What do businesses benefit when they give a 13th month salary? - Cihani: Motivated staff, sustainable entrepreneurship
In many countries, the 13th month salary has become a consolidated tradition, while in Albania it remains more of a voluntary practice.
Only a fraction of businesses apply it, mainly as a sign of appreciation for employees and not as an obligation. But how ingrained is this culture in Albanian businesses and what does it reveal about the relationship between employer and employee?
Arbër Xhihani Employment Expert:
"In Albanian businesses, it is actually a new culture that has been recently introduced, so it has not been an experience or an added element of the employment relationship. The contractual employment relationship, in previous years. But seeing the difficulties that businesses are now facing in attracting or supporting human resources, then year-end bonuses or even 13th salaries have also been considered. Despite the fact that the latter is much lower than companies that practice year-end bonuses."
But beyond the benefit to employees, what do businesses really gain when they decide to apply this reward?
"If we reconnect it with the difficulty of finding or filling vacancies that businesses have in terms of human resources, it is normally a significant incentive in calculating the security of tenure or the term of the employee's contract over a period of time. Because an employee who is valued and ultimately financially supported does not have to leave the company, or the company that practices the 13th month salary. But if we connect it to the activity or performance of the employee over the years, or during the contract period, then I think it is an added cost for the company, since it is not directly related to productivity or the performance of the employee, but is a reward at the end of the year. The opposite would be the case if it were a bonus linked to what the employee has performed during the year and is rewarded at the end of the year."
While for employees the 13th salary is a direct financial aid, for businesses it remains a strategy to build trust, stability, and timely performance.
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