Modern forms and methods to motivate the population to engage in creative labor activity

Traditional and new forms of employee incentives.

Globalization processes, global competition and the new technological mode inevitably changes social and labor relations. More and more often, it is not only about labor activity as such, but about creative labor activity of the population. This concept is based on labor activity, which is considered from the standpoint of both quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the work performed (among the latter, for example, the discipline of participants), but also the nature of this activity. Taking the latter into account (the nature of activity) creates prerequisites for the division of labor activity into creative and non-creative (Popov A.V., 2012)1. Accordingly, creative labor activity can be characterized as a type of labor activity, involving the population in the processes of creating new ideas, improving organizational technologies, developing new products. The implementation of these processes becomes possible due to the participation of employees with abilities associated with the development and implementation of new, promising ideas in the individual activity of the subject, in activities of the social system in which the subject operates at the cognitive and behavioral level (Yagolkovskii S.R., 2013)2, and thus the solution of tasks that contribute to the improvement of quantitative and qualitative results of labor (Bogdanchikova T.V., 2006)3. The innovative nature of labor processes is ensured through increased requirements to the employees, as well as through the need to develop new systems of personnel motivation [1].

The analysis of motivation problems is connected with the correlation of motives acting as an internal motivation of individuals and stimuli forming their stimulation field. The concept of motivation comes from the unity of a motive and a stimulus, and the motivational mechanism is regarded as a type of interaction, stimulation field, motives and praxeological “safety” of an individual causing necessary activity without coercion and guiding it accordingly (Yadov V.A.4, Yakobson M.P.5, Kovalev V.I.6, Shavel’ S.A.7). It should be emphasized that in this case, the motive is not characterized as any impulse that arises within a person, but as its conscious nature that leads a person to the willingness to act. The stimulus does not cause the action directly, but indirectly, through a motive, so the stimulus is the “driver” of the motive, and the latter, in turn – the action. The latter is emphasized in the research by H. Heckhausen, who considers motivation as a call to action to a specific motive (the motive, rather than an incentive)8.

As shown above, there is a certain correlation between labor activity and creative labor activity, these concepts are related as “whole – part of the whole”, in the latter case, not only the features inherent in the whole (labor activity), but also the specific features of the part associated with the creative nature of processes. This, in turn, may mean that, speaking about the motivation of labor activity, on the one hand, and creative labor activity, on the other hand, one can find both general and special. This idea can be illustrated as follows: if, for example, all employees at the company find it important to create conditions (organizational, technological, economic, social, psychological) to ensure higher results of labor activity, then in the case of those who show themselves as creative it becomes important to maintain the conditions that lead to the best realization of creative potential. Both employees in general and the creative ones find the content of labor greatly important, but in the latter case it becomes important to have a creative component at work, an opportunity to participate in management and promotion. Both groups of employees emphasize the importance of material rewards, however, in the first group, workers are stimulated for their high level of labor activity in general, while the second – mostly for creative production, enthusiasm and initiative. Based on the above, it turns out that creative employees can be more often focused on providing ample opportunities for personal and professional development, for participation in complex projects, in solving non-standard creative tasks, for participation in participative management, etc.

The employee’s motivating factor in selfrealization of creative thinking, creativity, generating an idea or creating a new product, is hampered by the fact that some managers keep to traditional “old school” ways, implying certain rules and algorithms, without creating conditions for activating creative activity [2]. However, there are examples of enterprises and organizations whose management bodies create the necessary (organizational, technological, economic, social and psychological) conditions for generating creative activity of employees. A number of companies (JTI, METRO, Noril’skii nikel’, Evroset’, etc.) have developed corporate programs (Akhmetshin, Morozov et al., 2018 [3]). Most of them are characterized by the use of an integrated approach to employee incentives (along with the use of tangible nonmaterial forms of incentives).

The use of an integrated approach lies in creating a system of labor motivation, which consists of material and non-material incentives, with the main goal being to ensure quality and productive work of employees, attracting and retaining the most talented professionals, and disclosing employees’ personal potential. Thus, at the present development stage, the division of stimulation methods into two groups still exists, yet the forms in which they are implemented may differ from traditional ones.

