Jobs & Careers >
Employers
RSS FeedDo people work more if they are paid more?
Results so far:
| No | 47% | 344 votes | Total: 725 votes | |
| Yes | 53% | 381 votes |
No
Write now
Print
Invite a writer™
Add to FavoritesFrom an employer point of view you have to look at the many variables that determine whether an employee will actually produce more bang for your buck.
If a person is generally lazy it doesn't matter how much you pay them they will not produce more work for your money. An employee who has a good work ethic, a good attitude and is someone you think will benefit your company in the long run, that person will always give you a good return on your investment. They're the type of person who is determined to succeed regardless of where they work or who they work for.
Paying an employee more money to increase production is more often than not a poor solution. At least not on its own. Rewarding employees with bad morale will produce short term results, but most will soon fall back into the same old rut simply out of habit. Do people produce more work when they get a raise? Some do but unfortunately the majority don't.
Cheap bosses are only part of the problem.
If you're an employer who is cheap and can't see the benefit of treating your employees with dignity respect by paying them what they're worth, your company will be filled with people who have negative attitudes about work, the products or services, their pay and company management. You will hear comment like "I don't get paid enough to do that" or "Why should I do that, so and so makes more money than I do"
Often the source of the problem is not with the employees but with management. Some employees produce lousy work because they work for a lousy boss. A few attitude changes at the top will go a long way in bumping up production all the way down the line. Granted once in a while you will get stuck with a lazy slug, who hates working and will never produce his fair share of work, no matter how good you are to them or how well you pay them.
Management attitude.
If employers really understood how much money they would save by not having to retrain new employees, they would put more effort into keeping the ones they have happy and well paid. Everyone likes a boss who treats them like an important part of the process instead of just another number.
Increasing production naturally.
So how do you increase production without going broke? Getting more involved and interacting in a positive way with your employees is an excellent way to gain respect and trust. Employees that trust and respect their boss will be more willing to produce the work required of them. Become the boss everyone likes to work for. Be generous and pay them what they're worth, it will pay off in the long run. Show genuine care about your company and the people you employ.
Yes, people need to be paid fairly, but just dishing out more money in an attempt to increase production without cultivating an excellent employee employer relationship, is just a waste of time and money. The results will be short lived and at best will only produce mediocre results from a few good workers. The rest will continue to fall into the same old ruts and poor work habits.
Learn more about this author, Ron Beauchamps.
Click here to send Author comments or questions.
Yes
Replace the word "paid" with the word "compensated" and my answer to this question becomes an unequivocal "yes" (as opposed to my usual cautious "it depends"). Those who believe employees will do the same quality of work regardless of how they are treated are delusional and will soon see their businesses go bankrupt. Expecting quality work from someone who feels slighted, humiliated, or unappreciated is like expecting the dog to cook your breakfast. It's just not going to happen, and if you think it will then you'll soon be feeling very foolish and very hungry.
Employees who get paid well are afraid of losing their jobs, especially if they are getting paid more than they could get at a similar job for a different employer. If they are getting paid more than their experience and education warrant, then that fear turns to stark, cold terror. They know that a mistake or a bad attitude could mean not only changing jobs, but changing tax brackets (in the downward direction). If the overpaid employee is the breadwinner of their household, she will probably continue to put in extra effort and hours even if she receives unfair treatment and lousy work conditions. The pay will just be too good to risk.
On the other hand, if the employee in question is the secondary earner in the family or has enough money that work is not a financial necessity, then overpayment might not be enough to compensate for poor treatment. Without the motivation to support a family or even to support himself, the employee will judge the value of his job by criteria that have nothing to do with salary. Does the job provide benefits like health insurance and dental insurance? Those things can be very costly for a retiree or self-employed person to purchase, and they are the reason a lot of people keep their "day jobs" even though a blog, a side business, or a series of investments might provide a good income.
For an employee who could afford to purchase individual insurance (or one who is insured by a spouse), the value of a job becomes less quantifiable. Is this job a way for her to make a difference in the world? Is she helping people? Does it make her feel appreciated and respected? Does it give her a sense of pride? Does she enjoy doing it? Is it a creative outlet or a way to use her skills and training? If the answer to a couple of those questions is "no" then you can bet that employee won't be going the extra mile.
The work an employee puts in while on the job is directly proportional to the value he places on that job. An employee who feels his job is a valued commodity, something he doesn't want to lose, will work hard to keep it. The job/employee relationship is quite analogous to a marriage. If you love your spouse, you will adjust to his or her quirks and acquiesce to many requests that involve work or sacrifice on your part. Forgo watching the game to have dinner with your parents? Sure. Make a second trip to the grocery store because you started sniffling and want chicken soup? Why not? Bring you coffee in bed on a Saturday morning? Of course. The lengths to which a spouse or an employee will go are directly proportional to the value he places on the relationship. (Or maybe the square or the square root of the value, depending on the nature of the individual involved.)
