Skill Perk - An extra allowance for your "special" skills

Can you get paid extra for the skills in Demand? 

HCL is offering a skill-based allowance of 25-30% of their CTC to about 16,000 employees. These are the skills that their customers are paying a premium and they pass it on to their employees.

When we come onboard an organization we bring a certain set of skills to the table, most of which we have got hired for and some we just inherit within. Now they can be due to education, previous organization, or can be because of sheer passion. One always tries to showcase every skill of his or her in the work given, it can be creating powerful presentations or building time and manpower efficient codes. Passionate people even offer to put in extra hours without any extra money just to do some quality work and satisfy their creativity/ passion appetite. 

Does your CTC cover all your skills?

CTC or Cost To Company is something (a price number) that an organization puts against your name when they hire you. Now, you can possess 10 skills and you may get hired for 3 out of them but right now it's presumptuous that your signed CTC actually covers all your 10 skills. So, in the future, if there is a demand or they call it an “opportunity” for your extra set of skills you can come handy with the same salary figures.

Why is it important to pay for extra skills?

When an organization is hiring a person for a specific skill, both employer and employee would definitely research the market price of that skill and then pay accordingly. But when it comes to in-house talent the same doesn’t apply.

 If a person in your team is fulfilling a crucial skill requirement that if you have hunted outside would have cost you twice or even thrice, do you pay him or her accordingly? NO! It easily becomes part of their normal day-to-day responsibility with a letter of appreciation at the most. 

What will happen then?

If a person knows that the skill they possess can easily be sold for twice or thrice in the market then why would they stay and work for you? Resulting, these people simply look for their worth in the market and easily get something worthy. Then you’ll be back to square 1 hunting for talent in the outside market offering the same money that your own direct has just got! This looks foolish but that's the reality!

HCL is paying Skill-based Allowance

Source: Times of India

Recently I read that HCL is offering a skill-based allowance of 25-30% of their CTC to about 16,000 employees. These are the skills that their customers are paying a premium and they pass it on to their employees.

At a glance, it may look like a loss to employers but it's a great move, why? Here are some of the reasons

• The skilled-based requirement can be easily fulfilled internally. So, if I talk numbers a person that you would have normally hired at an average of 35%-40% you are getting it in the house at 25%-30%. That's easily 10% saving
• No download or transitions needed: When you onboard a person the initial 3-6 months are very sensitive, there are knowledge transitions, you expect mistakes from them. But in-house talent saves you that effort as well.
• Lower Attrition Rate: It's very simple if people are getting the required in the house they may not want to go out. Hence your attrition rate will be low and you’ll be able to preserve your talent.