In addition to traditional types of material incentives (wages, benefits), in modern conditions there are “motivational innovations” such as profit participation (when using this type, the share of profit is established, from which an incentive fund is formed through which personnel categories who can actually affect the profits of the organization are encouraged), a bonus system (remuneration, wage bonus, annual bonus, Christmas and New Year bonus, work experience bonus, bonus for absence of absenteeism, target bonuses, thirteen month’s pay), participation in the share capital (based on purchase of shares of the organization and receipt of dividends: purchase of shares by an employee of the organization can occur both on a preferential and a free of charge basis), payment of transportation costs, health care programs (voluntary health insurance policy), employee training at the expense of the organization, irregular extra payments (gifts for holidays, cash rewards to best employees, etc.), packages to health resorts and recreation centers, flexible working hours, payment of various kinds of insurance, systems for obtaining preferential loans, etc.

Forms and methods of non-material incentives provide a more effective impact on labor results. The complexity of non-financial incentives is that the methods should be chosen personally for each employee as each person’s motives vary significantly.

Along with the traditional forms of nonmaterial incentives (diplomas, prizes, career growth, professional competition, social package), there are all sorts of internship at the company’s expense are currently used, emphasizing the important role of an employee (for example, a boss greets them by shaking hands and invites to a private birthday party, or consults on important issues, etc.). D.), greater autonomy in decision-making for an employee, if it does not harm the company as a whole, complex projects and non-standard creative tasks that are interesting to solve, comfortable conditions for an employee (modern technologies, a separate office, etc., if it is necessary to improve the labor quality, creating a favorable psychological climate in the team (through the use of methods such as: praise and approval of employees’ actions; conversation with the employees on non-work topics; birthday greetings; corporate entertainment such as holiday parties or trips), etc.

An example of an integrated approach to employee incentives is the policy of METRO AG international trade holding, focused on the cultivation of professional personnel, providing ample opportunities for personal development (Akhmetshin et al., 2017 [4]). Such an approach is used in PAO Noril’skii Nikel’ mining and metallurgical company – an organization which creates conditions for life-long education, career development in a team of like-minded people, realization of employees’ creative potential through participation in various projects.

The effective use of various types of incentives makes it possible to influence aspects such as staff turnover, productivity and involvement in affairs of the organization.

Corporate incentive systems are a set of interrelated methods of personnel motivation created in the company based on its corporate culture to implement strategic goals, which, in turn, are formulated taking into account factors in internal and external environment. The most important characteristic of this motivation system is a set of applied incentives expressed in the methods of motivation at the company level and forming common goals, values and standards.

The establishment of corporate incentive systems involves corporate awards, bonus payments based on the results of activities according to the principles of personnel evaluation developed in organizations, opening savings funds for employees, provision of preferential loans (including for housing construction), full or partial coverage of education costs, as well as employee training, investing in their children’s education, etc.

An example of modern types of incentives is the use of IT and business games. For example, Evroset’ uses a system of motivation in the form of a business game, which covers 80–85% of company’s employees [3]. In the game, there is “virtual money” – golden coins; the participants collect coins performing their key performance indicators (KPI). The rules of the game imply that regional heads may invest the accumulated coins in themselves, their people, trade outlet of their sector or simply monetize them, etc.

Modern forms of financial incentives include employee’s assessment of work by colleagues or an opportunity to independently choose their own reward. This principle assumes that employees have an opportunity on a monthly basis: in the first case – to give a certain number of points to their colleague, in the second – to get points for good work and excellent results. Thus, accumulating points an employees can get an equivalent in cash (or expressed in a different form) after a certain period of time. Such methods of material incentives are common, for example, in Zappos, an American company specializing in online sales of shoes. In Facebook, one of the forms of material incentives is a weekly rewards for employees who distinguished themselves in labor results to a greater extent compared to others (tickets to concerts, popular gigs, etc.) [5].

