Choosing Your Attitude

This training helps the organization become more vibrant, energetic,

positive and optimistic. This helps to improve morale in the troops and reduce

negativity.

III. The Competency Category

Within the Competency category we Telenor is offering program which is

required as the basic skill builders in the organization. These include:

Creative Problem Solving

To ensure that people have the ability to think out of the box and are not stuck

with old thought patterns.

Breaking Communication Barriers

To help employees come out of their inhibitions and improve interpersonal

communication and public speaking.

Team Work

To enable employees to rise above the individual objectives and come

together as a team with one vision.

Results Through Resources

To help employees manage their resources at work efficiently and effectively.

Facilitation Skills

To enable all line managers, supervisors, team leads etc, to lead and facilitate

IVC workshops on their own.