Compensation Strategies of Telenor Telecom

The Telenor entered the market with aggressive strategies at all level, never compromised on
quality service and positioned as self as Better Quality at lower possible rates services
provided in the market, succeed in capturing major market share in a very short time. The
Mobilink availing the market leader status didnt succeed in defending it status.
All this credit goes to the Human Resource Management, which strategically aligned all HR
practices with the core Business strategies of becoming market leader. We will here discuss only
the compensation strategies of Telenor as a tool for attracting, retention and motivation of
productive employees.
The Telenor from the very first stages concentrated on the Best fit approach rather the
traditional and Best Practice Approach.
Following are the few compensation strategies because their strategies are strictly confidential
and the information provider may get lost his/her job.
Incentives Plans
The Telenor uses various incentives plan. Different packages and plan are deisgned for different
people and groups according to the nature of the job and the impact on the organizational
achievement. The commonly used plans are

Individual incentives plan

Group incentives plan

Organization incentives plan

Special incentives plan

Motivation incentives plan

Coordination Incentives plan

Lets discuss the features of these incentives plans and the outcomes created from these
outcomes.

Individual Incentives Plans

In Telenor they strongly give importance to the individual performance because it is the
individual performance that enhances the group performance and ultimately organizational
performance. According to their words, if we fail to identify the individual performance level, it
will leads to the unfair compensation which will definitely result in de-motivation and legpulling in the organization which is very dangerous for organization on such stage where it has
reached to the stage to take over. The individual incentives plans are based on the successfully
achievement of the individual predefined goals and objectives. These incentives are in various
forms like

Commission

Bonus pay

Cash rewards

Over-time payments

Bonus one month cell phone charges

Leaves in cash

Days off

Shift payment and unsocial hours

The commission incentive is tied with the sales performance or performance in production and
also in customer services where the individual incentive is given for effectively treating the
customer. This commission is not like a exposure of employee more pay to risk. If an employee
doesnt succeed in meeting the target, his/her she training needs are identified, trained
accordingly and if not achieving performance standards after that, than job rotation technique is
applied in order to make employee feel secure.
Bonus pay is granted to those individual who achieve the targets which more prominent results.
Bonus pay is the more successful tool for motivating each and every employee to do some thing
extra ordinary.

Cash rewards are also subjected to the individual performance in the group. These are given
besides the group incentives for the purpose to make differentiation between the higher
performer and low performer within the group but it is managed in such a way that eliminated
discrimination. These cash bonus are given when group rewards are also granted.
One month bonus cell charges are also used as a incentives plan to recognize the individual
efforts to all the people in organization. This will act as tool for motivation.
Leave in cash and day off are those incentives plan that are mostly granted to mostly every
individual but the days off are only granted to those employee who over perform the
performance targets.
The Telenor incentives plans are not strictly tied with the company objectives achievement, if the
individual objectives are achieved within given constraints than they are eligible for their
individual incentives.
The shift incentive plans are for those people whose service is for 24/7 times, like the customer
representative officer. And unsocial hours like working on the specific festivals like Eid, Sunday
etc
Group Incentives Plan
Group incentives plan are mostly designed for the technical staff, engineers, sales team and
marketing teams. These group incentives plans are

Project rewards

Group rewards

Group trips

Remote areas incentives

Group annual bonus

Special assignment or project provision

Special group meal

Projects rewards are for the project teams for completing the projects in the given deadlines of
time, resources and quality. These rewards are subjected to the extent of the quality and the

nature of the projects. These are huge cash bonuses for each and every member but due to
individual incentive plan a slight difference may be possible.
Group rewards are similar to the project rewards but its amount is lesser and it is given
frequently to the technical group, Marketing team and sales team for achieving the monthly
targets successfully. These are mostly in the form of cash rewards.
The group trips are also used a group incentive but as tool of recognition, these trips are fully
financed by the organization either national or international level. Here employees are also paid
some amount of cash to go for personal enjoyment there, like shopping, playing etc.
Remote area incentives are those cash and facilities provision to those teams or groups working
in remote areas like mountains, FATA etc.
Group annual bonus is in the form of bonus salaries to all the member of the group for showing
extra-ordinary result crossing the boundaries of targets given. These are mostly given to the sales
groups and production teams.
Special Assignment or project provision is also a group incentive plan in the form of career
development opportunities, learning and exposure in order to be eligible for the higher position
in near future. It is also the form of recognition.
Special Meal is also a form of group incentives used as a tool of recognition the group efforts.
The group members are served with a special lunch or dinner in five stars of seven stars Hotel.
Organizational Incentives
These are those incentives granted to almost all employees when organization meets the set
objectives either financial or strategic.
These includes