Another modern trend is participative management, which is ideally based on the recognition of mutual interests of members of an organization, integration of these interests and, thus, on increasing the interest of employees in the results of their work. There are three key forms of participative management: employee participation in management, in profit and in ownership. The first form provides employees an opportunity to participate in discussion and decision-making concerning the organization’s activities, both at the working group level and at other levels (for example, at the level of production units and the organization as a whole). In European countries such as Germany such a principle of representation is enshrined in law and is associated with the participation of employees in supervisory boards and other governing bodies. This practice is becoming widespread in the Russian economic environment.

Another form of manifestation of participatory management is the participation of employees in profits and ownership, which is lies not only in distribution of part of profit between employees according to the organization performance or at the end of the term established in the trust agreement, but also in identifying talented, tolerant employees prone to action and engaging them in solving various problems [6]. It is the latter that leads to the stimulation of creative activity, the development of ideas by different categories of creative employees, which can be accompanied first by an increase in profits, and then – its redistribution according to the contribution of participants. In case the profits of an organization are reduced, the situation may be the opposite – the amount of payments to employees may be reduced. In addition to these forms, in some cases we are talking about the participation of workers in gain sharing, which is very close to the previous method of stimulation. Nevertheless, the former involves reducing the cost of working time per unit of output, improving its quality, increasing labor activity, focus on interaction between the subjects of activity.

It should be emphasized that the forms of participative management outlined above have both advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, the use of such forms creates prerequisites for raising employees’ awareness of the organization’s activities to settle various conflicts, strengthen the integration of company members, overcome the alienation of employees from the work results. On the other hand, the transfer of decision-making power to employees can “blur” the responsibility in collective decision-making, can lead to a greater prevalence of less risky and less innovative decisions, to an increase in costs of coordination and distribution of work9. Therefore, decisions on the use of certain forms of incentives should be associated with the comparison of their positive and negative aspects, their benefits and costs. In general, it is noteworthy that the introduction of participative management will help attract employees to the discussion of problems and development of solutions, form participation in the changes taking place in the organization, and in some cases – to public recognition of work results [1, pp. 44–45].

Such management systems are aimed at ensuring the participation of more talented and creative employees in the management of an organization based on engagement in innovative projects and career growth [7, pp. 43–44]. The implementation of such an approach, according to Harvey Levine [8], creates prerequisites for overcoming one of the main barriers of creative activity associated with lack of trust in management.

The massive transition to the contractual system of employment (performance-based contracts) is currently a widespread phenomena. Since 2012, Russia has been actively developing a system of performancebased contracts in the public sector (healthcare, education, science). The objective of a performance-based contract is to make remuneration as reasonable and fair as possible by setting individual performance indicators and incentive criteria for each employee. A performance-based contract is a more detailed and specified employment contract containing [9] the following conditions:

• –    a specified job description and a detailed list of duties;

• –    terms of payment, including incentive payments;

• –    indicators and criteria for assessing performance in relation to incentive payments;

• –    the amount of payments for collective work results;

• –    measures of social support.

The point of a performance-based contract as an economic category is to establish mutually beneficial conditions for an employer and for a particular employee by an employment contract, i.e. it also performs a motivational function.

Summarizing, we note that amid the socioeconomic changes, labor is complicated, its content is transformed, which is expressed in various creative and innovative aspects, which makes the development of new ways to encourage employees to use creative abilities relevant. Despite such changes, two main ways of stimulation (material and non-material) continue to prevail, yet the forms of their implementation are being transformed. Along with the traditional forms and methods of stimulation, new types are created, in particular, corporate systems, IT, business games, performance-based contracts, participative management, etc.

The latter are partly related to corporate incentive systems that take into account aspects related to the peculiarities of employee evaluation: for example, the peculiarities of assessment (management/other employees), the frequency of rewards, the opportunity to choose various types of remuneration, etc. In modern conditions, material incentives for employees can be manifested through the formation of savings funds for employees of enterprises, full/partial coverage of costs of education for employees and their families, provision of preferential loans (including for housing construction), etc.