And what determines the value that a person places on a relationship? Is it something so complicated, so individualized, so intangible that it can never be fully understood? Is it something that necessitates an eternal response of "it depends"?
No, of course not. It's trivial, to be honest. The value a person places on a relationship is equal to how valued she feels in the relationship. That's it. It's that simple.
An employee who gets paid well has a monetary reason to feel valued. Even if you complain about his work or don't provide him with a pleasant environment, at the end of they day, or at least at the end of the pay period, you still value his work enough to write him a fat check. If you provide an employee with benefits you demonstrate both a financial appreciation and a personal concern for your employees. You value their work enough to pay for those benefits, and you value their health and well being enough to ensure that they are able to take care of themselves and their families. Your employees are worth so much to you that you're willing to foot the bill for their health care so they can continue to put in good work. Other employers, those who don't provide benefits, would rather just hire a new person if a current employee gets too sick to work.
There are other ways to make an employee feel valued that don't involve spending money. Ask someone's opinion and take it seriously; you've just shown respect for their judgment and intellect. (Of course the intelligent employer will choose which subjects to ask about. Asking the receptionist what circuit components to put in the company's latest electronic gadget is a bad idea; asking her which features she would use most in that same gadget is a very good one.)
Notice when someone does go the extra mile, and they'll be more likely to do it again, especially if you acknowledge that yes, they did go well above and beyond the call of duty. "Wow, Mary, you sure didn't have to stay late to finish the project. Don't get me wrong, you did a super job, but I wouldn't ask you to miss dinner just to meet a deadline!" Say something like that, and you can bet Mary will bust her butt late into the night when the next time crunch rolls around. On the other hand if you say, "Joe was here till nine p.m. last night! You should all be like Joe!" then you've just sabotaged yourself. Joe will be very angry that his personal sacrifice is looked upon as just the "expected" employee behavior, and other employees will be mutinously furious when compared to the office brown-noser. Oh, and Joe won't exactly be thrilled that he's now been labeled as the office brown-noser.
Giving someone a "special" assignment that recognizes his or her off the job talents can be a good strategy as well. Have the guy who doodles cartoons during meetings design a brochure to hand out to clients. Let the office computer geek set up the network instead of hiring a professional IT person. Have the karyoke-loving accountant sing the jingle in your radio ad. Not only do you get cheap specialized labor, you give your employees a chance to shine at something different than their usual humdrum duties.
Flexibility is another goldmine when it comes to "buying" cheap appreciation and effort from your employees. Don't tell them when they can take their vacation. Even if some projects get stalled because several people are gone, the effort those employees put in later will more than make up for the slow down. If you literally make yourself the Grinch who stole Christmas, or even the day after Christmas, your employees will take out their resentment in subtle ways like leaving at exactly five, arriving at exactly nine, and never, ever working through their lunch breaks. Never. Not even if they brought a sandwich. Not even if they have a stomachache and don't want any lunch.
Understanding family emergencies related to childcare, elderly parents, etc. is another golden opportunity for flexibility. "Sure you can leave early to pick up the kids, Jane! I understand your husband's car broke down, and besides, you were here till six yesterday." That little show of generosity will have Jane brainstorming about the big project all the way to the soccer game. On the other hand, if you make a fuss about her lack of respect for business hours, she'll be thinking about how cool it would be if the kids could use your head as a ball.
Another simple way to get that extra effort without paying for it is to overlook minor employee transgressions, although you only want to do this if the employee in question feels bad about having broken a rule. An employee who shows genuine contempt for meeting times is probably wanting to be fired, at least on a subconscious level. On the other hand, someone who got stuck in traffic that morning is probably mortified to have missed the big presentation. Say something along the lines of, "Don't worry about it, John. Not your fault there was a wreck on the highway," and you'll have John leaving half an hour early for work for the next three months or so. Tell him something like, "well, that's why I leave early when I have a big meeting," and you can guarantee he won't be skipping the snooze button just to keep you happy.
The fact is, how hard your employees work is up to you. By firing truly incompetent or lazy employees, you can avoid overt lapses in effort. However, even the best, most educated, most honorable people will only put in a half-hearted minimum if you don't show them how much you value their work. If you want the extra effort, it's yours to be had. It's only a question of how you want to pay for it. Salary, benefits, and respect are all resources at your disposal. Decide how much of each you are willing to allocate, and recognize the grave financial consequences if you underestimate.
Learn more about this author, Raven Lebeau.
Click here to send Author comments or questions.
Difference of opinion? Debate now.
