The emergence of a post-Soviet model of HRM
The Soviet HRM model, which took its final shape in the USSR in the 1970s and was
exported to most East European countries, included the following basic features:
1. the maintenance of full employment achieved by the continuous creation of
jobs in excess of production demands, primarily at industrial enterprises
2. low wage differentiation, in which the ratio of the absolute minimum (unskilled
worker) to the absolute maximum (minister) wage level was 1:7
3. the predominance of a wage-scale system and base salary in take-home pay,
in which various bonuses (quarterly and especially annually) made up a moderate
share (as much as 20 percent) of total financial compensation1
4. a large number of nonmonetary benefits, which included giving employees,
either free of charge or at a nominal cost, an opportunity to make use of vacation
hostels, Young Pioneer camps, industry-sponsored hospitals, and other social
welfare benefits2
5. a large number of incentives, including various and fairly effective forms of
psychological incentives such as industry-wide and government awards for special
labor achievements