One of the forms of non-financial incentives is engagement in participative management, which is associated with the mutual recognition of interests of members of the organization, increasing the employees’ interest in work results. We emphasize that such management systems are focused on ensuring the participation of talented and creative employees in organization management based on career growth and engagement in innovative projects. This becomes possible when systems of lifelong education and professional development are created, along with the environment for realizing employees’ creative potential, including their participation in various projects. It is noteworthy that the use of these forms of stimulation often increases trust in the organization’s management system, provides a better understanding of processes taking place at the organizational level, ensures the employees’ position in the team and their opportunities in the implementation of group projects, thereby creating prerequisites not only for development, but also for the realization of accumulated potential (primarily intellectual and creative).

In view of the above, the study takes into account both traditional motivational factors (pay equity, working conditions, etc.) and innovative ones related to creativity and participation in management. The issues of labor motivation in this article are considered with regard to the Russian population since many forms and methods of motivation are innovative for the population in our country.

The purpose in to study the impact of traditional (pay equity, working conditions, etc.) and modern (a creative approach, employees’ participation in management, etc.) motivational factors on the quality of labor potential and parameters of its implementation (in particular, productivity and wages). The research novelty lies in the testing of methodological aspects which characterize the quality of labor potential and individual parameters of its implementation in population groups differing in their satisfaction with motivational factors, taking into account the degree of their importance.

Due to the complex processes of labor potential reproduction, in particular its formation and use, the study focuses on the results of these processes: in the first case, attention is paid to the values of quality indices of labor potential, in the second – the values of indicators characterizing productivity and wages.

Methodological aspects of the research. Describing the methodological aspects, it should be noted that labor motivation is often analyzed through direct questions, involving the choice of the most significant motives, a point assessment of their importance, their ranking. A similar approach implemented, for example, in the work of I.N. Vitushkina (2004 [10]) lies in the analysis of average points in importance and satisfaction of each motive, as well as in their ranking.

The most prevalent motives are often organization of labor, labor content, sanitary and hygienic working conditions, remuneration, relationships with colleagues and heads in terms of work issues, etc. These aspects, as noted by A.L. Temnitskii (2013 [11]), were constantly taken into account and monitored in long-term sociological studies. Thanks to these it is possible to build a hierarchy of with different aspects of labor situation and working life in general.

Despite the availability of studies in this area, some aspects remain controversial, which is reflected in the works of I.M. Popova, G.P. Bessokirnaya, V.E. Shlyapentokh. These aspects include the range of opinions when determining the position of factors such as working conditions, relationships among colleagues, and certain unanimity regarding the stimulating role of wages. Issues related to defining types of motivation (“maximum income at the cost of maximum labor” or “guaranteed income at the cost of minimum labor”, etc.) still require extra analysis [12, p. 106]. Aspects involving the distinction between “motives understood” and “motives performed” or, rather, “known” motives and “genuine” motives, “real”, “true” motives and “proclaimed” motives [13]. Regarding the latter, it is emphasized that verbal judgment motives become similar to “proclaimed” motives. As noted by I.M. Popova (1976 [14]), verbally expressed estimates of any motivational factor that may occupy a particular position in the overall ranking of motives may not indicate its real importance for labor.

A similar opinion belongs to V.E. Shlaypentokh (1973 [15]), who emphasizes that the respondents’ estimations regarding motives for certain actions such as employment or dismissal, one needs to be critical, to compare subjective and objective information, not filtered through a “respondent’s evaluation framework”. One of the possible ways to overcome this difficulty is to take into account the specific results of work along with motivational factors. Back in 1976, I.M. Popova pointed out the necessity to analyze the actual work behavior of employees when studying their employment preferences. A similar approach was used in the studies conducted under the leadership of O.I. Shkaratan, involving the comparison of elements of the working situation with the results of work, rather than with job satisfaction as such. In the 2000s, the use of this approach was justified in the study of A.G. Zdravomyslov and V.A. Yadov (2003 [16]). It was noted that the factors affecting productivity do not always determine the level of job satisfaction. Accordingly, there is a need to check the significance of labor motives with real labor indicators. The preservation of relevance of considering this issue was referred to in the work by F. Herzberg [17]. In his review study, which included monographs and articles on factors that shape attitudes to work and the results of attitudes to work in productivity and quality of work, he noted that “there is confusion and a mess in this sphere”. In some cases (e.g. Abercrombie N., Hill S., Turner B.S., 200410; Ilyasov F.N., 2013 [18, p. 18]. 20–21], etc.) it is emphasized that the correlation between labor motivation and productivity is not revealed and data on the correlation between motivation and job satisfaction, as well as the quality of work are still unconvincing.