Bonus pay Payments

Cash Bonus

Annual Cash Bonus

These organizational incentives in not limited to the one or two level of management but it is
subjected to all employees according to the position and pay structures because all these
incentives plans are streamed out from the pay grades.

Special Incentives
The Telenor has a very distinct special incentives plan in comparison to other competitors.
Following are the few effective special incentives plan not exist in Mobilink.

Golden Hellos

Golden Handcuffs

Golden Hello is that incentive plan that is used to attract the cream from the competitors. It is
either in the form of lump sum payment or in phases and some times for couple of years
depending on the nature of the people aimed to attract.
Golden handcuffs are also special individual pay incentives used to lock the best employee
within organization and eliminate the fear of being attracted or hired by other competitor. These
are also in the form of lump sum; phase, couple or years cash payments.
Management Incentives Plan
Management incentives plan are those only for managers for achieving excellence in the
management and optimal utilization of organizational resources. These incentives may cover
two-three years gross salaries payment or a certain amount of cash payment for fixed time
period. The objective of this incentive plan is to keep the managers at optimal level.

Job Evaluation in Telenor

The job evaluation in Telenor is used in three different ways, its usage is depend on the nature of
the job, demand of that job, supply of people, time and cost constraints. Generally the following
three methods are used from time to time:
1. Point-methods
2. Straight ranking method
3. Paired comparison
The point method is widely used method for almost all jobs evaluation for technical,
coordination, production, customer services, managerial, Directors level jobs. The entry-level
jobs, sales jobs and other level jobs, the paired comparison method is widely used because of
easiness and cost effective but when there is any thing wrong in such jobs evaluation is also used

for confirmation. The higher jobs like Vice-presidents and present jobs are evaluated only
through the job ranking method.

Pay Packages and employee benefits

Due to hierarchical and nature of jobs the pay packages and benefits plans also varies from level
to level and even from employee to employee.
Lower Level Management
1. Base pay
2. Annual increment
3. Variable pay
4. Individual incentives (varies due performance)
5. Medical allowance
6. Transportation
7. Location charges
8. Utilities (cell phone, limited free service, food etc)
9. Subsidized products
Middle Management
1. Base pay
2. Annual increment
3. Individual incentives (varies due performance)
4. Medical allowance
5. Transportation
6. Location charges
7. Utilities (cell phone, limited free service, food etc)
8. Subsidized products
9. Life Insurance
10. Annual bonus
11. House allowance
12. Training and development

Upper Management (Managerial)

1. Base pay
2. Annual increment
3. Management Incentives
4. Medical allowance
5. Location charges
6. Utilities (cell phone, free service, food etc)
7. Subsidized products
8. Life Insurance
9. Annual bonus
10. House allowance
11. Training and development
12. Projects payments
13. Car (Fuel & maintenance)
14. Social club Membership
15. Annual international trips
16. Laptops
Upper Management (Directors and above)
1. Base pay
2. Annual increment
3. Annual cash bonus
4. Medical allowance
5. House
6. Car (fuel & maintenance)
7. Utilities Expenses
8. International trips
9. Life Insurance
10. Social club membership
11. Two days off in a week
12. Children welfare allowance

13. Laptops
14. Cell phone and unlimited post paid connection
15. Limited shares option
Strong and Weak points of Telenor
Telenor has proved itself as real dynamic a firm who has adapted itself in the tough competition,
got major market share from the existing company Mobilink in a very short time. The Telenor
has large number of strong points and few weak points.

Strong points

Telenor focused on individual performance, have made the reward system in such a way
to recognize the efforts and effectively remunerate these. Therefore the incentives plans
are very diverse and up-to-date.

The arrangement is very concise in such manner that it even rewards the marginal higher
efforts of individual within the teams or groups.

The special incentives like Golden Hellos and Golden handcuffs are very efficient in
given them the best professional from the market and also the ability to retain them for
life time.

