Felt Fair Compensation – She Said What?
By Michelle Malay Carter on February 7, 2008
Since my last two posts on felt fair pay were more technical in nature, I thought I would create a post on the subject that was more conversational.
If a friend were to ask me about felt fair pay, here is what I would say:
As it turns out, we humans have an internal sense of what fair pay is for work roles that we are familiar with.? If you ask people if they are being paid fairly for their work, they will have an opinion.? Aside from yes and no, here are some common responses to that question.
Are You Being Paid Fairly for Your Role?
- “Well, for the work they are asking me to do, yes, I’m being paid fairly.? But I could do a lot more.?” Work levels translation:? I am underemployed.? I have more cognitive capability than my role calls for.? I could do higher level work, and that would merit higher pay than I am currently making.
- “I’m probably being overpaid.? The demand for nurses who speak Spanish?is so high these days, that hospitals are willing to pay anything to hire us.”?Work levels translation:? I am being paid more than the complexity of my role would merit.
In order to make these statements, there has to be an internal recognition that not all work is the same.? That some roles merit higher pay than others.
The interesting part is that even when people aren’t aware of time span of discretion or work levels, they are able to “feel” them and apply that feeling toward making judgments about fair pay.?
Similar to the fact that even if I had never been introduced to the idea of temperature or a thermometer, I can feel the outdoor temperature and make judgments about the clothes I should wear that day.
Back to the Honeywell compensation study, they looked at 30 different factors that might influence one’s perception of fair pay, and time span of discretion correlated with fair pay at the +0.86 level without the participants being introduced to the concept of time span of discretion.? They didn’t have to be aware of it nor understand it to be influenced by it.
Judging Fair Pay Up and Down
To take this one step further, I will not only have an opinion about what is fair pay for my role, but I will also be able to make a judgment about whether the pay of my manager and my direct reports are being paid fairly.? The differentials chart can be found on my previous post.
Feed Back – What is Your Gut Reaction?
Are you being paid fairly for your role??
How about your manager??
Have you ever felt like your direct reports’ pay was too close to yours??
Time span of discretion can help you make an objective case for your feelings the next time you ask for a raise.
Filed Under Employee Engagement, Felt Fair Compensation, Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Strategy, Work Levels
Comments
4 Responses to “Felt Fair Compensation – She Said What?”
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I spent a few years as a restaurant manager, and I definitely felt as though I were getting the shaft, because the waiters and bartenders made a lot more money than I did, and paid less in taxes.
Stephen,
Welcome. Thanks for stopping by.
This situation certainly qualifies as unfair to me.
Michelle
I am a second-level Operations Manager at a Fortune 500 Financial services company. I have been in IT and Sales roles since 2001 and this specific role for almost 2 years and received a “meets expecations, often exceeds” on my most recent performance review. I have 8 official direct reports and 7 more unofficially…2 of my direct reports are paid significantly more than I am, and I am not sure about the other 7. I am expected to manage these employees, my primary job responsibilites and also to deliver written and verbal warnings to these “higher paid” employees for tardies, performance discrepancies, etc. What demoralizes me the most about the situation is that while I have voiced my concerns of this situation with my manager, his solution was to transfer me laterally into a different position within our department with the same pay but no direct reports. I have a BBA degree from a reputable university in management and I have 7 years of experience in this field…I have led outstanding results and little if no attrition on my team in almost 2 years. I also delegate and resolve conflict effectively and build rapport with all of my employees. Should I approach Employee Relations/Human Resources regarding this matter or take it to my bosses boss?
Mr. Squire,
This is certainly a frustrating and unfair situation.
Employees have to work within the systems they find themselves in.
Since I am unfamiliar with the role HR plays in your organization nor do I know what role managers-once-removed are authorized to play (if any), I am not in a place to offer you advice on this.
Within a requisite organization which is what I help executives implement, employees are always to first work with their manager to resolve issues. If they cannot resolve an issue and they feel the manager is outside the bounds of his authority, they always have the ability to appeal to their manager-once-removed because the manager-once-removed is the one accountable for monitoring the managerial leadership of the manager.
Thank you for stopping by and commenting. I wish I could offer you more than empathy. The reason why I blog is to show executives that there is a better way. It seems the employees themselves already know this.
Regards,
Michelle