Table 1. Certain aspects of working life: satisfaction and importance

No.	Importance of motives and incentives	Satisfaction with the aspects of working life
1.	Fair payroll	Equity pay
2.	Provision of extended social package	Completeness of the social package
3.	Decent working conditions that contribute to the preservation of health and improve performance	Sanitary and hygienic conditions and safety at work
4.	Interest in the results of their activities, the manifestation of interest in the work	Content of work
5.	Favorable psychological climate in the team	Psychological climate in the team
6.	Transparent system of promotion and career development	Career opportunities
7.	Internal interest in creativity	Creative work
8.	Democratic management in an organization, conditions for free exchange of opinions	Opportunity to participate in management decision-making

Taking into account the above aspects, we use an approach in which we studied the correlation between indicators that reflect, on the one hand, the satisfaction with certain aspects of labor activity, on the other hand, the parameters characterizing the quality of labor potential and its implementation.

The satisfaction with certain aspects of working life was analyzed using the answers to the following questions: 1) “Are you satisfied with the following aspects of your working and everyday life?”¹¹ And 2) “Please, evaluate the importance of motives and incentives listed below...?¹². The aspects that were taken into account in the study are presented below ( Tab. 1 ).

It is noteworthy that along with the traditional motivational factors used in research works related to, for example, fair pay or working conditions that contribute to the preservation of health, we also take into account aspects that involve the possibility of using a creative approach, with participation in the organization’s management. The latter, as noted above, is to some extent related to the practical implementation of principles of participative management.

At the first stage of the research we revaluate satisfaction based on the importance of the aspects of working life. To solve this problem we used the methodological aspects developed for similar purposes by G.G. Tatarova and G.P. Bessokirnaya (2014).

Since the initial point scales were of different dimensions for the two abovementioned aspects (in one case a 4-point scale, and in the other – 5-point) we reduced the scales to one dimension. Thus, satisfaction adjusted for importance was measured on a scale from 1 to 5 points ( Tab. 2 ).

The use of such an approach, involving satisfaction along with the importance of certain aspects under consideration is due to the fact that the use of direct questions for the study of labor motivation does not help identify real motives that correspond to the content of employees’ needs and interests. The latter is due to the fact that judgment motives are considered an objective form of existence of ordinary knowledge and act as social facts, ultimately conditioned by the socio-economic conditions of activity [19].

Moreover, we consider the satisfaction in general and the as such and satisfaction adjusted for importance for each aspect of the working life, as well as aspects related to parameters characterizing labor activity. Regarding the latter, we took into account the average score

Table 2. Scheme for calculating satisfaction taking into account importance of certain aspects of work

Importance	Satisfaction	Satisfaction, adjusted for significance
5 – very important [4 и 3]	5 – satisfied [1 и 2]	5
	3 – average satisfaction level [3]	3
	1 – not satisfied at all [4 и 5]	1
3 – more or less important [2]	5 – satisfied [1 и 2]	5
	3 – average satisfaction level [3]	3
	1 – not satisfied at all [4 и 5]	2
1 – not important at all [1]	5 – satisfied [1 и 2]	5
	3 – average satisfaction level [3]	3
	1 – not satisfied at all [4 и 5]	4
Note. Square brackets demonstrate points before reducing them to one dimension.

(on a 10-point scale) estimates of respondents in relation to their productivity, as well as parameters related to the implementation of both labor potential in general and its individual components (in relation to a motivational factor such as “democratic management in an organization, conditions for free exchange of opinions”). Moreover, we take into account the values of indices of labor potential and its components (with respect to all selected aspects to the working life).

