Globe Ground India (GGI), a subsidiary of the German airline Lufthansa, operates passenger and cargo handlin for Lufthansa, as well as ground and ramp activities in Delhi, Mumbai, and a number of other Indian cities. In 2006, facing serious staff turnover and motivation problems, GGI conducted focus interviews with staff with a view to identifying ways in which the firm's reward system could be strengthened to improve staff retention anc motivation.

The initial plan was to use the information gathered to develop a long-term incentive plan on top of the yearly bonus. However, one of the interview questions asked staff to nominate the 'highest incentive for you to increa: your motivation', and the results were both unexpected and revealing. Staff rated 'money/higher wages' as thir behind 'career/status' and 'job pleasure/enjoyment'. Clearly, intrinsic rewards and developmental opportunities were most salient for GGl's staff. Other studies confirm that career management, job design, benefits entitlements, and consistent salary adjustment are particularly important to employees in India.

After analysing the results, GGI developed and introduced a new 'total rewards' approach focusing not on long term incentives but on meeting employees' developmental and job interest needs and on offering career pathways and prospects. This approach was then set out clearly and comprehensively in a new human resources manual.

This is not to suggest that money does not matter at all. As employees often queried the prior mode of salary adjustment and argued for seniority-based adjustment, the manual explains that salary increases are based on individual contribution and not on time of service alone.

The 2015 Gallup-Healthways ranking of wellbeing, based on 146,000 interviews of adults across 145 countries, reinforced this GGI analysis. This and similar studies indicate that financial well-being is likely to be more about earning enough money to balance your various needs, rather than the absolute amount of the financial rewards you receive (see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siXIpV7O-s).

Questions

1 What could be possible explanation of Indian employees' preferences of 'career/status' and 'job pleasure/ enjoyment' over 'money/higher wages'?

2 If the same choice is given to you, what would be your preference and why?