Pay increases are a touchy subject in today’s workforce. With less-than-qualified workers demanding astronomical raises for minimum wage positions, and larger companies making employees feel “disposable” and unworthy of asking for a higher salary, many bosses don’t even want to touch the subject of upping employee salaries in their businesses. While many institutions operate on a “scale” for pay increases, or group their employees into categories, there are actually disadvantages for your business for failing to reward staff with performance-based raises in pay.
What are those disadvantages?
It’s important to know that employees who don’t see their hard work rewarded in any way are going to lose the desire to outshine their fellow workers, and you’ll end up with a sub-par staff who have little to no motivation to go above and beyond the most basic requirements of their position. Instead of working hard to perform better and earn much-desired salary raises, they’ll realize there is no benefit in working harder than average and will settle into doing the bare minimum in effort until a position comes along that does offer better pay. That leads us to the next point…
Loyalty in the workplace is (usually) bought.
In other words, if you fail to reward employees with competitive pay for their output in the office each day, you’ll likely lose those employees to bosses who are willing to compensate them for their efforts. This actually costs you money in the long run, since each time you lose an employee you’ll be forced to spend time and resources finding, interviewing, and hiring new staff, and then having to train them in the daily tasks and systems needed for them to get their job done. In reality, over time, you’ll end up spending more money on this frustrating routine than if you had just offered your employees the raises they deserved in the first place.
Finally, you need to remember that happy, valued employees are better workers. As your grow your business, there will be times that extra effort is needed. If you have a staff full of disgruntled workers that feel they are unfairly paid for what they’re asked to do, you’ll have absolutely no chance of them being willing to step up and go above and beyond their duty to get a job done in a pinch. You’ll be left with nowhere to turn, and you’re company will suffer over time. However, if you do your best to keep your employees content and make them feel valued, they’re more likely to repay that favor in their efforts for the business.
Keep in mind, we are not saying you should offer pay raises for all employees all the time. If you feel an employee is putting out sub-par work, and are giving no effort in the work place, that behavior is not worthy of being rewarded. Seeing other members of the team given financial gain for hard work should be their motivation to do the same, otherwise their salary sees no change. We are simply encouraging you with this post to closely analyze your current workers, and their salaries. When was the last time you offered a raise in pay for those who work hard and do their best on the job each day? Have you recently done evaluations and given feedback for workers so they know if they are performing at, above, or below the standard, and have you let them know there are rewards for going above and beyond? These are key concepts to growing a business with a thriving staff that will be there for the long haul.
If you’re working on growing your staff from the ground up, or are looking to replace employees with the very best the local market has to offer, PHR Staffing Solutions is here for you. We provide applicants from in and around the greater Polk County area to give Central Florida businesses the staff they need to get the job done right. Our extensive application process including background checks and interviews means you can rest assured that you are getting exactly who you need for your specific openings. We strive for successful matches for each applicant and business owner that come through our door, so let us help you!