The information framework of the research is represented by data of the monitoring study of the quality of labor potential conducted by the Vologda Research Center of RAS in 2018. The sample is quota, with proportional placement of observation units, it includes 1,500 people of working age (men – aged 16–59; women – 16–54) in Vologda and Cherepovets and eight districts of the Vologda Oblast. The sample representativeness is ensured by proportions between urban and rural population, between the inhabitants of different types of settlements (rural settlements, small and medium cities), the sex and age structure of the adult population in the Oblast, as well as the proportions between the employed, unemployed (listed on the labor exchange) and economically inactive population (school and university students, housewives and other unemployed people). The value of random sampling error is 3–4 % at a confidence interval of 4–5 %. The applied method of survey is a questionnaire at the respondents’ place of residence. The questionnaires were processed in SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences).

Research results. In the study we consider satisfaction as such and adjusted for importance for each aspect of the working life ( Tab. 3 ).

Describing these two types of satisfaction (excluding importance/adjusted for importance), in each case, taking into account the answer options “satisfied” and “rather satisfied”, we note the absence of changes in almost all eight aspects of the working life, which is manifested in unchanged ranks of these two types of satisfaction ( Tab. 4 ). Nevertheless, in most aspects of the working life, except for participation in management decision-making, satisfaction is decreased, especially by the psychological climate in the team, fair payroll and the content of work (by 7.7; 5.5 and 4.7%, respectively)¹³.

If we consider importance as such, then the leaders in the ranking by degree of importance of motives and incentives are: fair payroll, favorable psychological climate in the team, decent working conditions, i.e. traditional aspects of motivation. While the opposite

Table 3. Satisfaction with different aspects of working life (excluding importance/adjusted for importance), % of total respondents

Aspects of working life	Answer option	Satisfaction excluding importance	Satisfaction adjusted to importance
	Dissatisfied + rather dissatisfied	25.2	25.9
Fair payroll	Undecided	33.9	38.7
	Satisfied + rather satisfied	40.9	35.4
Completeness of the social package (basic and extra social guarantees)	Dissatisfied + rather dissatisfied Undecided Satisfied + rather satisfied	23.9 34.7 41.3	20.7 38.7 40.7
Sanitary and hygienic conditions and safety at work	Dissatisfied + rather dissatisfied Undecided Satisfied + rather satisfied	18.1 33.3 48.5	15.9 38.7 45.4
	Dissatisfied + rather dissatisfied	15.4	14.9
Content of work	Undecided	32.2	37.2
	Satisfied + rather satisfied	52.5	47.8
	Dissatisfied + rather dissatisfied	10.9	14.3
Psychological climate in the team	Undecided	31.2	35.5
	Satisfied + rather satisfied	57.9	50.2
	Dissatisfied + rather dissatisfied	23.5	21.3
Career opportunities	Undecided	38.6	43.6
	Satisfied + rather satisfied	38.0	35.1
	Dissatisfied + rather dissatisfied	20.5	18.4
Creative work	Undecided	39.8	42.7
	Satisfied + rather satisfied	39.7	38.9
Opportunity to participate in management decision-making	Dissatisfied + rather dissatisfied	26.5	22.3
	Undecided	41.2	44.2
	Satisfied + rather satisfied	32.3	33.6
Source: data of monitoring study of the quality of labor potential, VolRC RAS, 2018.

Table 4. Ranking of those satisfied with various aspects of working life, (answer option in total “satisfied”, “rather satisfied”), % of total respondents

Satisfaction excluding importance	%	Rank	Satisfaction adjusted for importance	%	Rank	Difference
Psychological climate in the team	57.9	1	Psychological climate in the team	50.2	1	-7.7
Content of work	52.5	2	Content of work	47.8	2	-4.7
Sanitary and hygienic conditions and safety at work	48.5	3	Sanitary and hygienic conditions and safety at work	45.4	3	-3.1
Completeness of the social package (basic and extra social guarantees)	41.3	4	Completeness of the social package (basic and extra social guarantees)	40.7	4	-0.6
Fair payroll	40.9	5	Fair payroll	35.4	6	-5.5
Creative work	39.7	6	Creative work	38.9	5	-0.8
Career opportunities	38.0	7	Career opportunities	35.1	7	-2.9
Opportunity to participate in management decision-making	32.3	8	Opportunity to participate in management decision-making	33.6	8	1.3
Source: data of monitoring study of the quality of labor potential, VolRC RAS, 2018.

