News
Bonuses and performance-based pay in Estonia
19.12.2025
Variable pay is part of the Estonian wage policy culture. A good child has many names: bonus, additional pay, performance-based pay or 13th salary. Since different organizations use different terms to describe the same type of variable pay component, for the sake of clarity, we should start by defining what each term means in the context of this article.
New EU directive encourages employers to hold more systematic salary discussions
16.12.2025
Next year, a new directive on salary transparency (No. 2023/970) will come into force in the European Union, with the aim of reducing and preventing the gender pay gap and strengthening employees' rights to information about their salary level and how it is determined. Although many employers associate the directive primarily with tedious reporting obligations and an increasing administrative burden, it also encourages employers to make their wage policies more systematic and transparent, and thus more motivating for employees. One very practical tool in this process, which also offers opportunities to promote employee-centered management practices, is the regular salary review.
Performance Reviews Are Not Exams
12.11.2025
The end of the year is traditionally the time when organizations evaluate work performance and plan employee development for the year ahead. Recent trends show growing dissatisfaction with performance evaluation - both among employers and employees. Employers often see the process as bureaucratic and lacking meaningful impact, while employees feel that the evaluation is unfair. Much of this dissatisfaction stems from a misunderstanding of the purpose of performance reviews and a deeply rooted perception that evaluation is a form of criticism - the belief that “if I’m being evaluated, I must have done something wrong.” But is performance evaluation truly just a stressful administrative task? Could development conversations replace formal assessments and reduce employee anxiety? And what would such a shift mean for employers?
71% of Leaders Are Burned Out - How to Prevent the Whole Team from Burning Out with Them
10.11.2025
Today, more and more people recognize that burnout is a real risk that can affect almost anyone, impacting both mental and physical health. However, conversations about burnout still tend to focus on employees rather than leaders. According to a Deloitte Global Survey, 77% of employees have experienced burnout due to workload and expectations, yet leaders face the same level of risk. The Global Leadership Forecast shows that 71% of leaders worldwide report heightened stress levels - not only due to long working hours and back-to-back meetings, but because of emotional strain, decision fatigue, and structural pressure in organizations. Together, these factors significantly increase the risk of burnout.
Why salary alone does not create a sense of fairness and how employers can ensure both
20.10.2025
Salary is a central part of working life – it is compensation for work done, but also a symbol of how we are valued and appreciated. We often ask whether a salary is right: does it correspond to the market situation, the position, or the level of colleagues in similar roles? Less often, however, do we ask whether the compensation seems fair. These two concepts are not synonymous – and understanding the difference between them is the key to employee satisfaction and trust.