The performance of individual is even rewarded if the organization fails to achieve its
goal. Once the individual succeed in its targets their rewards are due.

The Telenor has specific incentives plan for every level and for every nature. The
Management incentives plan is one of the example. This incentive doesnt exist in
Mobilink.

The job evaluation method widely used is Point-method. And thats the reason the
employee satisfaction in Telenor is more than Mobilink because the pay structure created
from the point method are very concise and reflects the efforts granted.

The pay packages and incentives plans are attractive and gives more remunerations at all
level. Wide range of incentives keeps the employees satisfied, committed, loyal and
productive all the time.

Its the outcome of compensation strategies that attracted the competent and key
professional of Mobilink, and retained them for lifetime. Here the Telenor got
competitive edge to have such professional whose have sufficient knowledge of
competitor in deciding which business strategies can result in overtake.

The performance appraisal in Telenor is multifactor and multifaceted that ensures the
proper and true evaluation of employee.

Weak Points

The employees interrelationship is not strong as it is in Mobilink. The culture in Telenor

is going towards isolated environment where every individual will be concerned for its
own self-interest.

There are two types of employees. Permanent and contract employees. The Telenor
approach towards the contract employee is not so much devoted as it is for permanent
employees. This may leads to the employee discrimination and the disloyalty might be
result in.

Their employees are not aware of the reward policies. This is some time good but some
time creates problem. The Telenor has kept confidential the compensation strategies even
from the employees.

Laptop
Every employee of Telenor Pakistan, as per Job Description, will be allocated maximum
one laptop on his joining. Employees who use shared/individual desktops for their daily job tasks
are not given laptops e.g. employees of S&SC and CROs in call centre.

Regular and confirmed employee, who has completed at least one year with the company,
will be entitled to the personal ownership of the laptop free of cost once it has reached its useful
life of three years.

Leave Fare Assistance

To assist employees with their expenses when they take annual leave for rest, recreation
and holidays with their families.
Its equivalent to one gross salary paid once in the year and its paid along with the salary once in
a year.

Leave
Annual Leave: Policy is to enable employees to take annual leave to spend extended time with
their family and to ensure well-being, health and satisfaction. Telenor culture encourages its
employees to avail there annual leaves every year and there is no appreciation to those who do
not avail this facility. All the employees from Top Management to the lower staff are equally
eligible to this policy.
Casual Leave: To assist employees to take casual leave when they require leaves to attend
personal problems, obligations and emergency situations.
Sick Leave: To provide with sick leave when somebody is unwell. The number of sick leave is
undefined as per Telenor policy.

Life Insurance
Provide employees with insurance coverage so that in the eventuality of death, their
family is cared for.
All permanent employees are covered for Life Insurance from the date of joining Telenor
Pakistan.

Long Service Awards

Telenor entitles awards upon completion of the number of years of service. it could be in the
form of shields or gifts depending upon the number of years of completion.

Maternity Leave
To allow female employees maternity leave and to encourage continuity of service.
All permanent married female employees are eligible. The said must be confirmed in
employment with at least one year of full time continuous service with Telenor Pakistan.

Medical & Hospitalization

To provide employees and their families with medical support and to help them during
their time of need.
Eligibility
If the said is a full time employee, then employee is covered along with his spouse,
children and dependent parents no matter what designation he or she have. Telenor has one
generalized health policy which applies to every one in Telenor from CEO to an engineer.
Employees are covered comprehensively for both OPD and Inpatient Hospitalization
expenses.

Mobile Connection and Handset Allowance

A full time employee of Telenor Pakistan is provided with a mobile phone connection
upon joining Telenor Pakistan free of cost for official use.

Mobile Connection for Family and Friends

Policy is to provide an opportunity for Telenor employees family and friends to enjoy a
cost effective subscription of Telenor Services.
Employees are entitled for the some specific concessions on post paid connections for
family and/or friends for confirmed employees. Those special connections are issued on non
commercial tariffs.
In addition permanent employees are entitled for one pre paid connection free of cost
ever month.
Upon joining employees are also provided with a handset which is followed by an annual
handset allowance every year.

Pick and Drop Service for Females

Pick and Drop facility is only for female employees.

