By Yevgenya Ivanova
Staff Writer

No matter whether the reduction in price is real or not, people like to buy things on sale. The element of «an extra,» of «a bonus» rarely fails to attract. On the St. Petersburg labor market, where employers are growing tired of constantly raising salaries, the «extras» are becoming a company's best staff-magnet. And the magnets are getting more and more colorful.

It's an employee's market in St. Petersburg at present, says Anna Yegorova, the coordinator of the Salary Survey Project, which was carried out by Ancor recruitment agency this fall. «The employers are in a rather difficult situation.»

To constantly raise staff salaries would make business unprofitable, adds Oksana Andronova, a key account manager at Kelly Services recruitment company. So, «companies aspire to find other motivational methods,» such as additions to the social package, among other bonuses, she said.

From payment for gym membership to company shares at a reduced price, some companies will offer everything imaginable to attract and retain key staff, said Yelena Semenikhina, a client service manager at Alfa Personnel.

Salary «bonuses» include no-limit mobile phone expenses, full medical coverage, including dentist fees and life insurance, non-state pensions, a luxury car with driver for 24/7 disposal, and paid-for vacation tours.

«The [perks] are nothing extraordinary in themselves, but altogether they constitute an approach that reads: The company will solve ALL your problems — you will not think about anything apart from the job. Its a „Come and work for us“ message. And I have to say, this approach works» Semenikhina said.

In terms of value, the cost of various compensations and bonuses can constitute from 20 percent to 50 percent of the base salary — up to 80 percent for sales positions, Yegorova said.

And Russian companies tend to be more creative and generous, recruiters said.

A St. Petersburg-based engineering company, which asked not to be named, said that it does not state any bonuses in its employment contracts. That is not to say that there are no treats for the staff.

The company regularly organizes out-of-office activities for the personnel, often with a seasonal flavor. Remembering past glories, employees recollected trips that involved mountain skiing in Austria, climbing the Kilimanjaro mountain range, and beach holidays in Egypt.

Meanwhile StarSoft Development Labs, an IT outsourcing company with 350 staff operating in St. Petersburg, has thought up a way to combine extra financial perks with real and needed action to solve the prolem of there being few available IT staff in the city.

The company introduced the practice of offering employees a «referral bonus» which StarSoft claims has helped find staff quickly.

«Referral bonus is an opportunity for any StarSoft employee to receive a monetary compensation for bringing a good professional to our company. Therefore, every member of staff can become the company's paid recruiter» Nikolai Puntikov, the CEO of StarSoft, said in a statement.

Other innovations by Russian firms include a so-called thirteenth salary (a monthly salary sum paid as a premium on top of the December pay), New Year's and birthday bonuses, and the enterprise's own products (in the case of manufacturing companies), says Olga Andreyeva, business development manager at Coleman Services.

The problem with all the novelty compensations is their non-systematic, «haphazard» appearance, said Yury Mikhailov, managing partner of Consort Petersburg staffing consultancy. Russian companies, often managed by their owners, do not really care enough about the staff's motivation to plan out the bonuses, he said.

«The compensation packages in Western companies are more structured, sometimes offering options as a means of enticing staff to perform better and appreciate the fact that the company's financial performance and stock exchange indicators will directly affect their stock options and affluence,» Mikhkailov said.

Ancor's Yegorova agreed, saying that the system of compensations and benefits in Russian companies «is often developed spontaneously.» The lesser planning of Russian companies can, however, lead to faster career growth, Mikhailov said, since «in Western firms this process is carefully managed through several stages [that span] years.»