Table 5. Please evaluate the importance of motives and incentives listed below for the manifestation of your creativity at work (innovative proposals, inventive activity; answer option in total “very important”, “rather important”), % of total respondents

Motives and incentives	Vologda	Cherepovets	Districts	Oblast	Rank
Fair payroll	87.4	84.0	74.5	80.6	1
Favorable psychological climate in the team	83.1	75.7	71.5	75.8	2
Decent working conditions that contribute to the preservation of health and improve performance	83.1	79.1	69.7	75.8	3
Opportunity to earn a reward and other bonuses	80.1	73.1	66.4	71.9	4
Transparent system of promotion and career development	77.4	56.8	66.7	67.0	5
Opportunity for professional development	71.8	61.3	61.3	64.1	6
Interest in the results of their activities, the manifestation of interest in the work	75.4	61.8	58.3	63.9	7
Moral encouragement of creativity (gratitude, certificate of honor, state award, etc.)	66.8	62.8	59.1	62.1	8
Desire to succeed, be recognized	72.1	58.3	57.9	61.8	9
The desire for professional fulfilment	68.5	60.1	57.3	61.1	10
Extended social package (VMI, payment of mobile connection, partial compensation for sports activities, etc.)	64.2	67.1	55.3	60.9	11
Desire to benefit from implementation of new ideas	68.1	56.8	58.1	60.4	12
Democratic management in an organization, conditions for free exchange of opinions	69.7	48.5	58.0	58.6	13
Internal interest in creativity at work	57.2	52.5	55.0	54.9	14
Note: the whole list of motives and incentives of different aspects of the working life is presented, points to importance of motives and incentives that relate to meaningful aspects of satisfaction are in italics. Source: data of monitoring study of the quality of labor potential, VolRC RAS, 2018.

“pole” of this is democratic of management in an organization, internal interest in a creative approach to work ( Tab. 5 ).

It is noteworthy that, despite the importance of traditional motivational factors, this does not yet indicate that a high degree of satisfaction with them will provide a similar level of both quality of labor potential14 and its implementation. The results of our sociological research indicate that the highest values of quality of labor potential were achieved, on the contrary, when aspects of labor life such as participation in management decisions and career development were important for employees (Tab. 6). While the lowest values of quality of labor potential were achieved when it was about the psychological climate in the team.

Table 6. Average index values of quality of labor potential among respondents satisfied with various aspects of working life (excluding importance/adjusted for importance; answer option, total “satisfied” and “rather satisfied”), points

Aspect of working life	Quality of labor potential, points In group of respondents satisfied with various parties aspects (excluding importance)		Quality of labor potential, points In group of respondents satisfied with various parties aspects (adjusted for importance)
Participation in management decision-making	0.7226	(1)	0.7094	(1)
Career opportunities	0.7188	(2)	0.7082	(2)
Sanitary and hygienic conditions and safety at work	0.7052	(5)	0.7023	(3)
Fair payroll	0.7009	(7)	0.6992	(4)
Content of work	0.7050	(6)	0.6986	(5)
Creative work	0.7120	(3)	0.6978	(6)
Completeness of the social package (basic and extra social guarantees)	0.7082	(4)	0.6978	(7)
Psychological climate in the team	0.6953	(8)	0.6940	(8)
Note. Rank is in brackets. Source: data of monitoring study of the quality of labor potential, VolRC RAS, 2018.

Table 7. Average values of labor potential quality index in groups of respondents with different levels of satisfaction with wages, points

