Friday Highlight  

Pay and performance in the asset management business

In this sense they are prepared to trade-off quality of life for quantity of money. The aim is to make enough money as quickly as possible to stop doing the job and move onto something that speaks to passions and a happier lifestyle.

Whatever the gurus tell you, here are some recommendations:

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  • Make sure, as much as you can, that you are paying market rates. Your best people may be very easy to poach by competitors if you are not. Review this issue regularly. 
  • Give workers an opportunity to buy into shares or other attractive stakes in the organisation.
  • Listen to, and watch, the little things that make a difference: free food, taxis after a certain time in the office, company-wide celebrations and parties.
  • Don’t be hypocritical about values that are not real, and honour promises made.
  • Where possible give people choice in how, when, where and with whom they work. Allow them to explore and exploit any talents that they have.
  • Do the HR stuff lightly. Remember nudging works better than fining.

Adrian Furnham is a professor at the Norwegian Business School

* r=: This is correlation coefficient, ranging from -1 to 1. It tells the size of a relationship between variables.