Provident Fund
All permanent employees are eligible for provident fund and deductions /reimbursement
is made as per standard provident fund procedures.

Recognize Heroes at Work and In Life

To identify, recognize and reward outstanding contributions made by employees At
Work and In Life in certain key categories during the year.
Each year, Telenor Pakistan identifies Heroes for outstanding contributions made at work
which go beyond the normal call of duty.

Relocation
This Policy is made to help employees if they are relocated at Telenor Pakistans request
within the country. While every effort is made to ensure that they are not financially
disadvantaged, the Company recognizes that it is not possible to financially compensate for
every disruption, which may be caused by relocation.
All full time employees are eligible if the decision to relocate has been made by Telenor
Pakistan. However, if Telenor Pakistan relocates to accommodate employees desire for
relocation, then the relocation policy is not applicable.

Retirement Age
All employees retire from the Company upon reaching their 60th birthday.

Salary Increments and Salary Adjustments

To ensure that employees receive an annual salary boost in relation to the contribution he
has made in Telenor Pakistan during the year and the companys performance in the market.
To review and adjust salaries to ensure internal equity and to stay abreast of the market
norms.

Travel
To make employees travel and accommodation as comfortable as possible. To
communicate Telenor Pakistans guideline for business travel.
Air Travel

Telenor allows travel by air if the distance to destination town is considered too far or
unsafe by normal road travel. This refers to destinations where airlines operate.
There is a separate department which is totally responsible to make travel arrangements
for the employees when requires and the whole process is quite comforting and hassle free for
the employees

Working Hours
Normal Working Hours
Week Days Office Timing Monday Friday 0900 hours 1800 hours
If somebody is required to work on weekends or on a national holiday, as a part of his/her
normal work timing, in order to keep the business operations functional 24 hours a day, then a
shift arrangement is applied.

Working on Holidays and Late Sittings

Objective: To compensate for your working beyond the normal office hours and during
holidays.
1. Reimbursement for Working on Weekend/Holidays
1a. Eligibility:
An employee is entitled if he/she works for five or more consecutive hours on any given holiday.
1b. Meal Reimbursement
An employee is eligible for the reimbursement of meal expenses.

Telenor is paying more attention towards the recognition of individual efforts. Its main concern is
that if individual efforts are maximized, the organization will grow that why it has a very distinct
Individual incentive plan from the Mobilink.
In all other organizational, group and special incentives both organization are almost similar in
practices. But due to individual incentives it has attracted competent people from Mobilink.

Maternity Leave
To allow female employees maternity leave and to encourage continuity of service.
All permanent married female employees are eligible. The said must be confirmed in
employment with at least one year of full time continuous service with Telenor Pakistan.

Medical & Hospitalization

To provide employees and their families with medical support and to help them during
their time of need.
Eligibility
If the said is a full time employee, then employee is covered along with his spouse,
children and dependent parents no matter what designation he or she have. Telenor has one
generalized health policy which applies to every one in Telenor from CEO to an engineer.
Employees are covered comprehensively for both OPD and Inpatient Hospitalization
expenses.

Mobile Connection and Handset Allowance

A full time employee of Telenor Pakistan is provided with a mobile phone connection
upon joining Telenor Pakistan free of cost for official use.

Mobile Connection for Family and Friends

Policy is to provide an opportunity for Telenor employees family and friends to enjoy a
cost effective subscription of Telenor Services.
Employees are entitled for the some specific concessions on post paid connections for
family and/or friends for confirmed employees. Those special connections are issued on non
commercial tariffs.
In addition permanent employees are entitled for one pre paid connection free of cost
ever month.
Upon joining employees are also provided with a handset which is followed by an annual
handset allowance every year.

Pick and Drop Service for Females

Pick and Drop facility is only for female employees.

Provident Fund
All permanent employees are eligible for provident fund and deductions /reimbursement
is made as per standard provident fund procedures.

Life Insurance
Provide employees with insurance coverage so that in the eventuality of death, their
family is cared for.
All permanent employees are covered for Life Insurance from the date of joining Telenor
Pakistan.

Long Service Awards

Telenor entitles awards upon completion of the number of years of service. it could be in the
form of shields or gifts depending upon the number of years of completion.

Q7:How do they retain their key employees?