Satisfied and rather satisfied with:	Quality of labor potential, points In group of respondents satisfied with various parties aspects (excluding importance)		Quality of labor potential, points In group of respondents satisfied with various parties aspects (adjusted for importance)
	satisfied with wages	dissatisfied with wages	satisfied with wages	dissatisfied with wages
Fair payroll	0.7009 (8)	–	0.7012 (8)	0.6028 (8)
Social package (basic and extra social guarantees)	0.7120 (5)	0.7007 (3)	0.7105 (7)	0.6631 (3)
Sanitary and hygienic conditions and safety at work	0.7125 (4)	0.6808 (6)	0.7118 (4)	0.6731 (1)
Content of work	0.7114 (6)	0.6810 (5)	0.7115 (5)	0.6587 (5)
Psychological climate in the team	0.7070 (7)	0.6683 (7)	0.7070 (6)	0.6665 (2)
Career opportunities	0.7200 (2)	0.7094 (2)	0.7167 (2)	0.6628 (4)
Creative work	0.7169 (3)	0.6840 (4)	0.7131 (3)	0.6455 (7)
Participation in management decision-making	0.7265 (1)	0.7143 (1)	0.7224 (1)	0.6521 (6)

Source: data of monitoring study of the quality of labor potential, VolRC RAS, 2018.

Table 8. Average labor productivity according to degree of satisfaction with various aspects of working and daily life, points on a 10-point scale

Certain aspects of working and daily life Average labor productivity depending on satisfaction Dissatisfied + Rather dissatisfied Undecided Satisfied + rather satisfied Average labor productivity depending on satisfaction, excluding importance Fair payroll 7.29 6.81 8.29 Social package (basic and extra social guarantees) 7.13 6.73 8.46 Sanitary and hygienic conditions and safety at work 7.03 6.67 8.32 Content of work 6.84 6.64 8.29 Psychological climate in the team 6.67 6.65 8.18 Career opportunities 7.10 6.91 8.44 Creative work 6.95 7.00 8.38 Participation in management decision-making 7.26 7.01 8.45 Average labor productivity depending on satisfaction, adjusted for importance Fair payroll 7.34 7.53 8.26 Social package (basic and extra social guarantees) 7.22 7.40 8.32 Sanitary and hygienic conditions and safety at work 7.07 7.38 8.29 Content of work 7.15 7.35 8.18 Psychological climate in the team 6.68 7.41 8.17 Career opportunities 7.18 7.53 8.32 Creative work 7.19 7.63 8.13 Participation in management decision-making 7.29 7.59 8.34 Source: data of monitoring study of the quality of labor potential, VolRC RAS, 2018. development. These factors create prerequisites for the growth of qualitative characteristics of the population and their effective use, but their role remains underestimated since it is traditional motivational factors that are still more important for employees (psychological climate in the team, content of work, sanitary and hygienic conditions, etc.). In the coming years, the primary objective in the social policy in Russia should be to ensure full productive employment as the main source of improving the quality of life. The main national priority should be to increase the intellectual potential of the nation [20, p. 56]. The results show the importance of creating conditions for employees to promote the development of their educational and professional level, including in connection with career development, creation of an appropriate environment for creative activity by solving relevant tasks of employees, and the formation of appropriate “motivational field”. Our conclusions about the influence of motivational factors (traditional and modern) on the quality of labor potential, labor efficiency and wages confirm the provisions of the process motivation theories, where population’s behavior is associated with motives and incentives due to the existing expectations and perceptions of a particular situation. Methodological provisions concerning the assessment of specific aspects of the working

and daily life from the standpoint of satisfaction with them and their importance can be used as a tool for analysis of the existing or emerging system of motivation at the organizational level. The need for such an analysis, based on data of sociological studies, can be partly attributed to the fact that even at the level of executive authorities, their public reports mainly reflect the issues of implementation of target indicators, while the problems of population’s concern (for example, the standard of living, etc.) are less evident.

The failure to take into account the qualitative parameters of the Russian society in the social and labor sphere obtained from sociological studies does not help properly assess the potential of the Russian society, which, in turn, is one of the most important factors determining the further direction of social development, competitiveness and viability of the state [21, p. 24, 29–30]. The latter statement, in particular, is supported by the results of foreign studies (e.g. Benhabib and Spiegel, 1994 [22]; Crispolti and Marconi, 2005 [23]; Kneller, 2005 [24]; Nicola Gennaioli, Rafael La Porta, Florencio Lopez de Silanes, Andrei Shleifer, 2011 [25]): in China, according to John Whalley and Xiliang Zhao [26], 38% of economic transformations during 1978–2008 was ensured through effective use of human capital [27, p. 13].