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Is Generousity a Bad Business Move?
In a previous thread, I wrote the people / bosses who pay you want to pay you as little as possible! Got me wondering -- is being generous with the people you hire a bad business move. I tend to be generous -- not outrageously so, but I do pay better than most, and for those (like cleaning people) I may even give them a raise or a holiday bonus without being asked. The question -- has it hurt me? I think not -- being generous inspires loyalty, good will, and good references. But is it worth it? May 24 17 08:28 am Link If they have earned their keep, pay them decently well to prevent them to look somewhere else. And more importantly give them the respect they deserved. Money is not everything, it is the environment you provide wins them over. But whatever you do, don't be their friends.  May 24 17 08:37 am Link Its totally a function of how much you want to keep them (or not). Finding someone who not only has the skills you need but fits in well with the rest of the team, knows the nuances of your customers/clients, goes above and beyond, etc. has value and you want to keep that for as long as you can. May 24 17 10:42 am Link I'm biased but being paid well is a HUGE motivator for me. Yes, I will do my best at any job regardless of what I'd like to get, not what I'm getting. Good pay = loyalty. Meh pay = do a good job and I'm constantly looking for something else. Think of it like a person you're dating. No need to look if you have exactly what you need & want. May 24 17 10:53 am Link Jules NYC wrote: Sometimes you simply can't make the person you're dating become exactly what you want, so the only choice is to move on. May 24 17 12:54 pm Link Lightcraft Studio wrote: There's also the notion that giving someone exactly what they want is not worth it, for what the giver is getting in return. May 24 17 01:19 pm Link bare minimum pay gets bare minimum effort and they'll jump ship the moment opportunity arises, and they will have fucking hated working for you the whole time. People, regardless of whether or not they intend to or want to, will link their self-worth/value to how much they earn, and this impacts their entire life quality. You pay miserable wages, you get miserable employees doing miserable work in a miserable environment and you're lucky if you don't get miserable results. You up the pay, you up morale, you up results, you up everyones quality of life. Which isn't to say that you need to pay just to make people happy, they still need to be doing good work, but its worth considering that "industry standards" may be really fucking low and everyone except the top boss giving himself million dollar bonuses loathes it, and that the "standard" is what it is because the guy up top always wants to squeeze every penny he can out of the lower guys for himself. (i.e.: just because its what everyone else pays doesnt mean theyre right....they might just be douchebags) May 24 17 01:44 pm Link What you're describing isn't generosity at all - not if your market is large enough to hire other people, or for them to look elsewhere for employment. But it is good long-term business, and good karma. If you pay more - and word gets out, one way or another - you'll have better applicants. Or at least more to pick from. If they get paid more, they're more likely to stick with you, and to be in better spirits. Happy employees are good employees. The trick is balancing pay with staff. If two people get $35k/year and you cut one, the other guy is going to start looking around for another $35k job that doesn't require doing two people's work. Or - as is usually the case - he'll be unable to handle it, and management will blame him and go through a string of new hires at that same rate. But if you gave him a $7k raise, you're still up $28k, and he's happy to work some extra hours because the pay is so much better than he'd get elsewhere. My landlord takes this same philosophy. With the exception of a single small unit in one of his buildings, I'm his newest renter. I've been there almost two years. The place is about 25% cheaper than anything else comparable in the area. When I moved in I asked him why, and he said it's because he makes more money. Tons of people want to rent from him, so he always gets renters with good histories, the cops never come by(they're down the street all the time), the building is well maintained, and people generally solve their own problems and stay for a while. He says it would cost him more in time, money, and the occasional unlet apartment than the extra couple Grand he could make per unit. May 24 17 02:06 pm Link So, does this apply to photographers hiring models (or vice versa)? May 24 17 04:53 pm Link Looknsee Photography wrote: There are a lot of factors that determine pay in any business. Scarcity, the worth of the final product (which may be determined in a multitude of different ways,) experience/ education/ talent required, etc. May 24 17 