The problems RBS has faced attracting and retaining staff (particularly in its investment bank) over the last year or so is no secret.

The fact that a large proportion of bonuses are being paid in paper at a time when its share price is languishing probably doesn’t exactly add to its appeal. But things are looking up in this regard.

Analysts at BarCap are suggesting that RBS’s open and aggressive actions around asset disposal and balance sheet reduction has served to its advantage. As a result, they’re predicting a potential 30% upside on its share price.

RBS, you might remember, has been particularly forthright in paying its bonuses in paper. Non-senior staff received 50% of bonuses in paper, while those further up the ladder got 33%. This is convertible into cash in June. Remaining payments will be made equally over two years.

The possible share price revival, therefore, couldn’t have come at a better time, and could inspire a new sense of loyalty or – amazingly – possibly make the bank more attractive.

The BarCap analysts also raise the question of compensation at RBS, and whether it will continue to be constrained by governmental handcuffs. The current issues around a possible banking levy or curbing compensation levels is industry-wide, they say, and government holdings won’t cause additional pressure at either RBS or Lloyds Banking Group.

The state-owned bank is taking other measures to increase its allure, anyway. According to reports in the Telegraph, salaries in RBS’s investment bank are set to be doubled in the coming months.

MDs, whose average pay comes in at 150k, will receive a base of 275-300k, while directors will receive 180-200k. This is not across the board, however, but only in areas where pay is below market rate.

This is, of course, likely to stir the hornet’s nest of public anger around banking pay, but RBS is just following the trend set by its peers. UBS, Bank of America Merrill, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse and BarCap have all done the same.