How To Make Employee Pay Irrelevant

1. Customer Service Feature Story

How To Make Employee Pay Irrelevant

Today is a tough labor market—in 2019 employee turnover was at an all-time high as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. There are more jobs available than people looking, which certainly makes it an “Employee Market.” However, great leaders and great companies do not use the high “quit rate” as a crutch. The companies with the best employee culture are not experiencing high turnover. Why? Because they have made pay irrelevant.

Making pay irrelevant does not mean they pay their employees less than what other companies are paying for similar positions. What Making Pay Irrelevant does mean is…

Based on the organization’s culture and environment, employees are so aligned and inspired with the company’s vision and purpose, they have no idea what other companies are paying.

Employees who work for great companies that demonstrate that they genuinely care about their people are not out looking for the “best deal” on paper. However, when a culture is lacking, things like money, better hours, and proximity to where they live all become much more important.

Employees Do Not Quit Companies, They Quit Managers

Studies have shown that the reasons people leave their jobs are directly related to how connected they feel at work. The Family and Work Institute has found that compensation and benefits have only a 2 percent impact on job satisfaction, while quality and workplace support have a combined 70 percent impact. Retaining employees is not a function of the human resources department. Employees are most engaged when they feel as though their work is important, they are appreciated, they learn and grow, and they feel a part of a great team.

In fact, the single most important determinant of an individual’s performance and commitment to stay with an organization is the relationship that individual has with his or her immediate manager. People leave their manager far more often than they leave the organization. Leaders love to blame high turnover on the youth of today, by casting Millennials and Generation Z (Gen Z) as lazy and entitled. My experience as an employer has been the opposite. I have found in The DiJulius Group, John Robert’s Spa, and Believe in Dreams, where we have a large percentage of customer-facing millennial-generation employees (100+), the younger generations are even more loyal and committed to our company’s mission and purpose than previous generations.

*Related – Download Dave Murray’s Presentation On World-Class Internal Culture

Why do some companies have a large, unmotivated, and apathetic workforce, while other excellent companies boast a workforce willing to make ridiculous sacrifices for the betterment of the organization they are working for? When it comes to the millennial generation, it’s important to know they’re not interested in trading hours for dollars. They want to be part of something big, part of a purpose. Think of companies like Zappos, Chick-fil-A, Nordstrom, The Ritz-Carlton, and Disney. All of these companies employ millennials who are fully engaged in their work. The businesses that tie job responsibilities to an overall purpose and bigger picture get incredible results from millennials—and also from the rest of their employees.

It Starts with Employee Engagement

Forrester reported only 13% of employees worldwide are engaged, meaning they are involved in, enthusiastic about, and committed to their work and workplace. Employee engagement is the extent to which employees feel passionate about their jobs, are committed to the organization, and put discretionary effort into their work. Employee engagement is not the same as employee satisfaction. Employee satisfaction only indicates how happy or content your employees are. According to a study by Deloitte, younger generations want to work at companies with an authentic purpose, with more than 70 percent of millennials expecting their employers to focus on societal or mission-driven problems.

You absolutely can make pay irrelevant, if you are willing to build a world-class internal culture.

2. Article You Need To Read

Keeping with the theme of making pay irrelevant, Consumer Clarity wrote a great article called Why Millennial and Gen Z Employees are Leaving Your Employment. Here are some of the reasons why those generations are quitting companies; they’re not as engaged, they want more than a paycheck, traditional management styles don’t work, they want to grow, and they want to learn new skills. It is worth the read.

3. Short Video You Need To Watch & Share With Your Team

4. Quote Of The Week

“Imagine a world where people wake up every day inspired to go to work, feel safe while they are there, and return home at the end of the day feeling fulfilled by the work they do, feeling that they have contributed to something greater than themselves.”

—Simon Sinek

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