TELENOR retain there key employees by following point;
1. TRUST
2. INTEGRITY
3. COMMUNICATION
4. INVOLVEMENT

MAKE EMPLOYEES FEEL GOOD ABOUT THEMSELVES AND

THE COMPANY

RECOGNITION

GENUINE CONCERN

TALK TO EMPLOYEESKNOW THEIR NAME

SET CHALLENGING & HIGH EXPECTATIONS

PROVIDE FEEDBACK

REWARD PERFORMANCE

SAY THANK YOU

Training process generally encompass as three main phases. The training process begins
with the Assessment phase. This phase involves identifying training needs, setting training
objectives, and developing criteria against which to evaluate the results of the training program.
Training requirements are determined by conducting a need analysis.
A Need Analysis is an assessment of an organizations training a need that is developed
by considering overall organizational requirements, tasks associated with a job for which training
is needed, and the degree to which individuals are able to perform those tasks effectively.
The next part of the process is the Training Design and Implementation phase. This
involves determining training methods, developing training materials, and actually conducting
the training. A considerable amount of training is conducted using On-the-Job Training methods.

With such methods, trainee learns while actually performing the job, usually with the help of
knowledgeable trainer.
The final part of training process is the Evaluation phase. This entails evaluating the
result of the training in terms of the criteria developed during the assessment phase.

Types of Training Programs

The most common type of training programs are Orientation Training, technical skill
training, and management development training. Orientation Training is usually a formal
program designed to provide new employees with information about the company and their jobs.
Technical Training is oriented towards providing specialized knowledge and developing facility
in the use of methods, processes, and techniques associated with a particular discipline or trade.
Management Development Program focuses on developing managerial skills for use at the
supervisory, managerial, and executive levels. Overall training has positive impact on both
productivity and employee morale.
Telenor offered three main categories in which offered programs are: Leadership,
Culture, and Competency.

The Leadership Category

Within the Leadership category, several programs are offered which include:

Outdoor Leadership
With activities related to trust building, team building, and exploration in the

wilderness, the leaders are able to identify their true leadership styles, their
managerial skills are put to test, making them better and brining in more
teamwork and transparency in the organization.

LUMS/Telenor Post Graduate Certificate in Business Management

To give managers holistic business understanding, and manage succession

planning for various cadres, this academic program focuses on strategy, pricing,
market segmentation etc within its various courses and help employees to build
the organization.

Core Leadership
The program helps to build leaders in accordance with the Telenor

Expectations so that employees can use their abilities within the perimeters of the
organizations expectations. This is used for TMA to develop the Hi-pos for
future positions.

Leadership-The Care & Growth Model

This three day workshop for all those in command positions, teaches

managers and supervisors what they should be contributing to those who report to
them.
I.

The Culture Category

Within the Culture category the following programs are being offered which
are open to all employees:

Mastery of Self
To enable people to overcome obstacles and dysfunctions in their
behaviors, and therefore create new perceptions by exercising the power of mind.

Emotional Intelligence
Including the emotional quotient to employees intelligence quotient
enables one to be smarter in work, relationships and health. To bring emotional

maturity, this training focuses on increasing energy and effectiveness under

pressure, dealing with turbulence, and developing personal power.

Change Management: Who Moved My Cheese?

Most people are fearful of change because they don't believe they have
any control over how or when it happens to them. Since change happens either to
the individual or by the individual, the course shows that what matters most is the
attitude about change. To complement our inculcation of the new vision and
values, this program will present change as a natural and positive agent that leads
employees to embrace change and explore new opportunities.
FISH: Choosing Your Attitude
This training helps the organization become more vibrant, energetic,
positive and optimistic. This helps to improve morale in the troops and reduce
negativity.

III.

The Competency Category

Within the Competency category we Telenor is offering program which is

required as the basic skill builders in the organization. These include:

Creative Problem Solving

To ensure that people have the ability to think out of the box and are not stuck
with old thought patterns.

Breaking Communication Barriers

To help employees come out of their inhibitions and improve interpersonal
communication and public speaking.

Team Work
To enable employees to rise above the individual objectives and come together
as a team with one vision.

Results Through Resources

To help employees manage their resources at work efficiently and effectively.

Facilitation Skills
To enable all line managers, supervisors, team leads etc, to lead and facilitate
IVC workshops on their own.