The Need to Reward Employees

Now you may be asking yourself, why is he talking about this?  Isn't it obvious, like 2 + 2 equals 4?  Doesn't everyone reward employees for their efforts?

Sad to say though, that there really are organizations that don't view the employer - employee relationship in quite the same way as most of us.  Their thinking is, "We pay them a salary for doing their job.  Why should we pay more?"

Taking a page out of a Compensation 101 textbook let me list the reasons that such a negative attitude about your workforce can become a problem, both short and long term.

• You need to pay competitive wages: While this point is seldom argued your comparative marketplace is a moving target.  What looks like competitive today soon won't be, so unless you have a process for updating your competitiveness it will start to slip.  And that slippage will pick up speed over time.

• Business costs rise over time; so do employee expenses: The price of most items is higher today that it was a year ago, and in some cases the rise is dramatic.  If your employee costs (pay levels) are fixed / frozen your employees will have an increasingly difficult time making ends meet.

• Rewarded behavior is repeated: It's an old saying but worth repeating until everyone "gets it." If you reward desired behavior (good performance) you'll likely get more of it.  Conversely, the lack of reward tends to encourage average behavior, or worse.  

• Do you want a high performance culture?: If you fail to provide employees with equitable and competitive pay that's linked to their job performance, what you'll get instead is a lot of Joe Average performance.  Because an employee's self motivation is not sustainable.  That personal battery of enthusiasm will drain down and shut off.

• Employee expectations: Employees expect to be paid a reasonable amount for their work, but they also expect to be both acknowledged and rewarded for making a continuous effort on the company's behalf. No one will work well for very long with their pay frozen or the likelihood of more money being a "maybe" or a "we'll see."

• An elemental cost of doing business: This may be hard for some to understand, but if you're going to operate a business there are certain costs that need to be incurred. Otherwise don't bother.  And one of those costs is to properly pay and reward the people who are working for you.  They keep the business going, and you should never forget that.

• Honoring your commitment: Do you proudly tell everyone that you're a "pay-for-performance" company?  Do you believe that employees drive business success?  Well then, you had better walk the talk.  Because employee trust is at stake, and the failure to honor your promises will ensure business mediocrity, if not a slow descent into failure.

• You should fear the alternative: If you decide to march to the beat of a different drummer, to say "nahhh" to the above, then consider what your future likely holds in store for you. Because when employees start to say, "why bother?" you're in trouble.  

>  Dissatisfaction with management: This is both negative and infectious. Disgruntled people are not quiet people.

>  Reduced morale: Sad faces and blank looks are not signs of an engaged workforce.  And the talk around the break room will lean toward other "opportunities."

>  Reduced productivity: When employees take their foot off the gas pedal.  What you get from them starts to drop off from a desired 110% effort to somewhere south of 100%.

>  Higher degree of disengagement: When your employees start to say as well as think, "I don't care" - that attitude will spread.  What it builds is a low performing culture.  Think of your business as a car driving around town with the brakes on.

>  The wrong turnover: The wrong sort are the better performers, who always have an option in the marketplace. Someone else will tell them, "We love you.  We'll take care of you.  Come work for us."

If you believe that employees are important to the success of your organization, then not having a proper pay-for-performance program in place to recognize and reward job performance on a regular basis is a mistake of the highest caliber.

Then again, perhaps some believe that employees are an easily replaceable commodity, that their pay is a cost worth trying to reduce, rather than an investment.  That they are not people, but simply cells within a spreadsheet, or blocks on an organization chart.

Just remember, that what you sow is what you'll reap.

Chuck Csizmar CCP is founder and Principal of CMC Compensation Group, providing global compensation consulting services to a wide variety of industries and non-profit organizations.  He is also associated with several HR Consulting firms as a contributing consultant.  Chuck is a broad based subject matter expert with a specialty in international and expatriate compensation.  He lives in Central Florida (near The Mouse) and enjoys growing fruit and managing (?) a clowder of cats.

Creative Commons image,"Cash Money," by buildingresults

Comments

[Earl]

You hit the main points on the nose.

[E. James (Jim) Brennan]

Keep saying it, Chuck! Those who do not pay for performance get something less than they desire for their money. People are employment investments, requiring care, consideration and responsible treatment.

[Johan cyb]

Hi chuck, agree with you but i have a question, i think rewards have to go with the result of the company and nowadays the results aré not always as expected so... If results aré not the best but the employees gives theirs best Also if the results aré because an outside non controlable variable the employer have to think in a forgiveness to not affect motivation?.

[Kevin]

Great article and well said!

[Sandy Richardson]

The Mental Health Commission of Canada, the Great West Centre for Mental Health in the Workplace and the Canada Standards Association, have identified 13 areas of risk where employers can actually cause mental or psychological harm to their employees. Reward and recognition is one of these areas where employers can exert a huge influence, either positively or negatively, on their employees. Read more about this risk factor and the 12 others here, www.guardingmindsatwork.ca