“As a manager, if all you can offer is money, what kind of issues do you constantly face? More importantly, if we are trying to get some work done around here, how can we bring out the best in people?” I repeated.
Caitland hesitated. “I guess my experience is from my first few jobs. Money was the only reason I worked. It’s how I put myself through school. The only reason I worked was for the money. And if I got a better offer, more money, for another job, I jumped on it.”
“Did you ever take a job, based on compensation, that you wished you hadn’t taken? Even though the money was better than your previous job?” I pressed.
She nodded her head. “Yes, but, in my mind, I told myself they were paying for a lousy job and that’s why the money was better. Funny. They were paying for a lousy job.”
“And have you ever taken a job that was so interesting that the money didn’t matter?”
Again, Caitland nodded. “Yes, don’t tell anyone, but this job, I would work for free.”
“So, tell me, what’s the difference in the work?”
Great topic!!
I can certainly remember when I had two job offers at the same time and took the one that offered MORE money! I was not happy and yes, it felt that the higher paid job needed to have a larger salary based on how lousy it was. And believe me, it was lousy! A year later the other position I passed up was reopened — I applied and was hired. Took a huge pay cut, but loved the job and never looked back. Lesson learned.
As an HR Director for a customer-service based industry, and in my current hiring adventures, it appears that money is a huge issue with many folks because there are so many customer service jobs out there. Basically the same type of jobs with a wider gap in salaries. We have had employees leave for a small increase because of the nature of the job. Customer Service is just that – customer service.
At our company we strive to provide good benefits along with a solid starting wage, however one of the things we stress is our sense of unity and community within our organization. We work very hard to instill a sense of belonging which has truly seemed to lower our turnover substantially over the past year. Even if the job requires a lot of work and may not be classified as one someone would do for “free”, the family oriented environment we have created seems to be our secret weapon in retaining good employees.
Would love to hear other comments on this subject.
Take care,
Diane