Die Relevanz variabler Vergütungsbestandteile – Eine Untersuchung unter Studierenden und Mitarbeitenden aus dem IT-Umfeld in Deutschland

Despite many positive aspects of variable compensation and its wide use in practice the assessment of variable compensation components is hardly considered by research. This paper fosters a deeper understanding of variable compensation components and how they can be used in an efficient way by the management.

Previous research has not consistently discussed variable compensation components and comprehensively addressed the criteria that can be influenced by these. Also the employee perspective on this topic was not sufficiently considered. In addition, the concept of skill based compensation was not included in a cross comparison with other variable compensation components. By assessing the relevance of variable compensation components from different perspectives a gap in the research was closed.

Next to a theoretical analysis of this topic, a survey among nearly 400 employees and IT-students in Germany was conducted to further investigate the relevance of variable compensation components. The methodology of the employee journey helped in a structured way to analyse the results from the employee perspective.

The findings of this research indicated that variable compensation can be classified into five different components including skill based compensation. Further it demonstrated 14 different criteria which can be influenced by the proper use of variable compensation. The theoretical and empirical analysis showed as a main finding of the study that the relevance of variable compensation components are differently assessed based on the different goals of a company. In addition, it was shown that the internal and external corporate environment can influence the overall relevance of variable compensation.

The results of this paper contributed to the field of Human Resource Management research especially in the subarea of total rewards. The classification of variable compensation components provides a basis for further research projects and helps to review existing compensation programs in companies. The better understanding of the relevance of variable compensation components can also help companies to make better use of this corporate instrument.