Leaving a role is not a decision taken lightly by most employees. It requires undertaking the offboarding process as well as embracing the onboarding process as they pursue a new role elsewhere. It can be an exhausting endeavour for anyone. 

In my capacity as a career coach, I recently had the opportunity to work with Harry (a pseudonym to protect his identity) who is currently in a middle management role. His organisation provides him with everything he wants – he enjoys the work, he loves the culture and he looks forward to working with his team. 

Of course, there’s a catch. He is concerned about his remuneration – he would like an increase in his pay but doesn’t quite know how to navigate the situation.

Remuneration matters 

Harry’s concerns are coming from multiple sources. First of all, it’s no secret that the cost of living is rising rapidly – to keep up with mortgage repayments and feeding his family, as well as working towards those big financial goals in life, Harry needs to be earning more. 

His second concern is that he is aware that this organisation has a history of only giving small increases and only giving them infrequently. Harry worries that even if he does wrangle a pay rise, it will be too small to make a big difference and he stands to wait another 12 months before he receives anything more. 

Which brings him to his third concern: not receiving a pay increase – or only receiving a small increase – will set him ‘behind the pack’ when it comes to his peers, seeing him be left behind in lifestyle and what he can afford. 

It’s clear to Harry that he needs to ask for this pay increase but, being aware of the organisation’s history of provision in this area, plus his own concerns that he doesn’t have enough experience to be asking for this, Harry is concerned that if he makes this request, he might not get what he needs, staying stagnant or worse, taking a step backwards. 

Money is a key motivator 

All of these concerns tell us that money is important, regardless of how good a job is. Even the best job in the world needs to be remunerated appropriately, otherwise employees will feel as though they are being taken advantage of and not treated fairly. 

While it’s true that money is not typically the number one driver in job satisfaction, it can be the dealbreaker. If employees are not remunerated well, it is not uncommon for them to get ‘itchy feet’ and start looking elsewhere. 

Organisations risk losing their best and brightest

When money starts to become an agitation point, all the other wonderful things that an organisation has to offer can start to lose their shine. Employees are more likely to:

• Look elsewhere for a role that will satisfy their remuneration needs
• Become resentful, even if they do stick around 
• Increase their ‘presenteeism’ – showing up to work but having a lack of engagement 
• Underperform, dropping from being the best and brightest to just being an average employee, impacting productivity

There is a way to mitigate the risk of losing employees  

Stay interviews are the secret sauce when it comes to retaining employees. Rather than talking about engagement surveys and sanitising the information your employees give you, stay interviews are designed to find out what is happening in the hearts and minds of your employees. They are particularly effective when conducted by a third party facilitator. 

In the scenario above, Harry would have the opportunity to voice his concerns. His organisation would receive great insights about the things that he loves about his role but they would also come to understand why those things aren’t strong enough without appropriate remuneration. Plus, if the organisation is concerned about increasing an employee’s salary, it’s also important they consider the cost of replacing the individual if they do decide to leave. 

Stay interviews can help your organisation to know more about what is driving your best and brightest, so you can work to keep them for longer. They’re all about working at a granular level to keep someone with your organisation so you can see further success.