VIDEO: Simon Nash: Pay does not motivate staff

Pay is virtually unimportant in motivating employees, said Simon Nash, HR director at Carey Olsen, in an interview with Clare Bettelley, associate editor of Employee Benefits.

“There is a myth in the world of HR and management that pay motivates, but most studies have proven that pay actually doesn’t motivate,” he added.

“People will go to a job for a level of pay, but they are not motivated, once they are in work, by a particular level of pay.”

Nash said that, at law firm Carey Olsen, employees are motivated by wanting to do a good job for their clients and to do a good job for their colleagues, much more than any degree of salary or even contingent pay, such as bonuses.

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“The core of motivation for us is for people to connect to what they’re doing and why they’re doing it,” he added.

“We want our lawyers to have really meaningful relationships with their clients, and to see the service they give as giving meaning to the job.”