05:11 pm Link Unless the photographer and/or the model are employed by an agency, they don't have a set rate. I can tell you my rates are X dollars per hour, but there's no one stopping me from charging more or less. When it comes to that, you are 'worth' whatever you can negotiate for - be that from past work, a great port, promise of exposure, rarity, or just good conversational skills. May 24 17 05:17 pm Link Yeah, I tend to do that too when I can afford it. Years ago I showed a little extra kindness. It resulted in a once in a lifetime invitation. I see no reason to change. G Reese May 24 17 05:19 pm Link When I've worked places where I was unable to make a comfortable, living wage (about $15/hr), I didn't care much about the job and left quickly. My last job started me at $12/hr. I went above and beyond, to the point that I had referrals in the community and people coming into the workplace because they'd specifically heard about me from physical therapists and friends. I asked for a raise up to $13/hr, which was refused. I quickly had another employer offer me $17/hr starting, so I left and never looked back. The moment I was turned down for that raise, I was ready to jet. I put in a two weeks' and left on good terms, but they were unable to replace me for months and when they finally did replace me, the clientele wasn't happy because it was not the same quality of service and new memberships dropped off. I'm now happy with my comfortable, living wage job - and have no love for my previous employer (they have a history of discriminating against female trainers as a chain but I didn't find that out until after I was out). After I saw how unwilling they were to reward good workers with raises and fair pay, I have actively let others in my industry know how they operated and have discouraged trainers from applying there. May 25 17 06:36 am Link it's all market dependent. At the company I currently work, they're known for low pay rates as compared to the rest of the industry. When I was hired on, I sold myself and my abilities to drive new business and was able to negotiate a salary better than their average. Money is only PART of the equation. Are you looking for employees who want careers or who just want a job? What benefits go with the position? At one of my previous employers I had the following out of pocket expenses: dry cleaning- around $240 a month Healthcare for the family- $1300 per month travel to and from work- $300 per month Currently I work from home, so my dry cleaning is now around $60 per month, any mileage is expensed, and my healthcare for the family is $450 per month for better coverage. If I would have kept the same salary, I'd have gotten a $1300+ a month raise! If you remember during the dot com boom, companies were offering hiring bonuses, childcare, some offered game rooms at work, bring your dogs to work etc. This all had to do with the fact there were more jobs than candidates. May 25 17 08:39 am Link I think of generosity as a good thing. With a job, it's not always about the money, though. Some people are just entirely too hard to get along with, expect the absolute most possible in every situation, etc etc and make the workplace hard to stay. For instance, I took a job at a motorcycle dealership once. It was less money than I wanted but it was a job, better than nothing and there was room to move up in the world (they promised that, anyway). 1 day on the job and I had a bitter argument with someone. Another day I was in a bitter argument about doing something they personally told me I could do. A few more days ... Finally, after 3 weeks, they told me they were going to fire me if I didn't start getting along with someone who irked everyone's nerves and didn't want to be gotten along with ... so coupled with the low pay and impossible standards, I left and never went back. A few weeks later, the manager was fired. The place is out of business now. May 25 17 09:01 am Link Lightcraft Studio wrote: I find that the parallel is a good one, but it's easier to get what you want in a relationship than in a job. May 25 17 11:47 am Link FlirtynFun Photography wrote: This is what it's like in the NYC tech market today. At my company's office in The City, there are pool tables, ping pong, consoles, foosball, and lots of alcohol. Salaries are very competitive. Somehow work still gets done and the company is growing by leaps and bounds. Keep people (the right people) happy, and good things are likely to happen. May 25 17 11:54 am Link May 25 17 12:20 pm Link Roy Hubbard wrote: Throughout most of my career we had a coffee pot. That worked fine too! May 25 17 01:04 pm Link Lightcraft Studio wrote: When I was in the office this week, there was some sort of dark chocolate, praline, golden raisin crap in the coffee machine. Considered putting in notice until I remembered I'm almost never there anyway May 25 17 01:42 pm Link Looknsee Photography wrote: Absolutely, being generous applies to models & photographers. May 26 17 05:29 pm Link |
