Don’t give people raises

Money is a human resource, right? theres a face on it.

Money won’t buy you happiness. Thomas Hawk/Flickr

If I can be cynical for a moment:

There’s a prevailing myth in most companies which suggests that the best way to retain staff is to throw money at them. I disagree.

If you’re already paying your employees a living wage, money isn’t what they need, because they already have it. (If you aren’t paying them a living wage, perhaps a raise is in order).

After physiological necessities (breathing, food, excretion) are met and safety (of the family, self, resources, health) is assured, Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs argues that people want love.

Hopefully that’s not something you’re willing to offer your staff.

Instead, cater to their sense of self-esteem and self-actualization. People desperately want to be challenged and respected.

55% of workers would accept a promotion without a salary increase.
Only 22% of companies would offer it to them.

Evidently, a lot of companies are missing a valuable opportunity.

The average U.S. employee working in the private sector stays with an employer for 4 years. That’s not very long. If the odd person is so offended by an unpaid promotion that they resign (which seems horribly unlikely), they were probably planning to leave soon anyways.

So what’s the worst that could happen? If the candidate accepts, everyone wins. If they insist on financial compensation, you either give it to them anyways, or withdraw the offer.

And if they do quit? That frees up an awful lot of payroll. Just sayin’.


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