Labor Productivity Improvement: The Role of Remuneration in the New Qualification System

Abstract

A lot of countries develop the nation qualification systems to ensure effective functioning of the labor market and increase in productivity. Labor productivity improvement in the Russian economy is a condition for achieving higher sustainable growth in the future. For the problems concerning productivity growth, the authors propose to pay more attention to the search for new and better methods of workers’ remuneration and the use of the national qualification systems as a tool for establishing a fair wage system. Issues on the relationship between labor productivity and labor compensation are rather relevant, but for concerns on the choice of the optimal ratio of growth rates, different authors explain them in different ways. Labor productivity is the basis of workers’ wages, and the stimulating function of wages has become an important factor for achieving the desired level of labor productivity. The change in the growth rate of these indicators determines the dynamics of the share of wages in GDP, the aggregate demand and employment. The article analyzes the growth rates of labor productivity and real wages. The unstable relationship between the dynamics of labor productivity and labor payment in the Russian economy is illustrated with the help of statistical data. The conceptual scheme proposed by the authors shows how it is possible to form the remuneration model on the basis of national qualification framework. The introduction of professional standards will require the development of new criteria for ranking posts in order to establish a closer relationship between skill levels and payment differentiation. Evaluation of positions is the main reference point for establishing the material remuneration for work; it allows forming a balanced and fair remuneration system. This approach contributes to the strategic human resources management of the company in particular, and society in general, aiming at increasing productivity.